Returnal – Narrative Events Randomized Each Run, Travel Between Biomes Possible

With several PS5 titles either being delayed to later this year or pushed to 2022, Housemarque’s Returnal will serve as the next big exclusive for Sony’s console. A new overview trailer debuted at yesterday’s State of Play but game director Harry Krueger and narrative director Gregory Louden spoke to GameSpot and fleshed out some of the particulars. Environmental storytelling is a key part of the experience, especially when it comes to certain audio logs.

It seems that Selene can find audio logs from alternate versions of herself. In one such log, she describes killing a version of herself that was hostile, though she’s unsure whether it was the planet playing tricks or another Selene. Another thing to note is the strange house seen in the demo. As per Housemarque, such hallucinations and narrative events are random on each run. Of course, as you venture through the house, you’ll come to learn more about Selene’s past.

While each run will take place within handcrafted levels, the surrounding environment, enemy positions, and so on will be randomized. Furthermore, upon clearing different biomes, it’s possible to travel between them from the start. However, you’ll need to do a lot more to unravel the game’s entire story.

Returnal is out on April 30th for PS5. Check out the various biomes of Atropos and how they can shift here.