Returnal Review

Returnal is a roguelike from Housemarque, at the time an independent studio making their first jump into a larger 2D, AAA styled project. It was published by PlayStation and released as one of their few launch exclusives for the PS5. I'd heard rumblings about it over the years, but it was never positioned as the star of the show. Not like God of War. Not like Spider-Man. Just a solid exclusive that people seemed to enjoy so I went in with tempered expectations.

Honestly, I'm not really a roguelike person. Hades is basically the only one I've played, and when it comes to isometric games, Diablo is where my interest ends. But I love third person action games. I love third person shooters. Give me crisp, clean shooting mechanics mixed with some loot or randomized progression and I'm probably in. What happened next, I genuinely did not expect.

When I jumped into Returnal the game grabbed me by the neck and did not let go. Fifty hours later, I was still booting it up thinking just one more run, just one more biome. It was a stellar, glorious, addicting, mind consuming type of fun . For me, it instantly became one of the best new IPs this generation, and it's genuinely difficult to overstate how impressed I am with what Housemarque pulled off here.

A Setup That Works

The story follows Selene, an astronaut whose ship crashes on the planet Atropos. She finds a dead body that turns out to be herself, then dies shortly only to wake up again and realize she's stuck in a cycle. The entire game is about breaking that cycle, uncovering what happened, and finding a way home.

It's a sick setup. You're on an alien planet learning about its history and lore while simultaneously unraveling Selene's own past and internal struggles. I also love how the game doesn't beat you over the head with narrative. Instead, it leaves just enough nuggets to keep you chasing answers. Each piece you find makes you want to go a little further, and that curiosity becomes a driving force alongside the gameplay itself. There's present day story, ancient history, personal conflict, and the game ties it all together in a way that feels organic. And none of it takes so long as to take away from the moment to moment gameplay.

The Mechanics That Make It Click

Returnal is a fairly standard third person action shooter on the surface. What makes it genuinely special is the core mechanics. First off there's the dodge, which lets you dash through projectiles, turning the game into a third person bullet hell. You feel the DNA of Housemarque's prior titles as bosses and challenge rooms throw hundreds of projectiles at once, and the only way through is finding gaps in the barrage while you're locked in what feels like a cage match.

Then you add on the adrenaline mechanic. As you defeat enemies without taking damage, you build adrenaline through levels. Level one makes it easier to perform an active reload, similar to Gears of War. Level five lets you collect more currency easily. It does a brilliant job of rewarding and showing you that you are playing well. Chasing that high of a perfect run with maxed out adrenaline is addictive in the best way.

The roguelike mechanics are equally smart. The game drip feeds you content, but not in a way that feels forced. For example, when a new weapon shows up, you're genuinely curious what it does. Then you start unlocking its perks and alternate abilities and suddenly you're chasing that specific weapon across multiple runs. The different weapons also play entirely unique as a pistol plays nothing like an LMG, which plays nothing like a grenade launcher. The further you progress, the more perks stack onto weapons and the more creative and unique they become. This allows you to try new strategies and combos each time as you try to conquer the challenges the planet lays in front of you. Instead of feeling disappointed I lost everything, I relished the chance to try something new each and every time.

The Risk Reward Loop

The game does ride a razor fine line between risk and reward. Do you venture off the beaten path looking for upgrades knowing you might take damage? Do you beeline straight to the boss but arrive underprepared? Or do you chart a middle course and hope you find what you need?

It's a brilliant use of randomized level design because you genuinely never get bored. All these micro decisions make each journey feel all it's own. Maybe this will be the run where everything aligns and you feel superhuman. Maybe this is the run where you survive by the skin of your teeth. You're constantly in this perfect flow state, room after room, hoping for the upgrades you loved before or being surprised by ones you've never seen. It's that constant tension between known and unknown that keeps pulling you forward.

The Atmosphere Is Crushing

Another piece which really deserves credit is how well Housemarque captured atmosphere. Atropos plays with scale in an incredible way. The third and sixth biomes specifically are worth highlighting. The structures, the lighting, the thematic design of each biome make you feel genuinely small. Like you're an ant trekking across the surface of a giant hill. It ties directly into the feeling of being stranded on an alien world that doesn't care about you. It's genuinely impressive world building. Funnily enough, just like the name of the DLC, I felt exactly like Sisyphus rolling his boulder up a hill, except I can actually succeed in my venture.

The Verdict

Returnal is challenging. There will be runs where you feel like you're just wasting time because things didn't come together. But when you eventually finish this game and everything ties together — the story, the gameplay, the final boss, a perfect run from first encounter to last — this package is seriously impressive.

It's easily one of the best new IPs this generation, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys fast paced 3D action shooters. For me, I'll never forget playing this game for the first time. That's the mark of something special.