Returnal

 

Release: 2021

Developer: Housemarque

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Gameplay Stats: 26 hours, first completion

This game has really been a slow burn for me. I started playing it a bit almost a year and a half ago and really enjoyed the atmosphere and the intrigue but I kind of hit a plateau with my own skill and being able to continue exploring. I set it down when I stopped making progress until after I read Annihilation by Jeff Vandemeer, they both inhabit the natural weirdness/unknowable area genres. I played for probably another 6-8 hours at that point and beat a couple more bosses.My skills seemed to have plateaued again so I put the game down for another while. I leant it out to my brother in law for about 6 months until I saw most of a speedrun at one of the GDQ events and then knew I had to have it back so I could complete it.

Oh man, what a journey! The gameplay is pretty standard over the shoulder shooter nestled into a roguelike structure. Nothing too special there. I think the way that the roguelike structure fits into the narrative though is really where Returnal stands out. Very mild spoiler warning: When you start out you find your own dead body with an audio log illuding to the fact that you have been trapped here for some time exploring this planet and you are trying to figure out why you keep returning after each time you die. It's kinda rare that a roguelike stands so firmly on its story, but I really think this one does. I've heard Hades does also but I haven't played much.

Anywho! My original recommendation would've been limited since it was a PS5 exclusive game but now that it's out on PC, it's a firm recommendation from me. This game is great! I have continued thinking about it since I completed it and I'm sure I will double dip at some point. This is one of the only games I've read about after completing in quite a few years and I think that says a lot.