Returnal players got their first look at the PlayStation 5 game's big Ascension update last week during one of PlayStation's State of Play events, and now, we've gotten an even better preview of what's included through nearly 19 minutes of gameplay. To better explain the events unfolding and to give a preview of the content we'll see in the Ascension update and the Tower of Sisyphus within, Housemarque's Returnal game director Harry Krueger and narrative director Gregory Louden provided commentary and context.

The Tower of Sisyphus is the fancy name given to this new bit of content added in the Ascension update, but what that really translates to is an endless mode, the creators explained. Like other modes of this type, you will eventually fail given that there's literally no end to the tower that you're climbing, but if you've already been playing Returnal even a bit before this update's release, you're probably well-acquainted with failure and respawns by now.



While progressing through the tower, you'll be able to keep track of your best runs and your highest stats and achievements earned throughout the endless struggle. Each time is promised to be a bit different than the last, Housemarque said, since the floors of the tower are procedurally generated which means you should encounter variety every time.

"The rooms and the progression through the tower will be of course procedurally generated where each run is guaranteed to be unique," Krueger said. "You will find different treasure rooms, different surprises, a lot of secrets, and a lot of different scenarios that will challenge you and give you different types of rewards."

In a PlayStation Blog post released back when the update was announced, Krueger shared some of the details about multipliers and the developer's arcade-y roots mentioned again in this video. Players will have a multiplier to keep up with in the Tower of Sisyphus if they want to continuously raise their scores and outdo their past runs.

"Much like our previous arcade-inspired titles, you will also have a Score Multiplier – keeping this up and increasing it will be the key to racking up the highest possible scores," Krueger said previously. "Your Multiplier will deplete if you get hit or if you don't deal damage for a while, so you'll need to be constantly dancing on the knife's edge to ensure you maintain strong forward momentum. While there are secrets and optional routes to take, the Tower is intended to be Returnal distilled into an arcade action experience, where the emphasis is on survival, skill, and focused progression."

Returnal's Tower of Sisyphus mode releases with the Ascension update on March 22nd.

Posted: Mar 18, 2022 9:54 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/returnal-ascension-update-gameplay/