Returnal is the first major PlayStation 5 exclusive that will be released in this year 2021. Developed by Housemarque , creators of Resogun and Dead Nation , the title will be available from April 30, after its delay .
But what does Returnal really promise in your experience ? We tell you everything here .
The project began by calling itself Dark Planet.
Housemarque’s first idea regarding the project that ended up being Returnal was to make a science fiction video game with dark and gloomy environments, so they chose the name Dark Planet, which, incidentally , makes the intention of the studio and the initial premise of the title.
Due to this dark theme that was raised from the beginning, the game still retains some elements of survival horror , beyond the fact that now its gameplay focuses on shooting and exploring procedural environments .
Narrative.
The game’s story stars Selene , a woman who experiences a forced landing on the surface of a dark, hostile planet teeming with strange creatures.
Selene must take advantage of all the elements that she finds in the environment to survive and defend herself from all the dangers that lie in wait for her and, although she is defeated many times, she always tries again in the hope of escaping and discovering the secrets of this world.
The plot will be told through the fragmented memories of the protagonist , in a fervent search for answers that will lead her to create a personal connection with the planet, beyond all the dangers it represents.
Procedural World.
Returnal is a roguelike title that will generate its environments in a procedural way , like many popular titles in the recent history of the industry such as Dead Cells or The Binding of Isaac .
However, the difference between Returnal and most titles of this genre is that it is designed from a third-person perspective in three dimensions , which adds a much broader universe of mechanics and playable possibilities for developers.
Each game cycle or session will offer unique combinations and possibilities , since different objects will be generated in environments with different geography, which will make the player have to implement different strategies to be able to cross certain areas, depending on the particular conditions of each one.
This context, in principle, will provide a tremendous randomness to the experience , making the player have to familiarize himself with the weapons and accessories that he finds in each cycle and try to know which ones are more effective against certain types of enemies.
Housemarque seeks to adapt mechanics from the bullet hell genre.
The bullet hell genre is recognized in the industry for hosting some of the most difficult games of all time , since the base of this type of gameplay is an uncountable amount of shots on the screen that hinder the player’s movements and make defeating enemies is a very complicated task.
In this sense, the studio has worked to adapt the mechanics of this type of title to the Returnal experience , and for this they have used new functionalities such as 3D Audio to allow players to always be spatially located.
The 3D Audio will allow the player to be always aware of the shots that are approaching him and the direction from which they have been launched. Being a third-person title, the player cannot see what is behind the character’s back, so listening to enemies very well will be key to not receiving as much damage .
Armament.
Players will have a total of 10 base weapons with 10 alternate shots at their disposal . The alternate fire will be very easy to activate thanks to the adaptive triggers of the DualSense , since it will simply depend on how hard you press the trigger when firing.
What’s more. Selene will have an alien device called Cthonos , which will allow the protagonist to generate random objects in each session.
The player will also receive different rewards depending on the amount of experience they have earned. With these rewards you can upgrade your weapons and better prepare for the next raids .
Fully dubbed into Spanish.
One of the great news for Spanish users is that PlayStation has confirmed that the title will be fully localized in Spanish , with texts and voices included.
This information was confirmed with an epic trailer that also shows some of the weapons and tools that Selene will be able to use in her explorations. Here we leave it for you:
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The player’s skill and luck will also play their part.
As you become familiar with the mechanics of the game and understand how some tools work, you will have the opportunity to access inaccessible areas and discover new secrets and weapons , which will make your sessions more fruitful.
On the other hand, being a procedural generation roguelike title, randomness and luck have a lot to do with each session, so you will not be able to apply the same strategies all the time nor will you receive the same rewards in each attempt .
Editions.
The game will be sold in two editions: Standard and Deluxe . The standard edition will only include a copy of the game and costs about 79.99 euros .
For its part, the Deluxe edition is worth about 89.99 euros and includes the following:
- Returnal copy.
- Electropilone conductive weapon.
- Hole-seeking weapon.
- 1 consumable: reflex stimulator.
- 1 artifact: throbbing mass.
- 1 adrenaline booster.
- Digital soundtrack.
- 2 outfits from the game for Selene.
Both editions can be reserved now from the PS Store .
