Developer Housemarque has given PlayStation 5 owners their latest exclusive title with the release of Returnal. Transitioning the studio's signature bullet-hell game type into a third-person sci-fi shooter, Returnal has a pretty high difficulty in its roguelite gameplay structure. Although the story itself is compelling, Returnal makes it clear that the gameplay is what is most important through the first few hours of the game, where engaging with the mechanics leads to an organic discovery of Returnal's plot.
Immersion has been a key talking point for Sony in the marketing and post-launch advertising of the PlayStation 5, and for good reason. The DualSense controller is utilized in Returnal to great effect. Upon starting a new game, players are shown a cutscene that only lasts a few minutes in which protagonist Selene crash lands on an alien planet called Atropos. Every bump in the ship and action taken by Selene is felt through the controller, giving the illusion of involvement even in a cinematic. Very little exposition is given before the player is already in control of Selene on the surface of Atropos.
Only a minute or so after the controls for moving the character and camera are put on screen does Selene run into her own corpse lying on the ground. She retrieves her sidearm and already the player is thrust into the core gameplay of Returnal. The player doesn't know anything about Returnal's hostile planet, and is completely unaware of why Selene is there, or really who she is at all. Herein lies the brilliance of the first few hours of Housemarque's latest release.
Returnal Immerses the Player in The Game's Mysteries
Even though there is very little exposition to start the game, Returnal players have a good indication that something fishy is surrounding the current events - aside from the worrying time loop, of course. During the opening cinematic, an ominous "APPROACH FORBIDDEN" message is displayed in Selene's ship, and after crash-landing a few logs can be read which indicate Selene was clearly up to something unauthorized before she crash landed on Atropos.
Regardless, it's clear that Selene didn't intend to get herself stuck in a time loop. She is terrified and genuinely confused when she finds her own body lying on the ground. By explaining almost nothing to the player, and throwing them into Returnal's roguelike horror gameplay immediately, the mystery has become two-fold for the player. What is happening on this mysterious planet, and who is Selene? The gameplay then serves two separate narrative purposes: one is to shepherd Selene through Atropos and uncover the reason behind the time loop, and the other is allowing the player an opportunity to figure out who the character is they're playing as.
The fast-paced, often chaotic combat is the highlight of the game's first leg, and the dual mystery set up by Housemarque in Returnal's mind-bending story is bolstered by the recurring gameplay, offering a meta motivation behind the player's actions. Returnal is not just dazzling in its visuals, but has also successfully married its gameplay and complex narrative so that there is no participatory disconnect on the player's part.