Housemarque's Returnal lifted its embargo, allowing critics to post their reviews and thoughts on PlayStation 5's latest upcoming exclusive. However, Returnal's reviews have revealed an unforgiving save system that has some players a little worried.
Returnal is a third-person shooter and sci-fi roguelike that sees players exploring an alien planet while stuck in a time loop that resets whenever they die. Returnal has received glowing critical reception ahead of its release, and the recent success of roguelikes like Hades has many fans interested in checking it out.
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However, players interested in Returnal will have to make sure they carve out a significant window of time to play, as it only lets players save between runs. While this is not particularly unique in the roguelike genre, some players are concerned by it because runs in Returnal's time loop can reportedly last up to two or three hours. By comparison, runs in Hades typically don't last more than 40 minutes, so Returnal's time commitment is considerably higher than what many were expecting. Both fans and industry critics have come out voicing their concerns over the mechanic.
Some players say that the length of each run time is not an issue, as players can simply leave their PlayStation 5 in rest mode - a feature that keeps games running while the console is turned off. However, others point out that the solution is not perfect, as some PlayStation 5 owners have reported the rest mode not always working or being shut off when the console completes a firmware update that players usually don't know are coming. Housemarque has not commented or responded to the concerns of the lack of a mid-run save, but it has been confirmed the feature will not be implemented in Returnal's day one patch.
Of course, it is unclear whether or not developer Housemarque will implement a mid-game save, so Returnal players may just have to carve out significant portions of time in order to play the title. However, Returnal is poised to be one of the PlayStation 5's first big game launches, so it will be very interesting to see how Sony and Housemarque decide to respond going forward. Until then, players who pick Returnal up when it launches tomorrow will just have to take the gamble with the PlayStation 5's rest mode if they have to stop in the middle of a run.
Returnal will be available April 30 for PlayStation 5.