They really knocked it out of the park with the cinematography and mature story telling. Such an amazing game that deserves more praise.

When you find out the "white shadow" was the reflection of the moon on the lake , I was left devastated. Best PS5 game at the moment and by far the most unique, seriously wish more people played it

Here's my interpretation. There are two car crashes. The first with Theia, Selene, and Selene's unborn brother Helios. And a second with Selene and her son Helios who is named after the dead unborn brother. Selene was already stuck in a cycle before reaching Atropos. Selene distracts Theia causing the first crash, killing her unborn brother Helios and severing Theia's spine, which stops Theia becoming an astronaut (the refusal letter you can find in a few places is for Theia, not Selene). Selene feels guilty and becomes an astronaut for Theia, but resents and ignores her child in her persuit just like Theia did with Selene. The astronaut on the bridge is the emobdyment of Selene's obsession with becoming an astronaut at the expense of her child Helios, which causes the crash. There's ambiguity about if the astronaut was real, one alien text says that it 'may or may not' have been there, and in both text and audio logs it is shown that Selene was secretly taking medication which may have either meant that the astronaut was a hullucination, or the astronaut was real and the medication was an attempt to stop her seeing it. It's implied that the astronaut may have been 'following' her for a long time. Selene's child Helios drowns during the second crash, and Selene survives. It is not clear if the red eyed creature was really present for that, it may have been. 'Do you see the White Shadow' may be a reference to White Shadow by Peter Gabriel, which is a vinyl that has a locked groove, so it repeats in a cycle infinitely until it's stopped, and may be interpreted as 'Do you see the loop?'. Selene manages to join Astra's Origo mission to escape her guilt by leaving Earth behind. In a conversation with her Astra colleagues in one of the early ship logs it's shown that she doesn't keep any momentos of earth, and says she has no family left. Selene is drawn by a force to Atropos, likely the red eyed alien, and this may have started when she first began seeing the astronaut. She disobeys her colleagues and breaks regulations to fly to Atropos. The alien archives imply that Selene freed the creature that created the Severed. The red eyed monster is probably the creature orchestrating everything, and she probably IS on Atropos with the 'it was all an allegory' thing being a red herring. The loop on Atropos may be half-allegory half-literal, 'ABANDONED HELIOS' for instance, and the spine-like architecture and bones you find everywhere perhaps symbolising Theia's injury. That is just my interpretation, a lot of it is intentionally ambiguous. There's another story thread with paragraphs you unlock with 100% research for all the items, I don't think anyone has unlocked all of those and figured out their correct order yet. An important thing to note is that the developers are keen fans of the cosmic horror genre, which makes me more inclined to believe Selene is in Atropos, and the red eyed creature (which is perhaps named Xaos) called her from the void to free it, and is trapping Selene in the loop. Interested to see what other people have figured out!

This is more like a version of "I've finally completed Returnal so you don't have to"

By the time I got to this boss, I had so many perks, damage/healing buffs and a high stat Electropylon gun that the last boss turned out to be the easiest to beat; I was surprised after the cinematic to be met with the credits when I thought their was going to be something more challenging. Also, the conceptualization of alien meta realm is fantastic, and both the final bosses is impressively hellish, the first one being like a combination of Lovecraftian and Giger horror.

*Unforgettable* Finished the game tonight and I have *NEVER EVER* been pushed into a box like the world of Returnal had me (Atropos you absolute cruel savage monster AHAHA!) It became a tremendous set of learning curve's for my life getting past each Biome (particularly the derelict citadel and abyssal scar) many games have scared me all of a sudden especially jump scares but none have consumed me and spat me back out only to tell me then to try again all over again with barely anything Returnal I say this about every game I finish I shall treasure you and your a master piece however more than putting you with other games I cherish I put you on top having taught me *KEY* things in life THANK YOU ALL INVOLVED WITH RETURNAL YOU HAVE MADE ME REALISE I AM MORE THAN I THOUGHT ;)

That car crash scene was straight up Silent Hill 1.

The way she speaks to Ophion definitely implies that each boss represents a stage of grief. In this case, she is fighting to accept what happened. On repeat encounters with Ophion, Selene says that after suffering light years of pain, Ophion’s answers are beneath her. Showing that she knows her enemies have nothing to offer her and that she has the answers she seeks.

I didn't play the game but I like figuring stuff out. The main character is in her own personal hell that she was taken to after dying in the crash, that's why her brain is shown at the end. The white shadow is referring to her white space suit, and her focusing on exploring the great unknown destroyed her relationship with her family. This is why the house is shown to be damaged after she picks up her picture of her in the white spacesuit. Instead of valuing what she had in front of her, she abandoned her family for the great unknown. So in hell she is alone in an everchanging landscape she will never fully know, and her former life is her shadow. To her daughter, her mom's white spacesuit is the white shadow because it was the only thing she left behind. So the "white shadow" is the grave mistake that sealed her fate. The white shadow signal is her calling to follow the path she is doomed to repeat over and over. The white shadow also could be referring to the the scene where she sees the moon's light shining from under the water, that was the moment she completed the cycle, being completely informed as to why she's in hell. And then it repeats. The planet is called Atropos b/c it's based on a greek mythological character who is one of 3 sisters of fate in greek mythology. The moon represents her/them b/c they are also associated with the night.

When I beat this boss I actually thought that other creature she encounters afterwards was the second half of the boss fight. Lol. Great game I hope they have some additional content planned.

I finished this boss with only 1hp left I was sweating and internally screaming for like 5 minutes straight until I beat it 😅

Being underwater is terrifying enough for me.... 😳

For some reason this was the easiest boss for me. By the time I reached it, I had so many upgrades and like 300% Integrity, plus a fully upgraded rocket launcher, that it just ate shit. Ixion, on the other hand, was a nightmare. Anybody else have the same experience?

In my opinion, the developers were freely inspired by Philip K. Dick's novel "A Maze of Death". Selene's mind is inside a virtual reality simulator created specifically to train astronauts in the event of a crash landing on an exoplanet, but Selene's psychological trauma and guilt are somehow interfering with the simulation, making her live a distressing experience.

After trying to beat the first boss for the 5th time, I said fuck it and just came here to see the ending.

GAME ISNT OVER!!! (Now there are 6 new things thrown in every biome. One in each. After you get those, go to the house, after house, clear the last areas again for the TRUE ENDING) Ps: before those 6 things pop up, you have to have seen the 3 house sections in the first forest, and the 2 house sections in the other forest before the new 6 things pop up.

6:30 (You Half to listen closely to here the beginning of the song but soon after you here the lyrics) I like how Don’t Fear the Reaper is playing on the radio

so this is....bullet hell in 3d

With two healing items, and quick reactions you’ll get over this boss fight easily.

Such an amazing game, but it tears me apart that they didn't add more content to it. Even an ascension mode with modifiers would've been welcome.

Also a thought just popped into my head, this game is called "Returnal" because it's a combination of the words Return and Nocturnal, therefore meaning "return to the night", referencing the night of her death.

holy shit look at that health bar

I’m thinking about getting this game it looks so sick and badass

It felt more like a light show

I don't remember this Touhou series before...

Housemarque has really surpassed any expectations from small game which i loved them all to this masterpiece .

this isn't really the true true ending, reviews stated that there is way more to the plot than 1 run, most said they were 40 hrs in and there was still much to figure out. can't wait to play some of this game tomorrow, hope to finish It before RE8

Yo that shot at the end where you’re getting pushed (pulled?) back down before the title card is scary as fuck. Such hard-hitting visuals

This boss was easy for me. The real challenge is getting to the boss. The under water part is insanely hard

That cutscene man... showed so little but said so much

The hardest Boss is to actually get a PS5.

those shooting from boss reminds me very much of CONTRA game :) lovely

I beat the final boss from the first try! I think because I left the game for a couple of days and came back and leveled up to the max and explored the entire map before I got to it! I left it wanting more, now that I got good at it 😄

It seemed like the game ended abruptly. Fun to play while it lasted.

There's dozens of interpretations this game has but one of them is plain and simple. She's in hell. She died in that car crash with her daughter, unable to find the answers she's looking for and with countless of "lives" and resets she gets close enough to the truth only to be sent flying back and farther away from ever finding out that she's already dead. And there's nothing that she can do. Forever pursuing the infinite emptiness that is death.

Its like GRADIUS in nutshell

Seasons DONT fear the reaper!!

Which weapon do you have? Thermogenic launcher?

I hate stories like this that are TOO symbolic . You are waiting for intergalactic existential secret and you end up with the lame "it was all in her head" . Waste of dialogue . She was probably playing Metro Prime and have watched Pirates of the Caribbean before the accident .

Looks like that Spiral building from the first FF7

8:36 the clock in the house says that as well.

The protagonist looks like your average teacher that she usually would take phonecalls in class and had depression afterward

I was absolutely overpowered when I beat this boss. I had two revive items, 3 large silphium, 2 small silphium, 10% protection and 201% integrity lol If I had played it with my feet, I would probably win anyway.

Beat him last night. The Ophion and Act 2 trophies didn't unlock, though. I was really hoping they'd have fixed the trophy issues by now

The final boss was a too easy for me. Maybe cuz since the nemesis fight I somewhat gained super powers, I remember having a mate in the party and when he noticed I died for like the 1000000th time I started to play the ukulele and I became broken

I just wish I didnt die so much so I can beat the game. The game is incredibly fun but so hard and frustrating

I don’t get it what the hell happened. Did she die or something?

Got this guy on my third try. What a boss! Easily the highlight of the game.

Is That it? Just like that? I was having fun and I thought I have a long way to finish the game but suddenly End screen show up 😐

Its a space shooter without your spaceship.

And then she wakes up in Silent Hill ?

What’s the device behind the hole after you beat the boss, I forgot to check it?

That must be some suit to have no problem with the pressure down there

People got bamboolozed for playing a Rogue-like for the story instead of the gameplay, lol

I watched this now....because I'm struggling with Phrike.... Wish I hadn't watched this now.

So week or so and someone will beat this game in one sitting no hit run. You know it will happen.

I’m actually disappointed with the end I just smash passed through the 5th and 6th area and killed the final boss on my first attempt.

yep i figured the plot was going to end in that manner, so annoying

The new Resogun Commando Expansion is amazing!!!

wait what? this game just got out ._. how is this video a year old???

I just finished the game and I'm even more confused now

I haven’t even got to the first boss 😂

This game is absolutely nuts! 😳

So she practically died and the game story is the process that her spirit realises this and the trauma that she caused the death of her daughter. And that water and swirling smoke effect at the end is wow. PS5 wow!

How are you playing this.. i bought it and gotta wait till 10

the story is confusing

So basically she’s in hell. Set to fight and dye for eternity in a endless loop (kind of depressing). It’s a good game but I could never get past the hadal key stage. It’s way too long of an area with no checkpoints to beat. Also how TF did this guy get such a crazy health bar?

This boss should’ve been the biome 3 boss and the biome 3 boss should’ve been the final boss

İve finished the game ! İ have never rage quit quite so many times ever in my life !

So, you know how Hyperion is like, her dad playing an organ at the funeral? Well carrying that forward, Ophion is this incoherently screaming, immobile, humanoid, who’s trapped underwater. We…. We fucking know WHO this is, right?

Not sure how to feel about this game, story seemed bad and all the enemy attacks are 'colourful orbs'.. Edit: Apparently there's more to it after the first playthrough, hopefully it's better after that

This boss in 1.0 patch is nightmare AF they really nerfed his fight

wow this is a deep ending that almost made me go to tears... i thought of my son :)

What wreapon you using?

I just finished the game, was a true challenge but I didn’t get the story, can some one explain please? She never crashed in a planet?

the final boss wasn't all that bad. It was that whole area under water that was rough. Those stupid orbs that fire a million projectiles and then those giant monster dudes who come at you super fast and smash you. Plus all the little squid things that you cant even see until they are a foot away from you. It took me a bit to get through it.

A cosmic horror bullet hell game... *Game of the decade*

Wtf space car ?

Anyone can tell me the title of the song that she's listening In the car please ?

I beat this with no audio ;(

What is your weapon?

Needs more cowbell.

Gotta watch before it may be taken down!

very interesting one

Being the final boss hes a cakewalk for sure

I had a parasite that can regenerate my healing items and I have beaten the boss with still 5 healing items, 2 of which were big ones lol. It was very easy

what a show of colors. they look like fireworks.

kinda predicted this ending, every triple A game seem to have this set script where their "plot twist" comes from a textbook or something

This woman chats so much waffle I swear to god

I think this was his first try with the boss, caus he is just hitting the head not the red dots on his body.

Bro I finally just beat this game last week 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I only took 1 hit from this boss. Very anti climactic, was waiting for a Nemesis type on steroids but I’m glad I beat the game finally

so i looked up ophion, that boss you fought, in greek mythology it was the origional ruler of earth, a titan. way before chronos took over, and it also says he has a wife but im assumming going thru lore and learning more about the games backstory i wonder if its a different rendition of the charater, much like how the planet is named after one of the fates. this game has so fuckin much i wanna see but ya boi is broke as fuck and cant get shit rn.

parties lighting show

You fast AF

I just finished the first boss fight… and i thought that was hard

Sad not even 50% of people according to trophies have even killed the second boss. What a waste, since the game is worth experiencing.

So many ads! Like how broke are you?

Gonna need some acid for this game 👀

Reply from alien promoteous😀