Returnal Review (Best PS5 Exclusive?)

When Housemarque said arcade was dead in 2017 after the critical success and commercial failure of Nex Machina, what they should have said was that they need arcade to evolve and they will be the ones to do it. Roguelike, bullethell, Soulslike, third person shooter, Metroidvania; call it whatever you want to call it, Returnal is a fantastic game that doesn’t need to fit into any box, yes its well worth full price and let me tell you why

Expectations Vs Reality

Expectations are typically a very bad thing, especially when it comes to games. Returnal was one of a handful of games that were on my list of most anticipated games of 2021. Resogun, Dead Nation, Alienation and many other titles from Housemarque that hooked me in deeply. I am also huge fan of science fiction when done properly.

With expectations, you build something up in your mind which is hard to meet, which usually leads to disappointment when it doesn’t need to be there. For example I am always hoping for the next Until Dawn from Supermassive games, which is likely the reason I am constantly underwhelmed from their subsequent work in the genre.

From the very first moment of Returnal, Housemarque is creating a universe worth exploring again and again and again. It’s the immediate attention to detail that makes this universe feel authentic and immersive. From the green tinged 80’s era computers that are reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Alien or the way the audio changes depending on if you’re in third or first person mode to amplify being in the spacesuit or outside, the atmosphere is engrossing.

Its the little things that make the big differences. I remember the first time Nathan Drake in Uncharted got his jeans wet, my mind was blown at this small yet realistic feature. In Returnal, when moving the camera in third person, Selene also looks to the area that you are moving the camera towards. I have played a lot of third person games and I have never seen this and never would have thought of it. It’s features like this that show just how much passion Housemarque put into designing Returnal

Having only truly experienced the next generation thinking behind the DualSense in Astro’s Playroom and having turned it off it nearly every other game it has been implemented to since. The thought started to creep into my mind that the Haptic Feedback and the Adaptive triggers were just going to be another gimmick like the PS4 touch pad, the PS move, or Xbox Kinect. All technologies that failed to catch on due to their gimmick nature instead of seamlessly adding a new layer of gaming.

Returnal finally shows promise for the future of the DualSense and sometimes all it takes for fire is a spark. Hopefully other studios can take notice of how to use the features to their utmost potential. When firing your weapon, you have three options. You can hip fire, you can hold the trigger down half when to activate a slightly more focused aim and you can also hold the trigger down all the way to active an alternate fire mode.

Having alternate fire remain on the trigger and not another button keeps the experience immersive and allows you to execute other complex actions in an attempt to survive longer. Although, sometimes the stress of the situation can cause you to hold the trigger down which is a problem when you don’t have the alternate fire charged and aren’t not attacking the enemy.

Returnal drip feeds you at the perfect pace. Whether you are slowly being fed story bits about Selene and her place on Atropos, whether you are learning about the extra terrestrials living on the planet or slowly unlocking a new ability or power. In the first few moments of exploration of Atropos you learn that you can sprint, dash and jump but it doesn’t feel necessary.

Smash cut to 30-45 minutes later and you are basically in constant motion similar to the Doom Slayer dashing through enemy attacks, jumping over huge holes and sprinting to the action trying to collect as much resources as you can. However, the pace at which Housemarque teaches you the effectiveness of each of these elements allows you to add it to your arsenal and properly learn it first.

Games often remind you of playing something else and I can stop but feeling like I am playing a modern version of Metroid Prime, which is one of the best games I ever played. Returnal creates the same isolation on Atropos that Samus found on Tallon IV. This is created by the vast size of the environments but also in the subdued score that lingers in the background. The most obvious similarity with Metroid Prime is the 3D map that is very easy to navigate and understand where you can go and what each item means.

The influence goes much deeper from scanning new items, resources and learning about new enemies as you defeat them and adding that information to your data bank. Traversing the ground and discovering areas that are clearly not ready to be explored such as water that clearly has items in it, red force field type walls, vines that can be clearly be broken or burned and light bridges that can likely be grappled eventually. You can even turn into a ball when you get to certain areas of the map that teleport you to new locations.

I struggle to find any genuine faults with Returnal. The visuals are stunning, from the frame rate that doesn’t stutter, no matter how many things are happening at the screen at once the impressive art style that has been used to create Atropos. Audio is impressive with from the score playing in the background that creates a moody, atmospheric planet to the sound of each weapon to each item sounding different on the map. The Gameplay loop is engaging, forcing you to go continue on your journey creating a tougher challenge with each room to explore yet never feeling unfair.

There are some small criticisms though, including weapon and items that drop during battle can sometimes be very distracting as the description of the item takes up the majority of the screen which obfuscates your view while you are trying to survive during a long run. The other major issue is that there is no way to save your game mid run, which I understand that people would take advantage and save scum. Hades also didn’t have a save point during each run but it didn’t matter because the Nintendo Switch had the ability to turn off and return to the exact moment you were when you left.

The PS5 Rest Mode on the other hand has been extremely buggy. Sure enough after a nearly hour long run, life came calling and against my better judgment listened to Housemarque who said you can use Rest Mode. Sure enough, The PS5 hard crashed, the database had to be rebuilt and all progress was lost. Another time I left my PS5 running like my NES from the 90’s and sure enough someone accidentally hit a button on the controller that started another gaming causing me to lose another good run. Unfortunately, this is more of a Sony problem and less of a Returnal problem but at the moment they are intertwined.

Finally the story is a mystery that you want to unfold by going farther during each run. Returnal makes me want to read the datalogs to find out more about Selene. If a game can make you want to pause the action to read, it’s clearly doing things right.

There are so many mysteries that I want answers to from why Selene is already dead on this planet, why her house from earth on this distant planet, what happened to the civilization of xenomorphs that lived on Atropos, why is a cosmonaut haunting me and many more. Returnal is checking all the boxes.

Horizon Zero Returnal

To label Returnal an arcade game is truly a disservice to a fantastic game. There are elements from their previous titles that are clearly on full display here including making one more room so easy to do and intriguing. You always want to see what’s behind the next door and minutes easily melt into hours, which is a sure sign of a great game.

Typically when creating these first 48 reviews, I play for a little over 48 minutes and then begin writing or stop playing and digest what I just played. When playing Returnal, it was hard to stop playing after just 48 minutes, and instead kept playing for a few hours and immediately couldn’t wait to come back to it.

Not only did Returnal match my expectations as one of my most anticipated games of the year but it has drastically exceeded them in the process. In one game, Housemarque has gone from a studio that used to make smaller, arcade titles to blockbuster studio that people are going to be taking notice of moving forward. Housemarque has not only created the best PS5 exclusive, but they have also created a strong game of the year candidate.