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Do you consider Returnal as Sony's best first party game released so far on the PS5?

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
I was wondering what are GAF thoughts on Returnal now that we are two and half years removed from its launch and more 1st party SIE games have arrived on the PS5. Do you think it merits the title as the best 1st party Sony game released so far for the PS5 system?

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As for me, I'll start and say that it's hands down the best first-party game Sony has released this generation. I'll even go further and say it's a perfect 10 out of 10, a masterpiece, and was quite ecstatic when Housemarque rightly won the prestigious BAFTA award for best game in 2021 (I'll say it deserved even more peer and critic recognition than that for all the the impressive stuff they achieved with this title but alas..). I don't know about you, but Returnal resonated with me a lot, in particular due to some of the heavy themes it alludes to that play no small part in Selene's story (e.g. isolation, depression, generational trauma and its effects on one's mental health). I played it during the height of the 2nd wave of the pandemic here in Europe (or maybe the 3rd?) just before getting my first covid shots, so I was mostly still stuck at home, working remotely; Guess this has contributed somewhat in making Selene's journey on Atropos a tad more personal for me.

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With all that out of way, I'd have to say that Returnal's entire package is of very high quality. The controls are very tight, with very satisfying gunplay and punchy weapons, which it was somewhat expected from Housemarque due to their rich history with the bullet hell/shoot 'em up genre, but adapting this gameplay from 2D to 3D is certainly no small feat. The world-building and atmosphere are excellent too, with the art direction leaning and being inspired by the works of H.R. Giger and Beksinski. The storytelling is a bit ambiguous and left open for interpretation, but the Lovecraftian influences are clear alongside the many Greek mythology references you'll come across while trying to piece together Selene's story. All in all the cosmic horror is executed extremely well in Returnal, and if you're a fan of that (like I am), it pulls you right in from the get go.

The boss encounters are thrilling and unique; not too hard, not too easy, but just the right amount of challenge. I think everyone who has finished Returnal has been blown away by the build-up leading to the Hyperion fight - and of course the boss fight itself - which hopefully left a lasting impression on you as it certainly did for me. This leads me to mention the phenomenal soundtrack made by Bobby Krlic (I think I must have listened to the OST more than a dozen times in 2021, and then again when Vol.2 was released last year). And speaking of the audio aspect, in my opinion, Returnal has the best sound design of all the games released in recent years. I don't know how to put it into words, but playing with headphones felt like being transported to the planet Atropos itself. The 3D positioning for all the objects in the environment is spot on (e.g. enemies, projectiles, alien fauna, etc.), and you can accurately pin point how far an enemy is from you and from which direction they're attacking or trying to approach just by sound alone (I guess the RT audio implementation that simulates audio bounces in the game environment in a realistic way helps a ton here). Combined with the superb soundtrack, this auditory experience becomes something truly remarkable.

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I played it day one, and finished it in about four days, before the devs nerfed the difficulty of certain enemies and way before they added the suspend cycle function. But even so, I found the difficulty to be quite fair for a roguelike—challenging, of course, but fair. I'll mention here here that as you progress and level up your weapons, the difficulty becomes more and more manageable, thanks in no small part to the game-changing perks you unlock on the weapons you play with. Of course, having a fair bit of luck with the item pick-ups while going through the biomes helps with a run quite a bit as well.

Lastly, the implementation of the DualSense controller was top-notch (probably the best so far, other than Astro Bot), with excellent haptics and triggers usage (e.g. pull half-way to focus aim and then all the way down for alt-fire mode). I haven't played the free DLC they released last year, however, I'll do plan to revisit Returnal soon to take care of that.

I'll end by saying that Returnal means to me what Bloodborne has meant to a whole lot of people here and other various places during last gen (e.g. game of the generation) and I consider it by far the best 1st party game on PS5, and presently thoroughly looking forward to what Housemarque will be cooking next.

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GrayChild

Member
Yes. It's pretty much their only worthwhile exclusive (perhaps along the latest Ratchet and Clank) which is not a:

1. Glorified Netflix series.
2. A remake.
3. Ubisoft-like open world which feels like more like work than actual fun.

So yeah, I'd say their best first-party title since Bloodborne.
 
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Fbh

Member
I thought it was just ok, was actually a bit underwhelmed after hearing so much praise for it before.

The core gameplay is solid and the first biome looks cool but everything else about it was a bit "meh". I also found it to be lacking in the rogulite design, would have probably liked it way more if it was just a fun 10 hours linear campaign.

But then again the Sony first party output this gen has been pretty weak so it does stand out.
 

kurisu_1974

is on perm warning for being a low level troll
For some reason I have zero interest in this game or God of War so I think our metrics are very different.
 

Holammer

Member
Played on PC.
Big fan of roguelikes and it's a fine game with decent mechanics, the haptics really took it to the next level (shits on Nintendo's HD Rumble from great heights!). But butt-cheeks like opinions are divided so I got more out of Ratchet & Clank: Ripped a Fart. Sometimes a dumb adventure with likeable characters is funnier than an overly complex non-linear narrative.
Which is why I also enjoyed Hades far more than Returnal.
 

ChiefDada

Gold Member
Great game but launched at the wrong time, should've waited for a bigger install base

You're right but it's always difficult for launch games from small dev teams. Although I think it's doing quite well under PS Plus. I'm just glad Sony was happy with their performance and scooped them up. I can only imagine what Housemarqe will cook up next with years worth of familiarity with PS5 tech and PS resources.
 

Lupin25

Member
Well, it’s practically the only one (jk lol)

But even if it wasn’t, Returnal would still most likely be the best game so far.

It’s pretty much Bloodborne as a 3rd person shooter for me.
 

Darius87

Member
Do you think it merits the title as the best 1st party Sony game released so far for the PS5 system?
No.
As for me, I'll start and say that it's hands down the best first-party game Sony has released this generation. I'll even go further and say it's a perfect 10 out of 10, a masterpiece
8 out of 10.
As for me, I'll start and say that it's hands down the best first-party game Sony has released this generation.
God of war ragnarok so far best game for PS5.
The boss encounters are thrilling and unique; not too hard, not too easy, but just the right amount of challenge. I think everyone who has finished Returnal has been blown away by the build-up leading to the Hyperion fight - and of course the boss fight itself - which hopefully left a lasting impression on you as it certainly did for me.
Speaking about game difficulty overall it's was challenging for me specially first biome, bosses was ok but nothing really impressive.
This leads me to mention the phenomenal soundtrack made by Bobby Krlic (I think I must have listened to the OST more than a dozen times in 2021, and then again when Vol.2 was released last year).
OST was good very atmospheric.
I'll end by saying that Returnal means to me what Bloodborne has meant to a whole lot of people here and other various places during last gen (e.g. game of the generation) and I consider it by far the best 1st party game on PS5, and presently thoroughly looking forward to what Housemarque will be cooking next.
Bloodborne by far better game then Returnal, both are difficult what's makes them stand out from other games.
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I didn't like RPG element of it to me it felt like to much of manipulation of everything, and game becomes easy if you know exactly what to upgrade and what parasites to pick up what not, it really depends on what items you find, some are really overpowed.
random levels are cool but it's just random arrangement of areas. Graphics didn't impressed me apart from FX.
Overall gunplay is the best part of returnal, but it's far from the best game for me there's much better games then this.
 
Yes! Returnal was a breath of fresh air for me. Had a blast! It was a little frustrating at first, but once I learned the core fundamentals of the game I couldn't but it down. I have a nice surround sound system setup in my media room and the audio delivered by this game was incredible. Enveloped in bullet hell madness! Such a great time.
 
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Rockman33

Member
By a mile in my opinion. So far Sony’s first party slate has been really underwhelming to me.

Returnal- Really great
Ratchet- Good, not as good as 2016 ratchet
Forbidden west- dislike to hate this game, which was extremely disappointing considering how much I liked the first one.
God of war- 2nd favorite 1st party. Liked it a bit less than 2018, but that’s still very high
Miles- really enjoyed miles and am very excited for Spider-Man 2!
 

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Ratchet
GT7
Forbidden West

Are all better than Returnal.
Curious if you gave Returnal a fair shot or what was the reason you didn't even include it your list of SIE games (they're so few of them anyway for the PS5 so those 3 titles are like half of Sony's first part output on PS5 and funnily enough all of them sequels and very safe games which is the opposite of Returnal). Also, what's your thoughts on the excellent Demon's Souls remake for the PS5?
 
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