Owen Irianto

For those unfamiliar with the roguelike genre, Returnal makes a good introduction on the nextgen console — the unforgivingly "start-over" gameplay whenever your character got killed is the main element here. The game teaches you to play perfectly, cautiously, and with the random procedurally-generated maps and RNG items, you're forced to adapt, and strategize on your build; which item to pursue first, which weapon that you should retain, and which status you should sacrifice. Players are tested for their skills, patience and adaptability. The graphics and performance showcase the processing power of the PS5 — and yet the game lacks an engaging story and content variety. Weapons and enemy models and their respective movesets are quite limited. Despite its attempt to showcase different environments, the game's "time-loop" narrative could be improved and better integrated with the gameplay ingredients — level design gets a bit repetitive midgame. Story and cutscenes are cryptic, subtle and yet do not seem to lead to a climactic end. Perhaps the only thing that bugs me the most, is the price point but this is just an opinion, it is a bit steep for a game of this scale, granted it is procedural but to some extent the map gets old and redundant. Overall, despite its lacklustre lore, Returnal is a very well-done project by Housemarque — simple yet challenging. You're in it for the gameplay, for the challenge, for the adrenaline rush during the bullet-ridden battles with its glorious particle effects, an audio visual treat!