4.5/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of Returnal.

What a game. I haven't played all of Housemarque's games, but the ones I have played, I have loved. This one is no different. There is so much to love about this game. The atmosphere, the music, the haptics, the varying amount of guns and upgrades, the abstract story, the mystery that ekes out of every aspect of this game. It's all so wonderful. At it's core, Returnal is a well crafted bullet-hell type game. And it succeeds wildly in that regard. I loved all of the different environments, and the details on Selene's suit that change throughout the story. I beat Act I with under 5-deaths. But, once you beat that first run, it just opens up more to be discovered. After all was said and done, it took me about 31 hours to complete the main game and the Tower of Sisyphus add-on (I ended up getting all 4 endings). Also, to note, normally 3D maps are poor to read, but the one here is easy to read and well implemented. There are some complaints to be had about the game. Some of the environments can start to feel repetitive, in terms of level layout. Also, while I appreciated the nuanced progression system in place for a particular run, it didn't always feel like it was the most satisfying system that could have been implemented. However, when you get lucky on a run, and start really demolishing enemies coming your way, you get a great feeling of accomplishment. I was going to go for the platinum trophy, but due to the RNG on the collectibles, I just found that goal way too tedious. My final complaint, would really come down to the console itself; I played this on PS5, and on the Tower of Sisyphus in particular, any stage past completing Phase 3-20 causes the framerate to chug. I hate that we are in a time of "pro" consoles, but it couldn't hurt to have something that can confidently run games at 60fps. Regardless, the game is phenomenal. I love when a game is made to be fun as a game first, and then a good story is woven into the mechanics of the game. Returnal does this so well. I really hope we get something in the same vein as Returnal from Housemarque down the road. Console Played On: PS5 Game Played: 07/2024 - 07/2024 Review Written and Published: 07/15/2024