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Returnal
Returnal is a 2021 third-person shooter game developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5. A port to Windows developed by Climax Studios was released on 15 February 2023. It follows Selene Vassos, an astronaut who lands on the planet Atropos in search of the mysterious "White Shadow" signal and finds herself trapped in a time loop. The gameplay combines bullet hell, third-person shooter and roguelike elements.
Returnal received generally positive reviews from critics for its visuals, combat, audio design and technical achievements, though its difficulty and roguelike design were met with mixed opinions. It won several end-year accolades, including Best Game at the 18th British Academy Games Awards. The game had sold 866,000 copies by February 2022, before being released for Windows in February 2023. A spiritual successor, Saros, was released in 2026.
Returnal is a third-person shooter video game featuring roguelike elements and falling under the psychological horror genre. In a futuristic science fiction setting, the player controls Selene Vassos (Jane Perry), a space pilot, equipped with a suit and armed with high-tech weapons, who is stranded on the alien planet Atropos and stuck in a time loop. After every death, Selene is resurrected, following a pattern of traversing foreign environments and combating extraterrestrial entities with growing visions in an ever changing world.
The game is split into two halves, each consisting of three biomes. If the player dies during a run, they are sent to the beginning of the half. Selene has the ability to dash and can later unlock a grappling hook that lets her shoot to predefined points in a room. The xenomorph enemies launch arcade-like geometric arrangements and colors of energy, lines, fireballs in expanding spiral, square and spherical arrays, hoops, lasers which require strategy to navigate. Players can find a variety of weapons in the game, ranging from a basic pistol to an Electropylon Driver. Each weapon has unique traits that can be leveled up to unlock enhanced perks that can deal more damage. Selene additionally has a melee weapon that can be used to attack enemies, destroy resource geodes, or destroy barriers.
The Ascension update introduces online cooperative multiplayer, which allows up to two players to complete the game's campaign together.
Disobeying orders, ASTRA Corporation pilot and explorer Selene Vassos attempts to land on the off-limits planet of Atropos to investigate what she dubs the "White Shadow" signal, which somehow seems familiar to her. Upon arrival, Selene's ship, Helios, suffers heavy damage and crash lands. Unable to contact ASTRA, Selene explores the planet and is shocked when she comes across corpses of herself. She learns that every time she dies, time loops back to the moment she crashed, sending her back to her starting point. The planet seems to change with every loop, and Selene begins experiencing vivid visions.
Resolving to find the source of the White Shadow, Selene presses on, fighting hostile alien lifeforms and scavenging alien technology left over from the advanced, extinct alien civilization that used to reside on Atropos. As she tracks the White Shadow, Selene comes across what appears to be a replica of her childhood home. Every time she enters it, she recalls old memories and repeatedly encounters an astronaut wearing an antique space suit. Selene eventually learns that she apparently used an alien weapon to paradoxically shoot down her own ship, thus making herself responsible for her being marooned on Atropos.
Eventually, Selene tracks down the source of the White Shadow. Afterwards, ASTRA is able to receive her distress call and sends a rescue ship. Selene returns to Earth and eventually dies of old age, only to reawaken back on Atropos, having looped back to the crash. Dismayed that she has failed to escape Atropos, Selene continues to explore the planet. Eventually, her search leads her to an underwater abyss below the planet's surface, where she finds a replica of an old car.
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Returnal AI simulator
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Returnal
Returnal is a 2021 third-person shooter game developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5. A port to Windows developed by Climax Studios was released on 15 February 2023. It follows Selene Vassos, an astronaut who lands on the planet Atropos in search of the mysterious "White Shadow" signal and finds herself trapped in a time loop. The gameplay combines bullet hell, third-person shooter and roguelike elements.
Returnal received generally positive reviews from critics for its visuals, combat, audio design and technical achievements, though its difficulty and roguelike design were met with mixed opinions. It won several end-year accolades, including Best Game at the 18th British Academy Games Awards. The game had sold 866,000 copies by February 2022, before being released for Windows in February 2023. A spiritual successor, Saros, was released in 2026.
Returnal is a third-person shooter video game featuring roguelike elements and falling under the psychological horror genre. In a futuristic science fiction setting, the player controls Selene Vassos (Jane Perry), a space pilot, equipped with a suit and armed with high-tech weapons, who is stranded on the alien planet Atropos and stuck in a time loop. After every death, Selene is resurrected, following a pattern of traversing foreign environments and combating extraterrestrial entities with growing visions in an ever changing world.
The game is split into two halves, each consisting of three biomes. If the player dies during a run, they are sent to the beginning of the half. Selene has the ability to dash and can later unlock a grappling hook that lets her shoot to predefined points in a room. The xenomorph enemies launch arcade-like geometric arrangements and colors of energy, lines, fireballs in expanding spiral, square and spherical arrays, hoops, lasers which require strategy to navigate. Players can find a variety of weapons in the game, ranging from a basic pistol to an Electropylon Driver. Each weapon has unique traits that can be leveled up to unlock enhanced perks that can deal more damage. Selene additionally has a melee weapon that can be used to attack enemies, destroy resource geodes, or destroy barriers.
The Ascension update introduces online cooperative multiplayer, which allows up to two players to complete the game's campaign together.
Disobeying orders, ASTRA Corporation pilot and explorer Selene Vassos attempts to land on the off-limits planet of Atropos to investigate what she dubs the "White Shadow" signal, which somehow seems familiar to her. Upon arrival, Selene's ship, Helios, suffers heavy damage and crash lands. Unable to contact ASTRA, Selene explores the planet and is shocked when she comes across corpses of herself. She learns that every time she dies, time loops back to the moment she crashed, sending her back to her starting point. The planet seems to change with every loop, and Selene begins experiencing vivid visions.
Resolving to find the source of the White Shadow, Selene presses on, fighting hostile alien lifeforms and scavenging alien technology left over from the advanced, extinct alien civilization that used to reside on Atropos. As she tracks the White Shadow, Selene comes across what appears to be a replica of her childhood home. Every time she enters it, she recalls old memories and repeatedly encounters an astronaut wearing an antique space suit. Selene eventually learns that she apparently used an alien weapon to paradoxically shoot down her own ship, thus making herself responsible for her being marooned on Atropos.
Eventually, Selene tracks down the source of the White Shadow. Afterwards, ASTRA is able to receive her distress call and sends a rescue ship. Selene returns to Earth and eventually dies of old age, only to reawaken back on Atropos, having looped back to the crash. Dismayed that she has failed to escape Atropos, Selene continues to explore the planet. Eventually, her search leads her to an underwater abyss below the planet's surface, where she finds a replica of an old car.