This is the most "next gen" game so far for me. Great image quality, amazing lighting, ridiculous particles and destruction all at 60fps with amazing load times, great sound and great controller features.

I love that Housemarque didn’t make any compromises, because they are now making an AAA game, with much more financial risk to it. They did what they’re best at, without watering it down and trying to cater to ALL audiences. GG!

Had to be up at 645 this morning and I had to force myself to put this game down at 2:30am, mid-run. So addicting, so strange and mysterious, so damn fun. Well done Housemarque and a big W for Sony.

This game has blown my fucking mind. It's incredibly addicting

The dark sci-fi horror art direction and atmosphere looks so excellent and I've heard the audio design is impressive too

That blue teleport particle animations massively remind me of PS5 looks reveal, maybe it was an EE?

"Lit, thrustum-aligned voxel fog" Gesundheit.

Played it all day. The feels with the dualsense combine with the 3d audio and the excellent sound design makes it the most satisfying experience i’ve ever had in a video game no cap

It's really refreshing to hear Alex sound excited about a console game

The DF crew's enthusiasm for graphical effects and techniques is infectious. I go from 'huh that's neat' to 'holy shit that's amazing!' when they start diving in to it.

Got about 2 hrs into it and man this shit is beyond dope. It feels next gen forreal. Its gorgeous and the framerate is practically locked. The triggers ain't getting enough shine though, its truly a helluva feeling to play this game. You really feel immersed into the game soon as you do your first cycle. I cant believe this game is good as it looks, most games of this magnitude get overhyped and then turn out to be mediocre at best, not this game, truly the first experience into next generation gaming.. kudos to sony and housemarque

Him just saying it reminds him of Alien and Beksinski paintings brought to life is a dream come true for me. 🙏🏻🔥

The developers said in an interview with IGN that they are using their own particle system (built on UE4's). And I don't know if you guys mentioned this, but they said the audio is using ray tracing as well to create that soundscape

Between the haptic feedback and the 3-D audio it’s kinda crazy to play

This game is reminding of the 8/16 bit days when you’d basically memorize the first level cause that’s practically as far as you’d get lol.

Hearing Alex excited about a console game honestly multiplied my hype level! I’ll definitely Returnal to the channel you guys!!

Just ordered. The deep dive they released yesterday did it for me.

Anyone notice the Sega Genesis/MD Alien 3 theme playing around 9:50 when they talk about soundtrack? DF are such wonderfully beautiful nerds. Made my day.

Absolutely LOVE this game. The artstyle and atmosphere is.. oppressive and alien. I love it. This could have been a walking simulator and I would have been very happy, however, the gameplay is excellent. Whoever decided that sprint should be that speed deserves a raise, movement speed allows so much better combat flow and a higher skill ceiling. No hitscan enemies and death's feel firm but fair. I didn't expect the psychological and cosmic horror to get to me but boy, after the third biome and it's boss i was genuinely creeped out and concerned not just for Selene's sanity going forward, but my own. Absolutely nailed it. Glad I paid full price for it.

I'm so stoked for this game! I'm a huge HouseMarque fan, waiting on my copy to get here

So i was not the only one who thought it had a metroid prime feel to it.

Spent all day dying and living it. Such a great feeling game.

No loading screens. Not enough people are talking about that

These particles are just gorgeous! Housemarque are really talented developers!

I'm terrible at this game but still keep playing. It's just that fun.

I can just imagine the sequel "Returnedal" being greenlit already....

This game is a MUST BUY for anyone with a PS5

Love Housemarque I knew they wouldn’t disappoint!

The particles in Resogun were super impressive, too.

Music to my ears, thank you Alex and John.

It really does look fantastic. The leap Housemarque have made with this game cannot be overstated: it is such phenomenal worldbuilding and atmosphere, the kind of rich extraneous lore-y stuff that wasn't there with Nex Machina or Resogun, brilliant as those games were. The use of ambient sound effects, incorporating the music as precise sound cues(crucial in a game like this, where you really need to have a sense of where threats are coming from), is brilliant and the whole place feels alien in a way that few games, few works in any medium, manage to convey. On their first try Housemarque have created a world that is atmospherically and tonally not that far off Fromware's best stuff. In the same way that Bloodborne captured Lovecraftian horror in a way that no other medium has ever managed, Returnal does the same with alien sci-fi. The first Alien, and that shot of the space jockey; that's the kind of feeling this game gives you as you play(as well as Prometheus, massively so, at least the good bits of that film, minimal as they were - there are a whole host of influences tbh, and they're mostly very good, like Existenz, Arrival, Annihilation, etc). It is alien, in the true sense of that word. It made me think that videogames can convey the sense of an alien world in a way no other medium can: because you, the observer/reader, can't die while reading a book or watching a movie. There's no possibility of genuine loss...but there is in a game, especially twitch action games, most especially of all in a roguelike, where one death sends you back to the beginning of the loop. It's that kind of sense of constant danger and threat that makes an already alien world feel so much more alien than, say, the ridiculous booby-trapped, anti-plot-armoured planet in Alien Covenant. That place - in a stupid, nonsensical way - killed the stars of the film. But this place kills _you,_ and does so according to a set of very consistent if initially mysterious rules. This game rules basically.

Really enjoying this so far. Loved resogun, first game I ever platinumed. Even noticed the resogun Easter egg inside the crashed ship 👌🏻

Great job housemarque.

I was waiting for you guys, good way to start my Friday

Love it, great video, Returnal is such an awesome blend of being unique but also an homage to so many genres and influences!

The particles are impressive, but let's take a moment to appreciate all the crazy-ass tentacle stuff in this game! SO MANY TENTACLE!

Oh hell yeah, can't wait to get my hands on a PS5 and this game.

This arrived yesterday via a pre-order. I had a very brief play, I am definitely going to enjoy this despite my admittedly poor reflexes. It looks so good and sounds awesome on my surround sound system 😎

Risk of Rain is my gam happy to see the genre getting more recognition with Returnal 👏

I hated this game so much first two days because it was so difficult but then I loved it so much after that. The sound design is beyond AMAZING!

Man, just imagine this game in 3D with all the projectiles coming at you! I'm hoping for PSVR2 and a Cinema Mode with 3D-enhancements

I'm loving this game so much. Is like, the Alien shooter we always asked but never got, amazing and creepy creatures, awesome environments, dark and intriguing story, damn I'm very impressed with housemarque, it feels they were doing AAA games for decades with this one

“If you like games like Control and Metroid Prime you’ll probably like this one...” Last game I beat was Control and Metroid Prime is one of my favorite games of all time. Yeah... this game is awesome.

2024 and Returnal is still my "disconnect from the world" go to game. Easily one of my favorite games ever.

Not only the ultimate technical review, but also a substantive one. Mentioning Beksinski and H.R Giger only solidified my trust in what you guys do. Thank you.

Just bought the disc version in Norway for 50 buck, this weekend is going to be awesome

I wasn’t really sure about Returnal, but it looks really good and I just keep hearing mostly very positive things… might have to give it a try

I just got my PS5 last night and so far the games I have specifically for PS5 are Spider-Man Miles Morales and Remastered, Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, and Demons Souls. This will be the next one I pick up for sure

I can't wait to play this. Looks awesome!

20 years from now when I'm able to get my first ps5 this is a very first pickup for me!!

So, when I watch a 1440P PS5 video on KZfaq, is it upscaled from 1080P or downscaled from 4K?

i have a question, when displaying the FPS analysis on screen where on the scale does it represent the drop on-screen? For example when the fps drop/ripple crosses the line in the middle of the graph does that show on-screen at that moment. hope my question made sense or maybe i'm far left idk lol. thanks

Sony's first party content continues to impress.

Who knew, a good game is all that matters. Not the thing you're playing on.

Beat the game twice now and trying to figure out how to start Act 3. You aren't done after you "beat" this game. Amazing game.

I think those little sphere particles are actually flat planes with a sphere normal map and a circle alpha on each one so they are catching highlights from the lighting. Also the curl noise in Niagara is just so awesome!

After watching Skill Up’s review, this was the one review I needed before diving into it.

Good video. You guys really should spend some more time on 3D audio and controller haptics. Housemarque put a lot of effort into these categories in this game and it sounds amazing / feels great in your hands.

I got this game and trust me it looks incredible on my LG oled, 4k or not. It really is gorgeous! Great video guys cheers & godblee 😁🙏👊💯👍

Is performance the same on a 1080p monitor or does that get rid of the minor drops? I still haven't found a decent 4k tv that isn't OLED that has VRR and 4k120 support so I'm still running 1080p. I won't buy a tv based on what they say will be added with firmware later.

Since the patches that have dropped, has performance improved? Personally I seem to experience far less frame drops than I did at launch, but that’s anecdotal and I haven’t heard anyone else say the same or seen any post patch performance analysis 🧐

I can't wait to get my hands on this when I get off work tonight! Resogun and Nex Machina rule!

Love the vid and this game! One thing I’m curious about that I’m sure anyone has talked about is how difficult is it to develop around the haptics/adaptive triggers and actually implement those features in games. I’m curious how resource heavy those features are in the development process cuz I think that will shape how often they are used

The game is so cool. Amazing sounds and visuals. Feels great to play too. Very smooth and polished gameplay.

I played this game for 6 hours straight last night and it went by in a flash! Such a good atmospheric game. Amazing

Great video once again. DF, could please leave the option to activate the Closed Captions? For me as a non-english speaker, sometimes it's really hard to understand what you guys are saying.

Pulse 3D Audio along with the Haptic Feedback combo is 🔥 🔥

Never doubted Housemarque for a moment, glad to soon try out this game today.

The best part about this is that this is a launch game. It's only up from here I can't even imagine how great games will look near the end of the life cycle

I'm concerned about how people complain about how the save works for a ROGUELIKE genre.

Hi @Digitalfoundry you guys are the expert I want to ask you a question. I recently bought a 4K tv. But the quality of games is not even like 1080p videos that I watch on my iPad. What’s this all about the tv says it’s 4K. I am confused. Please guide me. So I may decide what to do next thank you.

Excellent job contacting developers and clarifying things for us. For most of us that would be out of reach. Lets support Housemarque team buying this game. thank you.

Returnal + Oled= mindblow 🤯

i played 7 hours and i cant stop i think im so addicted.

Just passed this....wow....what an amazing game. I will remember this one

Can somebody please tell me what is that thing that Alex says at the end when they are saying goodbye?

This game is up there with the champions of AAA game developement and 1st class ps exclusive!

I was waiting for this video 💚

So keen to see what house marquee next game is ! They keep getting better

You guys told me exactly what I wanted to hear! Best channel ever! For now

This game was built on UE4, I'm curious to see if they can improve the resolution/performance by making a "Definitive" edition ported to UE5 with the PS5's geometry shaders. I don't think we'll see the full potential of the PS5/XSX until next generation engines come out like UE5 with "sampler feedback/direct texture streaming" technology.

This might end up being the first game I actually buy for the PS5 I got at launch. Love the aesthetic, and Hades has made me a big convert of Roguelike/lite games!

I'm really loving it so far!! Very addictive

They made one hell of a game. This is a Indy studio and they made an awesome game and sacrificed a bit of res or smoother frame rate. They have so much stuff going on at any given time. They did great.

I knew Alex was going to cover this the moment that it was announced to have ray tracing

already preloaded and waiting for me when i get off work!

I'm loving this game and you are right, the particle effects and graphics are insane. This game looks so good it gets me killed sometimes from admiring it.

3d audio on headset versus surround sound?

9:51 14:20 Love the use of the Genesis/Megadrive Alien 3 soundtrack lol

Alex is not being far sighted with THAT title. Fast to forward 3 or 4 years and we'll be laughing at it. Just a first gen ps5 game

The game runs so smooth only thing I sometimes encounter is small stutters when turning the camera while looking at certain areas , anyone else ?

I'd take performance over a slight dip in picture quality any day. Smart move by Housemarque.

Mad props for mentioning two Polish artists- Beksiński and Lem (Solaris) ;)

I'm really itching for a full blown, next gen single player Aliens game.

I rewatched some of my really busy biome 2 footage and found some dips into the mid forties that really threw me off. I get that the effects in this game are crazy, but it makes me a bit worried that my brand new 10.2 teraflop console is having trouble keeping 60fps at 1080p upscaled this early on.

It's great how we get great exclusives early on the gen, I wonder in 2-3 years what games will look like

I'm so excited for this game now!

Man, this is still one of the best looking 'next-gen' titles out there... and I still haven't completed it 😬 I will one day, honest.

Great video guys!

for me this is the most graphical impressive game by far.