Returnal Review
Returnal is a great game, and I absolutely recommend it. Can’t share too much as to why, but I’ll do my best to convince you!
Returnal is a great game, and I absolutely recommend it.
For my roguelite enthusiasts, I’ll put it this way. Imagine a AAA game built loosely around the Risk of Rain 2 Commando and their kit. Give the hypothetical game bosses with Dark Souls levels of difficulty. String several excellently themed areas together as if it were an action RPG. Boom. That’ll get your mind pretty close to how Returnal plays, and man, it is fun.
One reason to enjoy it: The gameplay is so tight and refined. I played on a PS5 controller on PC and thought that might impair how I normally play with mouse and keyboard but it didn’t. Guns feel strong and impactful. While playing, the music increases in intensity as the tension rises, and as you attempt to clear rooms and waves of enemies without taking damage. It creates amazing spectacle encounters in every room and can often make you feel the pressure of your potential demise. Sure, there are still times you can live out your power fantasy (as roguelites tend to let you do), as an unkillable god-being, but it’s these intense one-off runs facing death itself that make your spontaneous god-runs feel oh so satisfying.
The other part about Returnal that really made me fall in love with it is the mystery. The more you play the more you (think you) understand. You’ll find glyphs in your run and slowly translate them into strange little conundrums. You’ll find ruins of civilization and strange creatures inhabiting this odd world. Death is a part of the lore as well, so you’re trying to understand the time loop. Just when you think you understand this game it gives you a well-earned reveal that changes your entire perspective. Not everything is as it seems. The twists in here go harder than freakin’ Shamylan and I lived for them. I wish I could share more, but it’s just best if you find these glorious moments yourself… and trust me. Understanding more about the game will just cheapen the experience. It is a wild and exceptionally good ride.
That being said there is more for me to experience in Returnal that I have not experienced quite yet (2023 has been unpredictably amazing in terms of releases which has pressed me for time), but I don’t think completing these will change my opinion. I certainly intend to return (heh) soon of course. They can’t just tout a “true ending” without me finding it. But just know that my currently played 21 hours isn’t the reaaal end of the game.
I imagine most will complete the campaign in about 25 or so hours, and on top of that, you have the endless mode which is incredibly satisfying as well. Capitalizes on the speed and thrill of combat without the travel time that can make the “metroid-ing” around the campaign a little tiresome from moment to moment. Also has its own conundrum of a narrative it follows, which is quite cool. Aside, but co-op was something I wanted to try, but never got around to. Would probably be fun.
As far as some lower notes go: Ran into one unavoidable bug that is 100% replicatable and happens every time (I posted about it in community forums and their website). Not the greatest PC port in general really. It worked for me way better than other reviewers but YMMV. I also… had a difficult time with the time allotment this game presents itself with. What I mean by that is… If I’m not sure I’ll be gaming uninterrupted for like 2 hours I won’t even bother to turn on Returnal paha. You can save and quit during a run at any time… but every time I do that in other roguelites I come back and die, so I’m incentivized per my own experiences to play one run all the way through to completion. Returnal is VAST. Runs can take hours. If you’re stingy like me on saving and quitting you’ll find it a bit difficult in that way as well.
But overall this is such an awesome game, with so many incredible high notes. The gameplay and progression feel great, the narrative mystery is excellent, and the presentation is absolutely top-notch. Because of the bugs and the lack of support on PC, it would be wise to wait for it to go on a bit of a deeper sale, but seriously, if you’re looking for your next roguelite fix, I’m telling you right now, Returnal is a game you’re not going to want to miss.
Originally published 8 Sept 2023 at https://www.backloggd.com.