PS5's Returnal Wins Its First Game of the Year Award

Returnal is my choice of GOTY, I'm not going to vote in the Golden Joysticks this year as for some reason they left it off the list.

I mean it’s not even up for the Golden Joystick. But then I wouldn’t really have it in my top whatever games of this year either.

I'm sorry but whats so great about repeating the same things over and over again ? I don't understand the popularity of Retural, Deathloop and 12 minutes....

@RedKnight34 I feel like you’ve either never seen Groundhog Day or just want something to complain about.

Personally I would have to give Returnal GOTY for 2021 as well. It was my first foray into the world of roguelites which was just a different experience and done fantastically.

@RedKnight34 you watch sports don't you? Why bother? Same game being played over and over again 🙄 urgh and food....not a other burger....oh and don't get me started on sex! If I have to have sex with my wife again...I just don't get it. Why do we do the same things over and over again?!

This was clearly the best game released this year with Metroid Dread a close second. Glad that it's getting some recognition. I think it's main issue is that not enough people have played it due to the high price, ps5 availability and emphasis on difficulty.

Definitely worthy of plenty of GOTY awards. Hopefully more will follow.

Cool for the Studio.

But Returnal, just like Dread were not for me. I would not consider what I was feeling playing them as "Fun"

Basically developers using game mechanics to create an exercise in frustration management.

@Integrity I'm bored having sex with this guy's wife too. Smh.

Definitely my game of the year so far. I'm not normally into rogue like games, but this one just grabbed me and I couldn't put it down. It's not just the sound and visuals, it's the way the game feels to play(especially with the dualsense) that few games can match.

Cool! PC gamers are gonna love this one in January.

In a launch year anyone can win, so yeh it’s possible

@AhmadSumadi this game ain’t coming to pc in January.

@4kgk2 They’ve just announced the PlayStation PC studio. So who knows?

@kingbreww that doesn't make sense. Anyone can win in any year, no? What would stop games released next year from being able to win next year?

This is the first time I don't think I have a game of the year...

@AhmadSumadi Has it already been confirmed?
Hopefully, Sony puts all their games on PC day and date. I'm sick of consoles so badly. Sony's games not being on PC is the only reason why I haven't jumped ship yet.

@Neonix Demons souls crushed my soul it was genuinely demonic. Ploughed a lot of hours into trying to make it work the most inappropriate launch title I think I’ll ever experience, bummed me out. At least returnal I always had the compulsion to well, return

The only two games I've played that won something is Spider-Man and Fall Guys.

I can't try another of these "die start all over again" games. I'm fine with Souls style games because you don't start all the way from the beginning again when you fail. I feel like I actually make progress.

Then I tried Hades which most people hold up as one of the best of the genre and found it sadly pretty dull personally. I just don't like starting pretty much from scratch over and over again.

But nonetheless congrats to Housmarque. Clearly the game clicked with fans of this type so good for them.

@Integrity it means in a launch year the games aren’t the best. The heavy hitters start to come out in the second year. Meaning games that wouldn’t stand a chance against the truly big releases do stand a chance because there are no heavy hitters. For the same reason average games do big numbers in a launch year due to lack of competition and gamers wanting to play something

Eeh, while the game is good, I don't think it's a game of the year material. I think resident evil 8 or ratchet & clank is more suitable for goty.

@kingbreww then not anyone can win by your definition, but anyone can sell well 😁👍

Good choice, Returnal would definitely get my GOTY vote.

@Korgon Souls games are not roguelite. Youre mixing up genres there. You don't lose all progression for the entire level including weapons and items when you die in Souls only the 'souls' youve collected killing things, and even then you have a chance to reclaim them as long as you dont die again. Dieing in Roguelite games means losing everything, there's no second chance, restarting back to square one with basic weapons and equipment and generally you only unlock things to use from the start by competing levels without dieing.

@Integrity
I think you misunderstood my comment. I know Souls games are different from Roguelites. I was trying to point out that some people think people don't like roguelikes because they are difficult and thats not the necessarily always the case. For me personally it's the lack of feeling like you made any progress that turns me off to roguelites like Returnal.

Hope that cleared it up for you.

@Korgon right got it. Yes it has 👍

@Integrity accurate

@RedKnight34 Play Hades. It weaves the repetition into the game so well.

It is easily my GOTY.

It is one of my favourite games of all time, and the best game I have played since Bloodborne.

It is beautifully balanced, a challenge but not too hard. Such a shame that the bad press impacted sales.

It has the best gameplay of any game I’ve played this year, and I love alien and sci-fi stuff. So yes, Returnal is my game of the year as well.

Glad to see it get some recognition and Housemarque has me eagerly anticipating what they do next after putting out a game like this.

Great game with the best third person shooter gameplay i can remember. Well deserved!

Want to consume this gem but know once I do and have time, it’ll be £29.99 😜

@RedKnight34 do you play any multiplayer game? Or most games for that fact. Battlefield, COD, FIFA.. name a few.. all are repetition.

Nice! Returnal is definitely my game of the year. Best PS5 game yet imo

@RedKnight34 can see you've never played an Rpg/Jrpg or a multiplayer game in your life

Returnal was my personal GoTY simply because it taught me a new perspective of patience and progression in gaming as having struggled halfway through the game I lost all progress and deleted the game only to reinstall it a week later and tentatively battle my way through and beyond my past progress, complete the game and get the Platinum after 215 hours of utterly joyful mayhem. Yes the repetition isn’t for everyone especially before the recent update and the suspend cycle feature but the sense of progression as you finally reached the next rung on the ladder towards victory is unrivalled in anything else I’ve played all year. Add a superb use of sound and haptic feedback that only added to the immersion and overall experience and, despite the naysayers, it’s easily the most enjoyable, memorable and satisfying gaming experience of 2021 even including those endless hours spent in the Crimson Wastes praying the final glyphs would finally spawn. So yes, that random generator feature could certainly be patched and improved but in every other way Housemarque delivered the goods and won my unalloyed praise …

… were I I to choose another game that really impressed me I’d probably say Chicory for its indie retro simplistic charm and Psychonauts 2 for its sheer creativity, humour and story.

Pretty nice! and well-deserved. Definitely GOTY contender.

Kudos to Returnal and Housemarque, as well Sony XDEV, for making an exceptional wonderful game. Love it!

@lolwhatno The game has great gameplay but the game itself is a roguelike with only 3 stage (each with variations). I enjoyed it for the first 10 hours (after defeating the 3rd boss), but after that I'm sick of restarting from the beginning again and again.

With games like demon's souls at least I can keep my character level, weapons, and currency (if I find my remain).

@RedKnight34 - Same could be said for any other shooter eg COD, Halo, Battlefield. You play, get shot, respawn and then repeat

FTR I didn’t finish Returnal. In my mind I did but having to revisit it all again, on a fetch quest having just beaten the last boss was bleeding the concept dry. Sometimes it happens on too difficult a last boss like Sekiro I just abandon it having seen all there is before it leaves a bad taste but having actually beaten them?! Too much. Incredible game, I said to myself I’ll leave it there

@nessisonett Have you always been a troll? You always seemed pretty level-headed, otherwise, but I don't know. You got a real hard-on when it comes to giving negative opinions of this game — did you have a bad experience?

Anyways... Well deserved achievement. Certainly my GotY ...

Absolutely loved it, and I don’t usually click with roguelites/roguelikes.

Well deserved!

@eagletrippin Not really gelling with a game doesn’t make me a troll. It was still a solid 7 for me, just not GOTY by any stretch.

@nessisonett you're coming in pretty hot, bro — like every Returnal article, it seems 🤔
I've encountered you going to bat for old, rehashed games like GTA5 Remaster, so you going at an original game like this is kind of, weird...

Huh? We still have 2 months remaining in 2021 and we are handing out GOTY awards. Who are the crack smoking idiots? Not that I don't have any problems with Returnal as GOTY... it's naming it before Halloween???!!???

congrats. its my game of the year by far

@RedKnight34
I’m with you here. Luckily I bought returnal physical, so I sold it onwards and recouped some money. I stupidly bought DeathLoop digitally, incredibly disappointed with it, waste of money for me.

@RedKnight34 How is it "repeating the same thing over and over" when literally the sequence of every room and every enemy type is randomly generated, thus creating a near infinite number of different playthroughs?💁 Sounds like someone who couldn't get past the difficulty of a game and therefore trashes it🙄

@nessisonett it was a name change from PlayStation Mobile

@lolwhatno I don't think returnal is AAA games, it didn't looks as "expensive" as say, demon's souls remaster or ratchet & clank rift apart. It's an AA games like hellblade 1 or psychonauts 2.

@wiiware the developers said it’s Aaa.

@Integrity LoL...

@nessisonett He's never seen groundhog day. Top comment! 😂 That's basically returnal. Good analogy. You could be a dope mc! 🙌 People love to complain. Returnal is an incredible game! I think game of the year should go to returnal! Good script, beautiful design and gameplay! Oh don't forget the difficulty. I mean miles morales also could get a game of the year nod as well.

@wiiware Completely disagree with that. You have to be blind. Stunning graphics but it is on a desolate planet not a family game like ratchet and clank in a colorful world of space robots. They are different games bad comparison. It doesn't have to be triple A to get game of the year. I don't think you understand how game of the year works.

@soimun It's not for you doesn't mean the game isn't a masterpiece. You can't play classical music but it doesn't make the music bad. You not liking something isn't changing the game and it getting awards for a reason. You just aren't good at the game and calling it stupid is just childish. I think the developers did an outstanding job putting in many hours to create an amazing game for us players. Just say it's not for you. I died a lot once I got to the 3rd biome but still love the game and plan on returning no pun intended to beat the game.

@Old-Red I hear Metroid dread is on par with the original NES Metroid. I can't wait to play.

This game is a masterpiece game in all areas! Congratulations to housemarque! I love the game! Miles Morales I think should also get a vote for game of the year. I still haven't beat returnal but I will.

@Don_Corleone Returnal graphics are not stunning imo, even ps4 god of war and ghost of tsushima has better graphics than returnal, especially with the 60 fps update on ps5.

I'm not saying returnal has to be an AAA games to be game of the year, I'm saying that the game isn't my goty. And not an AAA games.

Easily game of the year. More biomes please housemarque…. Save option available now for the casuals as well! Personally I like my bullet hells to be harder faster…. Makes me better stronger. Well done housemarque!