Time looping games have seen quite the rise in popularity in the last couple of years. Indie darling Loop Hero took the internet by storm, letting players loop through a world that was created in real time by the player, making it both more difficult but rewarding for as long as the hero could hold out. After a delay, the PS5 exclusive Deathloop launched to stellar reviews both from critics and players who were finally able to experience the looping gameplay and familiar Dishonored elements.
However, in 2021, the most notible time looping game is likely Returnal, a PS5 exclusive created by the new Sony first party studio known as Housemarque. The game took familiar roguelike elements and mixed it with story and fast paced arcade action. The game became a huge hit overnight, though it hit a bit of controversy due to the fact that Returnal lacked a save feature that other games like Hades included. Typically, this meant players would have to devote at least an hour to each run or risk losing progress.
After months of waiting and various Save System hints over the summer months, Housemarque has finally added a suspend cycle to the Returnal as part of it's major Update 2.0 patch. Essentially, this new feature allows players to pause the cycle they're currently on and pick back up at a later time. While this isn't the same as a traditional Save Game option, Returnal simply creates a single use suspend point from where the moment the player leaves off at which point it is used up forcing players to create another new one before quiting. Progress can't be suspended from certain parts of the game like Boss battles, during cinematics, first-person segments, or during combat.
As exciting as that may be for fans or potential players still on the fence, this update also adds another major community request with Photo Mode. Outside of First Person sequences, PS5 players can pause Returnal to select Photo Mode giving them full control of the camera. As expected, Housemarque has added in all sorts of editing options including filters, changing the source of light, aperture, focal distance, saturation, and more.
This update should no doubt push fans to return to the action roguelike once more, especially those players who have been holding out until a save system could be added. The game's popularity pushed it to be one of the most downloaded games in April 2020, even though it released right at the end of the month. That level of success is likely what caught the eye of Sony, who officially purchased the Finnish developer this past June, officially bringing it into the PlayStation Studios family.
Returnal is available now, exclusively for PlayStation 5.