Helios has been abandoned! This week we’re playing the multiple BAFTA Award-winning Triple-A roguelite shooter Returnal. We continue bullet hell/heck month with swarms of huge colorful orbs, energy swords, and as many tentacled Matrix-inspired laser squids as you can shake your noodly appendages at! Join us in our foray into the first actual big-budget rogue-game of the pod with a game that had been locked behind Playstation 5 exclusivity like a gigantic interlocking metal door. We were able to just barely eek through the podcaster-sized hole in the bottom, but can we beat the boss that is…uh…well the first boss even??? Aim assist to maximum!

• 2:10 - game stats
• 4:53 - one sentence description
• 5:30 - all devs go to heaven warning (sort of)
• 7:34 - Difficulty preferences and boss fight frustrations
• 16:18 - Story introduction and crash landing setup
• 22:33 - Atmosphere and alien environment descriptions
• 27:53 - Biome structure and room types explanation
• 32:46 - Progression systems and weapon upgrading mechanics
• 39:03 - PC port performance and hardware requirements
• 44:11 - Weapon synergies and parasite systems
• 51:24 - Game length criticism and pacing issues
• 55:00 - story spoilers discussion
• 1:04:05 - rankings and final thoughts
• 1:14:30 - similar games

Next episode: Barony

Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: McCoy Tyner - Search For Peace

Outro music: Bobby Krlic - Hyperion