Returnal – Review

I wasn’t getting Returnal right up until the day before it released, when social media praise and high metacritic scores led me to believe that maybe this Rogue-Like is the one for me. I have never really been a fan of the genre, I usually find it tedious and repetitive, however, Returnal in some ways made this satisfying. With Sony recently acquiring Housemarque, lets see what I thought of the first major game that certainly made them take the next step toward purchasing Housemarque as a development studio.

Story –

The story of Returnal makes up a decent amount of the game. Selene, an astronaut who crash lands on an alien planet, is forced into trying to uncover the secrets behind the species, lore and other elements of the planet. Along with this, the incorporation of the Rogue-Like tropes being put into the story to make sense was something that I rather enjoyed, with Selene trying to discover how to break this endless cycle she has discovered herself in.

The story takes second-fiddle to the game-play, however it is decent enough to maintain the player’s interest throughout and will obviously take a lot of commitment to get through.

Rogue-Like –

Obviously if you know anything about Returnal you’ll know it is part of the Rogue-Like genre. I for one have played games in this genre before such as Enter the Gungeon and just generally found that these sorts of games are not for me. However, despite how hard Returnal sticks to the genre’s ideas, this was definitely the first time I have played a rogue-like and not found the resetting aspect to be tedious, pointless and annoying. It served a purpose, I think it also helped that it was adapted into the story to add meaning to the cycle.

Ability to Save During a Cycle –

For all the praise I stated about the genre’s tropes, I do think at times maybe Returnal sticks to the concept a little too much. The concept of having to leave your PS5 on rest-mode purely just because you have to do something can be quite annoying. Each cycle can take hours depending on how far you go and how much stuff you get in advance prepping for future biomes, it is quite ignorant in a way to think that players can commit half of their entire days to just this one game without taking a real break.

I am not saying resetting is a bad thing, far from it. However, I see little reason as for why the game resets when you turn off the console. It punishes you for having real-life commitments, not just dying in-game. There should definitely be a save system in-place for when you are in the middle of a cycle and are yet to die. For me, I think the lack of a save and quit system to the liking of which I have mentioned has almost made the game unenjoyable to play for the most part.

Stick to the Objective –

One thing I realised pretty early on is how easy it is to think that this game is just a mindless corridor fest. I found myself just going from room to room, taking out enemies, with no real idea of what I was actually trying to achieve. My best advice is to follow the main objective in the top-right of the screen. This is the ultimate guide and keeping it in mind as you go from room to room will allow you to add meaning to why you are going into these repetitive sequences and rooms. Stick to the objective.

Game-Play Elements –

The thing that keeps games like Returnal fresh amongst the constant restarting is the game-play elements. There is a variety of weaponry, each with specific alt-fire modes, all of which allow the player to eventually pick one that suits their style of play best pretty quickly into the game. Among the weaponry there is also the enhancers such as parasites, which allow the player to gain benefits but also lose something in return. Silphium resins which can be malignant and once again makes the player weigh a risk/reward scale and other general improvements such as consumables and artefacts that make the journey just that little bit easier.

Smoothness of Gun-Play and Movement –

Returnal is the first game on the PS5 to fully get the DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers right. Games like Demon’s Souls and Sackboy: A Big Adventure incorporated the features, but Returnal fully commits to them. This full commitment shows its benefits as it feeds into some of the most smooth and responsive gun-play I have ever experienced. Combined with movement that is satisfactory and smooth, it creates for a fun experience that allows repeating areas to be enjoyable.

Enemies –

Returnal is a game that is about remembering patterns. Although enemies are difficult, if you can remember their movements and attack patterns, it obviously becomes easier. My first encounter with the first boss of the game, Phrike, was a complete failure. It didn’t take me long to realise that this boss was easily the easiest boss in the entire game. Enemies aren’t as daunting as games like Demon’s Souls, however they do give you that immense satisfaction upon beating them.

Visuals and Graphics –

Now this will be probably the hottest take in the review, but Returnal doesn’t look that good… yes it has its moments, but on the most part I came across some genuinely awful graphical attempts. The atmosphere is down to a tee, but when you enter an eerie house and look in the mirror only to see Selene look like she is from the PS1 era, it does take away from the illusion a bit.

Elsewhere there is just some issues such as sudden pop-in, particularly in the opening cut-scene that plays. There is also the issue with textures and blurriness of elements such as fog, which you see most noticeably during the battle against Phrike. There is also notable bugs that have been shown online once again, such as personal issues that I experienced being sudden loud and painful audio distortions that sounded like high-pitched static, and on other occasions audio intermittently cutting out for no particular reason. As I said, despite these issues the game has its beautiful moments and the atmosphere of the worlds are great, it is just not up to par for an €80 AAA title on the PS5 in my opinion.

Conclusion –

Returnal is the first Rogue-Like to genuinely maintain my interest and not burn me out instantly. The game-play is unforgiving and definitely should include a save system during a cycle, the lack of this save system makes the game incredibly tedious and hard to commit to when living with a life outside of the PS5. Visually, the game is not up to scratch in many areas, but it also has its moments. Is the game worth the €80? No. I’d say it is more of a €50 game to be honest. However, it is still a premium experience and one that highlights and utilises the PS5’s controller and features perfectly.

Final Score – 7/10