At the release of the Playstation 5 in 2020, Returnal (2021) by recent Sony acquisition Housemarque was an excellent semi-launch title, featuring a presentation that would have been compromised on the Playstation 4 or even the Playstation 4 Pro.

Our PlayStation 5 review mentions it was an essential purchase too, and now PC gamers have an opportunity to dive deep into the world of Atropos.

Like many formerly-Playstation exclusive games, Returnal is making its way onto gaming PCs a couple of years after its initial release, complete with all the DLC and updates that have been added along the way.

The core game hasn’t changed, and retains its difficult, run-based bullet hell, horror-exploration tone of the original.

Returnal feels excellent on a PC, playing either with a controller or with a mouse and keyboard. In fact, the game feels noticeably easier with the increased accuracy that comes with having a direct pointing device, letting you hit enemy weak points with much more regularity. Having the freedom to choose your own controller is also helpful, and my 8BitDo Ultimate Controller worked perfectly with the title.

Having back paddles mapped to jump and dash let me control the Selena much better than with a standard DualSense controller. That said, there is native support for the DualSense special features when plugged in via USB (Sony, we’re waiting for a wireless dongle, please) so you won’t miss out if you want those features either.

Returnal was, thankfully, a 60FPS experience on Playstation 5.

So the usual PC upgrade in terms of increased frame rate is less pronounced here.

That said, playing at a stable 90FPS using Digital Foundry’s optimised settings really opened up the game and was a significant improvement to temporal acuity and overall game responsiveness.

Getting to higher than 60FPS settings is helped by the vast array of upscaling options, including a basic resolution slider, an internal solution called NIS, NVIDIA’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR. At 1440p Ultrawide on a 3070 at DLSS Quality, I can range anywhere from 90FPS upwards, making this a decent upgrade over the PS5 release. DLSS, and FSR, are substantial upgrades over the sometimes-muddy upscaling solution Returnal used on PS5, particularly viewed on a 4K screen.

With the introduction of higher quality settings in other areas as well, the end result is a much cleaner presentation that appears much sharper in the initially dark Atropos environs.

Unfortunately there are some downsides, and that is our old friend #stutterstruggle.

Even with a high-end CPU (13700KF) and NVMe drive (Samsung 980 Pro), and a locked frame rate to keep GPU utilisation under 100%, I found relatively constant stutters across my time of play. This seemed to occur as new data was loaded in while I opened doors or otherwise traversed across segments of the game’s map.

In a twitch-response bullet hell shooter these were very unwelcome, and I hope the developer can do more to iron out the frame rate graph. I was pleased however to see an initial PSO shader cache being built when I launched the game, so Housemarque are obviously aware of the issues stutters can cause.

I also had occasional crashes to the desktop resulting from a ‘fatal error’, often when the combat was at full tempo. While this could be attributable to oddities with my own setup, it occurred often enough to cause me concern.

At least Returnal put me right back where I left off without wiping my entire run when I relaunched the game.

As per the Playstation 5 original Returnal includes the ability to suspend/quick save a run so you can come back to it at another time. I do wish they had gone down the path of providing multiple save files, given the length of each run and the ability to better share the game with multiple players. But it seems it is a game design choice as much as anything so I don’t expect this to change in the near future.

A point for Steam Deck players – this is a title that simply overwhelms Valve’s otherwise- excellent handheld gaming PC, with the required GPU load simply too much for it to handle, even at compromised lower-than-low settings. It is a shame, as it would be a dream game to run portably, however we will have to settle for streaming the game for now.

I’m loving Sony’s newfound commitment to providing excellent PC ports of its first-party games.

While of course I would like to see them arrive day-and-date with release on Playstation 5, opening up in this way is a positive, seismic change for the company that embraces more gamers than Sony has proven willing to cater for previously.

Returnal is yet another notch in this new strategy’s belt, and now is undoubtedly the best way to play the game, if you have the GPU horsepower to get consistent performance.

Previous Sony releases, like Sackboy have had consistent patches and updates since launch, and I hope, thanks to the issues that I experienced, that Housemarque do the same.

Ultimately Returnal on PC is now the best way to play the game, and that is exactly what we want out
of this PC port.

The post Returnal (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (“SIE”) announced today that SIE has completed the acquisition of Housemarque Oy (“Housemarque”), a leading game developer and long-time partner of SIE.

Recognized for its extensive experience in the arcade-shooter genre as well as strong creative and technical capabilities, Housemarque has developed eight titles exclusive to PlayStation consoles including Returnal, Nex Machina and Alienation.

With the recent release of the hugely popular PlayStation 5 exclusive Returnal, Housemarque evolved its trademark style gameplay by weaving a haunting narrative into a 3D bullet-hell shooter. Based in Helsinki, Finland, Housemarque will join the global development operation of PlayStation Studios and will be the 13th studio to join the PlayStation Studios family.

“Housemarque has flexed its creative palette on a wide range of PlayStation games over the years that have continually showcased the power of our hardware,” said Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment. “The addition of Housemarque to PlayStation Studios reiterates our commitment to elevating the best development teams in the industry and delivering new experiences that can only be found on the PlayStation platform.”

“With a proven track record of creating original games that feature best-in-class gameplay, Housemarque is a highly-accomplished studio and we couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome them to the PlayStation Studios family,” said Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios. “With its gripping gameplay, haunting story and unforgiving world, Returnal has captivated the PlayStation audience and we’re looking forward to working alongside the team to bring to life their ambitious creative vision on future projects.”

“After more than 15 years of successfully collaborating, we’re excited to amplify our potential even further and join PlayStation Studios,” said Ilari Kuittinen, Co-founder and Managing Director, Housemarque. “Returnal is a testament to our strong relationship with PlayStation Studios and the organization believing in us to take a risk and give us the freedom to explore our creativity and develop something unique. We can’t wait to bring PlayStation fans more fresh, new experiences.”

The day-to-day operations will continue to be run by Housemarque’s current management team in conjunction with PlayStation Studios External Development team. Terms of this transaction including the acquisition cost are not disclosed due to contractual commitments.

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You die, you come back but not exactly to the familiar environment you expired at.

Returnal is a cleverly titled game that is its namesake – a time loop that sees you return to point A, eternally.

That point A is your spacecraft that crash-lands on a dark and unforgiving planet called Atropos in search of the source of a mysterious ‘White Shadow’ signal – against the orders of ASTRA Corporation.

You are a solo pilot in a small ship and assume the role of Selena in a very different rogue-like Sci-Fi / horror game from Housemarque. Officially released for PlayStation 5.

Surviving the crash Selena very quickly learns that things on this planet are not normal.

You will pick up diary recordings made in the ‘past’ from Selena – which adds to the purposeful narrative confusion.

The planet itself has an eco system of hostile creatures and just as deadly as they can be at times camouflaged to the world that they live in.

You will most definitely die, more than once, twice three times or more as you explore Atropos.

But that’s the game’s design.

Everytime you come back, you’re back at your crash-landed ship, back at Point A. At the beginning of your journey (or so it would seem) and in some cases without the items you collected in your previous attempt.

However being back at your ship does not necessarily mean that you can gun and run the familiar path you took before to get to that Boss creature or cluster of creatures that you took you out – as that path may no longer exist and things, mostly, are in differing places.

The procedural environment changes each time you die.

Initially you don’t have any weapon. You do come across a… well, body and grab their gun. There is a form of RPG, sort of, in Returnal where in time you will be able to upgrade your current weapon(s).

Atropos is a vast planet – built for exploring and explore you must as there isn’t always a direct path.

Without throwing in any spoilers Returnal has alternative endings – depending on how you played, decisions made during play and the biggest factor of all – how good you were at exploring.

A compelling game, Returnal may at first put off some gamers when they die and are back at the crashed ship – but I recommend persevere. It’s worth it.

Returnal is also the first 1st Party title from Sony Studios to feature 3D audio. The PlayStation is built with 3D Audio capability.

3D audio gives a vast spatial ambience to the soundtrack and effects within Returnal making the game best played with the official PlayStation Pulse 3D headset.

I generally play in my living room where I have a full 7.2 surround setup for gaming. Going direct to headset does not always have the same experience and sometimes, worse.

When I placed the Pulse 3D headset on as the only audio to play Returnal it was by far a way better experience – fully more immersive than any surround system.

Infact, for Returnal I now only use the 3D audio headset. Both are clearly made for eachother.

Returnal is a stellar game. One that may take some patience to begin with, but it will soon become clear that being back at the start of gameplay after each life opens up the game more and more.

A surreal PS5 game that you will eternally play through aswell as return to.

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