TEST: Returnal – Giving up is not an option!

Housemarque has engaged with return Housemarque had big plans. While the Finnish development studio already boasts a few critically acclaimed arcade games with neo-retro aesthetics, such as Resogun and Nex Machina, a major breakthrough eluded them for a long time. It seemed as if Housemarque had settled into the indie niche. Behind the scenes, however, the desire grew to produce bigger hits, develop more ambitious games, and finally enchant the masses with the Housemarque magic.

return This should prove that the talented Finns can transform a triple-A budget into a fantastic game that is both appealing to the masses and satisfying to die-hard arcade fans. And now we know: they didn't overpromise.

Roguelite meets horror meets arcade

Since this test comes somewhat later, many of you will already have a comprehensive picture of return I've done some research, watched gameplay footage, and weighed up the price-performance ratio. So here's a brief verdict upfront: I'm thrilled with the game. This is partly because it brings a breath of fresh air to the gaming landscape and blends tried-and-tested elements in a combination rarely seen elsewhere.

Denn return As a AAA roguelite, it's the first of its kind, yet also a game that invites numerous comparisons. It features a vertical and intricate game world reminiscent of Metroid Prime, dynamic and fast-paced gunplay à la Doom Eternal, horror sequences that recall the pre-release demo of the never-released Silent Hills, a cryptic plot, and uncompromising difficulty levels typical of Demon's Souls and similar games. Add to that a design reminiscent of the grotesque art of H.R. Giger, which also inspired the "Alien" film series, while simultaneously drawing on influences from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. And all of this is combined with the fast-paced and stylish arcade and bullet-hell action for which Housemarque is renowned.

Finnish surprise package

Mit anderen Worten: return Even on paper, it's a colorful mix of elements. And despite this multifaceted approach, the game feels surprisingly coherent. This is partly due to the story, which holds this complex web together. And this is despite the fact that the story – and this much can be said without spoilers – leaves you as perplexed after the credits roll as a David Lynch film, offering plenty of room for interpretation. After playing through the game, I read several explanations on Reddit and other platforms that differ from my own interpretation of events, but are just as plausible. Perhaps there isn't even "one" valid interpretation. Christopher Nolan once said about his film "Tenet": "You don't have to understand it, you have to feel it." At least in the case of... return I can say: I feel it.

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Despite the cryptic story, the premise of the game is actually easy to explain: return The story follows astronaut Selene, who, after her spaceship crashes on the planet Atropos, finds herself trapped in a time loop. There, she repeatedly fights for survival against aggressive and sometimes grotesque aliens, experiencing surreal, extreme situations, visions, and déjà vu. Each time, she dies trying to escape the time loop and uncover the mystery of Atropos and its connection to her own fate, only to awaken back in her spaceship, and the cycle begins anew.

One death follows another. Again and again. Within the context of this plot, the central game mechanics of... also become apparent. return The point is: it's a roguelite, so every time we die as the heroine, we start over. And every time that happens, the game world changes, reassembles itself, enemies are in different locations, and different objects and treasures are hidden. This makes each session in this time loop as unpredictable as the story itself. return I've told you about it, and I don't want to reveal any more at this point. Because the story is a key driving force. It's only served up in bite-sized pieces, and we have to fight hard for every bite.

Because, as just mentioned: return It's incredibly difficult. In the arena-like battles, Selene has to constantly keep an eye on a multitude of aliens and projectiles, always staying on the move, simultaneously aiming, shooting, dashing, using the grappling hook to zip through the air, dodging traps, freeing herself from tentacles that greedily grab at her – all while avoiding getting hit. Because every hit hurts, and healing items are few and far between. And once your health bar is depleted, it's back to the beginning. This can be brutal, as a run can easily take two or three hours. Reaching a milestone is all the more rewarding, then. After each level, or "biome" – there are six in total, each culminating in an intense boss fight – you unlock a shortcut to the next level. Sometimes, items or abilities also appear, opening up paths that were previously blocked or inaccessible, in true Metroidvania fashion. That's motivating, even after the tenth, twentieth, thirtieth death. And each one is a small lesson that helps us to proceed a little more skillfully next time.

Besides the heated battles with alien adversaries, we also need to learn how to properly manage our available resources to increase our chances of success. By defeating enemies and thoroughly exploring the game world, we find "Oboliths," which serve as the classic currency. With these, we can purchase artifacts at certain locations that grant us various bonuses, such as reduced reload times, a stronger melee attack, increased healing, or even an extra life. We can also find these artifacts in treasure chests, along with an increasing variety of weapons, each with unique properties and perks that we can permanently unlock through regular use. "Calibrators" fill a weapon skill bar, allowing us to find higher-tier weapons.

We receive healing through the resource "Silphium." With "Silphium Resin," which is somewhat rarer, we can even increase our maximum health. However, all these and other items often have specific tricks that need to be figured out first. For example, if we collect Silphium when our health is full, instead of healing, it has the same effect as Silphium Resin: it charges a bar that increases our maximum health once it's full. This means that if you play skillfully and manage to avoid enemy attacks, you can significantly increase your health by collecting healing items—but you also risk not having any healing items left when you actually need them for their intended purpose. It's a risk and a reward.

The same applies to treasure chests and various collectibles. Some chests or objects are "cursed." While we can open them, collect the items, and interact with them, doing so also risks causing Selene's spacesuit to malfunction, sometimes with serious consequences. For example, our attack damage might be drastically reduced. Each malfunction is linked to a randomly selected condition for how we can remove it, such as killing six enemies in melee combat. This can become a dilemma, especially later in a longer run: Do we open the chest expecting a useful item but risk harmful side effects that we don't know if we can eliminate before reaching the final boss? Or do we leave the chest, potentially missing out on a useful artifact that could make the rest of the game easier? In essence, with every decision, we're rolling the dice, like in a pen-and-paper RPG. Those who risk a lot can gain a lot, but can also fall very hard. This unpredictability lends return additional “thrill”. 

In stark contrast to the otherwise very action-packed gameplay are the few, but all the more impactful, passages in which we learn more about Selene's backstory. The camera then switches to a first-person perspective, and we move through fragments of Selene's memories, perhaps even dark visions, that unfold in her old apartment building. The bullet-hell shooter becomes return suddenly it transforms into a dark walking simulator. And surprisingly, the bizarre mix works exceptionally well. In the moments when return When it suddenly decides to be a horror game, it feels like a genuine horror game, even breaking the fourth wall in a very creative way at one point. Hats off to that WTF moment.

Immersion across all channels

But even outside of that, we know return The game scores highly in terms of atmosphere, primarily due to its lovingly crafted game world, which is also very diverse and rich in detail. Technically, there's generally little to criticize, even though return At least graphically, it's not the benchmark against which all other games will be measured. Demon's Souls has set the bar significantly higher. However, it runs extremely smoothly at a frame rate of 60 frames per second (with very few noticeable drops) and looks incredibly sharp. This is particularly interesting given that the developers opted for a lower resolution. according to our colleagues at Digital Foundry They opted for an interesting compromise: The internal resolution is only 1080p, i.e., Full HD, but is upscaled to 1440p using "temporal upscaling" and from there further upscaled to 2160p, i.e., 4K, using "checkerboard rendering". The result looks fantastic even on an 85-inch 4K TV and saves resources for good performance.

In the first few weeks after release, many players experienced technical problems, especially those who had pre-ordered the version of return had. During my nearly 40 hours of playtime, I've only encountered one bug so far: the game's sound suddenly cut out and only returned after a restart. Since release, Housemarque has diligently patched and fixed many bugs. However, if there's one thing that absolutely needs to be added, it's the ability to save when exiting the game. Currently, you have to use the PlayStation 5's rest mode if you want to take a break. return Needs a good run, one you've already invested several hours in, but don't want to abandon completely, preferring to resume it at a later time? Housemarque has released a patch with a save function. at least it was promised.

That return You can feel that this is a true "next-gen" game in your hands and ears. Both the features of the DualSense controller and Tempest, the PlayStation 5's new sound engine, really shine here. For example, when you step into the rain with Selene, you can feel every single raindrop through the controller's haptic feedback. Certain sound effects, such as when the magazine is empty, are audible through the controller's internal speaker, further enhancing immersion. The DualSense's adaptive triggers are also well-implemented, allowing you to switch between primary and secondary ammunition in-game and automatically locking when secondary fire is unavailable. return This proves once again that the DualSense features are more than just a gimmick. And those playing with a headset also get excellent 3D sound thanks to the Tempest engine. That's how it should be.