r/Returnal

Hear me out. I love the other game a lot. However after beating that game and playing around with its weapons system I thought to come back to Returnal and found that all that skill I built up in Saros did not translate back to Returnal.
In fact I become a far worse Returnal player. I think both games work like a car. Returnal being a manual car while Saros is a EV. Two completely different experiences built on a similar frame. So now I’m forging my skills back in the tower so I can become the Returnal player I once was 😂
Anyone else have a similar experience or is it just me.
Personally I feel like I’m in the cult of Selene and I don’t want to escape. I’m ok with this 🫪😁👍
Anyways just some thoughts I’ve been having. Like I said I love Saros but Returnal is where I live and breathe. I am at peace on Atropos.

Anybody on PS5 rn? Need help with the piano boss.

I’m someone who just beat returnal, not to brag but with only 7 deaths and got the true ending. Is Saros harder, the same or easier? Some people say it’s easier and some say it’s harder?

I really wanna get Saros rn but I ain’t trying to spend 70. I’ll probably wait until a sale lol.

(Tried to keep it spoiler free, but maybe light spoiler)

With Saros out long enough now, the discourse is already defaulting to familiar patterns, I want to make a case that the “it’s all psychological” reading of these games isn’t just wrong, it’s the exact defense mechanism the games are designed to provoke.

Let’s start with what Housemarque is actually working with. Returnal draws from Lovecraft, and Greek Mythology. Saros draws from Lovecraft, Indian Mythology, AND Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow, with Carcosa lifted directly from Chambers as a place of genuine cosmic decay and madness. These are not accidental choices. The King in Yellow is a FOUNDATIONAL cosmic horror text precisely because it presents a reality that is ALIEN, CONTAGIOUS , and completely OUTSIDE human psychological frameworks. You don’t PROJECT Carcosa. You get CONSUMED by it.

The cinematic touchstones Housemarque has cited for Saros are “Sunshine” and “Event Horizon”. Event Horizon opens a literal portal to hell. The crew doesn’t hallucinate the hell dimension because they have unresolved trauma. The hell dimension is REAL and it BREAKS them. That’s the whole point.

This is what separates cosmic horror from psychological horror as a genre. Psychological horror uses the external world to externalize an internal state. Cosmic horror does the opposite. It uses a protagonist’s internal collapse as evidence that something genuinely UNKNOWABLE has made contact with them. The deterioration is a SYMPTOM , NOT A METAPHOR.

When Selene can’t distinguish the loop from reality, that’s not Housemarque telling you she’s dissociating. That’s Housemarque telling you the loop is real and human COGNITION was NEVER EQUIPPED to PROCESS it. When Arjun’s grip on what’s true starts slipping on Carcosa, that’s the eclipse doing what Chambers’ Carcosa always does. It doesn’t care about your backstory.

The reductive reading feels sophisticated because it maps onto recognizable frameworks. Grief. Trauma. Dissociation. Those are real and meaningful things. But applying them here flattens the actual horror, which is that the events ARE REAL AND INCOMPREHENSIBLE . That’s the harder thing to sit with. PSYCHOLOGICAL REDUCTIONISM is a way of routing around that discomfort without realizing that’s what you’re doing.

Housemarque has now made two games built on this exact premise. That’s not ambiguity inviting interpretation. That’s a studio with a deliberate artistic philosophy that a certain reading keeps refusing to meet on its own terms.

I was stuck on biome 3, literally since the game released, then coop came out, still couldn't clear it, or find someone that was capable of completing a run and wasn't just a liability. Fast forward Saros drop, i beat it, and decided it was time to give Returnal another chance. Spent 2 nights in a row just relearning weapons, traits, enemies, and getting back into it, which led to multiple p3 boss attempts in biome 3 but just couldnt stick it. I tried coop a few times, but everyone that joined was either scout rank 1, didn't have a mic, or both. Right when I was about to give up hope on trying coop last night, Strand1ng_Death joins my lobby in biome 3 after I prepped for a solid boss attempt...no mic, but used in game signals/ps5 messaging etc to answer questions I had. Fast forward 5.5 hours later and no run wipes, I am watching the credits roll, as we discuss the lore, the story, and everything that happened. Literally one of most memorable gaming experiences ive had online in a grip, much less with someone that only communicated with psn messages. We just syncd up, locked in, and man, that was a fucking ride. Biome after Biome, just locked the fuck in together. I'll remember this experience the rest of my life, man, what an amazing evening. 20/10 game, 30/10 social experience.

I recently picked Returnal up again, aiming for the Platinum trophy. I played it again almost immediately after Saros, but I've been struggling with this game even more. It feels like I need to adjust my playstyle/approach to the game.

Maybe it's because I tried to avenge the corpse all the time? Those things are way tankier than normal enemies.

so the gameis too hard and playing it in duo is easier than solo. so is it fine to do that?

I have a really good run going into biome 5 and don't wanna restart.

Hi I'm currently 30 deaths in and on biome 3 don't know if that's good or not haha, don't feel like I'm playing too bad but what your best tips to help me clean up, feel like all the youtube videos just tell you then same basic stuff which I understand, cheers for any replies