{"id":210224,"date":"2025-09-28T09:09:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T09:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/is-returnal-worth-70\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T09:09:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T09:09:32","slug":"is-returnal-worth-70","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/is-returnal-worth-70\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Returnal Worth $70?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

It\u2019s time we ask one of the biggest questions about Returnal: Is it worth $70? In my review, I scored the game an extremely high 9.5.<\/a>\u00a0Returnal\u00a0is an excellent game, and also a special\u00a0experience to explore. For more details on that specifically, you should read the review to get a sense of what you\u2019re in for if you do choose to play Housemarque\u2019s grandiose bullet-hell. If we want to cut to the chase, the answer is yes, I consider it worth $70, as it has experiential value beyond simply existing as a great game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Click here to watch embedded media<\/a><\/p>\n

Obviously, you can get a lot for $70, and the new \u201cstandard\u201d price point is intimidating, and concerns have been raised about Returnal\u2019s \u201croguelike\u201d structure somehow making it less of an experience or a game. You can absolutely get months and months of Game Pass for the same price, but you can\u2019t get Returnal. Entertainment dollars are not 1:1 like objects, and one dollar spent on one entertainment experience isn\u2019t the same as another. You could get a ton of double cheeseburgers instead of a steak dinner too, but the steak can be worth it. It depends on what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

Not everything with a price tag is simple conveyance of an owned product. Tours have price tags, theater plays have price tags, hikes up mountains can have price tags. Games are more than an object for simple purchase like a boot, a hammer, or a writing desk. Games can convey feeling, tone, and value beyond shooting the bad things, picking up loot, and making numbers go up. With a game like Returnal, you do need to be concerned about whether the experience of discovery, failure, and eventual triumph and release is a correct fit for your dollar, but you do not need to worry about the quality of the game or whether or not it \u201cfeels\u201d like it\u2019s worth $70.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the way, the perception of\u00a0roguelikes has become\u00a0they shouldn\u2019t be full-priced titles due to their very nature, likely spurred on by the deluge of wonderful roguelikes that have found their way on Kickstarter, early-access programs, or wound up on services like Game Pass. That doesn\u2019t mean roguelikes can\u2019t be full, meaty games as well that are worth every bit as much as other titles. Returnal boasts\u00a0an amazing, complementary soundtrack alongside\u00a0a journey of atmospheric exploration, rising tension, and gnawing horror. That it has all these things accompanying a slick shooter with responsive controls, awesome boss fights, and plenty of lightning-fast action to master is an achievement that delivers far beyond whatever \u201canother one of those roguelike games\u201d means.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, roguelike is merely a structural framework for other parts and components, and the quality of Returnal absolutely justifies its \u201cfull-game\u201d price tag. The conversation about whether games should have experienced a price hike to the new $70 mark is a different one, and this discourse seems to be more about the game\/genre\/structure itself being unworthy of the \u201creal game\u201d designation. After spending many hours with Returnal, I can in fact answer the question of whether it\u2019s a \u201creal game\u201d worthy of that \u201creal game\u201d price tag. It is. Have a great time (well, an uneasy, tense time to be precise, but enjoyable all the same) on Atropos!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time we ask one of the biggest questions about Returnal: Is it worth $70? In my review, I scored the game an extremely high 9.5.\u00a0Returnal\u00a0is an excellent game, and also a special\u00a0experience to explore. For more details on that specifically, you should read the review to get a sense of what you\u2019re in for if you do choose to play Housemarque\u2019s grandiose bullet-hell. If we want to cut to the chase, the answer is yes, I consider it worth $70, as it has experiential value beyond simply existing as a great game. Click here to watch embedded media Obviously, you can get a lot for $70, and the new \u201cstandard\u201d price point is intimidating, and concerns have been raised about Returnal\u2019s \u201croguelike\u201d structure somehow…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-informer"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Returnal Worth $70? | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s time we ask one of the biggest questions about Returnal: Is it worth $70? 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