Revealed earlier this month at Sony’s State of Play, roguelike shooter, Returnal, is receiving one of its most significant updates almost a year after its launch. Returnal’s Ascension update adds a new game mode and a co-op feature for players ready to explore Atropos with a friend, available today.
Developed by Finnish game studio Housemarque, Returnal is a PS5 exclusive title that mixes standard roguelike game structure with Housemarque’s signature bullet-hell style combat. Returnal received high praise from critics upon its release in April of last year. Since launch, Returnal has received a number of patches, the most significant of which is patch 2.0, which added in a pause feature and a photo mode after many requests from fans. Today’s update adds substantial new gameplay elements, enticing players to revisit Returnal's various biomes with a friend.
Players with an active PlayStation Plus subscription can start playing co-op via the Chronosis station, Returnal’s catalyst for multiplayer play. Together players can overcome the host’s pending levels and area bosses while the guest player is rewarded with increases to their Scout Rank, Weapon Traits, and Databank. Guest players will still have to progress through biomes on their own worlds to make progress. Additionally, co-op is limited to only two players at the present time. However, the new content doesn't stop there as the Ascension update also brings the new Tower of Sysiphus game mode to Returnal. This challenging tower, available only in solo play, is an endless mode for the game with new secrets and story elements for players to uncover as they climb higher and higher.
So far, developer Housemarque has continued support for Returnal via free updates with no paid DLC released a year from launch. Instead, the Finnish developer has taken time to listen to its fans and patch the game accordingly with quality of life updates. With today’s Ascension update, Housemarque has released the game's most content-heavy patch, adding to Returnal’s challenging nature with the Tower of Sysiphus and expanding the universe with co-op.
Along with the Ascension update came an official PlayStation Blog post from the developers detailing the challenges faced in bringing co-op to Returnal. Factoring in gameplay elements such as “downed” mechanics, technical limitations, and difficulty scaling, it is evident that Housemarque put plenty of care in making sure that this update was done correctly and felt true to the spirit of Returnal. While today’s massive Ascension update is sure to keep returning players and new fans busy, there is still plenty of room for potential Returnal DLC expansions that will further expand the story surrounding Selene.
Returnal is available now on PS5.
Source: PlayStation Blog