Returnal is a hard game to pin down. On the one hand, it is very much a pastiche of existing game genres: Play one run and you will see how it very clearly draws elements from roguelikes, Souls-likes, metroidvanias, action-platformers, bullet hell shooters, and horror games. But while it borrows from all those genres, its unique flow ensures that its chaotic shooting galleries and creepy storytelling feel decidedly new. A shifting, but not jarring pace, an unpredictable narrative, tough-as-nails gameplay, and a constant sense of ambient terror--Returnal's many moving parts coalesce into a rare shooter that grabs you with its mechanics and its story and never lets go, seducing you with its challenges and a foreboding sense of dread every step of the way.

When you start Returnal, interstellar scout Selene Vassos crash-lands on an alien planet, Atropos, which is broadcasting a mysterious signal. Stranded, Selene makes some startling discoveries on the planet, including the game's titular trait: When she dies, Selene "returns" to the site of the crash, seemingly unharmed. To explain much more would give away too much: You want to know as little about Returnal and its story as you can going in.

Yes, "return" is in the name, which is a not-subtle-not to Returnal’s run-based structure. It falls into the broader definition of a roguelite--Selene starts each run from the crash site but holds a few key upgrades and one of two in-game currencies from run to run. Everything else, including her weapon, "artifacts" that provide passive upgrades, and consumables like healing items disappear with each death. Selene wanders through the procedurally arranged and populated landscapes of Atropos hoarding gear, upgrading her health and weapon level (called proficiency), and gunning down the planet's strange-looking, tentacle-wiggling creatures, all of which want you dead.

Returnal is a hard game to pin down. On the one hand, it is very much a pastiche of existing game genres: Play one run and you will see how it very clearly draws elements from roguelikes, Souls-likes, metroidvanias, action-platformers, bullet hell shooters, and horror games. But while it borrows from all those genres, its unique flow ensures that its chaotic shooting galleries and creepy storytelling feel decidedly new. A shifting, but not jarring pace, an unpredictable narrative, tough-as-nails gameplay, and a constant sense of ambient terror--Returnal's many moving parts coalesce into a rare shooter that grabs you with its mechanics and its story and never lets go, seducing you with its challenges and a foreboding sense of dread every step of the way.

When you start Returnal, interstellar scout Selene Vassos crash-lands on an alien planet, Atropos, which is broadcasting a mysterious signal. Stranded, Selene makes some startling discoveries on the planet, including the game's titular trait: When she dies, Selene "returns" to the site of the crash, seemingly unharmed. To explain much more would give away too much: You want to know as little about Returnal and its story as you can going in.

Yes, "return" is in the name, which is a not-subtle-not to Returnal’s run-based structure. It falls into the broader definition of a roguelite--Selene starts each run from the crash site but holds a few key upgrades and one of two in-game currencies from run to run. Everything else, including her weapon, "artifacts" that provide passive upgrades, and consumables like healing items disappear with each death. Selene wanders through the procedurally arranged and populated landscapes of Atropos hoarding gear, upgrading her health and weapon level (called proficiency), and gunning down the planet's strange-looking, tentacle-wiggling creatures, all of which want you dead.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game has seen massive success on Kickstarter, and developer Steamforged Games is adding a limited edition Poogie miniature for some Kickstarter backers to celebrate.

IGN can exclusively reveal that a Kickstarter-exclusive, limited-edition figure of Poogie – the well-known little pig present throughout Monster Hunter’s history – will be included in rewards for all Core Pledge and All-In Pledge backers of Monster Hunter World: The Board Game “to say thanks to those who’ve backed the project so it can come to life,” said Charlotte Cloud, Steamforged Games' PR manager.

See an exclusive image of the Poogie miniature and other beautiful, exclusive renders of Monster Hunter World: The Board Game figures in the slideshow below! 

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=exclusive-monster-hunter-world-the-board-game-images&captions=true"]

The official tabletop adaptation of Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter until Friday, April 30 with a goal of $208,120, which was met in just ten minutes. Monster Hunter World: The Board Game currently has over $4 million pledged from more than 16,000 backers at time of writing.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game is a cooperative arena combat board game with an open world, and includes figures for different hunters wielding a variety of weapons from Bow to Great Sword, as well as figures and stats for a variety of well-known monsters straight from the video game. You can download a work-in-progress version of Monster Hunter World: The Board Game’s ruleset here.

An Entry Pledge will get backers the Ancient Forest base set with monsters like Rathalos, while a Core Pledge grants the additional Wildspire Waste standalone core set with four more (extra large) monster miniatures, plus the Kickstarter exclusive Kulu-Ya-Ku. The All-In Pledge grants backers all-of-the-above, plus three Elder Dragon expansions, and even more.

Steamforged Games is also responsible for developing Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game, Resident Evil 2: The Board Game, and more video game-inspired tabletop adventures.

https://t.co/p3ZanK7Pp9

— Mobius Digital Games (@Mobius_Games) April 28, 2021