Spoiler Alert: One slight spoiler ahead.

I just beat Returnal so I thought I'd make a thread here and share my thoughts!

Technically it's not my first time finishing a PS5 game since my first purchase was Death Stranding DC's cut but I kinda consider it the first since this one was made from the ground up for the console.

I think it's a solid game bordering on great at times. There's some kickass gameplay with some great bosses though the difficulty spikes are kinda insane at times being procedurally generated and all that. It's my first time playing a Roguelike and damn was it tough. Though the difficulty was kinda all over the place for me; I died around 10 times before I beat the first boss then it was smooth sailing (no deaths) until I opened the 5th area and then I hit a brick wall. I must have died at least 10+ times more before I finally got it and then it was smooth sailing again all the way to the end of the game.

As I said before, the bosses are AMAZING though ironically enough they're not the hardest part of the game. For me, the rooms where they lock you in with a horde were by far, the HARDEST part of the game. I'd take the final boss any day over some of those, really.

The music was just alright, there aren't that many memorable themes though an organ theme that's played with the 4th boss is probably my favorite part of the OST. The story was...meh. I can appreciate the writers trying for something a little more subtle than your usual AAA game storyline by using really cryptic "answers" to your questions and leaving some stuff up to interpretation but I don't think the execution was all there. Having Selene as the sole character in the game was a bad idea in my opinion. There was one twist mid-game which initially pissed me off but the more I thought about it the more I ended up liking it lol

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Returnal and it's one of those "pure gameplay" experiences that, while lacking in the story department, I'm still glad to have in my collection for those times when you just want to get some adrenaline going. Maybe a sequel be it direct or spiritual will improve upon the concept with better storytelling and some gameplay tweaks.

8.5/10

I loved it and I hate Rogue like games. I agree with you that the bosses themselves aren't even that hard. Like you I had most of the trouble during the first level then I pretty much sailed throught he rest of the game. I did die after that but it was just a lot more rare and I was beating levels pretty quickly. Once I got that Spiderweb gun it was kind of game over at that point. I could shoot the gun and let the webs do damage while I was hiding or focusing on dodging.

I thought the story was interesting for what it was but my only complaint is I'm not 100% sure what was going on. Even looking it up online there is no consensus as far as what was going on.

I'd give the game overall an 8/10. If I had a choice I wish the game would remove the rogue like elements and just become more of a standard 3rd person action game. I understand other changes to the game would have to be made at that point but it's just what I would prefer. The combat was great though and I hope more games copy it. There's nothing else really like it and believe me I tried to find it.

This is the first roguelike game I ever, well, liked. I’m a sucker for carefully thought out level design in action games, so games with procedurally generated levels usually bore me and feel bland and all over the place. But this one, for some reason, managed to feel great. The difficulty was pretty brutal at the beginning, but you eventually find your comfort zone when it comes to what weapon you feel good with, and then the difficulty feels more fair.

I finished it a while ago, and haven’t yet gone back to it after the recent big update. But I will replay it eventually for sure. It’s a solid early gen game, and another excellent title in Housemarque’s portfolio.

I've been wanting to play it but I don't want to pay more than $30, given I may not like it. I'll have to say Hades is one of the best games I have flat out played.

Yeah been holding out on this one. Not massively into rogue-likes and didn't want spend a lot on it, but have really enjoyed their previous games.. so curious and quite looking forward to giving it a play when it comes to PS Plus (Extra/Premium). Could be an option if you want to try and play this alongside other games that comes with the sub.

That's interesting! I mainly used the first assault rifle cause it ended up having an upgrade with some shots that could heal you and that seemed like a no brainer. Maybe I'll give other weapons more of a chance in future playthroughs.

Yeah, the story was a bit too obtuse for me but some of the scenes in the house and the twist mid-game was pretty well done.

I'm 50/50 on the Roguelike stuff; I can see myself enjoying it a bit more if I didn't lose everything after every death but to be fair, it's a part of its charm and uniqueness so maybe you'd be taking away something from the overall experience if you didn't have that.

P.S.: Those teleporting scumbags on the ice level were the WORST, don't you think?

Yeah, Housemarque are definitely an underrated asset in Sony's overall studios. I actually gave Returnal a chance mostly cause of an older co-op game of theirs, Dead Nation. LOVED playing that one with the wife haha.

I'm looking forward to whatever they come up next, from what I've read they said it's not going to be Returnal 2 but something new instead.

My second favourite game this generation, next to Death stranding remaster. Its something different, something new, and that's what I want from gaming, I'm tired of the old formulas.

Funny coincidence. I'm a new PS5 owner and my only PS5 games so far are those two, Death Stranding DC's cut and Returnal. I definitely agree that they're both different from the norm. I like Returnal more though I did enjoy DS for the most part.

Yes there was one room that had like three of them that I needed to beat to get the key. It was so damn hard but once I started going up and down levels it got easier. This is also when I got the spiderweb gun so that also made it easier.