Returnal

There was a point in time where I wasn't sure if this review would happen. 

Returnal is one of the most difficult - and demoralizing - games I've ever played in my life. It chewed me up and spit me out, over 50 times. There were moments where I loathed it. I'd spend 90 minutes with it after a hard day at work and get no where, going upstairs to bed, defeated. 

But it's also a game I couldn't stop thinking about, or playing. For every handful of deaths I'd endure, there would be a play session where I'd do really well, potentially even beating a boss and then enter a new biome. There was something pulling me back in, just like the mysterious something that keeps pulling our protagonist, Selene, back to this world.

It's perhaps the most love-hate relationship I've ever had with a game, which I recognize makes it a hard sell, but given that it's one of the few, true PlayStation 5 exclusives right now (this is not on PS4), it makes it a must-play in my book. 

This game will help you show off that PS5 for DAMN sure...

Misses a photo mode though...
(unless I just didn't find it)

Returnal comes from Housemarque, the developer behind many smaller, but addicting games throughout PlayStation's lifecycle. Resogun, for example, was a fun launch title on PS4. As companies do, they realized they needed to graduate from small games into something approaching a AAA release, particularly if they were going to join the PS-exclusive "big dogs". With Returnal, they've officially arrived and proven they can handle a game of this scale. Sure, I have my complaints about the game that I'll get into, but this is a massive step forward for themselves and they should be proud. And PlayStation should be making this a new, lasting IP (I'd be shocked if there was no sequel). 

The story, while featuring an odd ending, is a mysterious sci-fi tale that's right up my alley and part of what kept me going. Selene crashes on an alien planet, begins investigating, finds a dead body...of herself...and then dies. Upon death, she immediately wakes back up at her crashed ship, stuck in a seemingly infinite loop. She must press forward and investigate if she wants to solve it all. Again, aside from an ending that felt unfinished (though to be fair, I've not gotten the "secret ending"), the story is engaging. It doesn't answer all questions, which is why I think we need a sequel, but as it begins to elaborate more, I was impressed. Particularly around the halfway point, there's a crushing moment that really made me feel for Selene, and me as a player, having to go through this "torture". For as "mature" as the game feels, I'm a bit surprised it's rated Teen, but there's also no blood or gore...it just feels...heavy. 

Given that Selene dies a lot, that means that you'll be dying a lot. Based in the roguelike genre of gameplay, Returnal has you pressing ever forward in a procedurally-generated world (meaning the layout is different every time). Death is permanent, meaning that you lose all gear and power ups, starting back over at your crashed ship. This type of gameplay is completely new to me and honestly? I didn't hate it, but I certainly don't love it either, nor does Returnal "nail" it, even if it is likely the biggest-budget game to use it to date. Dying after a 10-15 minute run isn't bad, but Returnal's problem, which has lead to some controversy, is that runs can go upwards of 60-90 minutes. My longest run in the game was just shy of 4 hours. Gamers have called for a save system, which I'm not sure is totally the solution, but there is definitely something that needs to be done within Returnal to address the length of its runs. There's literally no situation, even a lazy Saturday afternoon, in which I would want to start a new run right after dying in a 90 minute one. It's too demoralizing. And then you have the nearly 4 hour run in which I beat the game where my version of Selene was so stacked that dying just wasn't an option. Thanks to a bulls**t room filled with ~ 40 enemies, I nearly did (thanks "procedural" generation!) but luckily I didn't and was able to face the final boss. As stoked as I was to have made it through the game, the balance also felt wickedly off from what I'd experienced the first half. The first half of the game required probably 35-40 deaths for me to make it through, the back half only required around 10. Yes, I had gotten better, but by that much? Suffice it to say that, while I generally "like" this roguelike idea, Returnal has some kinks to work out, and in terms of recommending it to people who may be challenge-adverse I'd say: read the rest of this review, and then decide, because there are some things that Returnal absolutely crushes. 

Why yes! These will hurt you

I think more "permanent" items
would have helped the balance

Gameplay is one of those things. The overarching structure of the game may need some tuning, but holy-hell this is some of the best 3rd-person shooting gameplay I've ever experienced. Housemarque has always been good at the arcade-style gameplay, but here they've translated it into frantic, hectic, intense, and fluid shooting. Selene's abilities are vast, and focused on mobility and speed. To start, you can jump, dash, and shoot (accurately) both with and without aiming down the sights of your gun. Eventually you unlock a grapple hook. If that all sounds pretty basic, it's because it is, but the design and execution of it is nearly perfect and balanced with small nuances. For example, dashing - in the split second that you're performing the action - makes you invincible. This immediately opens up the strategy of either dashing out of the way of incoming projectiles OR into them, passing through them. Similarly, dashing is an effective way to get closer to an enemy quickly, using a powerful melee attack to do tons of damage. This extreme mobility and speed pairs perfectly with a vast weapon array that reminded me of Insomniac games like Resistance or Ratchet & Clank. There are 5+ different weapons (probably closer to 10) that all act unique, have different power ups to unlock, and have various secondary/power shots. Some are better than others for sure - a key component of my 4 hour run was having the Pylon Driver gun - but they all play unique, meaning you're bound to find one that suits your style. They all feel great too, thanks to the DualSense controller that provides subtle vibrations when you fire. Instead of reloading, there's an "active reload" (similar to Gears of War) where you'll immediately discharge the weapon's heat and be able to fire again. When firing down the sights, you'll hold the aim trigger down halfway, while pushing it down fully allows you to fire the secondary shot. That shot has a cool down that, when complete, allows you to fire it again. If that sounds like a lot of detail, it's because it is to emphasize that all of this is accomplished with vibration and sound from the controller. It works flawlessly and Returnal (aside from Astrobot's Playroom) is probably the best use of this awesome controller yet. I'm not sure there was a more satisfying (and desperate) feeling than being in the middle of a tense firefight, and your controller pulses harshly, exuding a screech/yelp signaling your secondary fire has cooled down.

So yeah, you're going to be dodging a LOT of those gorgeous orbs

Returnal is also a mostly impressive outing for the PS5's power. The lack of load times are still jarring...I can go from opening the game in the homescreen to playing in < 10 seconds. I imagine the randomly generated segments of each of the 6 biomes takes up some horsepower too and it's quite a lot of playthrough before you start to see everything the first couple worlds have to offer. Environments themselves are gorgeous, but range from detailed to a bit basic, but really it's the particle effects that will be sweet, sweet, graphical music to your eyes here. Enemy orbs and lasers slide effortlessly across your screen, never slowing down the action no matter how many there are. Certain action's - like a melee attack - will cause enemies to shatter in a million little, gorgeous particles, and other ones like fast travel are just another sexy tech demo where we start to get to see the early power of this machine.

The sound - like most good sci-fi - is well detailed here too. Weapons sound unique and certain ones punch hard, enemies sound threatening, the environment has creeps and crawls within the audio, and the controller is the MVP with subtle sounds that emanate from it (like the aforementioned secondary fire squeal). There's also a stellar original score. I'm not sure it's one I'd listen to in my free time, but it compliments the game well, particularly in the tense moments, using music as a signal for nearby enemies. 

The underwater biome is trippy...and features lots of bubbles!

For $70 I find there's a lot of game here too, largely by the design of dying a lot. With that you get 6 quite-different biomes that range from jungle to snow to desert to underwater and more. Each one feels distinct aesthetically and comes with unique layouts that build the "random" maps you encounter. Perhaps most impressive (and one of the absolute strengths of the game) is the enemy variety that's wildly different in each map. Within each map there's good variety, and from map to map it sometimes feels like a completely different game. For example, in the first biome the core enemy is ground-based "animals" that will fire orbs at you in straight or horizontal lines. But in biome 3? There are mostly flying creatures who will fire tons of rockets at you, before dive bombing and/or releasing laser rings (probably one of the more frustrating biomes TBH). Either way, having 30+ enemies is still insane for any game, and it helps Returnal stay fresh from run to run and biome to biome.

I'll reiterate that Returnal is a hard game for me to recommend, despite my praise for it and the high score below. I ended up really liking it, thanks to some awesome runs near the end, but I also have to imagine there's a separate timeline where I'm still on biome 4 and unable to progress forward. If difficulty is no issue to you or you don't care how long it takes you to beat a game, then Returnal is essential to your PS5 for the moment-to-moment gameplay alone. If 60-90 minute runs that only result in some incremental stat increases to weapons don't sound fruitful to you, then you may want to wait for a discount OR if they truly do figure out a save system and patch it. It's for this reason that I sincerely hope Returnal gets a sequel because the foundation upon which its built is some of the strongest I've ever seen in a new IP and I feel like there's a lot of life left to live in this series.

CONS

• I'm not sure what the solution is - I feel like save points is dramatic - but the game does have a pacing issue. 90 minutes to die is really hard to take, but then I basically beat the back half on a single run...so I'm not sure what that was about
• Call it some "off" sessions or whatever you want but there were definitely times I felt the "randomness" was straight up bulls**t
• Disappointing ending that didn't tell me much, even though I think it thought it was a big reveal?
• Handful of weapons I'd classify as "useless"

PROS

• Selene is yet another strong [female] PlayStation protagonist. She's a compelling character and the story around her is a mysterious sci-fi tale that keeps you hooked
• Despite the Teen rating, there's an appropriate amount of mature material here (themes around loneliness and immortality) and horror of being on an alien planet
• My God is the gameplay incredible! Moment-to-moment, this game sings
• Particularly the speed and agility that's available...it's a game that looks poetic in motion and the controls are basic, but hard to master
• Fun plethora of power-ups, consumables, and "malignant" items that force you to choice/risk a hindrance in exchange for a reward. The balance of these is mostly on point
• The weapon choices are distinct and each feel VERY different while enemy variety is similarly impressive, changing drastically from biome to biome
• Unlocking things, while slow, keeps the game addicting
• Stunning graphics all around that showcase most of what the PS5 can do, especially around particle effects and load times
• Great sound design both in sound effects, controller sound, and original score
• Awesome use of the DualSense controller with vibration and haptic triggers, not to mention the speakers. I continue to adore this new controller
• Variety of biomes is impressive and there's a lot of game here when you consider how often you'll die at the beginning, not to mention challenge runs and collecting everything
• Exciting boss battles that are grand and, quite frankly, terrifying
• Frustrating as all hell at times, but ultimately almost impossible to put down, Returnal is a love-hate game that I'll look back on with fond memories, despite the pain

Rath's Review Score | 8.5/10