[Review] Returnal, an Exciting Life and Death Cycle!

It doesn’t feel like we’ve passed half a year since the console generation transition, and who would have thought that until now the existence of the PlayStation 5 is still very rare in the market. It is understandable indeed, because the production of the console itself is indeed limited and is likely to continue like this throughout 2021. The desire to buy the PS5 is certainly driven by curiosity about the new exclusive games that will be presented on the console, and coincidentally last week we had another one. The new title is Returnal.

To be honest, when this game was first announced our enthusiasm was almost non-existent. However, after seeing several new trailers including the appearance of the gameplay, the disinterest immediately turned into a great desire to be able to taste it immediately. One big factor that attracted us the most to this game lies in the concept of Roguelite it offers, which is indeed an unexpected approach to this game, but at the same time is a reckless concept that ultimately caught our interest.

Incidentally we’ve had the opportunity to play the game for the past week and got enough impressions to be summarized in a review. For that, for those of you who are curious about the quality, without lingering, just look at the summary below!

Storyline

The Roguelite game is indeed famous for its high difficulty level and focuses more on the gameplay cycle that forces you to GIT GUD, but this is not a reason not to include an interesting portion of the story, right? For Returnal, the story is meticulously integrated into the Roguelite theme itself. So in this game you play as an explorer named Selene Vassos who is a member of ASTRA Corporation, who one day gets a signal that seems familiar and ends up pulling her to a dangerous planet called Atropos.

After arriving on the planet, Selene is faced with a strange and surprising event, where she finds the bodies of her dead. It turns out that this is because time will rewind every time Selene dies and then take her to the starting point before she lands on the planet. In addition to the different environmental patterns each time she does a reset, Selene will also feel a kind of strange vision that further strengthens the mystery element in the story.

Simple but clever, this is what makes us really fall in love with the concept of a story in a Roguelite game like this. Moreover, Returnal is presented as an exclusive third-person action game with an AAA scale, so you can get a different sensation that may not be found in most indie games with similar genres. So in terms of the story, we don’t have many complaints, because the concept is interesting and there is always a mystery that makes you more motivated to continue making progress.

In terms of presentation itself, this game also looks charming, especially from the tense atmosphere of the planet Atropos regardless of how often you are enlivened with battles against aliens. One criticism from us may be related to the art style approach that lacks a strong identity, for example how the alien design in this game feels like a random concept that anyone can come up with when asked to draw an alien. For a PlayStation exclusive game, we must admit that we expected a more prominent art style from it.

Intense and Brutal Gameplay

We are happy to be able to confirm that the gameplay in Returnal is really fun and in line with expectations as a Roguelite game. The gameplay is built with a third-person shooter system that forces you to always move and protect yourself from enemy threats, moreover this is increasingly emphasized because there is no cover system for cover. The characters you play have weak defenses and die easily if you’re not careful, so you can’t equate this game with Dead Space or other TPS games, actually it can still be compared to DOOM, only the difference is that the character you play is weaker and must be controlled with extra care.

You are equipped with shooting weapons that have various different types, depending on which weapon you managed to get in each gameplay cycle. Each weapon has unlimited ammo, but there are conditions where the weapon you use can experience Overload as well. To strengthen it, there are different types of shots that you can pair such as Blast Shell which can fire grenade bullets to give extra explosive damage.

In addition to shooting weapons, you can later use a sword that is useful as a melee-type weapon. This is a weapon that has high damage and can even finish off weak enemies in one hit. The attack pattern is only a wide swing that doesn’t have combos, so you only need to use it at some crucial moments, for example, like destroying enemy shields that can only be penetrated with this weapon.

There is also an Adrenaline mechanism that allows you to get extra buffs. Usually Adrenaline is divided into several Levels, where each level can be achieved by defeating several enemies without being hit. For example, Adrenaline Level 3 can deal extra damage for melee attacks. This mechanism not only helps your character to get the extra buffs needed to fight tough enemies, but also motivates you to hunt more enemies instead of hiding from danger. Once again, this is a Roguelite game, so you are indeed required to be more daring and not afraid of failure.

The gameplay sensations that Returnal offers are really exciting, intense, and brutal, which makes every battle path can make the heart beat. Whether it’s from the adrenaline rush from the fear of defeat, getting carried away from the current flowing battle, or because you really want to reach a high Adrenaline level, it feels like there are various sensations that you can feel at any time. Again, for this aspect we don’t have many problems, apart from maybe some types of enemies that are too troublesome and less fun to fight, such as flying aliens that have thick defenses and can only be effectively penetrated with melee attacks.

LIVE.DIE.REPEAT

It’s not a Roguelite game if you’re not thrown all the time to the beginning of the level to repeat all the progress from the beginning again. Cruel indeed, but this is the main attraction of this genre which is increasingly gaining acceptance among gamers, and Returnal is a new proof of that recognition.

Before being thrown back to the starting point of the game, you will take a brutal adventure through various maps on the planet Atropos which will slowly but surely become increasingly crowded with dangerous aliens. Exploration plays an important role, because you can get access to various useful items to strengthen your character. For example, Parasite which can add extra buffs such as DEF but with side effects, or Artifact which is a valuable modifier item with effects such as +25% HP or a chance to come back to life in the same spot when dead.

Not all items you find on Atropos can be profitable, because there are also items with Malignant status that can cause your astronaut costume to malfunction. When hit by a malfunction, your character will be exposed to a debuff that makes your fighting ability very weak and has the potential to lead to defeat. Fortunately, this debuff can be overcome by completing a special mission, such as defeating a certain number of enemies.

When your character dies and has to restart from the starting point, you will lose all valuable items except the sword and the Ether you got. So the concept of repeating from the beginning again is right on target and you have to face an uphill battle again to get these items and weapons over and over again. Unfortunately, your hard struggle can often go unpaid because the loot system is too stingy, like how to get good loot can take a long time and have to go through an uphill battle that often ends in vain.

There will be many moments where you will find a brutal defeat like this. We wouldn’t even be surprised if someone went to the point of slamming their controller in frustration. One thing that is clear is that, like other Roguelite games, Returnal does not compromise and really forces you to face the failures to become a more perfect gameplay. The point is not to be too forced and take a break to calm down before you are ready to plunge back into hell.

Make the Most of PlayStation 5 Exclusive Features

If there is one reason why Returnal deserves to be called a true exclusive game on the PlayStation 5, then the answer lies in how perfectly this game utilizes the features and technology on the console. Adaptive Trigger and Haptic Feedback feels great, like how the shooting sensation has a stronger intensity or how there is a pounding sensation when an alien approaches your character. Until now we are still difficult to describe the sensation of the Dualsense controller, because this is something you really have to experience for yourself until you are sure that the technology is not just a gimmick.

The loading times are also very fast and keep you in the flow of the game almost every day. The developer also recommends players to use 3D audio to play this game, but unfortunately we couldn’t get that opportunity due to device limitations.

Conclusion

Finding flaws in Returnal was an even more difficult task for us than solving them. This is because the game is designed with the Roguelite concept in excellent AAA quality. Starting from the mysterious storyline, the gripping atmosphere of the unknown planet, to the intense TPS gameplay that is very exciting and evocative, we don’t think it will be difficult to recommend it to various gamers who are not even familiar with this frustrating genre.

One thing that we might consider as the most crucial drawback is the loot system that is less than optimal, such as how you need extra hard work to get good loot, and how the type of enemy doesn’t really affect the luck factor. We also have a small critique of the game’s art style, which might be considered too generic and lacking in identity, something that feels almost hard to find from a PlayStation exclusive game.

Excess	Lack
Interesting storyline and full of mystery	The loot system can be further refined
GGameplay third-person shooter that’s really fun	Art style approach that seems generic
Addictive challenging difficulty levels
The eerie atmosphere of the planet Atropos
Maximum utilization of PS5 technology

Final Score:

8.5/10

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Return

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer: Housemarque

Release Date: 2021-04-30

PS5

Returnal is a new third-person shooter game from Housemarque which was developed especially for the PlayStation 5. Carrying a science-fiction theme with a touch of horror, players will be taken on the adventures of a pilot named Selene on a dangerous mission through the mysterious world of outer space.