LONDON: Right from the start, before you even take control of Selene Vassos, a reconnaissance scout who has crash-landed on a prohibited and mysterious planet, you are warned that “Returnal” (available originally for PS5 but now PC too) is “intended to be a challenging experience.”

Such difficulty may deter the casual gamer used to a steady progression of character and exploration through a game environment.

However, “Returnal” is a thoughtful and rewarding adventure that claims much originality of thought in its setup. The key theme is that when you die, you return — but not to the same environment you were in before. Instead, each new cycle poses new challenges and progress can only be made by unlocking upgrades.

Selene herself is a professional, unfazed character who does not appear too bothered when she soon comes across the body of her former self, who died in this strange world where the laws of physics and time seem not to apply. Staying alive is crucial, particularly as it allows her to retain better weapons for longer. In addition, avoiding damage allows for boosts of agility, vision and more, making for an overall more lethal Selene.

The environment is varied and of course surprising with each incarnation, and the weapons on offer come complete with a range of exciting alternative fire mechanisms such as homing missiles or lasers. A hostile environment where even plants are a threat to life is mitigated by your technology, which you can improve despite the reset of deaths through fancy smart “xeno-tech” that becomes integrated with alien kit left around.

There is a paradox in “Returnal” described by Selene herself: She is trapped in an environment that is “always the same, always changing,” and players must be patient in the early chapters as they get used to the sapping dynamic of death and return.

Once that makes more sense, the loneliness of both her alien environment and the impossibility of even dying to escape it make for a pretty special atmosphere that a smart-shooting engine then complements.