I'm making it a point to plat all Playstation exclusives and I did not expect to come out of this game loving it as much as I did. I love how thematically tight knit the gameplay loop and the narrative are. Beating it felt incredibly rewarding and on a technical level, it was stunning. The audio is literally the best i've heard in a game in recent years and was snubbed a nomination at the Game Awards IMO. I feel like Returnal was heavily overlooked because of it's design and the commitment needed to learn and beat the game, as Max said, but there was an update that implemented a save system. This game isn't for everyone, but if you find that it is up your alley, you will see that it would be as if this game were made for you! Give it a try!! My GOTY hands down.
I knew Max was talking about Hyperion as soon as he started talking about the bosses. That whole build up and boss fight was an audio-visual treat I had chills, I was (quite literally) ascending. If you've played Returnal you know why. 👀
I'm a sucker for mystery plots. The little clues hidden around everywhere and being able to put them together is so special. Definitely my goty for 2021
I just finished with the “1st ending” of Returnal… WOW what an awesome, amazing, video game!! Absolutely loved it. Can’t wait to keep playing. / EDIT: funny you mention the restart thing not being for everybody, a few of my friends enjoyed this game but the restarting stuff wasn’t for them, so they gave up playing. Obviously it was fun for me and I just kept playing everyday, enjoying the challenge. This game was so much fun and definitely my game of the year in 2021.
2:16 You actually did get it right the first time. Rogue-lite has permanent upgrades that persist between runs. Rogue-like is a fresh run every time with no persisting upgrades.
Literally even the worst Rogue-like games DO have persisting upgrades...Hell literally even the worst Rogue-like games allow you do keep EVERYTHING you pick up between areas. When you finish a "dungeon or area" you keep everything you found and can then choose a loadout before starting the next "dungeon or area". There is zero reason why you shouldn't be able to choose a loadout at the start of every death or new biome after completing the first biome.
@@lutherheggs451 What are you talking about? There aren't persistent upgrades in Spelunky, Enter the Gungeon, Invisible Inc., Streets of Rogue, and on and on. Like the person above you said, that's what makes them roguelikes rather than roguelites. A roguelite, like Hades or Flinthook or Rogue Legacy, will let you start with more HP, more damage output, and all sorts of other bonuses that make your character objectively better than the run before it. To me, that makes those games feel like a grind rather than a game I'm getting better at, but some prefer it that way.
Ah ok, thanks for the clarification. Shame that my first experience was with a Rouge-lite, since I played Hades before Returnal. And maybe for that I was not able to fully enjoy Returnal, beat the 2 Act but did not had the will to do the 3rd.
@@fatbroccoli8 What are the persistent upgrades? The things that you unlock are neither better nor worse. They're just different, to change up how you play the game. They don't continually make you more powerful.
Despite the bugs that plagued the achievement hunting in this game, getting the Platinum for it was an incredible experience. I absolutely loved my time playing this game. I was completely hooked.
@@TheEffectOfMassonly 12 percent of players or so have the beat the game trophy. Dark souls has a completion of about 35%. It’s laughable to be when they say dark souls a harder game.
Took me getting ps+extra to finally play the game myself, after watching Max every night he played it last year. Somehow I was still on the fence but once I played it myself I saw it was totally worth the asking price
@@shyff2188 when my Extra is done next month I may just buy it outright. I've not been playing it constantly, but I've been trying all the other games and I still keep coming back to Returnal dumping more hours into it, and I'm not done.
Climbing the tree to Hyperion and hearing the organ intensify is an astonishing goosebump inducing experience that will stay with me forever. If you like gaming and scifi, you just have to play this game.
Even though I watched Max play this before having a chance to on my roommate's PS5, that eerie tingling on my neck was just as intense as I climbed that spire.
It was the highlight of the game for me. It almost felt like a reward of sorts as I struggled and was squashed multiple times to make it through biome 3 and take that fucker nemesis down. After entering biome 4 and making my way to Hyperion, like you said, goosebumps. I new right there is was one of the best games I've played in recent memory.
I loved everything about this game. The visuals, gameplay, the lore, the audio…the DAMN AUDIO! As a sci-fi nut this was so awesome. For me, it did Metroid better than Metroid Dread, the shooting mechanics were better than Ratchet and Clank and the sound of those drones were more terrifying than anything in RE8. I anticipated and expected those games to be great and they were but they weren’t Returnal, my game of the year also! Excellent choice Max!!
It's kind of unfair to compare this massive game being on the PS5 to Dread that came from an indie team for the Switch. Atmosphere and immersion is a huge thing for Metroid and Returnal alike, and they do share similarities outside of that too. Also, the dollhouse section in RE8 is pretty freaking terrifying lol. Returnal is amazing though :)
It could be a game with great value for you. Me personally after beating Act 2 I was not willing to go further into Act 3. I was not able to enjoy the game as much as I did with Hades. Can't put my finger on it, the satisfaction of defeating the bosses and overcoming challenges was there but...the jouney was not fun.
@@TheFallenAngel39 the journey is the best part lol. The guy above you though is most likely an xbot. Who the hell buys a game and returns it the next day. You cant even Return a game after opening it lol wth
@@scottd7222 Again, this comes from me, if you enjoyed more then that's fine. Its not a bad game but also not the GOTY 2021. Also the comment was directed more to Manuel than knight. I used the reply button but did not show the @
And it only sold 500,000 copies and only 10% even played it past act II........Its also blatantly obvious why, being one of those people who finished the game and likely wont go back any time soon.... Its kinda garbage that you can get seeds that don't have shortcuts so IF you die and your 4 areas deep you might just have to work your way back through 3 to get to that 4th....Its also kinda garbage that you can't keep guns and upgrades between biomes. Even the worst rogue-like games allow you to collect and keep everything between dungeons/areas. Pistol starting with a level zero proficiency at the first area is kinda garbage when you get deep into the game and are hilariously expected to get all the way back to where you were to maybe get part of your proficiency back..And I have friends who wont even play it because of terrible design like that, yet love normal rogue-like games....Without a doubt there wont be a sequel.
@@lutherheggs451 You can keep guns and upgrades between biomes though. Shortcuts are persistent so you just didn't find them. Sounds like you suck at the game honestly.
@@lutherheggs451 you can keep weapons and upgrades between biomes. You can also take a shortcut straight to your most recent biome from the first biome. You also get proficiency upgrades at the start of each biome so there's no penalty to skipping a biome. Also 10% of people got the true ending and about 24% rolled credits and got the shorter ending. Getting the true ending doesn't really have any new content so it's more for people who want to keep playing or those who are invested in the story. I'd recommend giving it a try if you like 3rd person shooters and sci fi.
@@lutherheggs451 You do know that 500,000 millions covers the entire budget for this game like 10 times right? In Sony eyes this is a huge win!! Like the joker movie that it had a budget of 60,000 only and it sold over 1.2 millions tickets that's a huge win bro the same thing happened to this. They got way more money outta it than that they put in it.
To me gameplay wise, Returnal plays a whole lot like what I'd imagine a "modern Sonic" equivalent of Megaman X would play like. I can easily imagine a Megaman X skin mod feeling so perfect that you'd think it was X Adventure or some shit
There are rumors that's coming to PC so you have a GPU with enough vram you may be able to play it sometime this year or early next year Sony's kind of slow with their PC releases.
@@Eja_Shaki When Microsoft stops being so aggressive in the market then maybe Sony will allow them to play they’re excellent titles that Xbox are so incompetent to make themselves..
Not just game of the year, but Returnal is easily one of my favorite games ever. Very quickly rose up to join my favs like Hollow Knight, Monster Hunter, and Phantasy Star Online
Story time. I am not sure if anyone will see this or read it as I know this video is a few years old. I got this game last summer. My senior cat was nearing twenty years old. His health was in poor condition and my wife and I knew it. I had the cat since I was a senior in high school when he was only a few months old and took him on my journey into life as an adult. He was beside me every evening I was captivated by this games journey for weeks. We'd sleep on the couch together... He was dying and we booked the date to put him down. It was the last stretch of quality time with him even though he had no quality of life. Yet he would come to me to get picked up onto the couch and hang out with me for comfort.The themes of death and loss... really hit home hard while playing this game. The soundtrack by Bobby Krlic really resonated with me and still does. I can't help but tear up a bit when I hear certain parts of the soundtrack to this game. and I had to say goodbye to my best friend days after finishing this game. It will stick with me forever and I am not sure I can ever play it again. I bought the soundtrack vinyl to display as it means so much to me. Thanks for navigating life with me and I hope I didn't make any mistakes along the way. I miss you Earl.
What an amazing game. Max giving this high praise eventually making this his game of the year is well deserved. Much like how Metroid dread is a must buy for Switch owners, people should definitely check this one out when they have the chance. The boss fights here are insane despite having so few, the very definition of quality over quantity. Hyperion (piano boss) was definitely my favorite. Also, kudos to the devs for adding a save option. They didn't have to do it, but tye fact that they did shows they are willing to listen to feedback and make this game accessible to a wider range of audience.
I agree, this was so inmersive and detailed for a rogue like. Combat was engaging and fast paced, but very rewarding for getting good. This is definitely not a game for everybody, but if you get hooked you'll uncover one of the most beautiful games ever made. Incredible
This game out of nowhere for me, and it is my GOTY too. Me and my friend enjoyed it so much and were so caught up the story that we were streaming our runs to each other. The story had us theorizing so much and putting the puzzles pieces together. One of my favorite gaming experiences ever.
This is definitely my favorite game of 2021. The gameplay, the music, the story and the audio effects were just amazing that it implemented with the ps5 controller. Absolute 10/10 from me. Easily GOTY for sure
There is a shortcut to each level you unlock. Once you beat the biome 1 boss and you die and go back to the beginning you can run to biome 2 in a minute or 2. The portal is permanently unlocked and there's a pick up at each biome to increase proficiency to that area. Not advised as you want to increase health in each area.
It's extremely underrated since it's a new IP exclusive to a next gen system. Most people I've spoken to who completed the game consider it their GOTY as well. I really hope they turn it into a series with Scouts exploring deep space and getting into all sorts of mythological fuckery.
Tbh that is a good way of putting it making the game more accessible by adding a save feature is a good thing since a lot people do not have time to enjoy games that require you do long runs to complete the main story or whatever to completion. In fact features where there are limited or no saves should really stay as optional difficulties for players with more time or wanting a challenge like in Lisa the painful with pain mode where you can only interact with a save crow once and it would explode even if you didn't actually save your game (yes i did this once by accident on my pain mode playthrough). I think it's good when games are made more accessible by adding better save features/mechanics and balancing tedious grind which isn't difficult and disability features (colourblind,visual alerts for deaft etc)vs making games more accessible for players who aren't willing to try to improve their skills for a game's intended difficulty like dark souls everyone who plays it blind first time sucks but the more you play the better you get and end up creating new tactics or making new discovering on handling enemies that were giving you problems before. But i will say its not wrong to have difficulty setting but if a developer chooses not have different difficulties to choose from it's their right to stand by it and each person experience difficulty differently finding it easier on hard or hard on easy. also some genres are just mean to be hard (unless its intentionally bs which is a different case altogether) like bullet hells are a genre i can barely do and i dare not touch the ones that require pixel perfect movement to avoid every bullet. but good vid max
Man..i have this and still didnt play it for real...my problem was the "no save system"...max nailed the point that lof of people cant afford to play more than 3 hours per day.. i have two little kids and two jobs... so it was impossible to play..but now with the option to suspend the cycle i can play it... i reached the first boss and im loving the game...the gameplay is amazing... im playing this game and halo infinite.... both games are incredible.
Wasn't satisfied after I completed it (not for gameplay reasons.). But the journey to the end was excellent, I willingly lost sleep just to play this game. And the 'Prometheus/Aliens' vibes were just enough to keep me hooked. Hope more people realize why some of us are shouting to the roof tops that this was the underappreciated GOTY.
The plot is absolutely atrocious and the fact that it starts off with such an interesting mystery and ends with such a blithering bunch of nonsense was one of the biggest letdowns I've ever had in gaming
@@17thknight Yeah I have to admit when I got to the 'true ending' I was a little heated. If they release a DLC so I can get more answers, fine but as of now the ending was the worst part for me.
So happy for housemarque. Such an underrated developer. Took me by surprise with resogun. Absolutely loved it as well as nex machina and matterfall. Some of the best soundtracks ever. Can't wait to play this... if I ever get a ps5..
This is among my favorite games of 2021 as well. Such a nice surprise. I love almost everything about this game. Story was gripping. Gameplay is absolutely insane and satisfying. Art direction and theme is very well thought out and executed. But I think the one thing that elevated this game for me as one of the best is its Sound Track. Oh my god! What an absolute master class in audio design and immersive music and building atmosphere. The Hyperion build up was nothing short of genius..and all of the tracks for the bosses were insanely good. Especially Phrike, Nemesis, Hyperion and Ophion.. wait.. that's almost all of them.. well that's because everything here is brilliant and very well done. My only gripe is that I wish there were more bioms and bosses. Very happy for Housemarque to be back this strongly and congrats to every single dev that worked on delivering this amazing video game. I still have to get the platinum (Damn you RNG lol) but I absolutely will one day!
Fun fact: only 30.3 percent of Returnal players finished Act 1, about 23 percent finished Act 2, and about 10 percent finished Act 3. Seems like most people who bought this game didn’t beat it.
To be fair act 3 involves revisiting areas you've been to for collectibles and then fighting the final boss one more time. I enjoyed it because I love the gameplay but act 3 doesn't offer any new content outside of two story sequences. Plus after act 2 you get an ending and the credits roll so I'm sure a lot of people were unaware there was more to do.
I finished Act 3 a day after I thought I finished the game. I thought act 2 was the ending, but then I saw trophies that are still hidden and thought my trophies glitched out, so I checked online and saw a screenshot of a scene I didn't see before so I went back into it to find anything I can, and voila; There were more stuff to do. 😅 Loved getting the true ending tho
"Seems like most people who bought this game didn’t beat it." this is true for most games. I remember when tlou2 showed something like a 55% completion rate and that was apparently unheard of.
The boss Max talks about, Act 2 Biome 1 boss, is the biggest moment in games for me last year. I was ahead of him when it came out, and when I beat that boss I eagerly anticipated his reaction to it on stream. It's that good.
I agree this game is awesome. My playthroughs sucked because we have rolling blackouts, so my run would disappear everyday. I quit. Now that they have fixed the save feature I will give it another chance.
Same here, and it was a story of hate and love, a couple of times I uninstalled it, but while I wasn't playing with it I kept thinking I can use that weapon, improve that thing and eventually I finished it.
The score was done by Bobby Krlic ( The Haxan Cloak) he's one of my favorite producers. Knowing that they added a save feature makes me want to play this. Thanks Max
Well deserve. My personal theory - Selene has been on Atropos since the very start of the civilization we called the "sentient". Case and point being most if not all of their techs are compatible with Selene's suit and OS. They also named her the creator (and the destroyer)
I've been waiting for this video! As soon as I beat the final boss back in May, I headed to CZcams and watched your playthrough and your reaction. I loved watching someone else love this game! One of my favorite games ever. I was so hooked. My very first platinum. Thanks for the great year of content, dood!
Best game for me to. Playing now Hades and the thing Returnal is better (or worse base on perspective) is you have to be good on this game. Returnal has this sort of "upgrades" that actually drives you to advance on the story, the sword, hook and the suit has no much impact because you don't receive health, damage, speed boost. You get those during a playthrough but you have to be good on third person shotters. Hades has permanent upgrades and it is base more on the luck to get blessing (unless you unlock a objetc to get that specific god blessing). So, i think Returnal is harder and it is suited for people who are looking for a challenge but as Max said, time is a factor to be consider. I hope with the update, more people take the challenge to beat it. Fantastic game.
Damn freaking right man this game was also my game of the year. The gameplay is just too good. Come on Housemarque pleaseeee make DLC for this game. Even if it’s a small DLC.
Max, please, for the "Holy Mother of God" (as you like to say) please try Risk of Rain 2. You're sure to love it! Also, completely with you on Returnal being your #1
Really a phenomenal game, don't be put off by the difficulty. It's really not that bad and quite a lot of your progress will actually remain. The only negative I have is that the platinum trophy wasn't fun due to the random nature of the game and I got a couple of bugs too.
It's normal for these types of games. Dead cells is super popular but the amount of people that even got to the true final boss is probably less than 5%.
@@bruhder5854 fair point, but Dead Cells doesnt go for $50-$60. i don't mind paying near full price for a AAA title if I know I'm (legit) able to finish it.
@@Blearcord But that's kind of the fun part of games as well. When we were little and played supermario for example. Some levels felt impossible maybe but you eventually get through it by getting better, it feels great.
I had a similar feeling last year. The Last of us part 2 definitely didn't deserve it, my personal choices were either FF7 or Ghost of Tsushima. However this year I wasn't too bothered as it lost out to It Takes Two and Resident Evil Village, both incredible games in their own right. I just think Returnal only appeals to a niche audience which is why it isn't as popular as it should be. Im just glad Deathloop didn't win, don't get me wrong it was also incredible but had quite a few short comings
@@Wi11iamNZ i felt like the last of us 2 deserved it, that game was incredible, the story and gameplay were awesome, I was not attached to Joel so I didn't care that he died, characters die that's the way it goes in a post apocalyptic world. Ghost of Tsushima was awesome however very hard to beat TLOUS 2 that had the edge in the graphics department, it isn't all about gameplay and story jury that voted on the games also take Graphics advancements in considered, sure FF7 and Ghost of Tsushima looked great but not as even close to TLOUS 2 in terms of graphics , that's why TLOUS 2 deserved and took the award and the other aforementioned tittles.
There's a comicbook character called Resurrection Man, everytime he dies he gets a different power. Someone should try and convince WB to make that concept into a rogue-like game.
I come after watching the 20 hrs playthrought of max and I can see how crazy and good the game is, but in this era if you create a game that is challenging and demand skill, the game is bad, so I can understand why many people just don't look at it. Max play it like roughly, is not perfect but neither bad, I'm sure if you put more time to it, you will be so skilled that you will just fly through each room as is nothing, also the story is really good, feels so natural and organic in the entire game and it so well balance with the gameplay that after doing this bullet hells and arcade, you still can process it very well, even with the complexity it have. So for me this was the game of 2021, good gameplay, crazy mechanics, tons of weapons and upgrades, a good arcade feeling, outstanding environments, few glitches, a really good polish and a great story with epic music.
This game frickin rocks! Easily the best game of last year,such an incredible feeling when i finally beat it .Every run feels different,,and a really hard game to put down ! Just gotta get that secret ending now.:)
I dont know what my goty is. Monster hunter rise was great as was metroid. And re8, but I think my top 2 are halo infinite and shin megami tensei 5. I also played paper mario and the thousand year door for the first time last year and loved the shit out it.
This game was the absolute biggest surprise for me! So incredibly fun and rewarding man! Beaten it so many times and I'm so close to the Platinum trophy too.
Couldn't ask for a better situation for Housemarque, Returnal ended up doing everything I wanted. Stick to crisp Arcade bullet-hell with a AAA twist. I hope Sony allow this for the future of Housemarque's DNA as they already announced their goodbyes from pure Arcade experiences R.I.P, also QA test the downfalls of systems a bit better. Maybe Max gets a chance in the far future he plays Resogun one day
still haven't got a PS5, yet. But when I do, Returnal will be the first game I play on it. I saw your playthrough and Excessive Profanity's and I felt the enjoyment you both had when playing it. Its not often when a game comes along and fully engulfs you into it and want to find every bit of information possible in order to piece together the full story. When it does, the experience sticks with you for a very long time. To the point where if someone asks you what are some of your favorite games you've played, Returnal is one that is in the front of your mind.
Wow Rock Howard is the game of the year amazing Max congratulations
AGAIN???
He can’t keep getting away with it!!😩
"I don't believe it!"
The Rock Howard Everywhere System
@@Fasumbra you aren't allowed to mention that, they may be watching man
I'm making it a point to plat all Playstation exclusives and I did not expect to come out of this game loving it as much as I did. I love how thematically tight knit the gameplay loop and the narrative are. Beating it felt incredibly rewarding and on a technical level, it was stunning. The audio is literally the best i've heard in a game in recent years and was snubbed a nomination at the Game Awards IMO.
I feel like Returnal was heavily overlooked because of it's design and the commitment needed to learn and beat the game, as Max said, but there was an update that implemented a save system. This game isn't for everyone, but if you find that it is up your alley, you will see that it would be as if this game were made for you!
Give it a try!!
My GOTY hands down.
My personal GOTY too... this was more than a game, it was an experience... a very tense and stressful one in a good way. Begging for some DLC.
The best experience this game offered was when I threw it in the recycle bin. Utter. Trash.
I knew Max was talking about Hyperion as soon as he started talking about the bosses. That whole build up and boss fight was an audio-visual treat I had chills, I was (quite literally) ascending. If you've played Returnal you know why. 👀
It is ascending that allows you to finally turn off the music ;)
It was the only way you could find the "keys" to your trauma 👀
@@infinitybelt that was a good one I like it 😂
Seriously. Hyperion wasn't a boss, Hyperion was a whole effing experience.
I'm a sucker for mystery plots. The little clues hidden around everywhere and being able to put them together is so special. Definitely my goty for 2021
Same, I love Remedy's "Control" for that
Wow. Three different Metroid games on Max’s Top 5. What a great year for Metroid games and the fans alike!
He only played 6 games lol
I loved this game so much that I watched all the streams and videos of Maximillian playing it, definitely game of the year for me as well
I knew it was Balan Wonderworld!!!
I just finished with the “1st ending” of Returnal… WOW what an awesome, amazing, video game!! Absolutely loved it. Can’t wait to keep playing.
/ EDIT: funny you mention the restart thing not being for everybody, a few of my friends enjoyed this game but the restarting stuff wasn’t for them, so they gave up playing. Obviously it was fun for me and I just kept playing everyday, enjoying the challenge. This game was so much fun and definitely my game of the year in 2021.
@Eyesore yes my bad lol
2:16 You actually did get it right the first time.
Rogue-lite has permanent upgrades that persist between runs.
Rogue-like is a fresh run every time with no persisting upgrades.
Literally even the worst Rogue-like games DO have persisting upgrades...Hell literally even the worst Rogue-like games allow you do keep EVERYTHING you pick up between areas. When you finish a "dungeon or area" you keep everything you found and can then choose a loadout before starting the next "dungeon or area".
There is zero reason why you shouldn't be able to choose a loadout at the start of every death or new biome after completing the first biome.
@@lutherheggs451 What are you talking about? There aren't persistent upgrades in Spelunky, Enter the Gungeon, Invisible Inc., Streets of Rogue, and on and on. Like the person above you said, that's what makes them roguelikes rather than roguelites. A roguelite, like Hades or Flinthook or Rogue Legacy, will let you start with more HP, more damage output, and all sorts of other bonuses that make your character objectively better than the run before it. To me, that makes those games feel like a grind rather than a game I'm getting better at, but some prefer it that way.
Ah ok, thanks for the clarification.
Shame that my first experience was with a Rouge-lite, since I played Hades before Returnal.
And maybe for that I was not able to fully enjoy Returnal, beat the 2 Act but did not had the will to do the 3rd.
@@gamelord12 I’d argue that Enter the Gungeon does have persistent upgrades between runs, the others you mentioned I I haven’t played though
@@fatbroccoli8 What are the persistent upgrades? The things that you unlock are neither better nor worse. They're just different, to change up how you play the game. They don't continually make you more powerful.
Despite the bugs that plagued the achievement hunting in this game, getting the Platinum for it was an incredible experience. I absolutely loved my time playing this game. I was completely hooked.
After watching Max’s Returnal play through… I knew Returnal would be his game of the year. And I agree 100%, Returnal is the game of the year.
I pick psychonauts, I’m a sucker for a good platformer
@@Blearcord I enjoyed that more honestly. The visuals blew me away
Returnal is also my GotY 😌
In addition to the amazing gameplay, the haptics and 3D audio are superb.
This game was the definition of glutton for punishment....and I loved it!
the game wasn’t a glutton for punishment, YOU are a glutton for punishment. the game enabled your gluttony!
😂
Which is why I am surprised it didn't get a big reaction from Souls players.
@@TheEffectOfMassonly 12 percent of players or so have the beat the game trophy. Dark souls has a completion of about 35%. It’s laughable to be when they say dark souls a harder game.
Took me getting ps+extra to finally play the game myself, after watching Max every night he played it last year. Somehow I was still on the fence but once I played it myself I saw it was totally worth the asking price
Same here, truly a unique gaming experience!
@@shyff2188 when my Extra is done next month I may just buy it outright. I've not been playing it constantly, but I've been trying all the other games and I still keep coming back to Returnal dumping more hours into it, and I'm not done.
@@Chr15Payne I’m 3 trophies away from the platinum, that tells you how much I loved this game
Climbing the tree to Hyperion and hearing the organ intensify is an astonishing goosebump inducing experience that will stay with me forever. If you like gaming and scifi, you just have to play this game.
Even though I watched Max play this before having a chance to on my roommate's PS5, that eerie tingling on my neck was just as intense as I climbed that spire.
It was the highlight of the game for me. It almost felt like a reward of sorts as I struggled and was squashed multiple times to make it through biome 3 and take that fucker nemesis down. After entering biome 4 and making my way to Hyperion, like you said, goosebumps. I new right there is was one of the best games I've played in recent memory.
@@Wi11iamNZ THE highlight indeed, also glad to read I wasn't the only one having a hard time with biome 3
I loved everything about this game. The visuals, gameplay, the lore, the audio…the DAMN AUDIO! As a sci-fi nut this was so awesome. For me, it did Metroid better than Metroid Dread, the shooting mechanics were better than Ratchet and Clank and the sound of those drones were more terrifying than anything in RE8. I anticipated and expected those games to be great and they were but they weren’t Returnal, my game of the year also! Excellent choice Max!!
It's kind of unfair to compare this massive game being on the PS5 to Dread that came from an indie team for the Switch. Atmosphere and immersion is a huge thing for Metroid and Returnal alike, and they do share similarities outside of that too. Also, the dollhouse section in RE8 is pretty freaking terrifying lol. Returnal is amazing though :)
@@samy29987 HouseMarque is half the size of the Dread developers
Max, I just love watching your style and enthusiasm no matter what game you're playing. I wish you another great year.
I'm envious for all of those who could play it. I love how Max and the people in the answers are enthusiast of this game and now I feel curious.
should def pick it up if you get the chance, easily the best ps5 exclusive in my opinion
I wasted $50 on it and took it back the next day Don't feel too bad
It could be a game with great value for you.
Me personally after beating Act 2 I was not willing to go further into Act 3. I was not able to enjoy the game as much as I did with Hades. Can't put my finger on it, the satisfaction of defeating the bosses and overcoming challenges was there but...the jouney was not fun.
@@TheFallenAngel39 the journey is the best part lol. The guy above you though is most likely an xbot. Who the hell buys a game and returns it the next day. You cant even Return a game after opening it lol wth
@@scottd7222 Again, this comes from me, if you enjoyed more then that's fine. Its not a bad game but also not the GOTY 2021. Also the comment was directed more to Manuel than knight. I used the reply button but did not show the @
12:19 When a game just hits on another level
Housemarque really risked it all with this and they knocked it outa the park for sure
And it only sold 500,000 copies and only 10% even played it past act II........Its also blatantly obvious why, being one of those people who finished the game and likely wont go back any time soon....
Its kinda garbage that you can get seeds that don't have shortcuts so IF you die and your 4 areas deep you might just have to work your way back through 3 to get to that 4th....Its also kinda garbage that you can't keep guns and upgrades between biomes. Even the worst rogue-like games allow you to collect and keep everything between dungeons/areas.
Pistol starting with a level zero proficiency at the first area is kinda garbage when you get deep into the game and are hilariously expected to get all the way back to where you were to maybe get part of your proficiency back..And I have friends who wont even play it because of terrible design like that, yet love normal rogue-like games....Without a doubt there wont be a sequel.
@@lutherheggs451 those sales are still good and the game is by far one of the best this year
@@lutherheggs451 You can keep guns and upgrades between biomes though. Shortcuts are persistent so you just didn't find them. Sounds like you suck at the game honestly.
@@lutherheggs451 you can keep weapons and upgrades between biomes. You can also take a shortcut straight to your most recent biome from the first biome.
You also get proficiency upgrades at the start of each biome so there's no penalty to skipping a biome.
Also 10% of people got the true ending and about 24% rolled credits and got the shorter ending. Getting the true ending doesn't really have any new content so it's more for people who want to keep playing or those who are invested in the story.
I'd recommend giving it a try if you like 3rd person shooters and sci fi.
@@lutherheggs451 You do know that 500,000 millions covers the entire budget for this game like 10 times right? In Sony eyes this is a huge win!! Like the joker movie that it had a budget of 60,000 only and it sold over 1.2 millions tickets that's a huge win bro the same thing happened to this. They got way more money outta it than that they put in it.
To me gameplay wise, Returnal plays a whole lot like what I'd imagine a "modern Sonic" equivalent of Megaman X would play like.
I can easily imagine a Megaman X skin mod feeling so perfect that you'd think it was X Adventure or some shit
Megaman Legends : Horror Genre Edition probably?
YESSS
Zero surprise here. This game was absolutely phenomenal top to bottom.
With low expectations, i guess you can love anything
@@jonathansoko1085 That's what your mother said about you
@@jonathansoko1085 rekt
@@kainairsoft2331 damn bro you went straight for the jugular lol
@@Blearcord Yeah it was extremely mean. I kinda feel bad now but oh well.
I completely overlooked this game, but after watching this I'm now interesting. If only I had a ps5
There are rumors that's coming to PC so you have a GPU with enough vram you may be able to play it sometime this year or early next year Sony's kind of slow with their PC releases.
@@Eja_Shaki pog
@@Eja_Shaki When Microsoft stops being so aggressive in the market then maybe Sony will allow them to play they’re excellent titles that Xbox are so incompetent to make themselves..
Not just game of the year, but Returnal is easily one of my favorite games ever. Very quickly rose up to join my favs like Hollow Knight, Monster Hunter, and Phantasy Star Online
Max becoming a "Metroid weeb" is my highlight of his content this year, hahaha.
Story time. I am not sure if anyone will see this or read it as I know this video is a few years old.
I got this game last summer. My senior cat was nearing twenty years old. His health was in poor condition and my wife and I knew it. I had the cat since I was a senior in high school when he was only a few months old and took him on my journey into life as an adult.
He was beside me every evening I was captivated by this games journey for weeks. We'd sleep on the couch together... He was dying and we booked the date to put him down. It was the last stretch of quality time with him even though he had no quality of life. Yet he would come to me to get picked up onto the couch and hang out with me for comfort.The themes of death and loss... really hit home hard while playing this game. The soundtrack by Bobby Krlic really resonated with me and still does. I can't help but tear up a bit when I hear certain parts of the soundtrack to this game. and I had to say goodbye to my best friend days after finishing this game.
It will stick with me forever and I am not sure I can ever play it again. I bought the soundtrack vinyl to display as it means so much to me. Thanks for navigating life with me and I hope I didn't make any mistakes along the way. I miss you Earl.
❤
RIP Earl ❤
What an amazing game. Max giving this high praise eventually making this his game of the year is well deserved. Much like how Metroid dread is a must buy for Switch owners, people should definitely check this one out when they have the chance.
The boss fights here are insane despite having so few, the very definition of quality over quantity. Hyperion (piano boss) was definitely my favorite.
Also, kudos to the devs for adding a save option. They didn't have to do it, but tye fact that they did shows they are willing to listen to feedback and make this game accessible to a wider range of audience.
Hyperion and the first boss were absolutely the most fun in a video game I've had since my d*mn childhood dude!
I agree, this was so inmersive and detailed for a rogue like. Combat was engaging and fast paced, but very rewarding for getting good. This is definitely not a game for everybody, but if you get hooked you'll uncover one of the most beautiful games ever made. Incredible
This game out of nowhere for me, and it is my GOTY too. Me and my friend enjoyed it so much and were so caught up the story that we were streaming our runs to each other. The story had us theorizing so much and putting the puzzles pieces together. One of my favorite gaming experiences ever.
Same as with GotG, these games had little to no promotion.
So glad to see a game by a Finnish studio get some love!
Torille perkele!
Control has finnish people too!
This is definitely my favorite game of 2021. The gameplay, the music, the story and the audio effects were just amazing that it implemented with the ps5 controller. Absolute 10/10 from me. Easily GOTY for sure
The ending was fucking garbage and ruined the story wdym?
@@nothingtoseehere8865 ending really wasn’t garbage. So I’ll ask your question. Wdym?
Even after almost 100% the game, i went back today due how much i loved the game and ended up with a 7 hour session. Its just so fucking good.
This was a game that touched me in a very different way. Such a beautiful and incredible experience. Bought it day 1.
My local priest also touched me in a different way
Uncle Rick touches me differently, in a cabin, at Gatlinburg, a lot.
Poor phrasing bro..
I want more returnals... I want games that are new and are not afraid to take risks... this is why I love new IPs.
You and the Easy Allies had Returnal as the GOTY, all is good for me.
There is a shortcut to each level you unlock. Once you beat the biome 1 boss and you die and go back to the beginning you can run to biome 2 in a minute or 2. The portal is permanently unlocked and there's a pick up at each biome to increase proficiency to that area.
Not advised as you want to increase health in each area.
Returnal is a fucking masterpiece
It's extremely underrated since it's a new IP exclusive to a next gen system. Most people I've spoken to who completed the game consider it their GOTY as well. I really hope they turn it into a series with Scouts exploring deep space and getting into all sorts of mythological fuckery.
Ooooh, I like that man! Builds on the world without forcing Selene's narrative beyond the tight package we got.
@@Alex_Logan22 It's both, right? But the psychological part is a bit more of a spoiler.
Returnal was the only game in recent memory where I felt good about finally beating it.
Returnal is just fking great
Your passion for Returnal is awesome to see man. It’s my game of the year as well, for all the same reasons as you described.
Matt McMuscles will be remembered in history books for turning Max from a fighting game nerd to a roguelike nerd
Tbh that is a good way of putting it making the game more accessible by adding a save feature is a good thing since a lot people do not have time to enjoy games that require you do long runs to complete the main story or whatever to completion. In fact features where there are limited or no saves should really stay as optional difficulties for players with more time or wanting a challenge like in Lisa the painful with pain mode where you can only interact with a save crow once and it would explode even if you didn't actually save your game (yes i did this once by accident on my pain mode playthrough).
I think it's good when games are made more accessible by adding better save features/mechanics and balancing tedious grind which isn't difficult and disability features (colourblind,visual alerts for deaft etc)vs making games more accessible for players who aren't willing to try to improve their skills for a game's intended difficulty like dark souls everyone who plays it blind first time sucks but the more you play the better you get and end up creating new tactics or making new discovering on handling enemies that were giving you problems before. But i will say its not wrong to have difficulty setting but if a developer chooses not have different difficulties to choose from it's their right to stand by it and each person experience difficulty differently finding it easier on hard or hard on easy. also some genres are just mean to be hard (unless its intentionally bs which is a different case altogether) like bullet hells are a genre i can barely do and i dare not touch the ones that require pixel perfect movement to avoid every bullet.
but good vid max
Pipe organs played by a literal boss blew my mind
Man..i have this and still didnt play it for real...my problem was the "no save system"...max nailed the point that lof of people cant afford to play more than 3 hours per day.. i have two little kids and two jobs... so it was impossible to play..but now with the option to suspend the cycle i can play it... i reached the first boss and im loving the game...the gameplay is amazing... im playing this game and halo infinite.... both games are incredible.
So my dad busted out a camera when I was fighting the 2nd boss like it was 90s because I was blowing his mind that was dead in 2 seconds.
Wasn't satisfied after I completed it (not for gameplay reasons.). But the journey to the end was excellent, I willingly lost sleep just to play this game. And the 'Prometheus/Aliens' vibes were just enough to keep me hooked. Hope more people realize why some of us are shouting to the roof tops that this was the underappreciated GOTY.
The plot is absolutely atrocious and the fact that it starts off with such an interesting mystery and ends with such a blithering bunch of nonsense was one of the biggest letdowns I've ever had in gaming
@@17thknight Yeah I have to admit when I got to the 'true ending' I was a little heated. If they release a DLC so I can get more answers, fine but as of now the ending was the worst part for me.
This game made me fear astronauts for a brief period
I agree 100%. I beat the game 5 times already and is still not 100% complete. It is my mission to unlock every trophy and platinum this damn game!!!
So happy for housemarque. Such an underrated developer. Took me by surprise with resogun. Absolutely loved it as well as nex machina and matterfall. Some of the best soundtracks ever. Can't wait to play this... if I ever get a ps5..
This is among my favorite games of 2021 as well. Such a nice surprise. I love almost everything about this game. Story was gripping. Gameplay is absolutely insane and satisfying. Art direction and theme is very well thought out and executed.
But I think the one thing that elevated this game for me as one of the best is its Sound Track. Oh my god! What an absolute master class in audio design and immersive music and building atmosphere. The Hyperion build up was nothing short of genius..and all of the tracks for the bosses were insanely good. Especially Phrike, Nemesis, Hyperion and Ophion.. wait.. that's almost all of them.. well that's because everything here is brilliant and very well done. My only gripe is that I wish there were more bioms and bosses.
Very happy for Housemarque to be back this strongly and congrats to every single dev that worked on delivering this amazing video game. I still have to get the platinum (Damn you RNG lol) but I absolutely will one day!
Yes it is! Mine too!!
Fun fact: only 30.3 percent of Returnal players finished Act 1, about 23 percent finished Act 2, and about 10 percent finished Act 3.
Seems like most people who bought this game didn’t beat it.
To be fair act 3 involves revisiting areas you've been to for collectibles and then fighting the final boss one more time. I enjoyed it because I love the gameplay but act 3 doesn't offer any new content outside of two story sequences. Plus after act 2 you get an ending and the credits roll so I'm sure a lot of people were unaware there was more to do.
I finished Act 3 a day after I thought I finished the game. I thought act 2 was the ending, but then I saw trophies that are still hidden and thought my trophies glitched out, so I checked online and saw a screenshot of a scene I didn't see before so I went back into it to find anything I can, and voila; There were more stuff to do. 😅 Loved getting the true ending tho
"Seems like most people who bought this game didn’t beat it." this is true for most games. I remember when tlou2 showed something like a 55% completion rate and that was apparently unheard of.
Yeah this game taught me that I don’t like rogue likes lol.
@@reed1645 I agree I beat act 2 and when I saw act 3 changed almost nothing I didn't bother
Change your jump and dash to L1 and R1. Doing this will keep your thumbs on the analog sticks and make your runs way easier.
The boss Max talks about, Act 2 Biome 1 boss, is the biggest moment in games for me last year. I was ahead of him when it came out, and when I beat that boss I eagerly anticipated his reaction to it on stream. It's that good.
Excellent choice!
Returnal. That's surprising. That's a game I thought no one would pay attention to
I mean since it's a PS5 exclusive not a lot of people get to play it.
If you've been following Max recently he's gushed about Returnal an insane amount of times haha
@@None38389 it'll be on pc this year
@@BornTwizted87 that's with every game ever. Most people on pc don't play games.
12:19 PREACH!
I agree this game is awesome. My playthroughs sucked because we have rolling blackouts, so my run would disappear everyday. I quit. Now that they have fixed the save feature I will give it another chance.
Same here, and it was a story of hate and love, a couple of times I uninstalled it, but while I wasn't playing with it I kept thinking I can use that weapon, improve that thing and eventually I finished it.
That’s high praise.
The score was done by Bobby Krlic ( The Haxan Cloak) he's one of my favorite producers. Knowing that they added a save feature makes me want to play this. Thanks Max
Good choice! Returnal kicks ass. Happily got the platinum for it a month ago.
Well deserve.
My personal theory - Selene has been on Atropos since the very start of the civilization we called the "sentient". Case and point being most if not all of their techs are compatible with Selene's suit and OS. They also named her the creator (and the destroyer)
People swear to christ a 3D third person Metroid would never work but here's returnal showing them otherwise
Find someone who loves you as much as Max loves Returnal.
My game of the year for 2021 is 2015's The Witcher 3 and UnMetal. That's the kind of year it's been for gaming.
the boss at 9:11 is every reason i want to see a Remnant From the Ashes 2….but alas.
RETURNAL JUST CAME OUT ON PC! Buying it RN! The hype is unreal!
I've been waiting for this video! As soon as I beat the final boss back in May, I headed to CZcams and watched your playthrough and your reaction. I loved watching someone else love this game!
One of my favorite games ever. I was so hooked. My very first platinum. Thanks for the great year of content, dood!
The game deserves so much more love than what it got. This game had everything going against it and still outshined all of the games in 2021 for me.
Best game for me to. Playing now Hades and the thing Returnal is better (or worse base on perspective) is you have to be good on this game. Returnal has this sort of "upgrades" that actually drives you to advance on the story, the sword, hook and the suit has no much impact because you don't receive health, damage, speed boost. You get those during a playthrough but you have to be good on third person shotters.
Hades has permanent upgrades and it is base more on the luck to get blessing (unless you unlock a objetc to get that specific god blessing).
So, i think Returnal is harder and it is suited for people who are looking for a challenge but as Max said, time is a factor to be consider. I hope with the update, more people take the challenge to beat it. Fantastic game.
Returnal is oustanding. It's a piece of art.
Damn freaking right man this game was also my game of the year. The gameplay is just too good. Come on Housemarque pleaseeee make DLC for this game. Even if it’s a small DLC.
Returnal is such a great game, I still need to go back and beat it lol
I had 2 crashes at the final boss and quit. Now I'm too lazy to go back.
A 3D bullet hell with Metroid/Alien vibes ? Yeah gimme that on PC sounds like the shit I would play
Thumbnail: *it’s AMONGUS*
Video: Lmao it’s actually Returnal, yah mook
Returnal was the game of the year. Idk why it takes 2 won.
Probably because it takes 2 was better for most
@@alteredizzy it probably wasnt
@@lckfan3696 imo it was
Better story
Wayyy more creative and different
Art style
Music
Especially if you have a partner to play it with.
GOTY for me was Guardians of the Galaxy with Resident Evil 8 as a very close 2nd
Max, please, for the "Holy Mother of God" (as you like to say) please try Risk of Rain 2. You're sure to love it! Also, completely with you on Returnal being your #1
Really a phenomenal game, don't be put off by the difficulty. It's really not that bad and quite a lot of your progress will actually remain. The only negative I have is that the platinum trophy wasn't fun due to the random nature of the game and I got a couple of bugs too.
Wdym the difficulty wasn't that bad? It's an easy game.
1 cypher away from platinum... my sanity is withering away
@@bruhder5854 🤓
@@dar_qness7890 oof I've been there... it's rough. which area are you searching?
@Kuma this was one of the most fun games I played all last year
isnt the completion rate somewhere around 10%? thats what scares me away from it.
It's normal for these types of games. Dead cells is super popular but the amount of people that even got to the true final boss is probably less than 5%.
@@bruhder5854 fair point, but Dead Cells doesnt go for $50-$60. i don't mind paying near full price for a AAA title if I know I'm (legit) able to finish it.
@@jfncho that’s my problem, 70 quid for a game I might be unable to actually be any good at is not happening.
@@Blearcord But that's kind of the fun part of games as well. When we were little and played supermario for example. Some levels felt impossible maybe but you eventually get through it by getting better, it feels great.
@@twopeople158 for me the desire is still there, its the old man hands and reflexes that are getting in the way lol
This is my GOTY as well, I feel like the Game Awards robbed this game.
I had a similar feeling last year. The Last of us part 2 definitely didn't deserve it, my personal choices were either FF7 or Ghost of Tsushima. However this year I wasn't too bothered as it lost out to It Takes Two and Resident Evil Village, both incredible games in their own right. I just think Returnal only appeals to a niche audience which is why it isn't as popular as it should be. Im just glad Deathloop didn't win, don't get me wrong it was also incredible but had quite a few short comings
@@Wi11iamNZ i felt like the last of us 2 deserved it, that game was incredible, the story and gameplay were awesome, I was not attached to Joel so I didn't care that he died, characters die that's the way it goes in a post apocalyptic world.
Ghost of Tsushima was awesome however very hard to beat TLOUS 2 that had the edge in the graphics department, it isn't all about gameplay and story jury that voted on the games also take Graphics advancements in considered, sure FF7 and Ghost of Tsushima looked great but not as even close to TLOUS 2 in terms of graphics , that's why TLOUS 2 deserved and took the award and the other aforementioned tittles.
Definitely GOTY and this game deserves all the praise and awards it's been getting.
There's a comicbook character called Resurrection Man, everytime he dies he gets a different power.
Someone should try and convince WB to make that concept into a rogue-like game.
I come after watching the 20 hrs playthrought of max and I can see how crazy and good the game is, but in this era if you create a game that is challenging and demand skill, the game is bad, so I can understand why many people just don't look at it.
Max play it like roughly, is not perfect but neither bad, I'm sure if you put more time to it, you will be so skilled that you will just fly through each room as is nothing, also the story is really good, feels so natural and organic in the entire game and it so well balance with the gameplay that after doing this bullet hells and arcade, you still can process it very well, even with the complexity it have.
So for me this was the game of 2021, good gameplay, crazy mechanics, tons of weapons and upgrades, a good arcade feeling, outstanding environments, few glitches, a really good polish and a great story with epic music.
I really need to get Returnal at some point.
This game frickin rocks! Easily the best game of last year,such an incredible feeling when i finally beat it .Every run feels different,,and a really hard game to put down ! Just gotta get that secret ending now.:)
Wish you and Jessica would stream
It Takes Two, i think you will really like it
YESS MAX! Finally somebody with some damn sense!
Due to the uniqueness alone this should be GOTY
I dont know what my goty is. Monster hunter rise was great as was metroid. And re8, but I think my top 2 are halo infinite and shin megami tensei 5.
I also played paper mario and the thousand year door for the first time last year and loved the shit out it.
This game was the absolute biggest surprise for me! So incredibly fun and rewarding man! Beaten it so many times and I'm so close to the Platinum trophy too.
I agree with everything and want to add 1 thing; this game has the best TELEPORTATION ANIMATION I’ve ever seen in any form of media
Couldn't ask for a better situation for Housemarque, Returnal ended up doing everything I wanted. Stick to crisp Arcade bullet-hell with a AAA twist. I hope Sony allow this for the future of Housemarque's DNA as they already announced their goodbyes from pure Arcade experiences R.I.P, also QA test the downfalls of systems a bit better. Maybe Max gets a chance in the far future he plays Resogun one day
#1 is definitely Skyrim again. Again…Again.
He said best game, not most overrated cash cow.
A multiplayer dlc would be sick af
still haven't got a PS5, yet. But when I do, Returnal will be the first game I play on it. I saw your playthrough and Excessive Profanity's and I felt the enjoyment you both had when playing it. Its not often when a game comes along and fully engulfs you into it and want to find every bit of information possible in order to piece together the full story. When it does, the experience sticks with you for a very long time. To the point where if someone asks you what are some of your favorite games you've played, Returnal is one that is in the front of your mind.
Walmart plus drop Jan 13 at 3pm est