Disclaimer
The copy of the game used in this review was supplied by Sony, at no cost to the reviewer.
Introduction
Live, Die, Repeat. From Groundhog Day to Edge Of Tomorrow, it’s a trope we’ve seen in movies for a while in varying capacities. However, only a relatively small handful of games I’ve heard of have utilised this interesting mechanic, with even fewer (Hades being the only one I can think of) being even remotely accessible enough to enjoy without sighted assistance to any degree.
When I heard about PS5 exclusive Returnal, I was really interested, particularly due to the mention of the DualSense and 3d audio. But, now that the game is out in the hands of players, what can you expect as a gamer without sight on a hostile alien planet?
First boot
On booting up the game and hearing the Sony Studios logo, I got a fully narrated prompt (courtesy of the PlayStation 5’s built-in screen reader) that “Returnal would like to send you notifications about news, updates, limited time content and more” which I could change in “settings/notifications”. I’d never seen this in a game before and though I had no idea where these notifications might come into play, chose to allow it.
From here on out, however, I had to get sighted assistance, as I was presented with a menu that, though it didn’t wrap, was not narrated in any way shape or form. On the plus side, menu navigation in the game UI is distinct (i.e. you can easily tell when you move up/down, both due to vibrations of the DualSense and the speaker emitting the navigation sounds as well) and you are not straining to listen for small blips that tell you when something’s happening, at least most of the time. In the case of this first menu though, that’s partially because there’s no score at all to muffle these menu effects.
Within this menu, the option you land on is audio output, instead of, say, a brightness calibration screen. Audio output auto detects your listening device. IN my case, it was automatically set to soundbar. As previously referenced, however, the game actually recommends 3d audio via headphones plugged into the wireless controller. Unfortunately, given I had to get sighted assistance from someone in the same room, having headphones on at the same time wasn’t an option.
There are also options to adjust subtitles (the first being on or off). Interestingly, if this option is set to off, the rest of the related options do not appear underneath.
From here you can also adjust the subtitle language and size, with the latter providing a sample at the bottom of the screen. The default is small though, which could cause issues for some. The only other accessibility-related option here is the colour-blind mode. To its credit though, there are options for various types of colour-blindness including deuteranopia, protanopia and tritanopia.
There is also the option to “Start in online mode” (enabled by default). This apparently will “allow Returnal to connect online by default when you start the game. This can also be changed later in the settings menu”). During my time with the game, what this was meant to do was unclear.
After holding X to continue, I received the following message on-screen, once again, without narration:
Returnal is intended to be a challenging experience. Each new cycle presents new challenges, rewards and changes to the world. Adapt and persevere to progress further. When you die or close Returnal, you will always be returned to the crash site and all non-permanent progression will be lost. You can suspend your cycle by using the console’s Rest Mode functionality. Hold X to begin.
The First Cycle
unfortunately, as soon as you start the game, there is no audio description for the opening sequence. While this isn’t necessarily surprising, it would be great to see a game with such an immersive story as this, with cinematic qualities in mind, utilising a standard accessibility element that has been adopted by movies, TV and theatre for decades.
The haptics of the DualSense controller, whilst they do a good job of heightening the immersion of the sound design, do not give you enough information as to what is happening. You can partially work out what is going on, but the protracted intro only served to make me wonder just whether I was in control, or how long it would be until I was.
What must be commended though is the sound design, which syncs up very well with the aforementioned haptics. The rain that marks the first time you take control as the player was a big talking point among earlier reviews I’d read and I was not disappointed, even if the 3d effect wasn’t present as I was playing using speakers to get sighted assistance more easily.
Pausing gives you options for settings, restart cycle, credits and tutorials. Unfortunately, not only are the tutorials videos and text with no sound, but said text, menus and other UI elements are not narrated, which is a real shame.
Looking through the settings, found in the non-wrapping pause menu, there is no full lock-on aim, but aim assist has values of off, low, medium and high. There are no other options that would directly pertain to being able to play without sighted assistance other than this aim assist, disappointingly.
The positives
What must be said is the sound design and the integration of the DualSense’s features is very well put together, making for a game that, if it had greater accessibility, I would likely spend hours and hours playing. The story, though it leans heavily on sci-fi tropes we’ve seen before, is compelling and the fact that everything changes as you go through cycles is also a great way to keep gameplay varied.
Having a relatively clear map was useful for sighted assistance, as there was less confusion as to where we could go and the frequent UI prompts telling us how to interact with new items kept us feeling like we were definitely progressing, even if that progress vanished in short order after a battle went sideways.
The negatives
Lack of saving has been a solid talking point since even before the game’s launch and I can safely say that leaving the game on pause constantly was not something I felt comfortable with. Even Rogue, a game that predates Returnal by around 30 years had a save feature to allow you to return to a run where you left it (deleting the save in the process if my research is any indication), so it’s a surprise and frustration that Housemark haven’t included this as a part of the game, particularly with runs able to last several hours at a time when you’re good enough or powerful enough. Even having a self-deleting save would be appreciated, enabling you to load exactly where you saved, whilst also letting you enjoy other games as well.
The lack of menu and UI narration, though not a surprise, is disappointing. Particularly with sci-fi games, it always baffles me how what is seen as standard (computer voices telling characters various pieces of essential information) is never integrated as a part of the experience that would also assist gamers with disabilities, including those with usable vision who do not want to struggle to read rather small text.
Playing Returnal Via The Titan 2
Though the Titan 2 adaptor (which I reviewed previously) does not support all the features of the DualSense controller as of the time of writing, I thought I’d try and see how it felt to play with a setup similar to CoPilot, in that the person giving me sighted assistance had their own separate controller as well. Needless to say, while it did have the positive of not having to be uncomfortable just to play even in short bursts, it also was vastly inferior in other aspects. Not only do you not get the adaptive trigger feedback (crucial for effective use of aiming VS alt fire which are all on one trigger), but you also do not get the trademark haptics of the DualSense controller which greatly enhance both emersion and gameplay.
Add to that an approximately 7 minute period before the controller times out (without some additional hardware to work around the problem that I do not currently have access to) and Returnal becomes a game that, though it is technically easier to play to a point, is also much less enjoyable as a gamer without sight.
Summary
Pros
- Great use of the DualSense controller’s haptics and adaptive triggers, even during my limited runs
- Solid and well put together audio design makes for an immersive and foreboding atmosphere
- Dynamic scoring gives a cinematic quality to the experience
- The story, whilst leaning into tropes, is definitely interesting enough to keep me playing
Cons
- Lack of save system of any kind
- Lack of menu narration
- Lack of autoaim and other accessibility options
Conclusions
Whilst Returnal is a fantastic showcase of what the PS5 can offer, it is unfortunately yet another example of the cycle of inaccessible titles that can and will amaze sighted players being off-limits to gamers without sight.
Hopefully though, other games in this genre are developed with gamers with disabilities, limited time and other extraneous factors in mind so that everyone can enjoy them.