My pick for GoTY goes to Housemarqe’s Returnal on Sony’s PlayStation 5.
If this game was a recipe, it would be a side of Pacman sprinkled with freshly chopped Metroid with a pinch of Space Harrier to taste.
It is an old-school arcade game, minus the quarters (which they should add to the game), and the cabinet (which would be a cool Instructables project).
I played a small selection of PS, Xbox, Nintendo, and VR games in 2020 but I enjoyed playing Returnal more than any of the titles I played. I kept on going back to it, even after moving to a different game for a while. There was something about Returnal that, for me, made it live up to its name.
For that reason, Returnal is my game of the year.
Playing The Game
Returnal is punishing at first. There is no denying it and it’s something you just have to get through. Progression can end abruptly—either in being unable to get past a certain high-level enemy/biome or in just walking through the wrong door at the wrong time and being utterly engulfed by bat creatures (annoying) or missile drones (very annoying) ruining a perfectly good run.
Eventually, if you keep at it, something happens and gameplay starts to flow. It’s like movies portray the ensuing seconds before breaking the sound barrier, a sea of rattling dials and gizmos threatening to shake themselves apart just before an epic silence. When you break through, your proficiency will surprise you. The game becomes a fun challenge and the odds of success greatly improve. It’s still hard but not punishingly so.
I find setting mini goals and ignoring trying to get to the end is the best way to play. We have all been beaten by Overgrown Ruins boss Phrike. After beating the game a couple of times, I decided to get Selene’s research data on it to 100%, a task that means taking him on and beating him 10 times. At the beginning of the game, an impossible task, but with practice not much of a challenge.
If you stumble upon a data cube (rare later in the game) making it your mission to get it to a cube reader is also fun. Goals that have these permanent results are also often very useful. Though, if you’re feeling good, and have a good loadout, going for an end-game run is still a lot of fun.
Note On the Graphics + Mechanics
There’s not much I could say that hasn’t been said already about the graphics and sound design of this game. So I’ll just post this from Push Square:
Returnal really does feel like a game purpose built for PS5. This game has the best haptic feedback since Astro's Playroom, it makes good, functional use of the adaptive triggers, the 3D audio is immersive (and helpful for pinpointing enemies), and load times are almost completely absent. It ticks all the next-gen boxes.
Push Square
The Pulse 3D headphones are nice to have in this game. In where you transition from dry land to water, the changes in sound are particularly interesting.
The bullet-hell dynamics that Housemarqe is famous for shine on the PS5. Coming from someone who grew up on 8 and 16-bit consoles, with the sheer amount of stuff flying at and around you on the screen, the lack of any lag is impressive. (Maybe a fan will demake Returnal for the NES or Genesis—the lag and stuttering would be pretty much constant.)
I found the game mechanics smooth, intuitive, and satisfying.
Returnal Is Not A Perfect Game But . . .
There isn’t much that I’d change about it. That being said here’s what I might if I could.
Add Quarters
I think it should embrace the arcade aesthetic by allowing players to slide quarters in a slot if they want to continue a run. There’s already a mechanic in the game that could be used like a quarter: Ether.
Let them decide to hold use it or keep it for a different run if they don’t wish to continue. That’s what the astronaut figure does anyway. Just turn Ether into a token that you can keep or use.
No-Look Grapple
For gameplay changes, I would like a “no look” grapple mechanic. Once Selene’s suit has scanned an area, I’d like to be able to not have to look for a grapple point in an emergency. For example, if I’m suddenly swarmed or simply misjudge a ledge, it would be nice in an emergency if I could just no-look grapple to the closest in-range grapple point without having to manually lock on to it.
VR and Deeper Levels
Other than VR, or adding biomes that continue to go deeper and deeper into the planet, that’s the only change I’d make to the current version of the game.
Note on the Story
Who cares? I’m not sure I need more than the vaguest of reasons to explain the motivations of Selene. Pacman didn’t have a back stroy. Samus didn’t have one. If the game is fun and engaging in ways that don’t require a story, performing tasks is more than enough.
Conclusion
It’s fun to play. Rewarding when you win. And if you die while enjoying it and not hating it, you’re happy to put it down and try again the next day.
