While Atropos seems like an exotic planet straight out of a sci-fi film, not all is as it appears. In the Overgrown Ruins, the first location the Returnal trailer shows off, Selene encounters plenty of what one would expect with a name like “Overgrown Ruins” — until she exits the forest. At the edge of the overgrowth is an old-fashioned house perched on a hill. The lights are on, somebody’s home, but it’s not supposed to be there.
The Derelict Citadel hints at Atropos’ mysterious past. All the ruins point to a strange civilization built around what Selene calls the hive mind, but whether this civilization is truly a thing of the past is less certain.
The last part of Atropos the new Returnal trailer reveals is the Crimson Wastes, which doesn’t always live up to its name. It’s partly a desert wracked by violent windstorms. Yet Selene keeps getting flashes of a snowy wasteland at the same coordinates, and the two keep flickering back and forth.
Returnal releases April 30 for PlayStation 5 following a short delay earlier in the year. Be sure to check out our overview of Returnal’s weapons and loot system if you’re still catching up.
