Returnal Review Roundup

The PS5 is now 5 months old and although it launched with amazing exclusives Demon Souls and Max Morales, the hype train since had been cooled somewhat. We are still stuck in that weird cross-gen phase right now which may be view as the main culprit for the lack of true PS5 experiences. Hopefully this lull is coming to an end with the launch of the exclusive Returnal. So, was it worth the wait? Here's the roundup:

GAMEINFORMER (SCORE 9.5/10)
'Returnal is a relentless nightmare that’s a dream to play. The journey is full of horror and terrible discoveries, but also unbridled curiosity and wonder. If you have the taste for it, this is an adventure that begs to be experienced.'

For the full review please visit here.
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GAMESPOT (SCORE 9/10)
'Returnal is constantly unsettling and consistently challenging. Its mysterious story and demanding action feel intense, urgent, and fresh. The fast-moving combat manages to appear incredibly daunting, bordering on overwhelming, without ever actually becoming insurmountable. Every moment is a rush, either because you just barely evaded a giant purple laser or because you have no idea why there's an Apollo-era astronaut following your every move. Do you need to be a little brave to play Returnal? Yeah. Do you need to be glutton for punishment? It helps. They say that anything worth doing should scare you at least a little bit. I'm not sure if that's always true, but Returnal makes a strong case.'

For the full review please visit here.
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GAMESRADAR+ (SCORE 4/5)
'Returnal is a breakaway from the type of exclusive Sony has focused on in recent years, using a genre that has only recently come back into fashion as a starting point for a story that makes you work to understand it, offering plenty to chew on without wrapping it up neatly. It’s an unexpectedly daring step forward for a developer who has refined what makes its style so compelling while adding in new elements.'

For the full review please visit here.

IGN (SCORE 8/10)
'The moment-to-moment gameplay of Returnal is sublime, with a great selection of weapons that each have a wide variety of interesting possible traits, meaningful strategic decisions that can either keep a run afloat or doom it to sink, and punishingly challenging yet rewarding gunplay that is consistently exhilarating. Even with all of this focus on action, it never drops the ball on the story. Its big issue is that runs last way too long, and there’s no way to save progress outside of putting the PS5 in rest mode. That saps the desire to immediately return and try again after a failure, though not enough to grind it to a halt. Even so, Returnal is an incredible roguelike, and one of Housemarque’s best games to date.'

​For the full review please visit here.

DESTRUCTOID (SCORE 7.5/10)
'Returnal is a mostly thrilling sci-fi action romp that suffers from a lack of scale at times. In the moment, I'm completely fixated on my run, upgrading like a fiend, and dashing around for iFrames like I was playing a Capcom game. But after that run ends and I'm looking at the bigger picture, Returnal can feel a little smaller than it actually is. Keep that in mind before you take the pricey plunge.'

For the full review please visit here.

EASY ALLIES (VIDEO REVIEW)

Overall, Returnal currently sits at a Metascore of 86 from 91 reviews(PS5) firmly placing it among the upper echelons of this generations greats so far. It's quality is surprising many gamers, but I had always believed it would be a great game ever since it was first revealed. 

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