FIFTH FAVORITE GAME OF 2021
I'm such a damn jerk. I watched the IGN Devs React speed run earlier this fall after getting my PS5 and constantly waffling over whether I should make a move on Returnal. On the plus side: PS5 exclusive! DualSense examples galore! So pretty! Great for listening to podcasts! On the negative? $70 price tag. No saves. Hard as fuck. The negatives constantly outweighed the positives until I watched that video. I thought: that's it? I can do that! Who said this game was hard? Certainly not Bloodborne players.
Shortly after, the game went on sale for $40 and Housemarque patched in-game saves so it was a no brainer: I was gonna buy this game and kick its ass.
I have not, so far, kicked its ass. But I have had an awesome time! In fact, the inspiration to buckle down and write this post was just a few hours ago, as one of the best runs I'd ever had in this game ended with an ignominious fall down a pit after another of my patented Jump-Dashes Into Hell I've come to know myself so well for. It's, like, my absolutely favorite game within a game to play. I couldn't tell you when in the run I'll accidentally end it by falling into a pit of nothing thanks to my own panicked inputs, only that it will happen and I will laugh maniacally in frustration. Like a FromSoft game, that has been this game's most magic gift: I just today played this game for nearly two hours, excitedly collecting some very interesting sounding power-ups, some very useful feeling weapons and conquering some typically seemingly insurmountable challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjSSjlaIHO4&feature=emb_imp_woyt
But more than anything, Returnal is always an emotional experience. Tension, fear, elation, anticipation, giddiness, trepidation, total sadness. It's all in there. See that clip I posted above this paragraph? I nearly cried when I died there. I felt the tears welling up. I booted up these forums and started writing this blog to quell the pain. I really can't tell you how exasperatedly I shrieked in fear when I arrived at the bridge (which leads to the boss) only to find that waiting for me - sometimes, after all, the bridge has no enemies guarding it at all.
If I were any better at this game (and, again, check out that clip: I'm such a fucking wimp) it'd easily be my Game of the Year. The music, the set dressing, the bullet hell, the sound effects, the enemy designs. This is an absolutely remarkable game that I'm just not fully cut out for yet and may never be.
I can't wait to play more.
I'm such a damn jerk. I watched the IGN Devs React speed run earlier this fall after getting my PS5 and constantly waffling over whether I should make a move on Returnal. On the plus side: PS5 exclusive! DualSense examples galore! So pretty! Great for listening to podcasts! On the negative? $70 price tag. No saves. Hard as fuck. The negatives constantly outweighed the positives until I watched that video. I thought: that's it? I can do that! Who said this game was hard? Certainly not Bloodborne players.
Shortly after, the game went on sale for $40 and Housemarque patched in-game saves so it was a no brainer: I was gonna buy this game and kick its ass.
I have not, so far, kicked its ass. But I have had an awesome time! In fact, the inspiration to buckle down and write this post was just a few hours ago, as one of the best runs I'd ever had in this game ended with an ignominious fall down a pit after another of my patented Jump-Dashes Into Hell I've come to know myself so well for. It's, like, my absolutely favorite game within a game to play. I couldn't tell you when in the run I'll accidentally end it by falling into a pit of nothing thanks to my own panicked inputs, only that it will happen and I will laugh maniacally in frustration. Like a FromSoft game, that has been this game's most magic gift: I just today played this game for nearly two hours, excitedly collecting some very interesting sounding power-ups, some very useful feeling weapons and conquering some typically seemingly insurmountable challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjSSjlaIHO4&feature=emb_imp_woyt
But more than anything, Returnal is always an emotional experience. Tension, fear, elation, anticipation, giddiness, trepidation, total sadness. It's all in there. See that clip I posted above this paragraph? I nearly cried when I died there. I felt the tears welling up. I booted up these forums and started writing this blog to quell the pain. I really can't tell you how exasperatedly I shrieked in fear when I arrived at the bridge (which leads to the boss) only to find that waiting for me - sometimes, after all, the bridge has no enemies guarding it at all.
If I were any better at this game (and, again, check out that clip: I'm such a fucking wimp) it'd easily be my Game of the Year. The music, the set dressing, the bullet hell, the sound effects, the enemy designs. This is an absolutely remarkable game that I'm just not fully cut out for yet and may never be.
I can't wait to play more.