Does anyone else hate the backtracking for 'optimal' runs? I know it's called Returnal, but returning to siphium after healing to full health to have it become resin, returning for items you couldn't pick up due to being at capacity, returning for bad parasites after finding a machine to 'sell' them, returning to shit after finding keys, returning to malignant stuff after finding ways to clear malfunctions... Ugh, it's all so tedious and dull that I have stopped going back for items entirely after the first handful of runs (I've stalled out at Biome 5). Just feels like such a waste of the player's time to design the game this way when a single bad room can quickly end your whole career.
Also this has got to be one of the least diverse rougelikes I've ever played. Most of my runs blur together, and it's a shame how monotonous things become once you hit a wall and run out of new bits of dripfed story. If you told me the devs turned the game into a rougelike last-minute because it felt too barebones otherwise, I would believe it.
But hey feeling the rain on the controller is magic. The haptics are probably the only reason I'm still playing. Sadly, the game has been a bit of a bummer for me overall. I need to try more of the Tower to see if that's closer to the jam I'm looking for.
