Returnal is a rare breed of game. There are a few faults with it but even those faults don't detract significantly from how great it can be. It is a Game of the Year candidate for me, and it would take a very special game to dethrone it.
Returnal follows Selene, an Astra scout, after she crashes on an alien planet called Atropos. In hopes of finding a way back home, she must fight fierce beasts and unravel what happened to the crumbling xeno-civilization she discovers.
At its heart, the gameplay is similar to a rogue-like with strong bullet-hell influences. It will push the player to quickly react with little room for error. Death is swift and merciless, but there is always a lesson in these failures.
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with Returnal even when my abilities weren't up to the challenges presented. I'm the first to admit the gameplay might frustrate some players into quitting or wishing they never bothered. That's completely valid. Returnal is not for everyone nor was it made to be that way. But if you can bring yourself to really dig deep even when you might not want to keep going, I think you'll find a one-of-kind experience worth struggling over.
TLDR; I highly recommend Returnal, and it is on a short list for my personal Game of the Year.
Timestamps with main chapters in upper case:
00:00 INTRODUCTION
01:43 SILPHIUM'S BLACK ROOTS - COMBATING DARKNESS
02:09 What is Returnal's game play?
03:11 Combat Progression
03:20 Lovecraftian Horrors
04:25 BUILDING THE DIFFICULTY RAMP
04:37 Basic attacks and enemy types
05:36 Biome 1 Boss - Phrike
06:00 Initial difficulty - Hard? Easy? In-between?
06:25 Biome 1 = Entire Playthrough Format
06:51 How does combat evolve?
07:16 Comparing to Control and Other Games
08:04 INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH
08:09 Blue, Yellow, and Green shots
08:31 Red Attacks
08:44 Arrow Shots
08:49 Purple Rings
08:54 Melee Attacks
09:06 Slowing Attacks
09:15 Unique and Common Gaming Lexicon Attacks
09:52 Recap of Attacks with My Thoughts on Combat
11:00 SELENE'S MOVEMENT ARSENAL
11:42 Movement
12:07 Firing Weapons
12:58 Jumping and Dashing
13:39 CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON
14:36 Weapon Progression Problems
15:41 Time to Unlock
16:08 Tilting Towards Aggression
16:24 OBOLITES
17:05 ADRENALINE
17:31 Dichotomy
18:07 Combat Conclusion
20:23 THE INFLEXIBLE ONE - EXPLORING ATROPOS, BUILDING A FUTURE
20:43 Metroid
21:23 Comparing Selene and Samus
21:53 Creating Atropos
22:19 Addressing Complaints Regarding Tile Repetition
22:33 Counter #1
23:12 Counter #2
23:29 Counter #3
23:58 Please like, comment, share, and subscribe! :)
24:19 HOW DOES AN ACTUAL RUN PLAY?
24:36 Opening Scenarios
25:10 WEAPONS
25:46 CONSUMABLES
26:16 Example of Cascading Decisions
26:44 ARTIFACTS
27:18 The Impact of Artifacts
28:30 PARASITES
29:34 MALIGNANCY AND MALFUNCTIONS
30:58 ETHER
31:10 First Purpose
31:25 Second Purpose
31:49 Third Purpose
32:19 Putting It All Together
33:39 PRAYING TO OIZYS - A COIN FLIP LANDING ON THE EDGE
33:47 Preamble Before Spoilers
34:00 Creating A Full Story Breakdown?
34:24 SKIP TO 39:26 OR CHAPTER CLEVER TITLE
34:35 Final Spoiler Warning
34:49 The First Section of the Game
36:18 Discussing Story Delivery
36:42 Tone and Layers
37:31 A Tale of Subtlety
38:41 Lord JLO Seal of Approval
39:26 CLEVER TITLE - MISCELLANEOUS
39:32 Haptic Feedback and 3D Audio
40:13 Lack of Save Feature
41:30 THE CYCLE ENDS - A CONCLUSION
43:22 OUTRO MONTAGE
44:29 Endcard
God of War 4 Story Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2NHY7BKbuA
Official DMC5 trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXXRhmkFo8k
BlueLycanroc:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjaaGM8ejW0O4aXLaiRgkAw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI8pg6mXPBQ
#Returnal #GOTY #Housemarque
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