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Returning to Atropos: The Evolution of the Roguelike Game in ‘Returnal’
Defining the actual meaning of the term “roguelike” has been a subject mired in debate for well over a decade. Roguelike games are typically associated with the style of gameplay that sees our digital protagonist fight their way through endless enemies, with the threat of permadeath lurking over their heads.
Elements such as resource management and randomized level generation are also taken into consideration, but defining a modern game as a pure roguelike has essentially become impossible. The creation of advanced gaming technology has allowed creators to implement unrelated genres and gameplay with the spirit of the classic roguelike. Returnal, 2021’s psychological sci-fi horror drama game infused with the roguelike, represents the latest evolution into what has become one of the most consistently ambitious and creative genres in the world of video games.
Housemarque’s horror thrill ride seemingly betrays the very essence of what we all think of roguelike or even roguelites upon first glance. Boasting next-generation graphics with a familiar set-up of a traditional third-shooter, Returnal is almost giddy in how it presents itself as the next big AAA franchise to grace our systems. The hostile and forever shifting alien world that traps our protagonist Selene in its slimy clutches is brimming with history due to the surprisingly immense and in-depth worldbuilding. There’s never a moment where the environment isn’t telling a fraction of a story from the world’s supposed history.
Roguelike games often dabble with worldbuilding, but complex narratives tend to take a backseat to the gameplay itself, with each run focused on having the player unlock new weapons to use and new paths to unfamiliar level setups. Roguelike games function as endurance tests for players, encouraging replays with permadeath and heavy trial-and-error. If the narrative isn’t strong or compelling, the gameplay is there to make up for it.
Returnal utilizes many of the same functions that your typical roguelike game has to offer. Selene, the scout forced to fight for her life after crash landing on the mysterious alien world of Atropos, loops back to the moment she wakes up from the crash whenever she perishes in battle. Her surroundings constantly shift, forever leaving her path of escape muddled and complicated with loads of grotesque creatures to greet and stop her. Different paths unlock different weapons, along with augments that provide a wide variety of passive abilities from increased weapon damage to morphing the currency of the world into health. Elements of the classic roguelike are still at the forefront of Returnal.
Where the game begins to veer off the beaten path of the roguelike is its cinematic story, which slowly unravels into a grim psychological horror character study. As Selene progresses further into the loop, she receives reoccurring visions of a mysterious astronaut linked to her past, even coming across an exact replica of her childhood home on the planet. The house itself can only be entered through obtaining the keys to it and subsequent runs will indicate its access through the porch lights being on.
As new areas are explored and bosses are defeated, the house will once again open to reveal more fragments of Selene’s past, in turn becoming an incentive to keep looping and progress further into the story. As with most roguelikes, a larger inventory of items, artifacts, and weapons are unlocked to freshen up future runs. But Returnal’s strategy to encourage replays extends beyond the roguelike genre with the type of story one would expect from a AAA game, linking together a stronger connection to Silent Hill 2 than with an Enter the Gungeon.
Returnal’s insistence of presenting this story as a genuinely complex character study helps it stand apart from the sea of indie roguelikes that came years before it. The mixture of scout logs from previous runs detailing Selene’s mental descent with her headstrong stubbornness in escaping creates a roguelike that manages to stay grounded enough in the real world. The realism doesn’t just stop at the stunning visuals inching us closer to the real world, though it certainly does its part in further pulling the game out of the constraints of what we expect from a roguelike.
The 2010s saw an emergence in popularity for roguelike games, becoming a staple for the indie scene throughout the decade. The roguelike lived as one of the gaming industry’s least well-kept secrets, as the consistent output of acclaimed games like the Risk of Rain series, Dead Cells, The Binding of Isaac, and Hades to name a few. The latter game in particular earned widespread acclaim for mixing roguelike elements with a firm narrative structure to keep players coming back for more runs. Hades and Returnal releasing so close to each other feels like a pleasant consequence of fate, given their similarities in incorporating a heavy narrative foundation as an incentive to keep coming back.
This attention to narrative and storytelling is ultimately Returnal’s secret weapon. As enjoyable as the story threads are for the many traditional roguelike games that paved the way, their trump cards lay closer to the technical gameplay itself. Enter the Gungeon may also be a time loop story that encourages you to unlock characters and learn about their pasts, but the real appeal lies in the hundreds of weapons one can unlock through multiple runs. Returnal (and Hades for that matter) trust the audience to engage themselves with the plight of the characters. The frustration of redoing an entire run is shared by Selene, pulling us into our own roguelike hell with her.
All of this torment and yet Returnal still succeeds in making each run exciting and unique, never losing sight of the fun that can be had in a roguelike. It is a genre that has inspired rage, confusion, and tears from even the most experienced gamers out there, but the feeling of completing a long run is second to none. The catharsis of finally being able to rest after nearly destroying your fingers. Though Returnal is still a bleak tragedy of a story, completing a run in this hellworld feels like a genuine victory. We are Selene, as she is us.
Selene is trapped in a hell that she cannot escape, living in the most immersive roguelike game any of us will experience. Returnal takes the genre that is often associated with frustration, repetition, and rage and incorporates them into Selene’s journey. Roguelike games have gone in dark narrative directions before (i.e. The Binding of Isaac), but Housemarque’s fast-paced third-person shooter reinvigorates the genre, expanding on what we thought was possible to experience in the world of roguelikes.
With the announcement of co-op for the game, it appears that Returnal plans to stick around for the foreseeable future. As of this writing, the game has sold over half a million copies along with its fair share of accolades. It is too soon to tell what kind of impact Returnal will have on the future of roguelike games, but it stands nonetheless as an example of what can be done in a roguelike game. Even if the roguelike games of the future are far removed from what Returnal is all about, I’d be hard-pressed to consider that a negative for either the game or the genre.
We are now one full month into Spring 2024, which kicked off on Tuesday, March 19 and comes to an end with the start of Summer on Thursday, June 20. This year’s summer movie season has a whole bunch of exciting horror highlights, including A Quiet Place: Day One, MaXXXine, and Alien: Romulus, but let’s hold that particular thought until June rolls around.
We’re here today to talk about Spring 2024 and the many horrors we still have left before the weather gets warmer and we find ourselves in the heat of one hell of a spooky summer.
Here are 12 horror movies you don’t want to miss in Spring 2024!
STING – April 12
Two words: SPIDER HORROR. Writer/Director Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood) hopes to induce eight-legged terror with his brand new horror movie Sting, only in theaters April 12.
Of particular note, Sting features practical spider effects from 5-time Academy Award Winner Weta Workshop, with the spider in this one inspired by H.R. Giger’s Xenomorph!
In Sting, “One cold, stormy night in New York City, a mysterious object falls from the sky and smashes through the window of a rundown apartment building. It is an egg, and from this egg emerges a strange little spider. The creature is discovered by Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl obsessed with comic books. Keeping it as a secret pet, she names it Sting.
“But as Charlotte’s fascination with Sting increases, so does its size. Growing at a monstrous rate, Sting’s appetite for blood becomes insatiable.”
BLACKOUT – APRIL 12
Indie darling Larry Fessenden is back with new horror movie Blackout this Spring, Fessenden’s third movie – following Habit and Depraved – to put his own spin on classic monsters.
While Habit was centered on vampires and Depraved was a fresh take on Frankenstein’s Monster, Larry Fessenden’s Blackout is the filmmaker’s contribution to werewolf cinema.
The film follows Charley, an artist whose drinking binges blur with his sneaking suspicion that he might be a werewolf. He distances himself from those he loves and sinks deeper into solitude, his flashes of memory of his nighttime grisly acts manifested through his artwork.
ARCADIAN – APRIL 12
If Nicolas Cage is covered in blood, you better believe we’re going to be watching. Cage gets his own A Quiet Place with Arcadian, a new creature feature coming to theaters April 12.
In Arcadian, which also comes to Shudder later this year, “After a catastrophic event depopulates the world, a father (Nicolas Cage) and his two sons must survive their dystopian environment while being threatened by mysterious creatures that emerge at night.”
Jaeden Martell (IT 2017) also stars in the post apocalyptic monster movie.
ABIGAIL – APRIL 19
If you’re bummed about Melissa Barrera being fired from the Scream franchise, you’ll definitely want to get out to your local theater this month to support Abigail, the new VAMPIRE BALLERINA horror movie from Scream and Scream VI directors Radio Silence.
Barrera stars alongside fellow horror favorite Kathryn Newton (Freaky) in Abigail, which is actually the latest horror movie in Universal’s relaunched Universal Monsters Universe.
In the film, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL – APRIL 19
One of the most talked about horror movies of Spring 2024 has been the Halloween 1977-set Late Night With the Devil, which has been playing in theaters since its premiere on March 22.
Late Night with the Devil will begin streaming at home on April 19, 2024, less than one month after arriving in theaters. Shudder will be the exclusive streaming home of the movie.
David Dastmalchian (Dune, The Suicide Squad) stars as the host of a late-night talk show that descends into a nightmare in Late Night with the Devil, set on Halloween 1977.
In the found footage-style film that captures a period aesthetic, “A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.”
INFESTED – APRIL 26
Spring 2024 is all about SPIDERS – sorry, arachnophobes! – with the previously mentioned Sting being followed by the French creature feature Infested (Vermines) later this month.
What’s particularly exciting about Infested is that its director, Sébastien Vaniček, has been hired to direct the next installment in the Evil Dead film franchise, so this will be our first taste of what Vaniček is capable of within the genre. And the buzz for this one is strong.
In his review out of Fantastic Fest last year, for starters, Bloody Disgusting’s own critic Trace Thurman raved that Infested is “one of the best spider attack movies in years.”
In the upcoming horror film, “Fascinated by exotic animals, Kaleb finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap.”
HUMANE – APRIL 26
The daughter of horror master David Cronenberg, Caitlin Cronenberg is making her own mark in the genre filmmaking space with IFC Films’ Humane, coming to theaters this month.
The film is described as “a dystopian satire taking place over a single day, months after a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to reduce the earth’s population.”
The wild premise? 20% of the world’s population must VOLUNTEER TO DIE!
“In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman has invited his grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.”
I SAW THE TV GLOW – MAY 3
Fresh off the haunting and singularly creepy indie We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Jane Schoenbrun is back with A24‘s I Saw the TV Glow, releasing only in theaters this May.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for BD, “I Saw the TV Glow offers a layered and authentic portrait of identity, wrapped in ’90s nostalgia and surreal imagery that embeds itself deep into your psyche.” Meagan continues, “Schoenbrun delivers a singular vision of arthouse horror that entrances for its fevered dream style and insanely cool imagery.”
In A24’s latest, “Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.”
TAROT – MAY 3
Originally titled Horrorscope, a much better title if you’re asking me, Screen Gems returns to the big screen with studio horror movie Tarot this Spring, a Tarot-card themed spookshow.
When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings – never use someone else’s deck – they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards in the upcoming Screen Gems horror movie Tarot. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.
The hook for this one? Artist Trevor Henderson designed the film’s eight monsters!
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 – MAY 17
Bryan Bertino’s 2008 home invasion classic The Strangers spawns a brand new reboot trilogy this year, with first film The Strangers: Chapter 1 kicking things off in theaters on May 17.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 is expected to follow in Fall 2024.
Madelaine Petsch is the lead of the new reboot trilogy, playing a character who drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest.
When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers.
IN A VIOLENT NATURE – MAY 31
Slasher fans who have been hungry for a new Friday the 13th movie won’t want to miss In a Violent Nature, which plays out like a Friday movie… entirely from Jason’s perspective!
IFC Films will release In a Violent Nature exclusively in theaters on May 31.
In the film, “When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and proceeds to methodically slaughter them one by one in his mission to get it back – along with anyone in his way.”
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for Bloody Disgusting, “In a Violent Nature may offer slasher thrills and a delightfully gory rampage across the wilderness, but the approach captures the carnage through ambient realism. It results in a fascinating arthouse horror experiment that plays more like a minimalist slice-of-life feature with a grim twist.”
THE WATCHERS – JUNE 14
M. Night Shyamalan returns with the new thriller Trap this coming August, but the road to that film’s release will be paved by the feature debut of his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan.
Ishana Night directed The Watchers, in theaters from WB/New Line on June 14.
The film follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
Which Spring 2024 horror movies are YOU most looking forward to?
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