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Saros Announcement Trailer| State of Play 02.12.25 (Coming 2026) - Housemarque

bender

What time is it?
The rogue elements were the weakest part of Returnal and that's without factoring in rogue fatigue. I really like Housemarque, but I miss their low priced arcade titles. Nex Machina is so fucking amazing.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
A key gameplay distinction between Saros and Returnal is permanent resources and progression making every death valuable. After every death you will face a changed world, but in Saros you will be able to choose and permanently upgrade your loadout from an evolving set of weapons and suit upgrades to “come back stronger” to overcome the challenges you face on Carcosa.

So it doesn't seem like a rogue game.
 

bender

What time is it?
The most impressive part of Returnal for me was how well they integrated the narrative design into the rogue-lite format without one treading on the other's toes. With this being directed by that game's narrative lead I'm optimistic that it'll be able to accomplish the same feat.

Heh, I felt the opposite. They literally reset your progress mid-run for narrative purposes.
 
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Kerotan

Member
This announcement has me ridin high. I seriously want to reinstall Returnal and do some tower runs for old times sake!
The problem with the tower is I wish I could skip to his infinity form and go from there. Takes too long to get there and you can't suspend the run in the tower.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Heh, I felt the opposite. They literally reset your progress mid-run for narrative purposes.

Ummm, no they don't. The second set of levels are different, are easy to switch between, and there's all kinds of subtle changes to narrative stuff like the logs on Helios and weapon upgrades carry forwards.

Maybe they patched it? I dunno, but I never had to beat the first 3 zones again! and I platinumed it + completed the DLC 100%.
 
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bender

What time is it?
Ummm, no they don't. The second set of levels are different, are easy to switch between, and there's all kinds of subtle changes to narrative stuff like the logs on Helios and weapon upgrades carry forwards.

Ummm, yes they do. The "different" levels reset your character progress mid-game.
 
So it doesn't seem like a rogue game.

That's good news

I don't mind Roguelikes or lites, but I do think that Returnal was a bit more unforgiving than necessary and that turned some players off.

The fact that you can get permanent upgrades that stay with you after death is absolutely the right choice to making this more enjoyable and accessible.
 

bender

What time is it?
Check my edit. Honestly all my progress was retained.

But your character progress (weapon, etc.) from the run resets once you get to the 4th level. When you die, you start at the 4th level and not from the beginning. I've completed the game a few times and a few times later in co-op when my buddy purchased it.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
But your character progress (weapon, etc.) from the run resets once you get to the 4th level. When you die, you start at the 4th level and not from the beginning. I've completed the game a few times and a few times later in co-op when my buddy purchased it.

I dunno man, what can I say I didn't notice it! Honest truth is I was expecting the worst because initially I really struggled with the game, but after the mid-point split I actually felt like the difficulty dropped off as I knew what weapons were the best to use on a given level/boss.
 
2mvHLN4.gif

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2mvHUPt.gif

Art style is so friggin' sick.

This is going to be a masterpiece
 

bender

What time is it?
I dunno man, what can I say I didn't notice it! Honest truth is I was expecting the worst because initially I really struggled with the game, but after the mid-point split I actually felt like the difficulty dropped off as I knew what weapons were the best to use on a given level/boss.

But at level 4, you go back to your pistol. And knowing which weapons fit your playstyle doesn't mean they'll drop again for the remainder of that run. It's probably why the opted to reset you to level 4 if you die after reaching it, but it certainly took the wind out of my sails the first time it happened as I was having a really good run as far as drops were concerned.
 

Fbh

Member
So the first game bombed despite being excellent so they doubled down on the rougelike elements? What? Are they TRYING to get shutdown?

Just make a traditional third person shooter. No one wants to play rougelikes on consoles. or PC for that matter since the game flopped hard on pc too.

Hopefully it's at least a good Roguelite this time.
The Roguelite elements in the game didn't work for me because most runs didn't feel unique. Most of the upgrades are boring passive stuff and you often don't even get to choose which upgrades you get.
Good roguelites like Hades give you more game changing upgrades, and they also give you a bit of control over which upgrades you get. In Hades I could do 10 runs in a row with the same weapon and they'd always feel very unique. In Returnal everything just felt samey all the time.


Heh, I felt the opposite. They literally reset your progress mid-run for narrative purposes.

I also didn't think the story was particularly good.
It's just some random nonsense that the player is supposed to give meaning to. I'm too lazy to go look it up now but there's an interview with one of the narrative leads where they basically say they didn't have any definitive answer in mind for the story, it's supposed to be up to the interpretation of the player
 
Hopefully it's at least a good Roguelite this time.
The Roguelite elements in the game didn't work for me because most runs didn't feel unique. Most of the upgrades are boring passive stuff and you often don't even get to choose which upgrades you get.
Good roguelites like Hades give you more game changing upgrades, and they also give you a bit of control over which upgrades you get. In Hades I could do 10 runs in a row with the same weapon and they'd always feel very unique. In Returnal everything just felt samey all the time.




I also didn't think the story was particularly good.
It's just some random nonsense that the player is supposed to give meaning to. I'm too lazy to go look it up now but there's an interview with one of the narrative leads where they basically say they didn't have any definitive answer in mind for the story, it's supposed to be up to the interpretation of the player

Yeah, while gameplay in Returnal was ROCK SOLID AMAZING

it also had some flaws that could elevate the type of game they make into something greater. I have very high hopes they will improve story/lore/character/progression in Saros.

Already, the world/character is a massive improvement, and the name title suggests a theme that is far more interesting than a depressed middle aged woman
 

bender

What time is it?
Hopefully it's at least a good Roguelite this time.
The Roguelite elements in the game didn't work for me because most runs didn't feel unique. Most of the upgrades are boring passive stuff and you often don't even get to choose which upgrades you get.
Good roguelites like Hades give you more game changing upgrades, and they also give you a bit of control over which upgrades you get. In Hades I could do 10 runs in a row with the same weapon and they'd always feel very unique. In Returnal everything just felt samey all the time.




I also didn't think the story was particularly good.
It's just some random nonsense that the player is supposed to give meaning to. I'm too lazy to go look it up now but there's an interview with one of the narrative leads where they basically say they didn't have any definitive answer in mind for the story, it's supposed to be up to the interpretation of the player

I think part of the reason for the mid-game reset and weapons being capped at 10 was trying to strike a balance between skill and randomization. Conceptually I prefer rogues that have itemization that can break the game's difficulty and I don't think Housemarque wanted that.
 

dorkimoe

Member
Aren't you hyped about having to do the same stage over and over again, until you can finally defeat a boss. Also, if you die later or turn off the console, you will have to do everything again, because fuck the player.

smile scared GIF


I hated Returnal so much.
I’m with you bro.
 
Nice. Gonna be a great game, no doubt. I just wonder how the guys at Housemarque convinced Sony to let them use a male protagonist?
Cracking Up Lol GIF
 
Aren't you hyped about having to do the same stage over and over again, until you can finally defeat a boss. Also, if you die later or turn off the console, you will have to do everything again, because fuck the player.

smile scared GIF


I hated Returnal so much.
I always wondered what Returnal could have been like if it played more like Hades than “you can’t even power off your system” it was doing at launch.
 

Haint

Member
Returnal was a solid launch window game with a new console, but I would have much preferred they do something different, and am certainly not really interested in another rogue like.
 
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Housemarque completely delivered on the gameplay one expects from them with Returnal, but I don't think anyone was prepared for how good the storytelling / setting was with that game. To me, they are among the very best of 1st party. Day 0 for this game.
 
So the first game bombed despite being excellent so they doubled down on the rougelike elements? What? Are they TRYING to get shutdown?

Just make a traditional third person shooter. No one wants to play rougelikes on consoles. or PC for that matter since the game flopped hard on pc too.

What are you even talking about tbh? First off the first game didn't bomb at all, and secondly people loved the first game because of its roguelike elements so getting rid of them for this game would've been dumb in everyway imaginable. And saying that housemarque want to get shutdown just because they refuse to make a boring and bland traditional third person shooter is insane.

pirates-of-the-caribbean-captain-jack-sparrow.gif
 
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I'm happy this isn't a direct sequel, give me a new mythology, give me a new protagonist. From this brief teaser it looks like it could be drawing from Hinduism but who knows, either way I'm intrigued and will be there day 1 👌
 

nial

Member
It's always great to see a niche developer with niche games getting acquired by a huge corporation and continuing to make the games they want to make.
 
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