Returnal is a roguelite third person shooter.

When you die the game sends you back to start and you lose everything you picked up with the exception of certain special upgrades. Once you're able to defeat the big boss of an area you unlock a shortcut that allows you to more quickly access the next zone.

That's the gist of the gameplay loop: get as far as you can, die, repeat.

There is no loot to grind and you won't unlock anything that will make you permanently stronger. You can unlock more items to find during a run and perks for the different guns that may or may not appear during runs.

I think Returnal is one of the best third person shooters in years. I bought it for like $45 and I loved every hour I spent with it.

It's shame this game doesn't have a demo because how it feels to play would be enough to sell it to anyone assuming the difficulty doesn't scare them off. There is a level of precision and responsiveness in the controls that is hard to describe. Movement just has the perfect balance of weight and speed to it. This game also has some of the sickest boss fights I've ever seen. All of them are intense cinematic "bullet hell-esque" spectacles. The story's pretty good too as long you enjoy wierd surreal science fiction where everything isn't clearly explained and the pieces are yours to interpret.

Returnal knows exactly what kind of game it wants to be and executes everything it does flawlessly.

Returnal is a roguelite third person shooter. When you die the game sends you back to start and you lose everything you picked up with the exception of certain special upgrades. Once you're able to defeat the big boss of an area you unlock a shortcut that allows you to more quickly access the next zone. That's the gist of the gameplay loop: get as far as you can, die, repeat. There is no loot to grind and you won't unlock anything that will make you permanently stronger. You can unlock more items to find during a run and perks for the different guns that may or may not appear during runs. I think Returnal is one of the best third person shooters in years. I bought it for like $45 and I loved every hour I spent with it. It's shame this game doesn't have a demo because how it feels to play would be enough to sell it to anyone assuming the difficulty doesn't scare them off. There is a level of precision and responsiveness in the controls that is hard to describe. Movement just has the perfect balance of weight and speed to it. This game also has some of the sickest boss fights I've ever seen. All of them are intense cinematic "bullet hell-esque" spectacles. The story's pretty good too as long you enjoy wierd surreal science fiction where everything isn't clearly explained and the pieces are yours to interpret. Returnal knows exactly what kind of game it wants to be and executes everything it does flawlessly.