Developer : Housemarque
Music : Bobby Krlic
Genres : Third person shooter
Roguelike inspired
Randomized Levels
Graphics : High-dynamic-range rendering
Themes : Cosmic Horror
Trophies : truetrophies.comCOMPLETED
Returnal is a very interesting game, a big, expensive production that is completely uncompromising in aesthetics, storytelling and gameplay. Alien-esque visuals, dark and discordant atmospheric music, a world where you are utterly alone, and a story told through Selene's sparse monologue, which hints at a fascinating sci fi mystery.
In contrast, the fast third-person shooter gameplay demands precision and mastery over sophisticated controls, and the uncompromising roguelike-inspired structure keeps the game interesting, while threatening with the loss of hours of progress.
As I have come to expect from veteran PlayStation developer Housemarque with roots on the Amiga, this PlayStation 5-native game runs flawlessly and is a joy to play.
Image source: pushsquare.com
Facts
- You can go back to the Helios and sleep to restore some health.
- Translocators are teleporters that are usable after getting the proper artifact and then touching them.
- After sleeping at the Helios, enemies stay dead.
- I believe the triangular doors are dead ends with loot, and rectangular doors connect to the rest of the map.
- The Astronaut Figurine is an instant respawn, which can be seen as the recycling arrow next to your health.
- Proficiency is your per-cycle weapon pickup level. It increases with kills and certain items. Proficiency Rate is how fast it grows with kills.
- Ether can be used for 1) The Reconstructor (6 for an extra life), 2) removing 'curses' from chests and the like, 3) exchange for Oobelites, and 4) The Cthonos, which produces per-cycle items and gets more expensive per purchase.
- To complete Act 3 and see the final ending, I need to collect 6 Sunface Fragments, a permanent item hidden in each of the 6 biomes.
- Apparently, before the Sunface Fragments can be collected, I needed to go once more to the 20th Century house in the *Echoing Ruins* to experience the final sequence where Selene goes into the TV.
- Silphium heals Integrity (HP). Silphium *Resin* increases max Integrity. If you have full health, Silphium turns into Silphium Resin. If it is possible to heal using other methods than picking up Silphium, you will increase your max Integrity quicker.
- Weapon ability unlocks and progression towards them is permanent.
- The yellow barriers can be broken when you have the Blade Balancer artifact.
- Adrenaline goes up one level (max 5) whenever you kill 3 enemies, and resets when taking damage.
- The 'Survey' trophies require completing three tasks for every biome:
- Scan every Xeno-Archive,
- Collect every Xenoglyph Cipher, and
- Retrieve every Scout Log.
- The last song Selene and her mother hears on the radio is Don't Fear The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult (1976). The first line in the verse of the song goes C-B-A-G-G, it's the theme that Selene plays on the piano in the cut-scenes, and a theme that is present in almost the entire soundtrack, even in the same key. Very clever.
- I think that everything we see and hear in the game is somehow created by Selene, either in her own head (my least favourite hypothesis), or in a more sci-fi way by her landing on the planet. She hears The Reaper in her head, which is represented non-diegetically in the soundtrack, and possibly diegetically in the Hyperion boss fight.
- If you have 2 Malfunctions and get a third when you don't have any Artifacts, your health bar will be reduced. They thought of everything.
