Returnal Review
Do you see the White Shadow?
Returnal is a deeply engrossing, introspective journey into grief and acceptance manifested as a bullet hell roguelike.
Roughly eight months into the release of the PlayStation 5, consoles continue to remain in critically low stock due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting supply chain shortages. Similarly, games for Sony’s latest console are also in short supply, with few justifying the steep price of entry. It was into this void that Returnal emerged, not only as the most compelling reason to upgrade, but also as one of the best games of 2021 overall.
Buried in the midst of its action-heavy combat, Returnal weaves a fragmented, yet compelling story about death and rebirth, punishment and atonement, grief and acceptance that is masterfully parceled out over the course of its three acts and intertwined with its mechanics. While investigating a mysterious, yet somehow familiar signal on the alien world of Atropos, Selene is forced to make an emergency crash landing. Stranded in the ruins of a vast extraterrestrial civilization, she discovers to her horror that she is trapped in a time loop: regardless of what happens to her, she always reawakens again at the scene of the crash in a slightly different version of Atropos, with vivid and seemingly-random visions haunting her. Obsessively determined to locate the source of the signal and, hopefully, a way home, Selene explores the strange planet, and in doing so her own past.
Borrowing heavily from the roguelike and horror genres, Returnal is an extremely challenging, recursive action game featuring soaring highs, crushing lows, and everything in between. Every death is but a new beginning, and die you will – over and over again – as each successive loop is the only way that you can gain the knowledge, experience, and reflexes you need to continue making progress. Along the way, you’ll explore a sequence of diverse biome environments that are randomly generated at the start of each iteration, battle monstrous enemies and truly epic bosses, and weigh complex equipment tradeoffs as you upgrade Selene in pursuit of The Run.
Throughout your journey, you will encounter a range of different weapons that are generally variations of your standard shooter game fare (shotgun, assault rifle, etc.) with randomly assigned powerful alternate fire attacks and a set of traits granting additional abilities that you can unlock through usage. You will also discover a host of consumable items and abilities – some of which will persist into future loops – and the sum total of your loadout will completely change how you approach encounters. I honestly cannot overstate how varied and diverse Returnal can feel depending on your equipment, or how fluid and dynamic combat feels when you get into a flow.
Each of the biomes you explore in Returnal are richly detailed and incredibly atmospheric, from the harmless bioluminescent flora that reaches out reflexively as you pass nearby to the virulently hostile native fauna that seeks your destruction at nearly every corner. Moments of quiet contemplation can occasionally be found amidst the frenetic action, pairing exquisitely with the cyclopean scale of the alien ruins uncovered to thoroughly drive home the solitude and madness of Selene’s predicament.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the presentation in Returnal is its stellar sound design. Everything from the ambient audio of the environs to the animalistic roars of the enemies, the sickly squishy chittering of parasites to the foreboding sound of malignancy is exquisite, culminating in an incredible reveal in Act 2 that will have you reeling outside of the game. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the sound design in Returnal is that it is the first game that I have ever played featuring controller audio that truly enhanced the experience and was not immediately turned off.
Returnal is an intensely challenging yet incredibly rewarding action game that explores deeply human themes of trauma and tragedy through the dual lenses of cosmic horror and science fiction. If you’ve got a PlayStation 5 or are looking for an excuse to pick one up (assuming you can find it), Selene’s Sisyphean journey absolutely cannot be missed.
Returnal
Completed June 26 2021
Overall
★★★★★
FAQ
What is Returnal?
Returnal is a third-person shooter with bullet hell, roguelike, and cosmic horror elements, exclusively available for the PlayStation 5. It is the first AAA title developed by Housemarque, a Finnish game studio that was recently acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
How much does Returnal cost?
As of July 8, 2021:
The physical Standard Edition is listed for $59.99 on Amazon
A digital version of the Standard Edition is listed for $69.99 on the PlayStation Store
How long is Returnal?
It took roughly 45 hours and a total of 52 deaths for me to complete Act 3 and achieve the final ending. A single complete loop from beginning to end will last between two and three hours.
Does Returnal get any easier?
Make no mistake, Returnal is a very difficult game, particularly during early loops and when you’re learning new biomes or enemies. At times, it can feel like a nearly insurmountable wall.
It does eventually get easier though:
Each successive loop is an opportunity for progress, no matter how prematurely it may end. New artifacts and consumables can be discovered for use in subsequent runs and powerful new weapon traits can be unlocked. Even something as simple as finding Ether (a persistent in-game currency) is a win!
Much like Selene herself, you will change and grow with each iteration as you learn enemy patterns and attacks, remember room layouts, and better develop your reflexes
You may also find ways to cheat death through items or technology encountered
Does Returnal feature any multiplayer gameplay?
Well yes, but actually no.
When Returnal is played online, any corpses you leave behind can be discovered by other players in their games as anomalous “echoes,” and you can similarly find their remains. As with games like Dark Souls, you can interact with these echoes to see their last moments replayed, but with the added possibility of a difficult encounter at the end of it. A clever use of online mechanics that is internally consistent with the game narrative to be sure, but not really any sort of multiplayer gameplay.
Closer, but still not truly multiplayer, is the game’s “Simulation Mode,” which is unlocked after defeating the first biome’s boss and can be found inside the remains of Selene’s ship. With Simulation Mode, you are able to participate in daily challenges in which you are scored against other participant players on a shared leaderboard.
Have you ever played Returnal? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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