Return

At first, I was hesitant to recommend this game. I love the atmosphere—it's a beautiful game, and the music is amazing. But I was really struggling with the combat: it felt kind of simple yet extremely punishing at the same time. Here's the thing: I unknowingly started the game on the hardest route and didn’t realize I could upgrade my weapons until about halfway through. So basically, I tackled the most difficult areas first with the default, unupgraded weapon. No ♥♥♥♥ the enemies felt like sponges. Once I learned that weapon upgrades were a thing, I took on the rest of the bosses and finished the other half of the game. It was much more enjoyable after that. So yes, I do recommend it. It’s a fun, simple, and short 2D soulslike with incredible art direction and punchy weapons. A great option if you're in a gaming slump and want to finish something quick yet satisfying. P.S. ♥♥♥♥ The Mechanist

Usually I never post reviews for games, but I absolutely loved Return. The gameplay was great and the environments supported the story perfectly. The combat was pretty simple (run up, slash, roll away, repeat, or just shoot them with a gun) but it fit the game's minimalistic look perfectly. The visuals are really nicely polished as well, and the soundtrack was amazing. The game knows exactly what it's supposed to be, and capitalizes on it. The one thing I will say is the game could do a better job of telling the player what they can do. For example, I literally just found out you can upgrade your weapons with the mastery points and I've already beat every boss in the game except for the shores one. Now I've got some 96 points that I never used, which probably would've made the game easier. Overall, I loved Return, and I would definitely recommend it.