Game profile
Returnal
An astronaut crashes on an alien planet and relives a time loop, with levels regenerating after each death. Bullet hell combat meets a mysterious, unsettling narrative.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Shooter / Roguelike, set in a science fiction world. Visually it is going for realism, and the overall tone stays dark throughout. The structure is guided rather than open, so you are moved along instead of dropped into a map. Sessions of an hour or two sit at the sweet spot here.
It is genuinely demanding, and repeated failure is part of how it is designed. The story matters and gives the mechanics a frame, without taking over. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It runs on 2 platforms. It sits in the mid price bracket.
What stands out
- Time loop
- Bullet hell combat
- Procedural levels
This fits you if
- you are after a proper adrenaline rush
- you actually want to be scared
- you want real resistance and are fine with dying a lot
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
- you prefer a darker, heavier tone
Look elsewhere if
- you want to relax and not be punished for mistakes
- you want something light and easy going
- repetition wears you down instead of drawing you in
- you specifically want an open world to roam
How long is Returnal?
About 20 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 3 weeks, or 10 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 90 out of 100, which puts it above 87 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 151 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Shooter averages 81 points across the database, so this one sits 9 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 211 collected ratings.
Released in 2021, so it has 5 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2021
- Genres
- Shooter, Roguelike, Action
- Playtime
- approx. 20 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Demanding, punishing
- Story weight
- Present and relevant
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Sci-fi
- Visual style
- Realistic
- Price bracket
- Mid price
- Platforms
- PlayStation, PC
- Critic rating
- 90 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Returnal | 2021 | approx. 20 hrs. | 90 | Mid price |
| Saros | 2026 | approx. 25 hrs. | 87 | Full price |
| Gears of War: E-Day | 2026 | approx. 15 hrs. | 80 | Full price |
| Killing Floor III | 2025 | Endless game | 67 | Full price |
If you liked this, try these
- 87/100 Saros Shared: Shooter, Roguelike, Sci-fi
- 80/100 Gears of War: E-Day Shared: Shooter, Action, Sci-fi
- 67/100 Killing Floor III Shared: Shooter, Action, Sci-fi, longer
- 72/100 Atomic Heart Shared: Shooter, Action, Sci-fi
- 87/100 Risk of Rain 2 Shared: Shooter, Roguelike, Sci-fi, longer
- 84/100 Nuclear Throne Shared: Shooter, Roguelike