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Return

Return Game Cover
88%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:graphics, atmosphere
Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, replayability
88% User Score Based on 153 reviews

Platforms

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Return Game Cover

About Return

Return is a single player casual hack and slash game with horror, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, dark fantasy and others themes. It was developed by Dead Unicorn and was released on May 29, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

An art driven souls-lite game set in the rebirth of your home planet. Return home, explore the mutated landscapes, slash, roll, and shoot your way through enemies. Find parts to repair your ship and collect resources. Purchase items and equipment from merchants to fight ancient bosses.

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Reviews

88%Audience ScoreBased on 153 reviews
graphics37 positive mentions
grinding11 negative mentions
  • Stunning, minimalist pixel art style with strong atmosphere and immersive sound design.
  • Challenging yet fair combat system with varied unique boss fights and satisfying gameplay loop.
  • Well-balanced exploration with interesting world-building, lore, and diverse environments.
  • Very short playtime with limited content, making the full price feel steep for some players.
  • Combat can feel repetitive and simplistic, relying heavily on a basic dodge-attack pattern.
  • User interface and quality of life issues such as clunky menus, unintuitive map and fast travel, and lack of clear tutorials.

  • graphics

    57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    65% positive mentions, 30% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions

    The game's graphics feature a unique, minimalist pixel art style with a strong silhouette and limited color palette that creates a compelling, immersive post-apocalyptic atmosphere. The visuals are widely praised for their creativity, polish, and ability to complement the excellent sound design and music, which together enhance the overall mood. While some feel the heavy use of silhouetting may obscure detail, the art style remains the standout strength and chief appeal of the game.

    • “The silhouette style graphics are super cool; the sound design and music help paint a really thick immersive atmosphere that never breaks.”
    • “The art style is amazing; the gameplay is phenomenal. Return is definitely worth the money.”
    • “By far its biggest strength is its atmosphere and art style, making it stand out.”
    • “The visuals and mood are worth experiencing if you are willing to deal with the shortcomings but not at the asking price.”
    • “Personal criticism about the visuals: I wish there was less reliance on silhouetting the foreground. The art is beautiful and talented, but the black mural front end detracts from the overall representation.”
    • “I do like the art style, but as a player, I feel the detail lost is not worth the artistic profit gained. It would have been better if this was a feature of certain areas rather than putting everything of note in the black and white foreground; I think it's a little overboard.”

  • atmosphere

    54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    81% positive mentions, 13% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    Reviews consistently praise the game’s atmosphere as its standout feature, highlighting its striking pixel art, layered visuals, and immersive, haunting music and sound design. The well-crafted environment and emotional tone deeply engage players, creating a compelling, atmospheric world that complements exploration and storytelling. While some note simple combat mechanics, the atmosphere remains immersive and richly developed, often surpassing expectations for an indie title.

    • “The silhouette style graphics are super cool; the sound design and music help paint a really thick immersive atmosphere that never breaks.”
    • “The atmosphere is well crafted; the art and its colors are certainly striking in a good way, and the music serves as a good addition to the environment.”
    • “I'm hooked... I can't say enough about the amazing pixel art, music, and sound design; it all comes together so seamlessly and builds an incredible atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere is the story, and it is nothing if unpretentious in its scope.”
    • “It has atmosphere, but nothing else.”
    • “The atmosphere is, however, definitely more of a main feature than the combat, as the combat mechanics are exceedingly simple: wait for an attack, dodge behind enemy, hit a few times, repeat.”

  • gameplay

    52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    44% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    The gameplay is generally described as simple, fair, and satisfying, combining basic hack-and-slash and shoot mechanics with dodge reflexes, supported by solid sound design and visuals. However, some find it repetitive and lacking depth or variety in boss strategies, and while the short, easy cycle fits the narrative, it leaves a desire for more compelling mechanics and challenge. Overall, it is praised for atmosphere and smooth execution but criticized for limited complexity and value relative to its length.

    • “The gameplay was great and the environments supported the story perfectly.”
    • “I really enjoyed the idea of the perk mechanic, as well as the mastery system and how it all played into the way you approached your next fight/shopping trip.”
    • “Gameplay-wise, I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable - a mix of exploration and combat, the latter of which is comprised of hack and slash and gunplay, with the main goal being to collect parts for your ship by defeating several bosses.”
    • “I personally found the gameplay pretty repetitive and bland.”
    • “Every boss had a similar attack pattern, and the strategy to beating them would mostly be the same (except the mechanic, that was very different). I definitely recommend the game though to those that like good atmospheres and environmental storytelling, but I think the gameplay could be more compelling.”
    • “The combination of basic combat, flawed gameplay systems and high price to length make this a game that's hard to recommend at full price.”

  • story

    46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    41% positive mentions, 52% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions

    The story is generally praised for its atmospheric world-building, subtle environmental storytelling, and intriguing lore delivered through exploration and item discovery. However, many find it short, somewhat shallow, and lacking a cohesive or deeply impactful narrative arc, with some familiar sci-fi tropes feeling underdeveloped. Overall, the story complements the game's unique environments and art but may leave players wanting more depth and expansion.

    • “I cannot state enough how the game world built is beautifully imagined, and although the story itself treads familiar ground any fan of science fiction can recognize - the story is delivered in such a compelling way as to feed you just enough information to both keep the world mysterious and drive you to want to discover the next rung in the ladder of the journey.”
    • “Each boss has its own place, each enemy, location, item and place has some backstory you at least get to read in the codex.”
    • “The bulk of the storytelling is told through the items you'll find yourself picking up, especially when there are a couple of plot threads going on at once.”
    • “The story trickle-feeds lore to you until a fairly clear picture takes form, but there was a degree of 'that's it?' and I never felt like it all came together into a cohesive whole; because the layout is so open it means the game isn't ever able to really 'build'.”
    • “And the story tries to work some 'my family is probably dead' business at the beginning of the game that feels lazy, cheap and thrown in 'just because' since nothing is ever done with it; to be fair, so many sci-fi stories do this trope with no weight, point or substance that the game is not unique in this regard, just unfortunate to have another one thrown on the pile.”
    • “In what I believe was an attempt at keeping the 'lore' mysterious and kind of cryptic, all the (few) NPC interactions, all the environmental storytelling and all the grimoire entries have been stripped down to the point where they are just extremely shallow and generic.”

  • music

    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    63% positive mentions, 29% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, complementing the art style and creating an immersive, haunting, and emotional experience. The soundtrack is considered exceptional and integral to the game's mood, often highlighted as a standout feature alongside the visuals. While some note the soundtrack and DLC pricing as high, the overall reception regarding music is overwhelmingly positive and seen as a key strength of the game.

    • “The silhouette style graphics are super cool, and the sound design and music help paint a really thick immersive atmosphere that never breaks.”
    • “I'm hooked... I can't say enough about the amazing pixel art, music, and sound design; it all comes together so seamlessly and builds an incredible atmosphere.”
    • “The pixel-art design, colour schemes, and the soundtrack all blend together really well to capture the bleak, dystopian setting of the game.”
    • “The soundtrack is also severely overpriced, and is something you'd only buy if you really want to help this developer out.”
    • “And the soundtrack, while not outstanding, always fit the mood super well.”
    • “- There is a side mission where you need to give a guy the 'binary flute'; you buy it from a merchant for about 1,500 points and give it to this person who needed it, so you only get some 2,000 points back, which is a very insignificant difference and a 'musician's' achievement...”

  • grinding

    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 8% neutral mentions, 92% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is generally well-integrated and not overly tedious, with upgrades and leveling feeling rewarding and versatile without excessive farming. While boss fights and backtracking add variety to the progression, some players find certain achievements and resource scarcity contribute to occasional grindiness and moments of frustration. Overall, grinding supports gameplay without feeling like a chore, though it may test patience for some.

    • “Even though the game is short, I still cannot help but feel tedious to the core loop.”
    • “I haven't played a full run-through, but all that seems to do is make the game more annoying and require more farming.”
    • “The “greed”, “knowledge”, “weaponsmith”, and “armory” achievements are just grinding for grinding’s sake.”

  • replayability

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 25% neutral mentions, 75% negative mentions

    The game offers limited replayability due to its short length and minimal content, which many users feel does not justify its price. Overall, it lacks incentives to revisit after the initial playthrough.

    • “$18 is simply too much for a game with only approximately 3 hours of fresh content and little to no replayability.”
    • “At the 20 euro (around 16 on sale) price mark, I was expecting more content and replayability.”
    • “Considering the simplicity of its gameplay, virtually no replayability, and short duration, it may not be worth its full price.”

  • stability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game runs smoothly on a wide range of devices while maintaining efficient battery usage, ensuring stable performance without significant power drain.

    • “Runs great on pretty much anything without draining battery.”

  • emotional

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Users find the game somewhat difficult to emotionally connect with, describing it as a bit too obscure or unclear to evoke strong feelings.

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Play Times

3h Median play time
3h Average play time
3-4h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Return is a casual hack and slash game with horror, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, dark fantasy and others themes. Common tags for Return include indie, exploration, pixel graphics, cyberpunk, soundtrack and others.

Return is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Steam Deck and Windows.

On average players spend around 3 hours playing Return.

Return was released on May 29, 2023.

Return was developed by Dead Unicorn.

Return has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked Return for its graphics but disliked it for its grinding.

Return is a single player game.

Similar games include Moonscars, Morbid: The Seven Acolytes, Dark Light, ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights, Lunacid and others.