Returnal: Fallen Asteria – will it continue the story? (Picture: Dark Horse Comics)
Housemarque’s big reveal for the third anniversary of Returnal is not a new game, but it does feature some new voice work from Jane Perry.
A sequel to Returnal – for our money the best PlayStation 5 exclusive and BAFTA’s 2021 game of the year – always seemed like a long shot and in the end, the announcement teased by Housemarque has turned out to be relatively minor.
The fact that Dark Horse Comics were involved in creating an artbook and comic book was leaked a few hours ahead of time, by the Finnish Comic Con event, but now Housemarque has officially confirmed a Returnal artbook and the Returnal: Fallen Asteria graphic novel.
It’s not much of an announcement though, with the tweet providing no additional information and no images or information for the artbook.
There is, however, a partially animated version of the ‘first issue’ of the graphical novel on Housemarque’s YouTube channel. We’re not sure if they meant first chapter though, because usually a graphical novel is self-contained, although perhaps there’s multiple volumes of it planned.
The video reveals that the graphic novel is 88 pages long and will be available, in paperback, from October 22 this year. The animation also features actress Jane Perry returning to her role as protagonist Selene Vassos, for which she originally won a BAFTA.
The graphical novel is priced at $19.99 (£16) on Dark Horse’s website, where it’s revealed that it’s written by Gregory Louden, who co-wrote the game, with art by Igor Lomov and Aaron Järvinen, who seem to be otherwise unconnected to Housemarque.
The description of the story makes it sound like the graphic novel is just a retelling of the game’s plot, but whether it goes beyond that remains to be seen.
There’s also a listing for the artbook, priced at $49.99 (£40), but no pictures and only a very basic description:
‘This oversized volume collects concept art of the volatile biomes and terrifying enemies, as well as insightful commentary from the game’s creative team,’ reads the less than insightful description.
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All of which means we’re still none the wiser as to whether a sequel to Returnal is ever going to happen. Housemarque previously indicated that their next game is another new IP, but there’s no hint as to what kind of game it is or when it might be revealed.
It’s possible they could return to make a sequel after that but the director of the first game left Housemarque in November, so it may be that the franchise is going to remain a one and done affair.
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