8 Video Game Villains Secretly Introduced Way Earlier Than You Realise

Returnal's plot is so abstract and vague that, even after playing the game for tens of hours and getting the Platinum Trophy, the true nature of the creepy astronaut who shows up from time to time is still difficult to grasp.

What most players will know is this: the astronaut makes their presence known whenever protagonist Selene enters her house, encountering flashbacks that end with the space suit-wearing menace confronting her and taking her back to the planet.

It becomes quite a haunting presence, and takes centre stage in Returnal's best horror-inspired sequences. What makes it even creepier, though, is that the astronaut is actually always watching you in the game, even before you come face to face with it for the first time in the house.

As picked up by players on Reddit after launch, the astronaut can be spotted observing you from vantage points across all the different biomes. Not doing anything. Just watching.

Freak.