First 45mins of Returnal

Yes your right, returnal should be held to a higher standard because its a next gen game.

Which is even more surprising that Returnal falls short even compared to a last gen game.

“Next-gen” games don’t really exist yet, if ever, when you think about it.

What does it mean to be “next-gen”? Graphics? Well this is nothing if you have a non engaging gameplay with new Ideas or concepts.

Both Gears 5 and Returnal have the graphics part done really well, but gameplay is really stale for me. These games will find their audience, but by no means they’re paragons of features and new gameplay Ideas.

Gears 5 is almost the same game as the other past ones, it has even somethings worse if you go look at crowbcat’s video, this series needs new gameplay ideas rather than the same ones with some pretty graphics.

Returnal is a mish mash of game types, from horror to rogue like and maybe some metroidvania? And to ME It doesn’t excel in any of those areas, the shooting feels weak, movement feels slow, areas look good, but nothing much to explore. What is the appeal? If the gameplay doesn’t carry it, what will?

Potential wasted in my opinion.

Well from a visual perspective a new generation has brought a massive boost in nearly all visual areas, (lighting, polycount, effects, animation, textures, image quality) as well as brand new technologies such as material based shaders, anti aliasing methods, DRS, VRS, mesh shaders etc.

So far we have not seen this in this new gen, It could well be dimininishing returns , but nevertheless its a bit disappointing. At least this is expected for cross gen and smaller budget games but for games being advertised and priced as AAA its disappointing.

1 Like

Do we have an idea if the developers talked about the estimated time to complete the game ?

I mean I get your point, but that’s what subjectivity is. It would be like pointing to a dot on the wall versus The Starry Night and asking people which they prefer. Most people are not going to pick the dot.

But let’s not pretend this is a dot vs Starry Night or Minecraft costing £4500 scenario. The discrepancy isn’t that large, it’s the difference between a £40 or £70 game that is likely mediated by review scores.

2 Likes

This game looks good but spending 70 dollars… I’ll wait.

1 Like

My thoughts exactly. The game looks amazing, butI can’t justify spending $70 on anything other than Sony’s biggest exclusives.

1 Like

Game Pass has made it so I have way too much to play all the time.

Paying full price for games nowadays is basically the equivalent of buying a CD when I have Spotify. It doesn’t make much sense to me.

1 Like

Of course its not like £4500 Minecraft clone, that was just and exaggeration demonstrating my point, but the point still stands, I think based on measurable metrics returnal generally speaking does not offer the same value as TLOU2,RDR2,GEARS5 etc etc

Returnal is basically a housemarque game but as a third person shooter, there previous games were not full price for good reason, the arrogance of sony thinking they can charge full price is pretty out of touch, I was going to say greedy but on 2nd thoughts I dont even think its the best business decision they would sell a lot more copies at $40 and make more money.

Perfect example of a game I’d never throw $70 at but would definitely play if it was on a service like Game Pass or PS Plus.

I’ve been reading the Dual Sense features are really impressive though.

I have 45 in credit that has been sat in my account for months that I had completely forgotten about, so I remain very tempted since thats “free money” :smiley:

But considering how busy I am its still not a no brainer. A large backlog, a need for a new Mac and a PS5 i dont have time to play still makes this a really hard sell.

Something is telling me this game is going to hit 85+ MC, what sort of score would sway your internet out of interest?

Not bothered about scores at all TBH. Seeing more feedback, reviews, seeing how “difficult” it is, how it plays, how the narrative is and works with the genre all count more than Meta or Open critic scores. RDR2 could have scored even higher and I still would have loathed it :smiley:

Frankly, we are comfortable enough, and I have little other vices, that I could afford it now, especially given how much GamePass has “saved” me. But its enjoyment versus time for me, and if its notoriously difficult, or with a non compelling narrative thats enough to put me off. Though, I think it looks pretty, has a nice style and spookiness, and I like the idea of more middle aged female protagonists in games.

2 Likes

I will be surprised if it gets 85 or more.

Theres just to many negatives.

  1. Not a big visual leap over PS4
  2. Short 5-15hr playtime
  3. Gameplay can get repetitive
  4. Shallow story
  5. $70!!!

I dont care how good gameplay is, you need variety and a great story to keep the player engaged.

Now these negatives would be fine if the game was not $70.

Im not gonna blame Housemarque for this game. This radical shift in what they do is just a response to the market that the only games that matter are 3rd person over the shoulder slices.

2 Likes

Looks awesome but waiting for a sale (~$50)

2 Likes

Welcome! :slight_smile:

2 Likes

sounds better every comment I’ve read so far tonight, just the price which is the sticking point.

Gamersyde has some decent quality footage but I downloaded it on this aging macbook air, which just cries :slight_smile:

https://twitter.com/dark1x/status/1385204158454812678?s=20

Some potentially good news regarding difficulty for me too. :slight_smile:

Looks interesting, not sure if its worth full price though.