Saros is the spiritual successor to Returnal, a game so challenging that many players bounced off of it without seeing it through to the end, prompting developer Housemarque to make a conscious decision to give players the option to make its next game easier. Mechanically, the games are very similar, but Saros’ persistent progression systems and shorter runs do give players a decidedly less grueling challenge. WhileHousemarque anticipates that this might upset people who considered beating Returnal a badge of honor, the team wants more people to experience its brand of bullet-hell psychological horror.
“When it clicks, it’s something unlike any other game,” associate design director Matti Häkli told Polygon in an interview. “And I just want to make sure that more people will experience that rather than leave it for a very small niche that only the hardcore players will understand.”
So now that the game is out and everyone from Returnal veterans to Housemarque newcomers are hoping to find out what all the fuss was about, what’s the consensus? Well, there really isn’t one as some players flex already earning Saros’ platinum in a week, while others are still trying to shoot their way out of the first area.
Saros’ biggest change to difficulty is in the addition of Carcosan Modifiers, which let you increase and decrease challenge by altering specific stats and mechanics to create a new “balance.” These modifiers include straightforward options like increasing your damage output, as well as tweaks more specific to Saros’ systems like denying yourself certain upgrades by removing certain resources from a run. These modifications can open doors for people who felt Returnal was too punishing, while also maintaining Saros’ own brand of challenge by not letting you flip off everything that makes the game difficult.
I came across a Reddit thread from a user who said they were new to the roguelike genre and were having a lot of trouble with Saros’ first boss. They’d heard the game was supposed to be easier than many of its genre peers and they wanted to give it a shot. By the time they posted the thread, though, it sounded like they were about to give up.
“I was a fool for believing I can play this,” they wrote. “It is definitely not casual friendly.”
That statement itself broke my heart, but the poster goes on to say they were ready to swear off ever trying a roguelike again after Saros’ first boss had been such a thorn in their side.
Having to start over was not so bad at first. I actually enjoyed the first 4 hours or so of the game and was intrigued by the story, really like the graphics , sound, gameplay etc. But now that i realize the first boss is so difficult and I have to start the level from the beginning to fight him again, and knowing those easy mode modifiers are so far away from unlocking, I will probably just quit.
I’ll never try such a game again. If you are new to roguelites and are fooled by elitists saying this game is easy and accessible, be warned: it’s not! it’s brutal!
When you have half the community saying the game is “too easy” compared to Returnal, I can understand being dissuaded from playing Saros by its earlier challenges. If this is what those seasoned players consider easy, what horrors could await later on as the game ramps up the challenge? Thankfully, folks encouraged the poster to keep going, and told them about how to unlock modifiers early (dying a lot). They were able to get back on track.
“I really appreciated the response from the community,” they wrote. “I vented in the game subreddit and expected to get roasted, but instead I got really helpful and friendly replies. Sorry I judged the game unfairly and thank you for educating and motivating me to get back in it!”
Conversations around video game difficulty can get ugly, with some folks telling anyone who struggles with a challenging game to “get gud” or resorting to some other form of gatekeeping. Housemarque says it wanted Saros to be a more customizable experience because it didn’t want to alienate either the newcomers looking for something more accessible, or the sickos who wanted a challenge. As if reflecting this design principle, despite their own disagreements on whether Saros is too hard or not hard enough, fans are helping folks who are ready to throw in the towel get back in the ring.
Fairly often with difficult games, fans resort to tweaking the difficulty themselves. Some of Hollow Knight: Silksong’s most popular mods are meant to fine-tune the game’s difficulty, which is notoriously high. Though Silksong developer Team Cherry doesn’t sound too interested in making its Metroidvania more approachable, Housemarque wants to give players an option to choose between something breezy and something as punishing as or even more punishing than Returnal. Whether that means the developer is capitulating to “casuals” or just choosing to let people customize their experience is in the eye of the beholder.
