Of the games released this year, Returnal is one of the most peculiar. It's perhaps the most triple-a roguelike game to have ever existed, and one of the biggest PS5 exclusives to debut in 2021. While Returnal earned high marks critically, fans have been split on its brutal difficulty. Luckily, a Returnal update added a better save system recently, allowing players to return to their run if they put their console into rest mode. That system is now being exploited, though.

Returnal's suspend system is designed to let players back wherever they left off, as runs can often tick over into multiple hours. This is still balanced because players can still die at any time when they return, kicking them all the way back to their crashed ship. The new exploit allows players to get around this and essentially use the suspend point as a full-on save point, making Returnal easier to beat.

Over on Twitter, Joseph Yaden shared the exploit, detailing the step-by-step process of making it work. To start, players need to suspend their game and upload their saves to the cloud. Once a player dies, they then simply redownload the cloud save, allowing them to restart from the suspend point. That process allows players to get through each of Returnal's biomes with relative ease, or at least with less time invested in the process.

I’ve gotta say — this method is singlehandedly getting me through Returnal. I know people are mad that I’m not playing it “the right” way, but I don’t have time to continuously die and restart over and over. I’m now enjoying it because of this and I think that’s a positive thing. https://t.co/VnKumA7dIh

— Joseph Yaden (@JosephYaden) October 31, 2021

Yaden posted a follow-up tweet detailing his experience with the exploit in the time since he shared it. Yaden says that while some people have criticized him for not playing Returnal the "right way," he's had a more enjoyable experience with it, as he wouldn't have the time for constant resets otherwise. So far, the response to that stance seems to be mostly positive. It certainly helps that the lack of a save system was one of Returnal's biggest flaws at launch.

Housemarque has been celebrated for its work on Returnal, which has a far larger scope than many of the studio's other projects. Implementing the suspend feature was in direct response to fan feedback, a strong indicator that the developer is listening. However, how Housemarque will respond to this exploit – which fans may have preferred as an alternative in the first place – is a mystery. A true save system is clearly something that players want, but there's also the question of whether or not it makes the experience unbalanced. At the end of the day, though, players having fun is all that should really matter.

Returnal is available now for PS5.



Posted: Nov 03, 2021 8:02 am
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/returnal-save-scum-exploit-beat-game-easy/