Microsoft and Sony have laid their cards on the table when it comes to their next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PS5 respectively. While the former sports an octa-core Zen 2 CPU clocked at 3.8 GHz (which can run at 3.6 GHz with SMT), the latter uses the same CPU but at 3.5 GHz at a variable frequency with SMT. While the hardware still needs to be extensively tested across numerous games, what are developers’ thoughts on the difference?

CBE Software’s Jan Kavan, who developed the first person adventure thriller Someday You’ll Return, said that it “really depends on what kind of game you make. In Someday You’ll Return I was able to have at peak moments of 10ms / frame at obsolete i7 CPU while most of the time the game ran at 4-6 ms/frame CPU bound. But the variable frequency is a neat idea (if it works properly) because it’s very versatile.”

Sony has also spoke a lot about 3D, especially its Tempest audio engine. In conjunction with the DualSense’s haptic feedback and variable triggers, it’s meant to aid in one’s immersion. Kavan says that, “It will be a game-changer but it will also depend on the consumer’s side of audio. For me it’s personally the reason I want to work with PS5.” It would certainly be interesting, if not downright terrifying, to see how horror games utilize this technology.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X are both slated to release this holiday season. Sony recently had its showcase for upcoming PS5 exclusives and third party titles while Microsoft will reveal its first-party efforts in July. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Someday You’ll Return is as much about finding Stela as it is tolerating her father Daniel as he curses, bumbles, and hilariously oscillates between tough-guy rhetoric and incompetent stooge. Daniel is the protagonist, by the way, so we’re already off to a great start.

"Despite a solid opening, one that evokes mystery and intrigue, the actual story begins to grate as soon as you control Daniel."

Billed as a “psychological horror game”, Someday You’ll Return sees Daniel venturing into the forest to find his daughter Stela. Immediately, Daniel paints himself as possessive, self-absorbed, cynical and rude. Apparently this isn’t the first time Stela has run away. However, you’d think, regardless of how many times she has, that our hero would have some genuine concern for his daughter who’s gone missing, perhaps to make him that much more sympathetic. But alas.

As Daniel ventures deeper into the forest, things aren’t quite what they seem. From the outset, he investigates a strange red door into an underground complex and comes face to face with The Beast. Things get a lot weirder afterwards as he falls into a chasm, meets a young girl (who’s supposedly a younger version of Stela) mocking him in a swamp, and other such oddities. How much of this is in his head? How much of it is real?

Despite a solid opening, one that evokes mystery and intrigue, the actual story begins to grate as soon as you control Daniel. The writing with regards to the dialogue and overall delivery makes it hard to get invested. It’s one thing to have an unlikable protagonist who’s probably done some nefarious deeds in the past (besides being a jerk to his likely ex-wife Ida). It’s quite another to just be downright annoying at every single turn.

"Having such poor material to work with is one thing but the voice-acting for Daniel doesn’t do the story any favors either."

Sometimes, Daniel will tell his wife to stay out of all this while he finds his daughter, since it’s what he does (and is hilariously bad at). Other times he’ll remember how spiders gave him grief and upon creating a torch, proceeds to gleefully burn said spiders. This wouldn’t be a weird tangent to go on if, you know, he wasn’t after some stranger who mysteriously disappeared moments earlier. At another point, the heaviness of finding his daughter perhaps finally setting in, Daniel arrives at a tap to wash his hands before cheerfully – and I mean cheerfully – proclaiming “Refreshing!”

While one has to make do with poor material, the voice-acting doesn’t do any favors for the supposedly tense atmosphere. Try not to laugh when Daniel finally arrives at the camp and calls out to Stela, saying he’s come to take her home, much like how Ricky announced his presence on I Love Lucy.

In terms of gameplay, you’ll spend a good portion of your time just walking – or sprinting – through the woods, waiting for something, anything substantial to happen. Sometimes you’ll stop to take calls or check messages when you’re not looking for items. At other points, the monotony is broken up by repairing or crafting rudimentary items and brewing potions via herbalism, with the latter being introduced in chapter 2. Frantic chases, navigating creepy caves, snipping wires – it’s all fairly routine stuff that fails to really entice you.

The crafting doesn’t offer much complexity. Instead of, say, creating or finding tools naturally in the forest, Daniel very conveniently receives his tool set and gets to work hammering, cutting and screwing things without much issue. You’ll place wooden pieces on a broken ladder and need something to keep them in place.

"While it feels more interactive than the crafting system, the herbalism system still doesn’t offer much to get invested in."

Using the hammer magically materializes some nails and voila, ladder repaired, achievement unlocked. The same goes with crafting a torch – all of the ingredients are just conveniently located in one place without any need for actual investigative work. It only serves to disincentivize exploration all the more. Then again, the system barely has time to shine as is.

I found the herbalism system to be fairly decent, though again unspectacular. Gathering different herbs, cutting or crushing parts and mixing them in different ways to brew different potions was fairly simple but neat. It was still pretty situational and really only stands out given how dreary and drab the rest of the gameplay is.

There are some gripes to be had though. Why do I need to gather two copies of the same plant for two leaves? Why, despite having such an extensive herbalism kit, can I only hold two of one plant at a time? Why is there a potion that helps me locate other potions more easily, which is pointless since every herb has a telltale twinkle anyway? While it feels more interactive than the crafting system, herbalism still doesn’t offer much to get invested in. Climbing is also a thing. There isn’t much else to say about it sadly.

In terms of visual design, the lighting, foliage and atmospherics work to create a tone that’s more dark fantasy than straight up horror. It’s well done if somewhat generic. Performance is also fine though being able customize certain aspects like anti-aliasing and frame rates on PC beyond adjusting the quality from Low to Ultra would have been nice.

"You wait for something, anything interesting to happen. When something does, it under-delivers but you can’t really get mad."

You’ll be spending quite a lot of time in the forest so it’s a good thing that the environmental design is decent. Unfortunately, there’s very little reason to go out of your way. For the most part, you’ll navigate preset paths at a brisk pace, rummaging through the narrative and attempting to escape Daniel’s personality whenever possible. It’s mechanically similar to other first person narrative walking sims but fails to really stand out in its own right

That’s because the plot, visual design and environments fail to build an effective ambiance. There should be a pervading air of mystery, if not a sense of dread, as to what’s happened or going to happen. Instead, either due to the lack of urgency, shabby performances, poor writing or lackluster gameplay, Someday You’ll Return feels like it’s spinning its wheels. You wait for something, anything interesting to happen. When something does, it under-delivers but you can’t really get mad. Instead, you resign yourself to seeing what the next set piece has to offer. Wash, rinse, call out to Stela, get mad at your ex-wife, repeat.

Someday You’ll Return seems to have all the pieces in place for an effective horror experience, be it an intriguing setting and decent visuals to unique gameplay systems. Instead, it struggles as a first person adventure game, rife with boring moments, annoying dialogue and cliched sequences. So much could have been done in terms of environmental story-telling, but it feels relegated to documents and books that aren’t all that interesting, written by people that you don’t know about things you struggle to care about.

Keep your expectations low and you might find the story to be a worthwhile distraction. But if you are seeking something more, then opt for a real-life hike in the woods instead of this.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The Wonderful 101: Remastered

When PlatinumGames launched the Kickstarter for The Wonderful 101: Remastered, it probably didn’t anticipate over $2.25 million being raised. Releasing on May 19^th for PC, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, the remaster of the Wii U classic features improved graphics, running at 1080p resolution and 60 FPS on PS4 and Nintendo Switch’s docked mode. PC users will have the benefit of ultrawide support and new gameplay features include a Time Attack mode. Whether it translates over to the current generation or not remains to be seen but the porting process has already been an unforgettable journey.

Maneater

What happens when you pit a human against a shark? Probably the same thing that happens when you pit several hundred humans against a shark. This self-proclaimed SharkPG comes from Tripwire Interactive and Blindside Interactive, and sees a baby bull shark growing up to take revenge on a shark hunter. In the process, it’ll nosh on sea-life, venture to shores and yachts to devour humans, and unlock new abilities (like electromagnetic spikes because of course that’s what sharks are known for). You’ll be doing sick flips, hopping onto beaches and just being a general terror en route to evolving into a powerful megalodon. It’s as ridiculous as it is egregious and we can’t wait. Maneater is out on May 22^nd for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Saints Row: The Third Remastered

While Saints Row IV: Re-Elected was an underwhelming port, Saints Row: The Third Remastered is actually putting in some effort. Releasing on May 22^nd for Xbox One, PS4 and PC, the remaster sports 4000 updated assets, re-textured environments, a new lighting engine and other improvements. It also collects all of the DLC on top of the base game, providing dozens of hours of gameplay into one package. Saints Row: The Third is when the series fully committed to jumping the shark again and again and again. If you’ve never experienced it, the remaster might be worth checking out.

Minecraft Dungeons

After a slight delay, Mojang’s Minecraft Dungeons will be releasing on May 26^th for Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and PC. A dungeon crawler, action RPG set in the Minecraft universe, the focus is on exploring randomly generated dungeons and slaying enemies in the search for epic loot as opposed to crafting. Don’t worry though – you won’t face any restrictions with regards to what kind of armor or weapons you can used. Want to rock a bow while running around with an enchanted hammer that chains lighting and creating fire trails? Go for it. In terms of feeding the power fantasy, Minecraft Dungeons should be a nice change of pace for action RPG looter fans.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Monolith Soft’s classic RPG finally makes the jump from the Wii to the Nintendo Switch in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. The sprawling open world and epic story, focused on the war between the descendants of Bionis and Mechonis, have been remade from the ground-up, providing some genuinely great-looking visuals. But even more has been promised, from improved controls to an epilogue called “Future Connected” that takes place one year later. You can even jump straight into the epilogue if you so desire. Though it lacks the extra features of the New Nintendo 3DS version, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition shouldn’t be missed. It releases on May 29^th for the Switch.

Someday You’ll Return

A psychological horror game that takes inspiration from the likes of Resident Evil 7, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Silent Hill, Someday You’ll Return aims to provide its own twist on the formula. Following Daniel as he pursues his daughter Stela into a foreboding forest setting, one that he swore he’d never return to, the title features crafting, stealth, tracking and even herbalism. There’s even a karma system with your actions influencing the ending. Someday You’ll Return releases on May 5^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Borderlands Legendary Collection (Switch)

The critically and commercially successful looter shooter series finally comes to Nintendo Switch on May 29^th. The Borderlands Legendary Collection includes Borderlands 1 and 2 along with The Pre-Sequel, with each offering tons of story content to blow through. Not only that but you get all of the post-release updates and DLC, though the recent Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary DLC for Borderlands 2 is sadly not included. Still, there’s more than enough side-quests, guns, loot, humor and violence to grind through, especially on the go. And then you can do it all over again as a different Vault Hunter!

XCOM 2 Collection (Switch)

Let’s be real – are you going to benefit from all the crazy mods and enhancements made by fans to XCOM 2 over the years? No but the XCOM 2 Collection on Switch, which also releases on May 29^th, offers what’s still one of the best turn-based tactical strategy titles to sink your teeth into. Along with the awesome base game and DLC packs which introduce alien hunters and robot units, you get War of the Chosen which adds new hero classes, new mechanics, levels and even more challenges. Want to see what happens when a Chosen warps in to ruin your day? This is the game for you. Besides, it’s never too late to jump into the franchise, especially if XCOM: Chimera Squad eventually gets ported over to the Switch.

Terraria: Journey’s End

Terraria is receiving its final update – the real final update, we’re sure – on May 16^th for PC with Journey’s End. It revisits all elements of the base game but also includes 1000 new items, a bunch of new weapons, new furniture sets, new consumables, new vanity sets, new pets and much, much more. You can even expect some new town NPCs, new wind mechanics, mini-Biomes and some new visuals, including new backgrounds, for the experience. There’s a whole lot of new content coming, basically, making for one hell of a send-off to the action-adventure sandbox title. Even if you’ve passed on Terraria after a few hours of play, it’s worth coming back with Journey’s End and experiencing everything that’s changed. Plus, it’s free, which is always a bonus.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor (PC)

The Elder Scrolls Online aka Bethesda’s other online title that’s actually good is getting a major new expansion next month on PC. Releasing on May 18th, Greymoor takes players to Western Skyrim with its snow-covered mountains to battle a Vampire Lord. The latest chapter in The Dark Heart of Skyrim adventure, Greymoor will see players also battling Werewolves and Witches while earning new armor sets and items, and completing new World Events. There’s also a new 12 player Trial, Kyne’s Aegis, which features three new bosses and hordes of raiders. Even if you’re still getting your kicks by endlessly modding The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, it might be worth checking out Greymoor and The Elder Scrolls Online in general.