Returnal
"Returnal" by Housemarque blends aspects of bullets hell, roguelike, and terror games, utilizing the DualSense controller on the PS5 to enable faster action and more versatile button use. The game's plot follows Selene, an ASTRA Corporation explorer who arrives at the planet Atropos for a mystery signal. There, she becomes entangled in a temporal loop.
"Returnal" appeared apparently out of nowhere from a developer not renowned for action-adventure products but rather for indie retro-inspired arcade-style shooters. And according to sources such as Pocket-lint, a lackluster marketing campaign and a lack of brand recognition hindered it from becoming a more prominent part of the game debate.
Following its debut, "Returnal" has split PlayStation 5 players, with some voicing concerns over its lengthy duration, with an average episode around the constantly changing landscape taking 90+ mins and no option to save data amid a run. Others maintained that it might be beneficial to plan gaming time in discrete chunks. Whether this sort of game appeals to you or not, most reviews concluded that it is a hard, fascinating shooter that generously rewards its players.
Highest Metacritic Score: 85 (PlayStation 5)
Release Date: 30 April 2021
Genre: Roguelike
Available Platforms: PlayStation 5
Genre: Third-person shooter, roguelike
Price: $69.99
Buy it at: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/returnal/
