I started hating this game. It felt unfair and impossible to get through...until you beat the first boss and realize that the first part of the game is substantially harder than the rest.

The weapon variety is nice but most of them don't hold a candle to both the Carbine and Hollowseeker which are far above the rest due to their fast DPS and perks such as Leech Rounds which border on broken.

Aside from that, this is a great game that I wish Playstation were publishing more of its kind. Fast pace, brutal gameplay with great enemy variety and a good implementation of a skill ceiling, despite the aforementioned unbalanced progression.

Innovative game I have to admit, never played 3D TPS rogulike before. It has some facilities and its highly repetetive even for a roguelike, storytelling is creative and the overall plot is really a big mistery with a room for interpretations. I honestly wasn't really that engaged into the story since 99% of the game was pure gameplay so it felt kinda hard and forced to learn the little pieces of plot by listening to some random voice lines from time to time. I might be underrating this game but its only because of story which I didn't find interesting enough.

Neat game, but the pacing and reward structure is very off from what I'm looking for in a Rogue-lite. I did really like the Alien/Prometheus-inspired scifi and the mysterious bits of story that get slowly unraveled. Unfortunately, each run takes far too long and most of the enhancement options and much of the loot you come across are of the risk/reward variety, offering an average buff for a significant debuff, or high chance of a potentially run-ruining debuff to open a chest which might contain nothing of value. The risks rarely felt worth the reward, so more often than not you just wind up avoiding consideration of those options, which limits the feeling of variety and progression that are so key to the genre for me.

A wonderful experience in so many fronts. Personally would've preferred if it leaned more heavily in its roguelike elements, but i understand why it's the way it is.

The gameplay is great and addictive, controls are tight, sound is amazing (specially with 3D audio!), visual design and graphical quality are both absurd, the storytelling isn't for everyone but if it's for you then you're in for a ride. Finally, if you have the means to use these, then the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers on the Dualsense act as the cherry on top, really pulling you in.

Must roguelikes are tough when you start because you are getting used to the new mechanics so it's important for them to keep you interested when you are learning and after you learn, the problem with this game is if you are finding the game to be difficult you will get bored before you get good, it is a good game but not good roguelike
Edit: I just finished omg it is soo good , I uninstalled it a couple of times because it was really hard for me but then I turned Auto Sprint on and that made it a lot easier.

Não sou muito fã de roguelike ou lite, mas esse jogo me surpreendeu bastante devido a sua gameplay rápida e precisa, o gênero torna o jogo muito desafiador porém não apelativo, ritmo muito bom e muito divertido de jogar, com a adição do coop, que foi como eu joguei, se tornou uma experiência bem memorável, a história é um pouco complicada de entender, porém a progressão e a jogabilidade misturada a bons gráficos faz esse jogo ser uma experiência bem interessante para quem busca um desafio seja solo ou coop. Jogasso!

Didn’t expect to finish this in 2021 but here I am.

When you dive into Returnal, you are first taken by the incredible art direction, moody, Gigerish environments with an over abundance of particles and detail in the landscape. For a while I simply soaked in the atmosphere, some of the best in gaming. Then you really play it and you’re met with an over the shoulder bullet hell roguelite like a 3D enter the gungeon. Then you die. And like any good roguelite that happens a lot. You die and loop, die and loop and gain knowledge, permanent upgrades and grow a pool of items to help you get further and further.

It felt like this game was going to take ages to beat, and I briefly considered adding it to my rotation of Roguelikes I play, just picking it up here and there. But much like Hades, it’s narrative and mysteries it sets before you make it to where beating this is incredibly rewarding. Unlike other Roguelikes where narrative is an afterthought, it ties several of the mechanics into the story and rewards you abstractly for your effort in this regard. PT-style story sequences where you piece together clues of Selene’s background and the mysterious forces affecting her.

The resolution wasn’t super clear, but it does play it’s hand well throughout.

I would advise anyone scared off by its difficulty to stick with it as not only does it seem to soften its difficulty at the halfway point, it really does just take that big of roguelite luck and building to breeze through it. I was stuck in the first area for a long time, the next a little shorter, then rapidly went through the rest.

I feel like due to the type of thing it is, the scarcity of ps5s and some of its peers it’ll be relatively slept on but I think this is a great title to help justify my poor decision of early adopting a ps5.

Outstanding presentation
Unique gameplay
Brilliant story
A game that feels like a classic game while playing
This game is one of the best out there and the best PS5 game until now never though I would enjoy a game this challenging this much I’m glad people start appreciating this game more and more it deserves it all

Gostei pakas de Returnal, difícil e diferente de outros jogos mas com qualidade de modo geral.

Para os desavisados: esse game é um Roguelike, extremamente focado em gameplay, ação frenética em tempo real com sistema de ciclos, ou seja, assim que morremos o nosso mundo e progressão se resetam; mas calma, conforme vamos avançando nos biomas iremos desbloquear mecânicas com facilitadores permanentes, mas ainda sim, é um jogo um tanto desafiador pra quem não é acostumado, detalhe que ele tem muito Bullet Hell.

A história é um tanto.. confusa? Começa interessante mas depois eu meio que perdi o interesse com o tempo e me foquei totalmente no gameplay, os finais no entanto são bem subjetivos com diversas janelas pra interpretações, então pra quem acha que isso aqui é um Metroid realista ou alguma narrativa ala Alien vai se decepcionar fortemente.

Fator gunplay é bastante divertido, os sensores do dualsense com os gatilhos e tudo aumentaram ainda mais a minha imersão durante aventura. Contamos com uma quantidade considerável de armas com diversos tipos de status e efeitos passivos; podemos coletar consumíveis e objetos que aumentam nossa vida no cenário. Além de entrar em "salas" diferentonas que nos concebem alguma vantagem para aquela run atual.

A trilha sonora é bem bacaninha, principalmente contra alguns chefes e dá aquela empolgada durante os confrontos.

Uma coisa que vale mencionar é a maravilhosa ambientação desse jogo, me lembrou bastante o mangá Blame em especial, os cenários são tão misteriosos e gigantescos que é surpreendente; sabe aquele "vazio filosófico" que rola com Shadows of The Colossus? Senti pra caramba com esse aqui.

Em questão de gráficos, não é um jogo "nova geração" mas também não decepciona com sua qualidade, fica naquele meio termo.

De qualquer forma, Returnal é um ótimo game, mas com certeza não é pra todo mundo, a dificuldade é punitiva e dependendo do jogador a experiência com o título pode ficar cansativa ou até mesmo desagradável, felizmente não foi o meu caso, mas fica ai a descrição.

I can't tell if I love or hate this game.

Gameplay loop is very solid, but I am absolutely convinced that 50% of the rooms in this game only exist to pad out the run time and justify the price tag. Also some of the design choices in the latter half of the game were confusing and infuriating.

Still, overall a fun game to play that looks pretty and has an okay story. Sometimes. Ending didn't land but the rest of the story was good.

mechanically fantastic third-person shooter, gunplay and movement feels like an damn dream to handle, unique storyline and great presentation, it really showcases the PS5's unique features such as the controller haptics and 3D sounds.

the roguelike elements are a bit mixed for me though, runs lasts for too long with little to no reward between each attempt, weapons perks and artifacts do not feel unique and varied enough to incentive an strong replayability.

still enjoyed this a lot as an shooter, this is probably the best game the PS5 has to offer so far, a shame that is a bit overlooked.