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.

A game which excels in atmosphere, graphics, plot and challenge. The music was incredible and the atmosphere was so enjoyable that playing in the levels was a joy. The game has so many weapons with sub traits that make the weapons feel so different. Some weapons can make the game cheesable whilst others make it far more challenging. Whilst I completed the game, I didn't have the heart to go for the secret ending.

My issue was that the difficulty spike in Biome 5 is incredible. In fact half my entire play time (- 20+hrs) was spent on that Biome and honestly grinded my gears. I was exhausted after, however regardless of my lack of skill- I can only hold this in such high esteem. This is most likely the best game on PS5 and with the dual shock controller, a delight to experience. So what are you waiting for?

I REALLY want to score this game higher because the story and themes are amazing and the gameplay was okay for the most part. But the last biome is unironically one of the worst things I have ever seen in gaming as a whole and it's design and philosophy go directly against what the devs accomplished in earlier portions of the game. I beat the entire game, collected all pieces for the secret ending, saw the last home scene and on my way to the last boss I got grazed by a fucking shockwave attack going though the floor. I didn't even die, but I still took out the disk and decided I'm done with the game. I was tired of asking myself why do I only ever take damage when the visibility is dogshit or something teleports behind me or a shockwave comes from behind a wall, or when I'm in the air with limited movement options. I feel like when you take Retunal under the microscope you start seeing this everywhere. Why are there attacks that penetrate walls and floors below you, which results in truly unavoidable hits? Why design all these awesome risk/reward mechanics when the optimal strategy in EVERY SINGLE RUN is to never engage with them? Why do 75% of the weapons just straight-up suck? Why are there so many artifacts that do next to nothing or are just worse versions of other artifacts in the game? Why did the devs pick one of the most gameplay-heavy genres if their primary objective was to tell a story? If Returnal was not a roguelike and just a story-driven experience I would gladly give it an 8 or a 9. But it is a roguelike and I have to compare it to other roguelikes, and they all fucking sweep it with no effort.

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.

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.

Not a huge fan of rogue like games, but great game, great atmosphere, solid gameplay and world.

Difficulty as fuck

I would say could have a little more story, but I didn't explore all of it.