From 6f6b30bc3b427db093d9f860bea0a07db480fc66 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Xe Iaso Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2023 22:13:38 -0400 Subject: returnal review Signed-off-by: Xe Iaso --- blog/returnal.markdown | 86 ++++++++++++++++++++++ ...ae698d8326b44bd9546114bc3d92ef7df12dd2448d.json | 52 +++++++++++++ ...f913685f6e8479db6096355aa8c217c66c3e120be3.json | 4 +- 3 files changed, 140 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) create mode 100644 blog/returnal.markdown create mode 100644 data/toots/7b737fb6793736d4469aa2ae698d8326b44bd9546114bc3d92ef7df12dd2448d.json diff --git a/blog/returnal.markdown b/blog/returnal.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aaafed5 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/returnal.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,86 @@ +--- +title: "Returnal is fantastic and you should play it" +date: 2023-04-21 +series: reviews +tags: + - steam + - ps5 + - masterpiece +--- + +The gift of life is small, fleeting, and marvelous. In Returnal you +play as Selene, an astronaut that crashed on a planet named Atropos. +She explores the planet a little bit and the local fauna attacks her. +Selene tragically dies in the process, the credits start to roll, and +you just ponder for a moment that Selene's gift of life was just +terminated by an uncaring world. The credits speed up, the camera +pulls back and + +Selene wakes up at her crash site just like you did before. + +She came back. She explores again and finds her decaying dead body +with a recording next to it. She didn't remember making a recording, +you didn't see Selene making a recording in-game. But it's there. + +Selene plays the recording and you hear her voice. It _was_ her. You +are sure of it. She is sure of it. + +She explores more. She dies. She comes back. She explores more. She +dies. She comes back. She keeps coming back every time she dies. + + + +Returnal is a science fiction philosophical roguelite third-person +action-adventure game for the PlayStation 5 and PC. It is nearly +flawless and is easily one of the best games I've played in recent +memory. + +You're just putting random words +together at this point, there's no way any of that makes +sense. +Do you know of a better way to +describe Returnal then? +Good point. That's reasonable +yeah. + +Combat flows like a hot knife through alien butter. The enemies are +all visually distinct with their own attack patterns, ideal strategies +to take out, and weapons that are good against them. Combat flows more +smoothly than Metal Gear Rising: Revengance, which is something I +didn't even know was possible. + +In the game Selene has one weapon and you can get better weapons by +killing enemies to gain proficency. However, the weapons themselves +can't be upgraded. You can upgrade various perks of the weapons, but +not the weapon damage itself. You need to swap out for new weapons as +you go along. To play Returnal is to be in a ballet of risk analysis +as you swap through weapons, artifacts, parasites, and consumables on +the fly; making sure you have what you need to take on the challenges +being thrown at you next. + +I could wax philosophical about this game all day, but I honestly +believe that I should leave the rest for you to discover. This game is +a 10/10 masterpiece. My only complaint is that I can't play it on my +Steam Deck. + +It's worth playing, but if you feel like a lot of the nuance and +metaphor is going over your head, [Returnal is a Hell of Our Own +Creation](https://youtu.be/fimmD9EtVd0) by Jacob Geller is a fantastic +overview of a lot of the finer points that you will miss at first. Be +warned, there are spoilers. + +I did have to turn the settings down on my PC to play this, but I also +got a 4080 while I was playing this game. The 4080 does _wonders_ for +this game, but I can't quite max it out yet. Need to figure out why. + +Overall, I wish there were more games like this. I can't wait to see +what this studio makes next. Hopefully with Steam Deck support next +time. + +Fun fact: this post +was originally drafted on paper. What you're reading is the third +draft of this post. The first draft is available below in case it's +interesting to you. + + + diff --git a/data/toots/7b737fb6793736d4469aa2ae698d8326b44bd9546114bc3d92ef7df12dd2448d.json b/data/toots/7b737fb6793736d4469aa2ae698d8326b44bd9546114bc3d92ef7df12dd2448d.json new file mode 100644 index 0000000..230acb4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/toots/7b737fb6793736d4469aa2ae698d8326b44bd9546114bc3d92ef7df12dd2448d.json @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +{ + "id": "https://pony.social/users/cadey/statuses/110234374591597923", + "type": "Note", + "inReplyTo": null, + "published": "2023-04-21T02:11:09Z", + "url": "https://pony.social/@cadey/110234374591597923", + "attributedTo": "https://pony.social/users/cadey", + "to": [ + "https://pony.social/users/cadey/followers" + ], + "cc": [ + "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" + ], + "sensitive": false, + "conversation": "tag:pony.social,2023-04-21:objectId=11264576:objectType=Conversation", + "summary": null, + "content": "

On-paper draft of a post for the blog.

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