Returnal
Yes, Housemarque’s Returnal did just win Best Action Game at The Game Awards this year, but let’s not forget the sorry state it was in at launch. A PS5-exclusive roguelike about a space marine getting bullied by tentacle monsters, Returnal suffered some issues that saw save files become corrupted and trophies not unlocking despite hitting the requirements (though this got fixed). The biggest problem of all was the inability to suspend the game mid-run, which resulted in copious data getting lost to the roguelike abyss or whatever, particularly because the game sometimes auto-updated even while players had a run underway. Housemarque did patch in a “suspend game” feature five months after it came out, and Returnal’s launch woes are now considered mostly a distant memory, with many considering the game to be among the year’s best releases.
