Returnal is easily the game that put Housemarque on the map and stood apart from a bunch of other games in the studio’s development history. Returnal launched at the height of the roguelike trend in gaming, which was supplemented by a convoluted narrative told through comparable roguelike mechanics. These mechanics, like other roguelikes, saw players return to a default starting level after each death, but with new items and knowledge received if they had progressed far enough.
Each of Returnal’s biome levels present procedural passages to overcome, and players will eventually run into an ordinary suburban house in the midst of Atropos’ alien planet. These first-person perspective sequences are where protagonist Selene begins to piece together the grief and trauma she is experiencing. Returnal was a massive hit from a studio that fans were probably unfamiliar with, and although it has been confirmed that Housemarque’s next game will be a new IP, Returnal’s IP will hopefully be taken off the shelf for a sequel in the future.
Housemarque is Shelving Returnal for the Foreseeable Future
Housemarque’s next game being a new IP is not altogether terrible news, but it is surprising for a number of reasons. It probably would have been an easy and lucrative decision for Housemarque to immediately develop a Returnal sequel, and it would not have been surprising if that was what Sony wanted. However, because Housemarque is now a PlayStation first-party studio, it would seem there are other ambitions that Housemarque was deemed appropriate for. Housemarque may have demonstrated qualities that Sony wants in a new PlayStation IP, or it may have been Housemarque’s goal to create a particular project once it was acquired by a publisher as massive as Sony.
Either way, it is unclear what that new IP will entail, and Returnal fans are left in limbo for the time being. Housemarque’s new IP could be a game that is equally exciting, but the roguelike genre is still a fan-favorite, and it would be intriguing to see what a continuation of Returnal’s lore, story, and universe would look like. The choice to not immediately hop onto a Returnal sequel may not become clearer until Housemarque’s new IP is announced, though it is also possible that Returnal may never receive a sequel.
Instead, Returnal could be a standalone title with a narrative that would be difficult to replicate in a sequel without seeming repetitive or redundant. Returnal’s narrative is more or less unrepeatable, simply based upon how isolated and intimate its premise is and how that ties in with its gameplay. Selene is undergoing a personal traumatic event, and the cyclical nature of her science-fiction imprisonment on Atropos is representative of that. It is supposedly possible that other individuals could also find themselves on Atropos or a similar planet and deal with their own traumas in a cyclical way, but it would be difficult for Housemarque to avoid replicating the tropes and devices that Returnal makes use of.
Returnal could evolve into something resembling Silent Hill, where it becomes an anthology franchise of comparable experiences in the same landscape from the perspective of different characters. Returnal would certainly not be the same without the narrative and gameplay that tether it to unique roguelike mechanics, and as such it would be difficult to stray from that in a sequel, limiting what alternative genres it could turn to. Regardless, Returnal’s gameplay is too superb not to be reprised and built upon in a sequel.
Returnal is available now on PS5 and releases in 2023 for PC.
