Returnal

I bought this game for the PS5 because I wanted to try and diversify the type of games I played.

This game delivered in amazing ways such as the haptic feedback and sensations you feel on the dual sense 5 which is very reminiscent to what your character is doing in the game. There is also lots of unique and entertaining horror/sci-fi visuals and for that it deserves an 8.

The story is very mediocre and the fact that you have to respawn every time you die and it feels like you're not really advancing anywhere specific makes the game hard to enjoy for such a high price. However if the price does come down, it definitely is worth trying out.

Returnal sounded great on paper but after playing it the game is just a mess. Everything looks the exact same from start to finish. I know it's a rogue like but that doesn't mean it has to look alike. It just makes the game feel empty. The weapons aren't to bad. They get held by the lacking combat. They wanted to make it all fast pace but it just feels uncomfortable. I don't know what it is. The bosses are where the game really takes a nose dive. From example 1 of the bosses has different attacks where you need to avoid it different. Throu dash or jumping. But they both look the same at 1st so you have to guess which way to avoid it. That is unless your lucky enough to be standing on further side of the sweep but if not enjoy getting hit for a mass amount of health. Also in-between each health bar you don't have any time before the next phase so why not just have 1 long health bar with lines in at each new phase. If your going to make it 3 separate health bars it makes you think your gonna have a bit of time in-between each phase to revive your friend or whatever. Which I think there should be during a long encounter anyway but that's just my opinion.

At 1 point there was a building which you can't enter. But later after seeing it I got a key and it said it was for the building but you still can't enter it? Why do you give me a key when you still can't enter? Surely someone would have picked up on how misleading and silly that is?

Anyway, essentially the game boils down to mindlessly running round the same looking rooms doing random stuff which you don't know if it's optional or its actually driving the progress forward. Eventually it will tell you that you can now open the boss room door. Also here and then it will tell you something about the story. But that's few and far between and you'll probably forget what's actually going on half the time.

I like the fact the developers tried something new. However this game would have probably been better if it wasn't a rogue like.

Look this game is great it looks nice and shows what the ps5 is capable of but if you are easily annoyed and not a fan of Groundhog Day style games when you die and have to start over again then this isn't for you! But if you like a challenge give this game a go, lots of action also has a mysterious/creepy vibe 10/10.

A great game with a lot of variety with the weapons and abilities you can use. A fair amount of choices to be made when you decide what kind of build you want for different fight engagements.

There's something left to be said about the final boss when it is the easiest one to beat in the entire game, but the rest of them will give you a challenge on your first run-in with them.

A bit lacking with other activities to do in the game other than just moving down a lot of aliens. Could have added more optional challenges to overcome.

But overall a nice little challenging experience.

Having played this game for my 1st jump to the PS5 left me very encouraged about the new hardware. Owning a Pro and playing it again 2+ years later now that it's been patched for the PS5 Pro and I'm definitely here for the whole experience. Yes, it's Souls like, but it's also completely unique from that genre. Beautiful - check, difficult but rewarding - check, intriguing story - check but you have to give it time & accept that you're going to be starting fresh a lot until you really get the hang of it. Anyone looking for a fun game to throw lots of hours into, I highly recommend!!! I'll admit that the current generation needs more quality games, but the great ones they have developed are absolute works of art, i.e. Returnal, Horizon (both games), Spiderman 2, etc.