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Returnal Review
great
Its roguelike runs are too long and it needs a way to save in the middle of them, but Returnal's third-person shooter action, clever story, and atmosphere are excellent.
Mitchell Saltzman
Summary
Returnal transforms roguelike gameplay into a third-person shooter where players fight to survive a hostile planet that changes with every death.
Returnal News
I adore this game, but I have to admit that I’m not skilled enough to likely ever finish it. Dripping with atmosphere, Returnal is absolutely gorgeous and it plays every bit as good as it looks. Highly recommended for fans of roguelikes and arcade shooters, but be prepared for a very, very stiff challenge with ultra aggressive bosses!
Total playtime (so far): 26 hours
So addictive, I have not been hooked to a game in this way for many years. My reaction speeds aren't what they used to be and my son kicks my *** at most games these days, so, along with many, I found this game pretty frustating to begin with. Fact is that if you put the time in and persevere, things start to click. You start picking up better weapons, open up better traits for those weapons, better combat skills and your instinctive reactions improve and you get better at playing the game. After a while you have no fear of the challenge rooms and just see them as another way to hoover up items. In the end when you are fully stacked out then you are in control and it is payback time, feels good.
The whole basis of the game is replayability so you could theoretically keep replaying this game until the joints in your fingers ware out.
An incredibly underrated, unique gem of a game. Yes, it can be difficult, but the gameplay loop is so fun you don't mind starting over (and over) again.
10
This game is a slog, no doubt, but one that is very much worth the time and effort. You may have a good number of play throughs that end in nothing but disappointment but they're more than made up for when you get *that* run that feels oh so great. Would love some new content, if anyone from the developer happens to read this....
With Ragnarok it's probably the only game I'd bother buying a PS5 for, if ever in that situation again.
Most people will quit this game. It's an absolute masterpiece in my opinion. One of my favorites games of the last decade.
This is a game with which I had a love hate relationship. There are several great elements that are undone by a lack of a meaningful progression system and poor balancing of the risk-reward system.
The combat, traversal, level design, atmosphere, enemy design are all top notch. However, very little carries over between runs and runs are dependent on getting the right items, even the right combination of items. Many runs would end in frustration if I did not get a more powerful version of the few weapons I found useful against the bosses. Since there is little meaningful progression between runs, a failed attempt is a waste of time, outside the fun of playing. That fun has diminishing returns as you fight the same enemies in the same environments over and over.
Many of the upgrades have a downside to create risk/reward. However, the downsides generally outweighed the reward. I stopped engaging with the system completely, because a bad downside would completely ruin a run and waste more time.
There is a system where once you beat a boss, you do not have to fight them again and can skip much of the levels. However, as currency and upgrades are critical, you still have to grind through many of the rooms to be strong enough for the next boss. I spent many hours grinding for healing items and upgrades only to be fed a steady diet of bad guns that don't suit my game-play style. I was often forced to choose between a gun I was not comfortable with or a woefully under-powered one I liked. The choice was meaningless as either way the end result was more wasted time.
Phenomenal game, still one of my favorites PS5 games to date. The gameplay loop is really fun, the skill level you grow with each run, and the world design are all top notch. Story structure had an odd pay off, but I respect a unique storytelling perspective. Definitely worth the play, might return to it again one day.
6
I’ve platinum trophied most FromSoft game, beat Super Meat Boy, etc., and found this game to be extremely frustrating. Not enough carries over when you die.
Played it for an hour when it released and never played it again. Looks great but developers forgot people have lives (situational disabilities). I believe it was patched but the damage had been done.
This is the most beautifully difficult game I've ever played, an absolute masterpiece of immersion, storytelling and combat.
This game will seem hard at first. But once you start getting a feel for when it will be a good run and start unlocking amazing weapon traits, the game is amazing. The story is also amazing, I recommend NOT playing it in co-op. You are meant to die to get the story. This game and a few others are the only standout games this gen. Highly recommend
10
Returnal game notes 6/24
- This game is hard as ****. I mean, this is easily the hardest game I've played since sekiro came out. Shout out to all the co-op partners that absolutely carried my bum *** through this game.
- Visually very impressive.
- Action is very fast and in your face. And combat itself is very exciti****meplay is very responsive, framrates also are a plus.
- Game does not do a great job explaining items and resources.
- Not a fan of having to crack the DaVinci code to finish act 3. Seriously I'm having to use guides just to figure out what the hell I'm even suppose to do.
- The community for this game is one of the best I've ever experienced. Everyone has been friendly and helpful.
- boss fights in this game are done very well. A cut well above average.
- I was nervous about doing the tower DLC. It has to be done solo, includes story, and is suppose to be this games most difficult challenge. I find the tower is this game at its best. It really feels like a roguelite, and is genuinely fun. While it is challenging, it's also very doable for even an average player like myself. Pro tip, complete the main games true ending prior to the tower so you have all of the upgrades.
- The story is convoluted, and told mostly with symbolism. Upon completing the game I youtubed "returnal ending explained". I recommend that. As it's a very interesting natative told in a unique way that's worth understanding.
- All in all this is a very challenging game but it is also very rewarding. If your struggling just summon Randoms for co-op. The community is more than willing to backpack you. That said, once you get "good" at this game, it is very satisfying.
10
9
IGN Review
Its roguelike runs are too long and it needs a way to save in the middle of them, but Returnal's third-person shooter action, clever story, and atmosphere are excellent.
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