Returnal has only been out for a few days now, but already it has cemented itself as a challenging game. In order to survive Atropos, players are encouraged to use everything they have available to them to create an advantage, but it isn't always this simple. Many things the player will come across provide useful bonuses but also some kind of drawback. The parasites are a great example of this, but the same principle holds true for Reclaimers. By examining this strange device, players can read the description that simply states: "a xeno-tech device for recycling materials. Output unknown." There is also a message accompanying this warning the player that they may lose integrity if they interact with it.
For those that aren't super familiar with the Returnal lingo, integrity is the game's version of health. Selene can survive on Atropos as long as her suit remains operational, and as players take damage, it loses integrity as a result. As such, it's in players' best interest to preserve integrity whenever possible.
Using the Reclaimer will see Selene lie down on the stone slab and fall asleep. She has some kind of nightmare, and then when she wakes up red energy surrounds the suit. After using the Reclaimer, players will take a big chunk of damage but they will also gain access to an artifact of some kind. It seems that the description of recycling materials is referring to recycling Selene's own suit integrity to make a new artifact. These artifacts can be very useful, but players will have to decide for themselves whether it is worth the damage.
There are a few important things to note about Reclaimers. First off, Reclaimers ignore shields, meaning even if a player has a shield from an item or a resinous shield, they will still take the full damage. Thankfully, it doesn't make the player lose their shield either despite dealing damage. Also, if the player is still in the first biome, they can use the Reclaimer and then return to Helios to rest and heal up. Keep in mind that this will still result in loss of Adrenaline, however.
Reclaimers can be incredibly useful tools in the right situation, but use them at the wrong time and they can doom a run. Players will want to think carefully before using them, taking into account what kinds of healing items they have available and whether or not they can afford the damage.
Returnal is available now on PS5.
