Developer: Housemarque, Climax Studios
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation PC LLC
Platform: PC, PS5
Tested on: PC
Returnal (PC) – Review
It’s been almost two years since we last walked the surface of Atropos in the bullet-hell nightmare that Selene went through. We tried our best to beat the game’s neverending loop, slowly making progress in the roguelite title where death lurked around every corner. Now, like many of Sony’s exclusive games, Returnal has been ported to PC, and we were quite eager to revisit this game. Sony’s earlier ports, such as Spider-Man or God of War proved to be of extremely high quality, and we hoped that Returnal would get the same treatment. As we have already reviewed the PS5 version in the past, we will mainly be looking at the quality of this port in the following review. If you wish to read our original review, be sure to click here.
Returnal’s PC version is still very much the same game as it was on PlayStation 5. You’ll play with Selene who is trapped in an endless loop after crashing on the planet Atropos. Every time she dies, she starts back at the crash site, and she will slowly be able to puzzle together the pieces that led to this hellish situation. As a whole, the gameplay loop is still the same, and it’s extremely satisfying to slowly uncover more and more about the story. The gameplay loop is as satisfying as ever thanks to solid mechanics, action-packed gameplay, and very responsive controls. Even with its high difficulty curve, the game is still very enjoyable for newcomers to the genre. The controls are simple, yet complex enough to allow the player to gradually become better at mastering Selene’s different skills and abilities.
When we looked at the PS5 version for our original review, the game was all about making it to the end, while also having the option to complete daily challenges. After the release of the original, new content was added. For example, there is now an online co-op mode in which you can team up with another Selene to combat the dangers that lurk on Atropos, but there is also the Tower of Sisyphus which you can now try to tackle. In the tower, you’ll have to clear increasingly harder floors of enemies as you try to make it to the top. Not only does this mode add a bit more challenge to the mix, but you’ll also uncover more of the story as you attempt to reach the tower’s summit.
While we would have loved to state this version would be the definitive edition, it sadly currently suffers from game crashes where you lose all your progress when this occurs. To top things off, you even lose the materials that you have used during these challenges, such as keys or ether. We had multiple fatal errors occur during our daily challenges, and this is something that should not be allowed to happen with a fully released game. Not only are these crashes extremely frustrating, but you’ll also end up with a lot of wasted time where you get the feeling you should best spend your time playing other games to prevent this from happening again. This is a shame, as the game looks better than ever, and when we play through normal runs, the game runs buttery smooth. We truly hope these fatal error issues get resolved quickly.
Conclusion
Returnal is a must-have title if you’re into bullet-hell shooters, as this game basically ticks all the boxes. Outside of the extremely satisfying gameplay loop, there is enough content to explore, there’s an interesting story to uncover and the game simply looks gorgeous, albeit in an eerie way. We love that this game made its way onto PC, as this is a game that should be enjoyed by a bigger audience than just PlayStation 5 owners. If you’re looking for an original take on the bullet-hell genre that packs a proper challenge, then we can wholeheartedly recommend this one. Be warned, however, at the time of writing this review the game suffered from fatal errors that crashed the game. While we only encountered these during the daily challenges, it is still something to take into consideration when picking up this title. If it weren’t for these crashes, the game would receive a near-perfect score.
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