TEST Returnal: a PC version that titillates the peepers

Remember, in 2021, PS5 players were able to discover a brand new rather fun license, Returnal. Over the months, the game has evolved greatly, the developers have listened to the community, corrected several technical issues and tweaked certain visual aspects. The experience is much more pleasant than at the beginning, but this adventure was limited to a few people… until now! And for good reason, the title invites itself on PC and it must be said that it has something to charm.

You will totally fall in love.

Let’s talk little, let’s talk well, the visual part is simply explosive. Indeed, it is possible to adjust the graphics according to our desires and our machine. If you push this production to the limit, in 4K, you will be surprised by the beauty of the environments. The textures are ultra fine, the various frames are crowded with vegetation, it’s clean and impressive. The play of light is mastered to perfection, it’s bewitching. If you activate the ray tracing shadows and reflections, you will be seduced by the vivid image of Returnal. However, by abusing resources, we lose fluidity. To have a good balance between frame rate and rendering, you have to juggle between the quality of lighting and environments. And if you feel that your PC is suffering, then you have to lower the resolution a bit.

With the graphics settings on “Low”, what does it look like? Well, it looks like a nice PS4 game. Several decorative elements are removed, some textures are much less detailed and clipping appears to save as many resources as possible. Despite all this, the game remains pleasant to contemplate, even under this appearance. Finally, by disabling the V-Sync, it is possible to exceed 60 fps (and easily go up to 120 fps) by reducing the resolution and a few parameters. In other words and to put it simply, this production is rather well optimized to our material.

Regarding handling, Returnal is very nice with a keyboard and a mouse. The camera and aiming are much smoother and faster than with a controller. Move with keys, sprint with CTRLinitiate a Dash with Shiftjump with Spaceshoot and target with one click, commands are easy to learn if you are used to GST. To be clear, it’s easy as pie. If you’re more of a pad lover and you have a DualSense at home, champagne, beauty is compatible ! Indeed, the functionalities are taken into account, the haptic feedback tickles the palms of our hands to make us feel an action or a material through vibrations, and the triggers adapt – harden more or less – according to the weapon we hold; without forgetting the small sound effects that come out of the speaker. In short, a real pleasure!

The developers have done a great job bringing Returnal to PC. The title is flashy and delicately amuses our peepers. It’s fascinating ! The control of Selena is much more harmonious with a keyboard and a mouse, the action phases are more fluid and readable. You will have understood it, if you like productions offering an offbeat universe typed roguelikeyou will totally fall in love with the baby of Housebrand And Climax Studios.

You can pre-order Returnal on Gamesplanet at €53.99.

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