RETURNAL REVIEW PS4

When she wakes, a reassuring “I’ve got to keep going” highlights Selene’s determination – not just to succeed, but to avoid the unrecognisable versions of herself that we hear over the audio logs.Īnd this determination, mixed with the cranking tension embedded into the roguelike genre, makes Returnal an absolute treat. With audio logs found across Atropos – lying next to the scattered forbidding corpses of Selene’s past cycles – we get glimpses into the various mental states the endless cycle pushes her into. Perhaps more surprising is that, at the fore of this story, is a tale of mental health.

Why are you here? Why does Atropos morph on each run? Why is your 20th-century house slap bang in the middle of an alien planet? And who is the ominous Astronaut that stalks you from afar? Not everyone will be happy with the way in which these questions are answered, but they left me eager to delve once more into the dreaded loop. Unlike a lot of roguelikes, however, Returnal sinks its narrative hooks in, leaving you as intrigued narratively as you are for gameplay or setting. With sinister fog coating the floors, the darkly colourful enemies become all the more terrifying, especially as they send you packing right back to the start upon blasting you to death. The dense maze is a feast for the eyes, as intimidating statues of alien beings stand tall, and monolithic structures hint at an impressive civilization long since gone. Giger inspired, nightmarish environment of Atropos, which felt like the realised potential of the disappointing Alien Covenant. She finds herself stuck in a loop that she must fight her way through. Selene, a planet scout, crashes on the “forbidden” planet of Atropos. Yet Returnal is a strange concoction of their arcade roots, AAA budgets, and the natural evolution of the roguelike.

RETURNAL REVIEW PS4

Returnal is the latest from Housemarque, the seasoned shoot-em-ups devs behind brilliant PS4 launch title Resogun, among others. Yet as I have familiarized myself with the dangerous depths of Atropos, it became clear that the next-gen experience had finally arrived. I grew tired of Demon’s Souls, I finished Miles Morales in an afternoon, and Destruction Allstars was … well, it was Destruction Allstars. Six months from its launch, my PlayStation 5 has been searching for a purpose.

Returnal review