Returnal doesn't make sense - but it doesn't need to
Returnal is coming to PC! Excellent news: it's a great game and you should absolutely play it if you have one of those computers that can topple international economies and alter space-time with the gravitational pull of its graphics card. But what you shouldn't do is read this page before playing it, because we're going to discuss Returnal's story. All of it. Ending included. Thus, spoilers ahead! Go away, reach the final credits, and come back.
Now, what sticks out about Returnal to me is the fact that it's very clearly doing something different from most science fiction game narratives, as it has borderline contempt for the idea of lore. Weird, because that's something that's usually very intertwined with sci-fi and speculative fiction (particularly in games). It even attempts to trick you into thinking there'll be a conventional backstory – but we get ahead of ourselves.
Returnal is a game about future space explorer Selene crash-landing on a mysterious planet after a mysterious weapon shoots her down while she's following a mysterious signal. After dragging herself from the wreckage she's attacked by mysterious monsters in mysterious ruins, and realises soon after that she's in a mysterious time loop, with mysterious copies of herself manifesting with mysterious messages. There's also a mysterious house that harkens back to mysterious bleak events regarding her life on Earth while a mysterious astronaut stalks her from a distance mysteriously…
It ain't big on clarity, is my point. For quite a long time your overall experience of Returnal will largely just be thinking: "why the hell is any of this happening?" But don't worry, there are clues scattered about to provide lifelines for the terminally bewildered. The main
Read more on gamesradar.com
