Returnal’s 2.0 update is out today, bringing two of the most requested features for Housemarque’s punishingly difficult sci-fi roguelike: the option to suspend the game in the middle of a run without losing progress, and a photo mode for capturing all of Atropos’ most stunning visuals.
The lack of a suspend mode has been one of the biggest knocks against the otherwise well-received title. An average run in Returnal can easily take upward of 45 minutes and had to be completed in a single gameplay session. Players were unable to close out Returnal and come back to a run later, and if the console was accidentally shut down or lost power, you’d lose all your hard-won progress.
The new “Suspend Cycle” mode aims to fix that. It’s not a traditional save mode — you won’t be able to save scum your way out of poorly made decisions or bad luck — but it will let players create a single suspension point, exit the game, and return to the moment they left. There are some limitations, too: you won’t be able to create a suspend point during boss fights, cinematics, any of Returnal’s first-person sequences, or when players are deep in combat, but even with those caveats, its a much-needed addition to the game.
As Housemarque game director Harry Krueger explains, “With this approach, we can keep the roguelike spirit and ‘high stakes’ commitment to your run intact, while still providing some quality-of-life convenience for players who like to experience Returnal in shorter bursts.”
Returnal’s new update also adds a photo mode, which will let players pause the game at any point, pan around the frozen environment, and snap a picture of the exact moment they want. Returnal’s photo mode also offers more advanced options, the ability to adjust things like focal distance, aperture, saturation, and contrast of your shot, swapping out different light sources, and, of course, different filters.
Returnal’s 2.0 update is rolling out today for the PlayStation 5.
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