Housemarque will be showcasing Returnal’s exclusive PS5 gameplay and storytelling at a upcoming Game Showdown at GamesRadar on Thursday.
Return was one of the most memorable new titles unveiled at Sony’s PS5 debut stream last June. Developer Housemarque showed off the upcoming exclusive PS5 gameplay and watched his story in a new demo on Thursday.
The two-and-a-half-minute video was part of the Spring Games Show. Reported by Housemarque Marketing Director Mikael Haveri, the demo will walk viewers through what to expect when Return launches on PS5 next month.
The demo opens with the main character and deep space explorer Selene landing on the mysterious planet Atropos. There, she finds herself locked in the strange loop of death and resurrection. Each time Selene dies, the planet rearranges, creating a new environment for exploration. The teaser shook too Return online companion, with Selene discovering the body of another.
Haveri describes Return as a fast-paced hunter with roguelike elements. That certainly comes through in the snippets of gameplay. The third-person fight is somewhat similar to memory Mass effect: Andromeda, with Selene running and moving around enemies. However, it also includes elements inspired by bullet-hell shooters. Enemies fill the screen with bright clear projectiles to evade the player. The show featured some gibberish creatures that looked particularly fond of sucking the battle with bullets.
Fighting is just one half of it Return game-play, with the other being examined. The planet Atropos has a quiet beauty, not unlike beauty Dark souls. It is also full of exotic ruins and ominous swamps for Selene to explore. Players must search for scattered clues to find out what became of the inhabitants of the planet. A solution to this mystery may be necessary to free Selene from Atropos’ supernatural grip.
It may not be just the planet that holds mysteries inside. As mentioned in last year’s trailer, Atropos captures Selene with scenes of her home on Earth. That means another mystery that players have to figure out. Housemarque hopes to mix Return explore with the non-linear story of the game, with the goal that players learn more about their character as they explore and learn more about Atropos. Apparently, Selene’s escape depends on major revelations about both.
Despite being the oldest game studio in Finland, Housemarque is a relatively small team of just around 80 employees. As Haveri says, Return the first developer-based story game. However, this lack of knowledge does not appear to have hindered development.
Return releasing April 30 on PS5.
