Returnal is out, and the general consensus is that the game is terrific, looks like a million bucks, and makes me want to scream my larynx into oblivion whenever a really good run goes pear-shaped because of that one monster. There’s probably going to be some debate surrounding the game for weeks to come about the challenge that Returnal represents, which is a no-holds barred rogue-like bullet-hell with no real options to ease the pain.
If you’re having trouble getting past a certain biome, good news! You can make the initial grind a little bit easier using cheat codes in the game. Or more specifically, debug codes. TheRandomizer on YouTube first discovered this, as plugging a keyboard into your PS5 (seriously it works) and entering the following codes will drop a few handy items for players.
One of the codes will allow you to access Returnal arsenal of weapons at your current proficiency level and the other code is a handy lifeline that respawns you back at the Helios spaceship. The idea here is that you can start the game with the weapon that you want, earn weapon proficiency, and then spawn another version of that gun at a higher level. If things get tough, you’ve got an escape path back to your ship, where you can once again farm the first biome for suit integrity upgrades without losing any of your progress in the process.
Naturally, Housemarque says that a patch is inbound to kill this exploit, so consider yourselves warned.
Returnal debug codes
Drop weapons:
- Press and hold Shift, Control, Alt keys.
- Press keys 1-0 to drop weapons matched to your current weapon proficiency.
Ship respawn and keep all current progress:
- Press and hold Shift, Control.
- Press 4 to respawn back at the Helios with all current stats, gear, and weapon proficiency.
- Using ship respawn during Biome 3 or Biome 4 may cause the game to freeze
And there you go. A little bit of an easier grind, for an otherwise superb game from Housemarque.
Last Updated: May 5, 2021
