Sony and Housemarque have finally released Returnal, a roguelike psychological horror game developed exclusively for the PS5. In Returnal, players take the role of Selene, who crash lands on a planet called Atropos, leaving her stranded with a pistol and no communications. As players traverse the foreign planet, they would soon find out that Selene finds herself in an endless time loop where every time she dies, she resurrects her crash and starts from the beginning.
While most players are probably just starting their journey in the game, it would be apparent that Returnal can be notoriously difficult. However, one interesting element players should know is that the game does not offer players the option to change difficulty settings for the simple reason that Returnal doesn't have any. This means that players who are still getting their grips on the game may find themselves struggling a lot.
Why Returnal Doesn't Have Difficulty Settings
According to developer Housmarque, the lack of a difficulty setting in Returnal was a completely deliberate decision. In an interview with Push Square, marketing director Mikael Haveri revealed that difficulty control is integrated into Returnal's overall gameplay design. While players may not be able to turn sliders to manipulate difficulty, the way they approach each level, whether aggressively or conservatively, could determine whether the chances of surviving a particular level.
However, this does not mean that the game would automatically adjust the difficulty depending on the number of deaths players incur. Instead, when players play more and more, they would eventually open more pathways, better understand enemies, obtain better weapons and health upgrades, and make the path ahead a little bit easier. The way difficulty is designed in Returnal is interesting, given that removing standard difficulty options ensures that all players experience the game in the same way.
Is There A Way To Make Returnal Easy?
One thing players should keep in mind is that while Returnal players will return to a certain point every time they die, some upgrades are permanently carried over. Similar to other roguelike games, the more players die, the stronger they could get. Returnal's gameplay design allows players to have a fighting chance by getting better at each level by gaining new abilities and grinding for weapons and upgrades, increasing their chances of surviving a level.
However, for players who may need additional help in traversing Returnal's levels, there is a way to tone down the difficulty by a bit. Heading into the game's settings and switching to the gameplay tab, players can decrease difficulty a bit by turning up the aim-assist to high. It is worth noting that doing this setting won't make enemies weaker, but it could help players who may not be good at aiming. Having aim-assist set to high would allow players to focus on dodging attacks while ensuring that their aim is precise. While this may help some players, it should be noted that it only decreases difficulty by a tiny margin.
Returnal is available now on PS5.