History VideoGame / Returnal

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: The climb towards the confrontation with one of the bosses, Hyperion, is accompanied by sinster organ and synth music. Selene even complains about being able to hear it, feeling tormented by it. When Hyperion is encountered at the top of his tower, he is actually found hunched over an organ which he proceeds to keep playing for his entire boss fight. It is first when Hyperion finally goes down that the music, to Selene's outspoken relief, stops.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:The true ending implies the game may be a nearly DyingDream as Selene regains consciousness before nearly drowning — but that sure as hell doesn't explain how her car nearly crashed into ''herself.'']]

* OminousPipeOrgan: One of the bosses, Hyperion, is playing an extra ominous [[AccidentalPun organic]]-looking one during his boss fight. [[spoiler:As the fight progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious that the song he is playing is "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Music/BlueOysterCult.]]

* StationaryBoss: At the start of its boss fight, Hyperion is tethered to a pipe organ and cannot move. It starts breaking its tethers from the second phase onward, becoming more mobile as the fight progresses.

* DiscoveringYourOwnDeadBody: During the first crash the player goes through, Selene notices a corpse on the ground and goes to identify it, only to see her own name written on the helmet. The [[ApocalypticLog Scout Logs]] containing recordings of herself are also found next to similar dead bodies, implying these are other versions of Selene that died on Atropos.

* ExistentialHorror: [[spoiler:As the player gather and put together the clues providing the game's story, it becomes clear that the crux of the plot is that Selene is essentially forced to relive her own worst nightmare over and over, time again and again. [[AndIMustScream And even death, whatever forms it comes in, will never save her.]] Even when it seems she have managed to escape Atropos, she is still not safe; the midpoint feat of managing to have her call in a rescue team, who pick her up and get her off the planet, allowing her living out her natural lifespan in peaceful retirement on Earth, and eventually dying from old age doesn't stop the cycle -- after all is said and done, she is once more forced to wake up on Atropos at the point were she woke up the first time and go through everything again.]]

[[PlayerCharacter Selene Vassos]] (Voiced by Creator/JanePerry) is a Greek-American space pilot who crashes into an alien planet called [[MeaningfulName Atropos]], after trying to locate a mysterious signal she dubs "White Shadow". With her ship, Helios, sustaining critical damage, Selene is forced to explore the hostile environment of Atropos, using whatever equipment or weaponry she can find. Soon enough, however, she realizes that escaping Atropos won't be an easy task, and [[GroundhogDayLoop every death brings her back to the moment she crash-lands into the planet]].

* ExistentialHorror: [[spoiler:As the player gather and put together the clues providing the game's story, it becomes clear that the crux of the plot is that Selene is essentially forced to relive her own worst nightmare over and over, time again and again. [[AndIMustScream And even death, whatever forms it comes in, will never save her.]] Even when it seems she have managed to escape Atropos, she is still not safe; even calling managing the feat of calling in a rescue team, getting off the planet, and living out her natural lifespan in peaceful retirement on Earth, and eventually dying from old age doesn't stop the cycle -- after all is said and done, she is once more forced to wake up on Atropos at the point were she woke up the first time and go through everything again.]]

* HopeSpot: Selene is [[spoiler:rescued after reaching the White Shadow]], which triggers a long sequence where she is safe [[spoiler:on Earth]]… only for her to die [[spoiler:sixty years later of old age]] and return to the crash site yet again.

[[PlayerCharacter Selene Vassos]] (Voiced by Creator/JanePerry, A.K.A; Diana Burnwood in the Hitman ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'') is a Greek-American space pilot who crashes into an alien planet called [[MeaningfulName Atropos]], after trying to locate a mysterious signal she dubs "White Shadow". With her ship, Helios, sustaining critical damage, Selene is forced to explore the hostile environment of Atropos, using whatever equipment or weaponry she can find. Soon enough, however, she realizes that escaping Atropos won't be an easy task, and [[GroundhogDayLoop every death brings her back to the moment she crash-lands into the planet]].

[[PlayerCharacter Selene Vassos]] ([[VideoGame/Hitman2016 Jane Perry]]) is a Greek-American space pilot who crashes into an alien planet called [[MeaningfulName Atropos]], after trying to locate a mysterious signal she dubs "White Shadow". With her ship, Helios, sustaining critical damage, Selene is forced to explore the hostile environment of Atropos, using whatever equipment or weaponry she can find. Soon enough, however, she realizes that escaping Atropos won't be an easy task, and [[GroundhogDayLoop every death brings her back to the moment she crash-lands into the planet]].

* ArcWords: The phrase "Do you see the White Shadow?" seems to haunt Selene as she makes her way through Atropos. The signal she receives that compels her to land on the planet is designated as "White Shadow", and Selene mentions that it's a phrase that only she could know — how could a signal from an alien planet possibly know about it? The significance of the phrase isn't revealed until the ending of the game: [[spoiler:it was the last thing Selene's son Helios ever said to her before the car crash that took his life]].

* OneUp: There are a few ways for Selene to keep herself in the current loop a little longer when her health reaches 0, such as the Astronaut Figurine or Reconstructors, which bring back Selene after a fatal blow on the spot/at the reconstructor's location, respectively.

** Selene’s running commentary on what’s going on around her gradually changes over the course of the game. In the earlier areas, she approaches her situation with cautious curiosity, documenting her discoveries and making scientific notes; but as her situation grows more desperate she loses her composure, until by the end of the game pretty much every word that comes out of her mouth is delusional, pseudo-religious nonsense.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: The climb towards the confrontation with one of the bosses, Hyperion, is accompied by sinster organ music. Selene even complains about being able to hear it, feeling tormented by it. When Hyperion is encountered at the top of his tower, he is actually found hunched over an organ which he proceeds to keep playing for his entire boss fight. It is first when Hyperion finally goes down that the music, to Selene's outspoken relief, stops.

* OminousPipeOrgan: The boss, Hyperion, is playing an extra ominous [[AccidentalPun organic]]-looking one during his boss fight. [[spoiler:As the fight progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious that the song he is playing is "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Music/BlueOysterCult.]]

* ShoutOut: One of the game's twists evokes a… certain movie. [[spoiler:A character trapped in a purgatorial existence that constantly torments them, getting closure… and then finding that they ''never left said purgatory?'' [[Film/FourteenOhEight That sounds familiar]].]]

* GroundhogDayLoop: Selene is doomed to loop back to the crash after each and every death. [[spoiler:The idea is quickly subverted, however. It doesn't take long for Selene and the player to encounter evidence that her actions leave lasting changes on Atropos. Then there is the fact that she will occasionally run into a corpse of one of her previous selves, still lying where she fell, though showing obvious signs of decay and exposure to the elements. Turns that whatever is happening on Atropos is [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope not truly a "Groundhog Day" Loop]]. It is a ResurrectionDeathLoop- Selene might die and get resurrected over and over, but time on Atropos keeps on moving along independent of what is happening to her.]] [[spoiler:Even after she gets off Atropos, although the true ending implies Selene was able to break the loop.]]

* GroundhogDayLoop: Selene is doomed to loop back to the crash after each and every death. [[spoiler:The idea is quickly subverted, however. It doesn't take long for Selene and the player to encounter evidence that her actions leave lasting changes on Atropos. Then there is the fact that she will occasionally run into a corpse of one of her previous selves, still lying where she fell, though showing obvious signs of decay and exposure to the elements. Turns that whatever is happening on Atropos is [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope not truly a "Groundhog Day" Loop]]. Selene might die and get resurrected over and over, but time on Atropos keeps on moving along independent of what is happening to her.]] [[spoiler:Even after she gets off Atropos, although the true ending implies Selene was able to break the loop.]]

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Once Selene makes her way across Atropos, [[spoiler:reaches the White Shadow signal, and uses it to call for rescue, it seems like the game is over. We even see an AgeCut of Selene living out her life on Earth peacefully. But just because Selene dies away from Atropos, doesn't mean the loop is over. Cue her waking up on an overgrown Atropos all over again, starting the second part of the game]].

* GroundhogDayLoop: Selene is doomed to loop back to the crash after each and every death. [[spoiler:Even after she gets off Atropos, although the true ending implies Selene was able to break the loop.]]

* MismatchedEyes: Selene has these due to trauma induced heterochromia.

* AmbiguousSituation: Given that the game's narrative merges hard sci-fi with deeply subjective psychological ideas, these are understandably rampant. [[spoiler: Is Atropos real? Did Selene actually travel back in time (as the Astronaut) to cause the car crash? In fact, it's not even entirely clear which character in the car crash ending is Selene - the driver, or the child?]]

* ArcWords: The phrase "Do you see the White Shadow?" seems to haunt Selene as she makes her way through Atropos. The signal she receives that compels her to land on the planet is designated as "White Shadow", and Selene mentions that it's a phrase that only she could know - how could a signal from an alien planet possibly know about it? The significance of the phrase isn't revealed until the ending of the game: [[spoiler: it was the last thing Selene's son Helios ever said to her before the car crash that took his life]].
* TheAtoner: Subverted. [[spoiler: Selene ultimately decides that atonement is impossible, and settles for "acceptance" instead, noting that Atropos is where she belongs. Subverted further, in that it seems one of the things she feels guilty for is a complete accident she had no way of controlling, being teleported in front of her own mother's car - one of the scenes before the GoldenEnding is her rejecting an image of her mother, seemingly indicating that her mother becoming an AbusiveParent after the accident is something she's accepted she has no responsibility for.]]

* CosmicHorrorStory: Downplayed. Selene is capable of fighting back proficiently on her own, and [[spoiler: ultimately comes to terms with the fact that she will never escape the loop, regardless of who or what is inflicting it upon her.]] It is clear, however, that Atropos does ''not'' play by any rules humans would regard as sane, as she repeatedly returns from death, finds her own dead bodies, and tries to navigate the ruins of a truly alien civilization, as she suffers SanitySlippage from being stuck with only her ship for company for who-knows-how-long and the planet exploring the traumatic memories of her life.

* DeadGuyJunior: In reverse! [[spoiler: Selene is implied to have named her ship, Helios, after her dead son.]]

* HopeSpot: Selene is [[spoiler:rescued after reaching the White Shadow]] which triggers a long sequence where she is safe [[spoiler:on Earth]]... only for her to die [[spoiler:sixty years later of old age]] and return to the crash site yet again.

* GroundhogDayLoop: Selene is doomed to loop back to the crash after each and every death. [[spoiler: Even after she gets off Atropos, although the true ending implies Selene was able to break the loop.]]
* HiveMind: A characteristic that the Sentients pride themselves on, to the point where one act of punishment is to sever an individuals connection to the group.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:The true ending implies the game may be a nearly DyingDream as Selene regains consciousness before nearly drowning - but that sure as hell doesn't explain how her car nearly crashed into ''herself.'']]

* OffingTheOffspring: Fitting for a game so beholden to Greek myth. [[spoiler: The Theia-thing in the second ending attacks Selene, possibly with killing intent. And that's to say nothing of the implications that Selene hoped, consciously or not, for the second car crash, which is heavily suggested to have killed her son, Helios.]]

* RecurringRiff: A unique melody dogs Selene through the Echoing Ruins, which she recalls from her time on Earth. She would often play it on the piano in her spare time, but hearing it on Atropos over and over seems to cause her a serious amount of distress. Tracking down the source of the music and silencing it becomes one of her primary objectives. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed to be "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Music/BlueOysterCult, and was the song playing on the car radio when Selene had the car crash that resulted in her son's death.]]

* ShoutOut: One of the game's twists evokes a... certain movie. [[spoiler: A character trapped in a purgatorial existence that constantly torments them, getting closure... and then finding that they ''never left said purgatory?'' [[Film/FourteenOhEight That sounds familiar]].]]
* StableTimeLoop: Appears twice: [[spoiler: Selene somehow causes the crash that strands her on Atropos by shooting down the Helios with an alien cannon]] and [[spoiler: the car accident that plunged her and her son into a lake, killing the latter after her older self got teleported in front of the car]].

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Once Selene makes her way across Atropos, [[spoiler:reaches the White Shadow signal, and uses it to call for rescue it seems like the game is over. We even see an AgeCut of Selene living out her life on earth peacefully. But just because Selene dies away from Atropos, doesn't mean the loop is over. Cue her waking up on an overgrown Atropos all over again, starting the second part of the game.]]

** One of the game's bosses mimics the confrontation against Ganondorf in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' - it resides at the top of a tower, playing a pipe organ, whose music grows louder and louder as the player ascends the tower.

** One of the game's bosses mimics the confrontation against Ganondorf in ''VideoGame/OcarinaOfTime'' - it resides at the top of a tower, playing a pipe organ, whose music grows louder and louder as the player ascends the tower.

* HumanoidAliens: The Sentients who inhabit Atropos. Judging from the Reconstructors and Severed, they are generally bipedal beings with [[RedRightHand long tentacles in place of one hand]] and large horns that tower over most humans[[note]]Selene only fills up a single leg when she enters a Reconstructor[[/note]].

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:The true ending implies the game may be a nearly DyingDream as Selene regains consciousness before nearly drowning - but that sure as hell doesn't explain how her mother's car nearly crashed into ''herself.'']]

* StableTimeLoop: Appears twice: [[spoiler: Selene somehow causes the crash that strands her on Atropos by shooting down the Helios with an alien cannon]] and [[spoiler: the car accident that plunged her and her mother into a lake, crippling the latter after her older self got teleported in front of the car]].

* CosmicHorrorStory: Downplayed. Selene is capable of fighting back proficiently on her own, and [[spoiler:the true ending involves her finally breaking the loop.]] It is clear, however, that Atropos does ''not'' play by any rules humans would regard as sane, as she repeatedly returns from death, finds her own dead bodies, and tries to navigate the ruins of a truly alien civilization, as she suffers SanitySlippage from being stuck with only her ship for company for who-knows-how-long and the planet exploring the traumatic memories of her childhood.

* HeartContainer: During Selene's travels, she can come across a material she calls Resin, which she can use to upgrade her suit's survivability. By default, 3 pieces of Resin is an increase to her health bar, but upgrades can reduce this.

* TheAtoner: Subverted. [[spoiler: Selene ultimately decides that atonement is impossible, and settles for "acceptance" instead, noting that Atropos is where she belongs. Subverted further, in that it seems the only thing she feels guilty for is a complete accident she had no way of controlling, being teleported in front of her own mother's car - one of the scenes before the GoldenEnding is her rejecting an image of her mother, seemingly indicating that her mother becoming an AbusiveParent after the accident is something she's accepted she has no responsibility for.]]