Returnal now has a suspend cycle feature along with Photo Mode

Housemarque has finally added a more handy suspend feature to Returnal, allowing you to come back to a certain point in your game.

Part of today's update, the Suspend Cycle will allow you to pause your cycle to be continued later. This will let you exit the game and turn off your console without losing progress.

This functionality is not your traditional "Save Game” mode though, because the game will only create a single use suspend point. Once you begin playing again, the suspend point is deleted and cannot be used again.

Your game will continue directly where you left off. You will be able to suspend the cycle again, so it isn't just a one-off. It's just that only one suspend cycle can be saved at a time.

There are a few caveats to this feature, though. For one, you can't save in the middle of a boss fight, and second of all, you can't create a point during a cinematic. The feature is also unavailable during first-person sequences and intense combat scenarios.

Housemarque said that using this particular approach to saves will keep the roguelike spirit and “high stakes” commitment to a player's run intact and still provide quality-of-life convenience.

Alongside the suspend feature comes Photo Mode.

With this mode you can take a shot during any point of the game save for first-person sequences. You just simply pause the game and enter Photo Mode, which will put you in control of the camera. The analog sticks and adaptive triggers are used to move the camera around.

When you have chosen your shot, you can use settings such as focal distance, aperture, saturation, or contrast to spruce up your image.

You can also set different sources of light, and choose from a variety of filters, effects, frames, coloring options, and more.

To take the shot, just hit the Create button on your DualSense controller.

The game was released back in April as a PS5 exclusive. If you are just getting started, or are stuck a bit, check out some of our Returnal tips on how to make the most of your cycle. We also have a handy guide on the best weapons to use for your run.