Diondon
Thanks to the lawyers uh, I marbled the foyer
"
As usual, Sony first party gon blow everyone away visually
As usual, Sony first party gon blow everyone away visually
Returnal (PS5) = 4K/60FPS/Ray Tracing
- Thread starter Diondon
- Start date
Gizmo_Duck
blathering blatherskite!
“It's been a long time since I'd hangover from a game, and as a good hangover I'm gonna have to cure it playing more, and more".
Returnal reviewer in Argentina.
Gizmo_Duck
blathering blatherskite!
How has the change in genre changed your approach to game development?
Gregory Louden, Narrative Director:
Returnal is an evolution and revolution of all of our previous titles. It continues our goals of "gameplay is king," replayability and games that are defined by being "easy to pick up, hard to master." However, as a studio, we also wanted to evolve and create something bigger, bolder, and even more ambitious. Our amazing partners at Sony Interactive Entertainment, after our long collaboration of having titles in multiple PlayStation console launch windows, wanted to support this as well and the result is Returnal/
[Housemarque Game Director] Harry Krueger and [Co-founder] Harri Tikkanen came together with the original concept of a character-driven dark sci-fi action time loop thriller with psychological elements. Our next progression was changing perspective from our traditional side-scrolling perspective to third-person, along with the addition of roguelike elements. Last but not least, it involved creating a narrative team to add a deep and compelling story for players to replay and rethink as they fight through Returnal/
With this vision and foundation, all of the teams involved built our gameplay, the narrative, the art, the sound, and technology to service this.
Deciphering the narrative-driven procedural horror of Returnal[/paste:font]
Housemarque details its shift to AAA development, after a long history of creating frenetic, arcade-inspired games.
What made you decide to design your first AAA game as a psychological horror title?
Louden: With Returnal, our goal has been to tell a mysterious, layered, and haunting story. Not haunting like jump scares, but haunting like something that stays with you. For us, we like stories that leave you with lots of questions and messages, and Reutrnal delivers on that
We also wanted to create a story that survives repletion like our gameplay does, so our dense and layered story is built to stay interesting and mysterious but also be revealed as you replay and fight forward per cycle. This is why Returnal had to be a psychological thriller.
Are there particular elements in that genre that you felt matched well with the game mechanics you wanted to explore?
Louden: Our biggest reference for has been our own Housemarque games, and we wanted to evolve them within a new perspective. We wanted to bring all of our experience to this new perspective and share our view of what third-person shooters can be. Our bullet hell, arcade spirited, and tight controls work extremely well and plays like our other titles but with a new style and taste for players. On top of this, we have a dense narrative for players to dig through and uncover as well when they're in flow.
Returnal aims to mix the procedurally-generated approach of a rogue-lite with the often necessary driving force of the deep narratives found in horror. How have you managed to achieve this?
Louden: All of Returnal is handcrafted, but the most exciting thing about the game is every time you play, we procedurally connect these moments, connecting our handcrafted environments, level design, combat, and narrative beats. It still surprises me with how wild the variation can be as Selene fights across Atropos and the surprises we have set up.
Narratively, the psychological aspects and the dark sci-fi time loop paradigm are achieved through our philosophy of adding lots of hidden layers narratively that are uncovered through repetition. Our gameplay is made for repetition, discovery, and then mastery. Our story follows the same goals. The cyclical nature of the narrative design means the more you push forward, the more you discover Selene, her past, and her reason for coming to Atropos.
After fighting through many cycles with Selene, sacrificing her humanity through fusing with alien technology, these new layers of her character and story are revealed through audio logs, cinematics, voice-over, our production design, and sound design. Returnal is a game that rewards players that piece together the story. It is challenging but rewarding in that way. I also feel it is a story that can only be told in games as it is defined by the cycle and is delivered non-linearly. Returnal is told by you re-examining earlier logs, questioning earlier moments, and deciphering all of the questions we have set up.
To me, great stories are loops and are about characters changing from these loops. Returnal, I feel, is a story about uncovering ownership and breaking the cycle we put ourselves in.
Gregory Louden, Narrative Director:
Returnal is an evolution and revolution of all of our previous titles. It continues our goals of "gameplay is king," replayability and games that are defined by being "easy to pick up, hard to master." However, as a studio, we also wanted to evolve and create something bigger, bolder, and even more ambitious. Our amazing partners at Sony Interactive Entertainment, after our long collaboration of having titles in multiple PlayStation console launch windows, wanted to support this as well and the result is Returnal/
[Housemarque Game Director] Harry Krueger and [Co-founder] Harri Tikkanen came together with the original concept of a character-driven dark sci-fi action time loop thriller with psychological elements. Our next progression was changing perspective from our traditional side-scrolling perspective to third-person, along with the addition of roguelike elements. Last but not least, it involved creating a narrative team to add a deep and compelling story for players to replay and rethink as they fight through Returnal/
With this vision and foundation, all of the teams involved built our gameplay, the narrative, the art, the sound, and technology to service this.
Deciphering the narrative-driven procedural horror of Returnal[/paste:font]
Housemarque details its shift to AAA development, after a long history of creating frenetic, arcade-inspired games.
What made you decide to design your first AAA game as a psychological horror title?
Louden: With Returnal, our goal has been to tell a mysterious, layered, and haunting story. Not haunting like jump scares, but haunting like something that stays with you. For us, we like stories that leave you with lots of questions and messages, and Reutrnal delivers on that
We also wanted to create a story that survives repletion like our gameplay does, so our dense and layered story is built to stay interesting and mysterious but also be revealed as you replay and fight forward per cycle. This is why Returnal had to be a psychological thriller.
Are there particular elements in that genre that you felt matched well with the game mechanics you wanted to explore?
Louden: Our biggest reference for has been our own Housemarque games, and we wanted to evolve them within a new perspective. We wanted to bring all of our experience to this new perspective and share our view of what third-person shooters can be. Our bullet hell, arcade spirited, and tight controls work extremely well and plays like our other titles but with a new style and taste for players. On top of this, we have a dense narrative for players to dig through and uncover as well when they're in flow.
Returnal aims to mix the procedurally-generated approach of a rogue-lite with the often necessary driving force of the deep narratives found in horror. How have you managed to achieve this?
Louden: All of Returnal is handcrafted, but the most exciting thing about the game is every time you play, we procedurally connect these moments, connecting our handcrafted environments, level design, combat, and narrative beats. It still surprises me with how wild the variation can be as Selene fights across Atropos and the surprises we have set up.
Narratively, the psychological aspects and the dark sci-fi time loop paradigm are achieved through our philosophy of adding lots of hidden layers narratively that are uncovered through repetition. Our gameplay is made for repetition, discovery, and then mastery. Our story follows the same goals. The cyclical nature of the narrative design means the more you push forward, the more you discover Selene, her past, and her reason for coming to Atropos.
After fighting through many cycles with Selene, sacrificing her humanity through fusing with alien technology, these new layers of her character and story are revealed through audio logs, cinematics, voice-over, our production design, and sound design. Returnal is a game that rewards players that piece together the story. It is challenging but rewarding in that way. I also feel it is a story that can only be told in games as it is defined by the cycle and is delivered non-linearly. Returnal is told by you re-examining earlier logs, questioning earlier moments, and deciphering all of the questions we have set up.
To me, great stories are loops and are about characters changing from these loops. Returnal, I feel, is a story about uncovering ownership and breaking the cycle we put ourselves in.
Good to hear.
Captain Crunch
Veteran
If it's 4k/60fps w/ ray tracing, then they must be running at low settings.
let's not burst their bubble man
Gizmo_Duck
blathering blatherskite!
Confirmed to run at dynamic 4k, 60fps/ray tracing:
“By leveraging PS5’s ray-tracing hardware, we are able to deliver high-quality lighting in real time. Our global illumination system uniquely adapts to the randomized placement of the world, while neon-lit projectiles create that arcade, fever-dream feel our team is known for.”
‘Placing gameplay at the forefront of all it does, Housemarque maintains the highest standards for performance. Thanks to the incredible power of PS5, the blistering combat and brooding visuals of Returnal’s unique world are delivered at a consistent 60 frames-per-second and a dynamic 4K resolution.”
The same as Spider-Man
“By leveraging PS5’s ray-tracing hardware, we are able to deliver high-quality lighting in real time. Our global illumination system uniquely adapts to the randomized placement of the world, while neon-lit projectiles create that arcade, fever-dream feel our team is known for.”
‘Placing gameplay at the forefront of all it does, Housemarque maintains the highest standards for performance. Thanks to the incredible power of PS5, the blistering combat and brooding visuals of Returnal’s unique world are delivered at a consistent 60 frames-per-second and a dynamic 4K resolution.”
The same as Spider-Man
Khalil's_Black_Excellence
The King of Fighters
There's like a 20+ minute video of how it looks in 4k in the main thread. Check it out, you bum.