I’m going to venture a guess with a hot take. Housemarque’s 2021 hit Returnal is the best game on the PS5 so far. If I’m being completely honest, I fall into the camp that would argue that there aren’t enough PS5 games – and by that I mean original, truly next-gen-feeling games made specifically for the console. Sure, there are great third-party offerings and some great first-party sequels to PS4 games, but I’m not sure any of those games stand out enough from what came before them to really make the case that they are. PS5 games.
Returnal is one of the few first-party exclusives that understood the PS5 brief, in my opinion. And that’s coming from someone who normally hates roguelikes. Returnal has it all, from clever use of haptic feedback and trigger resistance, to a structure that feels narratively relevant, to crafting something that’s tailored to a PlayStation player base that’s getting on in years. Thanks to Prime Day, you can get this truly exceptional video game for just $29.99 at Amazon (was $69.99).
Let’s put it this way: Returnal is a game so good that Sony almost immediately bought the studio that made it after it came out. If you haven’t tried it yet, now is a fantastic time. It’s not often we see first-party exclusives like this drop in price so drastically, and this Prime Day PS5 deal means it’s just $3 off its all-time low price at Amazon.
The only caveat I should make here is that unless you like owning physical versions of your games, you don’t have to buy this if you’re a paying PlayStation Plus subscriber. Returnal is currently in the PlayStation Plus Extra catalog, so as long as you’re subscribed to at least that tier, you can download and play Returnal at no additional cost.
If you’ve been waiting for the physical version to become cheaper, then Prime Day gaming deals offer you a great opportunity.
Should you buy Returnal?
Returnal is a third-person action-adventure game in which you play as a futuristic astronaut named Seline. After responding to a distress call, Seline finds herself stranded on an unknown planet, with no hope of rescue. As she explores the planet, she soon realizes that an alien race once settled there, but she realizes that she is trapped in a loop of her own mortality. After she dies, she awakens at the crash site of her ship, doomed to begin her impossible escape attempt over and over again.
Storywise, that’s all I want to tell you right now. Because while the story isn’t the central focus of this game like it is in a game like The Last of Us, there are some great thematic discoveries to be made. I won’t spoil those, though.
This is a game that challenges you. It’s known as a bullet-hell game because during combat you have to dodge, dash, and jump to avoid the disgusting amounts of alien firepower coming your way. It’s also a Roguelike, which means that every time you die you’re sent back to the beginning to restart your run.
Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom. The game has 2-player online co-op, which is perhaps one of its best features. You can also save your game mid-loop, which, controversially, wasn’t possible when the game launched.
One of my favorite things about Returnal, as someone who reviews controllers, is its use of the DualSense’s niche features. Haptic feedback is great in this game. Every raindrop taps your palms, and you feel every bit of incoming damage. Trigger Resistance is a similar story, thanks to its ingenious alternate firearms.
It’s clear that I’m a huge fan of this game. If there’s one PS5 game I recommend above all others right now, it’s probably Returnal.
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