Take a moment to remember one of the worst days of your life. Can you picture it? Now, imagine that you had to relive the same nightmare over and over again until you made it to the end of your day without making any detrimental mistakes. Scary, huh?

Well, that’s how it is for the main protagonist in Returnal, except that each detrimental mistake she makes leads to death, sending her back to the very beginning to take on all the same threats as her previous life.

In Returnal you play as a woman named Selene, a middle-aged female astronaut who is stuck in an endless loop on a hostile alien planet. Your end goal is to make it further than you did during your previous playthrough and confront the demons of her past as Selene attempts to solve the mystery of why she is there.

Selene Is A Badass

When I first saw the trailer for Returnal, I was enthralled by the fact that the main protagonist was an older lady going toe-to-toe with some pretty dangerous creatures. If you listen to our podcast, you will know that I was always skeptical of how it would feel playing with Selene, simply because I couldn’t wrap my head around how she would be able to survive.

I’m not the only one who is affected by the bias of the young protagonist with the physical prowess to destroy almost any enemy. There are Reddit threads talking about this specific topic.

Anyway, it’s apparent that Selene can hang with most of the video game characters we have grown to love over the decades of gaming. With her fearlessness, wits, and fully capable suit, Selene pushed me into some of the most heart-racing battles I’ve played this year. And she was able to do this by taking advantage of a diverse arsenal of weapons and perks suited to a specific playstyle.

Weapons and Abilities

As I mentioned before, Selene has a very diverse arsenal. Whenever you return to the ship after your last death, Selene is equipped with the standard energy pistol. With each kill, Selene is able to raise her weapon proficiency, making each weapon more efficient in combat.

The catch? Whenever she dies, all of the weapons and abilities you managed to obtain are reset and you enter a new layout of enemies, perks, and weapons. Pretty much everything is supposed to be different upon each death.

Adrenaline

Adrenaline is something that kept me going in Returnal and it was possibly one of the biggest driving factors to why I completed the game in such a short amount of time.

Whenever Selene kills an enemy without taking damage, she gains some progress toward her adrenaline bar. Kill enough enemies and the weapon you’re using at the time will receive a perk that makes Selene more formidable in battle. There are 5 adrenaline levels for each gun, thus giving Selene 5 special perks. Once Selene takes damage, the adrenaline levels reset and you’ll have to start from the beginning.

It’s a major confidence boost when you realize that you’ve cleared 3 rooms of hectic enemies but still managed to reach level 5 of adrenaline. It puts you in the mindset of “ok, how long can I keep this going.”

Weapon Buffs

Each weapon Selene picks up has a special ability attached to it. The higher the weapon level, the better the perks. These perks are meant to be used often, as they pose a major advantage during battle. Players should adjust their playstyle to the weapon of their choice, or pick up another weapon more suited to their playstyle.

The Good With The Bad

On top of all the enemies that Selene must face in Returnal, the players are forced to make huge decisions constantly. These decisions may seem appealing at first but can lead to deadly consequences later on in your playthrough.

Parasites

Parasites offer the player with small perks and buffs for specific conditions. The catch? They also hurt Selene in some way. For example, you may find a parasite that will heal Selene when she is low on health, this same parasite may lower Selene’s protection (defense) by 10%.

Players will come across parasites constantly while exploring each environment and Selene can hold a max of 5 at one time.

Parasites were responsible for some of my most uneventful deaths to the point where I almost avoided the majority of parasites I came across while exploring.

Malfunctions

There are many items within the game that can be seen spewing out a purple mist. These items can be rewarding, but not without a price. As you can assume, a purple mist from any type of item signals negative effects.

When opening up one of these chests, the player has a chance to attract a negative effect called a malfunction. Malfunctions are de-buffs that can hurt Selene in some way. Whether it’s something like, “Selene takes damage whenever she picks up a new item,” or something like “Selene takes fall damage.” Players have to think twice and assess the situation before they open purple chests.

However, Malfunctions can be cleared. Once acquired, they present a challenge with specific tasks. Once that task is completed, the malfunction will be wiped clean. Allowing the player to reap the full benefits of whatever was inside the chest.

Want my advice? Save up ether (a special type of in-game currency) and cleanse the purple chest before opening it. Returnal allows you to wipe away any negative effects some items have by spending a small portion of your ether.

Suit Buffs

Selene has access to a wide range of suit buffs that give her benefits in battle. Players can acquire these buffs by discovering them in each environment or by crafting them using a fabricator. Whenever I came in contact with a fabricator, I let out a sigh of relief. If you have enough obolites (in-game currency), you can make some interesting buffs for Selene, further putting the battle in your favor.

These suit buffs don’t have negative effects. Players just need to cough up some of their sweet, sweet obolites they earned from killing swarms of aliens.

Don’t Underestimate Any Enemy

In Returnal, everything and everyone can be a threat. Even the seemingly weak enemies, can be a major contributor to your death.

The battles within Returnal can be hectic, as the game likes to throw a variety of different types of enemies at you at one time. The result is a range of bright colors from the many different types of projectiles and attacks the enemies specialize in. Good luck to the player who likes to stand still, because there will be almost no opportunity to rest while in combat.

Players must constantly jump dodge, shoot, and initiate active reloads if they want to clear out these rooms, which will result in epic battles that leave players wondering how they survived while also dreading what lurks behind the next door.

The Environment Is An Enemy Too

Adding to the many different things you have to be wary of when playing Returnal, the environment grows in danger as you progress through the 4 different biomes. With each step throughout the forest, Selene has to watch out for dangerous tentacles that will grab and kill you if you are slow to react once you’re in its clutches. On top of that, there are plenty of pitfalls that must be watched when traversing diverse terrain.

Returnal does an amazing job of pushing players to more intense situations as they move forward through Selene’s experience. Later in the game, players will be introduced to deadly laser beams that will quickly end you, adding an extra element of fear to an already intense situation.

With each death, the terrain becomes a bit different upon returning to the starting point. As a result, players are never allowed to get too familiar with the environment.

Deadly Enemies

As I mentioned before, Selene has a diverse arsenal of weapons, but the enemies are just as diverse with their own repertoire. Returnal slowly introduces new enemies as you push through each environment until you have officially met each and every devastating creature that poses its own unique threat.

At times, I found myself panicking when I saw the blast from one particular enemy that would always give me a hard time. As you become more familiar with the dodge and jump mechanics, you will realize how the enemies will become more aggressive with their assault, sending out a barrage of slow-moving orbs and long-range beams, forcing you to get creative with dodge techniques.

This is especially true for the boss battles. With a mixture of more damaging attacks and almost every color orb you can think of, the bosses in Returnal will be seen as formidable foes to anyone willing to go up against them.

The Bad

No Save Point

Though I like to brag about the fact that I beat Returnal in such a small amount of time, I feel I was forced to do so due to the game’s lack of a save option. As I went through my game-winning playthrough, I had managed to find all of the buffs and weapons that suited my playstyle best, thus I didn’t want to turn my game off and lose all of my progress.

Though there is a way to save your progress when you die (sort of) when using a special device that takes a special in-game currency called Ether, it’s a lackluster attempt to provide players with a save point as you lose all of your equipment. This is one of my biggest issues with the game.

Annoying Glitches

Returnal is a very polished game but there happens to be one annoying glitch that has forced me to prematurely end at least 3 of my playthroughs. This glitch occurs after using fabricators in the forest. After fabricating my item, I’m unable to go through any doors and use any portals. Essentially, I’m left in a room with nothing to do, so I had no choice but to quit and start another playthrough.

Difficulty Setting

Now I don’t want to brag or anything, but after beating the main story, I would love to have an opportunity to adjust the difficulty level to give myself more of a challenge. This is one feature I feel will come at some point in a future update, but I feel it is missing right now.

Conclusion

Returnal is a fun game that I believe any fan of the rogue-like genre should play. Returnal features fun combat sequences and a variety of weapons that offer new challenges for players.

Rating: 9/10