#Returnal sales full#

Coming out on the bad end of a risk-vs-reward gamble can be brutal, but it also is one of the things that makes each run of Returnal feel unique and exciting. But oftentimes it doesn’t, and I just get a weak consumable and an added two seconds of cooldown to my dash. Sometimes the risk pays off, like when I open a malignant chest and receive a powerful weapon that’s two levels higher than the one I currently have and helps me decimate the next few rooms of a level. Then there are parasites, which offer both a buff and a debuff that can only be removed with a rare consumable or by finding an equally rare parasite-removal machine. Many chests and health pickups are “malignant” and have a chance to saddle you with a debuff that can only be removed by completing specific requirements, such as killing a certain number of enemies. Returnal rewards you handsomely for playing well and for making smart choices And those major risk-reward choices often aren’t so easy, either. Returnal is a hard game, but it rewards you handsomely for playing well and for making smart choices, which is always a great feeling. Also, if you pick up health items while you’re at max life it actually adds to your total health capacity.

There’s an adrenaline meter that builds up as you score kills and grants up to five stacking buffs, but they all disappear when you take a single hit. Learning those behaviors is important, because Returnal really, really encourages you to avoid getting hit. There’s an excellent variety of enemies in Returnal, and even when it resorts to using the same character model in a different environment, there’s always something different in their behavior that makes them a completely new challenge. All the usual staples are here: the directional dash that makes you momentarily invulnerable to damage, the enemies that shoot a barrage of bullets that are just slow enough for you to outrun, the ones that shoot just a straight-up wall of bullets you have to dodge through, the jerks that fire a locked-on laser beam at you if you can’t kill them in time, and then there’s the mega-assholes that do a little bit of everything. Returnal takes the bullet-hell stylings of the likes of Resogun, Nex Machina, and Super Stardust HD, and transplants them into a third-person shooter. Selene is an interesting protagonist who’s in this weird repeating-but-different scenario along with us.While the story focus may be a surprise given Housemarque’s previous games, the tight and responsive gun play is right on brand.

#Returnal sales full#

It’s not quite as elegant of a solution as Hades’ home base full of characters that always have something new to say to you based on your successes, failures, and overall progress, but it’s an admirable effort nonetheless. Housemarque deserves praise for finding a unique and compelling way to incorporate an interesting story in a genre that makes storytelling rather difficult.

It makes Selene an interesting protagonist who’s in this weird repeating-but-different scenario along with us, and it’s all way deeper than I would ever expect a roguelike’s story to be.