Logan Hooks

I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember. I practically grew up with a controller in my hands. The first game I ever played was Super Mario Galaxy, helping my dad collect starites at only five years old. Since then I've never stopped gaming, migrating from console to console, game to game, for decades. And never, in all that time, in all those so many games, have I played a game quite like Returnal. Returnal starts with a bang, literally. You watch as your character, Selene Vassos hurtles towards the surface of an alien planet in an advanced spacecraft. You guide Selene, as she stumbles from the wreckage; equipped with only a sidearm. Soon, you’ll be thrown into the unfamiliar, hostile environment of the planet Atropos, searching for an enigmatic transmission known only as “white shadow”. After a few, largely empty cells, you’ll be thrown fully into the combat. The brutal, fast-paced, heart-pounding, bullet-hell combat. If you’re a particularly skilled gamer, you might, might survive the first round of combat. But if this really is your first go at the game, you’re almost certain to die to the game’s first mini-boss. When you do, you’ll be treated to a cutscene that made my jaw drop. The screen fades out. After a beat, there’s a flash of light. Again, the same explosion, the same ship, the same crash. And then, the real game begins. The gameplay is first-rate. The controls are polished and intuitive. Quick and responsive, it truly feels like the player is in total control of the character. A stark contrast to games with similar difficulties, where the player has to fight against poor game design as often as the enemy. When you die in Returnal, and–you will, it feels fair. And the rogue-lite elements of the game truly shine through in this aspect. Even with every death, there’s still a sense of forwarding progress. You unlock items and abilities and learn the rhythms of the game. Even better than the gameplay is the story. What on the surface is an already fascinating story of a marooned astronaut, quickly becomes a masterclass in storytelling. Mixing metatextual analysis, analogy, emotion, and myth. All of it is delivered in a way that encourages the player to dig deeper, examine every detail, and draw their own conclusions. Its cutscenes range from the tear-jerking to the mind-bending. With a stand-out example that includes arguably the greatest twist in gaming since Bioshock. In short, do yourself a favor, get this game. Once you do, and get over the initial learning curve, you’ll find yourself in possession of one of the greatest games of all time. One that is engaging in every sense of the word. A game that is truly like no othe