Returnal PS5 Review: 9 Ups & 3 Downs

Returnal is another killer PS5 exclusive.

by Josh Brown
returnal game
Housemarque

Being the first major exclusive since Sony dropped the PS5 last November (sorry Destruction All Stars), there’s a lot of expectation hanging on Returnal.

It’s developer Housemarque’s biggest game yet, it’s one of the few true next-gen exclusives Sony has on its slate, and it’s trying to mesh the procedurally-generated nature of Roguelikes with AAA production values.

Returnal casts players as Selene, an astronaut who’s crash landed on the uncharted alien planet Atropos. The twist is, though, Selene is caught in a time loop. Every death resets progress to the moment she crashed, and every time she returns the planet’s geometry changes in classic Roguelike fashion.

Pre-release trailers showed a game that looked pretty solid, but plenty of caution has remained. Will the gameplay get bland across tens of hours? Will there be enough variety in the environments? Does it justify the $70 price point?

Well, I’ve spent the past week and a bit playing it, and can say with confidence that Returnal is another winner for Sony.

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There are NO spoilers in this review.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked full time as a content producer at WhatCulture for nine years. In that time he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple channels, specialising in subjects such as gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 most listened to gaming podcast in the UK that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, covered breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.