“Returnal” is a third-person Roguelike shooting game produced by the Finnish studio Housemarque. As a former PS5 exclusive game, it did not receive much attention before its release, but after its launch, many media and players gave it good reviews. Briefly speaking, Housemarque, a Finnish production team, has produced games such as “STORMDIVERS” and “Dead Machine”. “Dead Machine” has received 89% praise on Steam. Two years later, this game was released on PC. What optimizations and changes have been made compared to the PS5 version? Can it continue to receive good reviews? Let’s take a look together!
The story of “Returnal” tells the story of ASTRA scout Selene’s crash on the Helios while investigating the “White Shadow”. Selene discovers his own body and pistol while waking up on the planet Atropos to investigate the source of the signal, which prompts him to continue the investigation. When Selene reaches the depths, a huge monster suddenly appears and kills him, and Selene’s cycle of death begins. What exactly is the White Shadow? Why is Selene reborn? These mysteries will be solved through repeated resurrection exploration .
As a Roguelike, is there enough variety of weapons? Is the level design excellent? These are the standards to judge whether the game is fun. In “Returnal”, there are a total of 10 different weapons waiting for players to unlock. These weapons include hyperbolic particle carbines based on realistic weapon designs, burst nozzles full of Cthulhu style, and even the ability to meet the needs of large magazine enthusiasts. Each of these weapons can bring players a different shooting experience. Whether you can get a handy weapon and the desired entry depends on the player’s character.
As a fast-paced third-person shooter game, “Returnal” still has certain challenges. The Roguelike gameplay makes the game highly random, making it easy to miss a handy weapon throughout the entire level. I died by mistake when I was about to defeat the first level boss for the first time, and for the following 4-5 resurrections, either I couldn’t get the missing weapon I liked or I had to go to the boss’s room to get the weapon.
At the same time, “Returnal” also has the problem of imbalance between BUFF and DEBUFF. There is a kind of item in the game called parasite, which will bring BUFF and DEBUFF at the same time. However, most parasite’s DEBUFF is stronger than the buff, which leads to the possibility that I may not find a parasite that I can use after a game.
As a PS5 ported game, this game perfectly retains the gamepad characteristics of DualSense. As soon as I got started, I tried the most distinctive Self-Adaptation trigger of the gamepad. What surprised me after using it was why the left aiming trigger had two gears while the right shooting trigger did not change? This question was answered at the moment when the game’s secondary weapon was unlocked. “Returnal” sets the aiming button to two sections so that players can better switch between primary and secondary weapons. When the player presses the left trigger to the first section, Selene will lift the gun to aim. After pressing it to the bottom, the normal primary weapon aiming will switch to the secondary weapon. This setting not only showcases DualSense’s unique Self-Adaptation trigger, but also allows players to better output in fast-paced design battles. Of course, if you are not used to or do not like this operation method, you can also switch back to the classic L1 to switch between primary and secondary weapons, and L2 to aim. DualSense’s gamepad feedback also gives players an excellent experience. When we control Selene to walk in the rain, holding
If you are not used to the gamepad operation, the game also provides a perfect keyboard and mouse adaptation. After experiencing the two ways, the author still prefers the gamepad control . Because the bullets in this work come from all directions, the joystick control is more conducive to dodging, and the auxiliary aiming can better lock the monsters in the business.
I believe everyone has some understanding of the reading speed of PS5. In the PS5 version, the Housemarque production team has successfully applied this black technology to “Returnal”. This feature has also been well preserved in the PC version, allowing players to start the next game without waiting after death.
Finally, let’s talk about the graphics and sound effects of the game. Compared to the PS5 version, the graphics performance of this game on PC is smoother. After entering the game, you will first start compiling shaders. Compared to the ” Dead Space ” released last month, the whole process only takes 1 minute! Then the game will give image presets according to the player’s computer hardware configuration, in order to obtain the most balanced performance and graphics performance. If you feel that the image configuration given by the preset is too low, you can also change the image settings yourself. After setting, select the benchmark test that comes with the game to see the FPS, CPU and GPU occupancy rate under the current image settings, so as to ensure that it does not lag in the subsequent game process.
In terms of sound effects, this game provides three options: Resonance, Auro 3D, and stereo. Resonance can provide you with more accurate stereo sound effects, while Auro 3D brings you even sound effects as if you were on the spot. However, stereo is still more recommended. The 3D sound effects supported by “Returnal” can make you feel like you are in a cinema.
“Returnal” can be said to be a dark horse on the PS5. It has excellent shooting feel and excellent level design. At the same time, the game also uses almost all the characteristics of the PS5. The Self-Adaptation trigger allows players to better adapt to the fast-paced shooting battle, the gamepad feedback and 3D sound effects allow players to better integrate into the environment, and the excellent loading speed further immerses players in the game. However, it is well received but not well received, and few players really know about this game. This PC login can be said to have perfectly retained the characteristics of the PS5 version. I hope that through this port, more players can experience this game.
