Returnal players know by now that very few things in the game are permanent. It doesn't matter if Selene is decked out with the best weapons, the coolest parasites, and the most amazing artifacts Atropos has to offer, if she dies, they are all gone. When players first find a Datacube, it is definitely unclear as to what they do, with the only hint players have being that they should deposit it into a matching device. If they do so, they are told it will permanently unlock that item design for future cycles. Permanent is definitely a major buzzword, so players will want to find where to deposit these ASAP.
Unlike other Xenotech upgrades in Returnal, the Datacubes themselves are not permanent. If players die while carrying one, they will still lose it just like any other item. That said, if they manage to make it to a Datacube Processor, they will permanently unlock the item and add it to the loot pool in their future runs.
While most things in Returnal are random, Datacube Processors aren't, so players will have to go to a specific place in order to find these. The first Datacube Processor is located by the teleporter after players defeat Returnal's first boss, Phrike. In the Crimson Wastes, there is a Datacube Processor right before the boss room, but it requires the grappling hook to reach. The third biome has its Datacube Processor right before the boss as well. In Biome 4, players will find it at the base of the tower at the end, and the fifth biome places it right at the start in the main hub. Finally, the last Datacube Processor is located right after the final boss room.
Players can only carry one Datacube at a time, so if they find more than one they'll have to pick which items sound more important to them. When putting a Datacube into a processor, players will unlock that item for the loot pool in future runs but also get one copy of it immediately. This makes hunting down Datacubes beneficial for the current run as well as the next one.
All total, there are 18 items to be unlocked through Datacubes. Some of these are consumable items and others can be artifacts. Regardless, they are all useful, and it will definitely help to have these added to the item pool. Particularly the Damage Siphon consumable, which lets players heal from damaging enemies until they take two hits.
Returnal is available now on PS5.
