Returnal is a 2021 roguelike third-person shooter video game developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It follows Selene Vassos, an astronaut who lands on the planet Atropos in search of the mysterious "White Shadow" signal and finds herself trapped in a time loop. After crash-landing on a shape-shifting alien planet, Selene finds herself fighting tooth and nail for survival. Every time she’s defeated, the player is forced to restart the journey.
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I've debated for a long time whether to play this game, afraid that I wouldn't like the roguelike style. While roguelike still has a long way to go before becoming my favourite genre, as I am fond of permanent character development and builds, this game is nothing short of phenomenal and is easily one of the best first-party games available on PS5.
The game looks and runs fantastically, and particular praise should go to the excellent sound design. Returnal can also be notoriously challenging, where mistakes are heavily punished and good runs can be quickly ruined by even minor missteps. Luckily, the suspend feature that was retroactively added, together with the almost non-existent loading times, makes everything more manageable.
The completionist side, however, can be extremely tedious, with heavy RNG elements and repeated runs for collectables that contradict how the game was intended to be played.
The game looks and runs fantastically, and particular praise should go to the excellent sound design. Returnal can also be notoriously challenging, where mistakes are heavily punished and good runs can be quickly ruined by even minor missteps. Luckily, the suspend feature that was retroactively added, together with the almost non-existent loading times, makes everything more manageable.
The completionist side, however, can be extremely tedious, with heavy RNG elements and repeated runs for collectables that contradict how the game was intended to be played.
I do not think this game is as hard as some people are making it out to be, it is just very unforgiving when you die. Like if there was saves right before the boss fights then people would die maybe a couple times but then beat, like they are not actually that difficult. It is just the loss of so much progress that makes it "difficult". Anyway, it is a very fun game. peaked at the Nemesis boss fight tho
excellent roguelike, it's really challenging and fun
In my opinion, This game does a lot of things extremely well but being a good rogue-like is DEFINITELY not one them.
I would buy a PS5 just for this game. This is a console seller much like Demons Souls was for me.
The absolute hardcore difficulty of it with an absolutely mine boggling story that is a heart wrenching all while having some of the best gameplay I’ve ever experience as well as showcasing just how amazing the DualSense is as a controller, makes Returnal easily one of the best games I’ve ever played.
It’s a shame that the games difficulty turns away so many players because it genuinely is an experience unlike any other.
If you’re a fan of Hades and Binding of Isaac, imagine a third person bullet hell version of that with intense horror elements. That’s what this game is and it hits every single note that it’s trying to achieve and expands on already existing ideas.
It takes the run based genre and goes with a heavy story that is gripping from the start. It may have some of the best atmospheric story telling in any game I’ve played. It matches the Souls series in every way. Subtle references lie in wait, alien dialect reveals the plot in strange ways.
The entire meaning of the game is so gorgeous and so impactful. I was left stunned by its ending.
It is hard to talk about this fantastic game without mentioning the controller and audio design.
I was always concerned the DuelSense would be a gimmick but Returnal proves it’s not. Every gun feels different. Every step I take, every bit of rain, every enemy attack feels and waves past the controller that immerses beyond just seeing what’s on the screen.
The audio as well, is just gorgeous. You honestly can tell where enemies are by the slight sound behind you with the 3D audio. It genuinely helped me in tight spots and every second matters in this game.
Returnal is honestly a fun, unique, extremely loveable game that sadly is turned away by it’s difficulty.
It deserves a round of a million applauses and has easily spiked itself up into my top PlayStation games of all time.
From the bottom of my run based heart.
The absolute hardcore difficulty of it with an absolutely mine boggling story that is a heart wrenching all while having some of the best gameplay I’ve ever experience as well as showcasing just how amazing the DualSense is as a controller, makes Returnal easily one of the best games I’ve ever played.
It’s a shame that the games difficulty turns away so many players because it genuinely is an experience unlike any other.
If you’re a fan of Hades and Binding of Isaac, imagine a third person bullet hell version of that with intense horror elements. That’s what this game is and it hits every single note that it’s trying to achieve and expands on already existing ideas.
It takes the run based genre and goes with a heavy story that is gripping from the start. It may have some of the best atmospheric story telling in any game I’ve played. It matches the Souls series in every way. Subtle references lie in wait, alien dialect reveals the plot in strange ways.
The entire meaning of the game is so gorgeous and so impactful. I was left stunned by its ending.
It is hard to talk about this fantastic game without mentioning the controller and audio design.
I was always concerned the DuelSense would be a gimmick but Returnal proves it’s not. Every gun feels different. Every step I take, every bit of rain, every enemy attack feels and waves past the controller that immerses beyond just seeing what’s on the screen.
The audio as well, is just gorgeous. You honestly can tell where enemies are by the slight sound behind you with the 3D audio. It genuinely helped me in tight spots and every second matters in this game.
Returnal is honestly a fun, unique, extremely loveable game that sadly is turned away by it’s difficulty.
It deserves a round of a million applauses and has easily spiked itself up into my top PlayStation games of all time.
From the bottom of my run based heart.
Imma be completely honest: I didn't beat this game legitly. For the last 2 bosses I save scummed hard (But I genuinely did first try the final boss! I swear! Well the "final boss" for act 2).
This game is WAY too hard for me. I thought the boss run backs in Dark Souls were mean, this shit is next level. The first time I tried this game I was so pissed off when I learned how harsh it is when you die. I hated it, deleted it and said fuck it. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. I loved the gameplay and had fun playing it. I even looked up tips on how to get better. The bosses are so cool and their attacks are pretty.
It's a great game and I respect the hell out of it. It's just extremely hard and unforgiving and I couldn't beat it legitly without going insane. The enemy spam go crazy.
This game is WAY too hard for me. I thought the boss run backs in Dark Souls were mean, this shit is next level. The first time I tried this game I was so pissed off when I learned how harsh it is when you die. I hated it, deleted it and said fuck it. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. I loved the gameplay and had fun playing it. I even looked up tips on how to get better. The bosses are so cool and their attacks are pretty.
It's a great game and I respect the hell out of it. It's just extremely hard and unforgiving and I couldn't beat it legitly without going insane. The enemy spam go crazy.