Returnal lets you see how other players died and hear memories you don't remember

A new Returnal trailer teases out more of the mysterious story for this upcoming PS5 exclusive, including how it will let you see things from other points of view.

While Returnal is a single-player game, you'll be able to see how other players died when you discover their corpses out in the world. Interacting with their bodies - which is extremely distressing for your character since that is also her body - will let you see a projection of their last moments. Afterwards you can choose to either pocket any items left on the remains or attempt to avenge their death, which triggers "events that are best discovered when you play", as teased by Housemarque narrative designer Greg Louden on the PlayStation Blog.

Not all of the corpses you can find come from other players, however. Some of them come from other versions of your very own Selene, and while she can't remember how they got there, interacting with them will unlock audio logs that reveal more of the story of this strange alien world that seems to know much more about you than you do about it.

That brings up another way Returnal lets you get a new perspective on things - the first person perspective, specifically. When Selene enters a mysterious farmhouse that seems to be pulled straight from her past (and which definitely shouldn't be present on an alien planet) the camera pulls in to let you explore the house and see what unfolds inside from her perspective. It sounds like you'll enter this house at several points in the game, letting these first-person narrative moments function as a semi-regular break from the third-person action.

If you want to know more about the shooty bits, Housemarque gave us a better look at Returnal's combat and roguelike elements last month.