With a Terrible Fate Podcast Episode 9: Returnal

The following is an episode of With a Terrible Fate’s weekly podcast discussing video-game storytelling from all angles. Find all episodes here.

Our main story today is about Returnal, one of the few PS5 flagship titles at the moment and part of the recent resurgence of “roguelikes,” commonly understood as games that feature mechanics setting avatars back to near the beginning of the game and largely resetting their progress every time they die. We analyze Returnal as a multiply psychological game that boldly meshes genres and ultimately refuses to let us go. (Sound effects from zapsplat.com.)

• Main Story
  • 00:03:32 Returnal
    • “‘Dark Souls of X: What Makes a Successful Souls Successor?”
• Side Quests
  • 00:55:45 “Stop Treating Hideo Kojima Like He’s the Riddler” (Imran Khan)
  • 01:01:49 Multiple Avatars in Scarlet Nexus

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