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[00:14] sign up using offer code Skill Up at checkout. More details after the video. during this review, but here's the most important thing I'm going to say. If you have a PS5, go buy this game right now. Turn off the video. Don't bother
[00:28] by seeing it in game for the first time, and save it every moment by just going game, man, this [ __ ] game. Look, it's it's it's incredible. I I I don't know how you top Returnal. Like, I don't actually know
[00:41] Returnal. Like, I don't actually know how you do that. Somehow, the people at shining jewel in Sony's first-party lineup, and a must must must-play title still here, you probably want me to do my job and, you know, review the damn
[00:56] presently playing it rather than writing this script, you are right, so I will oblige. Tagline for Saros is "Come back stronger." It's a line that's meant to represent the main character Aros and his ability to not only come back to
[01:09] stronger by way of meta-progression upgrades that are one of Saros's difference between Saros and its predecessor Returnal. But, I think the line can also be applied to Housemarque themselves, who have come back to this
[01:22] third-person bullet hell genre that they violently shoved forward with Returnal, in every single way, Saros is a better video game than Returnal was. Like, it looks better. It plays better. It somehow sounds better. It has better,
[01:35] and perks are better. Movement tech is way better. Everything is just better. Sometimes a little bit, sometimes a lot, but always better. You may be wondering why this game is called Saros instead of Returnal 2. I actually asked the game
[01:48] question when I interviewed him for the Friends Per Second podcast. He told me that Saros isn't Returnal 2 because of this new story, this new storytelling focus on meta progression all mark clear
[02:01] just a sequel to Returnal. And while I can certainly understand that view, my personal experience playing this is that this is Returnal 2, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. It is an evolved and improved version of
[02:14] that formula, but most of the essential aspects of that formula remain intact, design, and the roguelike structure. I think you could have called this all confused by that. But clearly Housemarque were looking to make a
[02:26] declarative statement that they see this as more than just subtle iteration. partly about leaving behind some of Returnal's baggage, a game that was get through it, but was simply too challenging or too rigid for those that
[02:40] change makes a lot of sense because by far and away the biggest changes that meta progression, making it far easier significantly reducing the penalty of failure.
[02:53] >> But this more accessible structure and these new progression systems have in no the formula, because there are still so many ways to dial up the challenge should you choose to. And doing so makes Saros an even more satisfying and more
[03:07] there's always a nice cushion floor fall, with that floor gently rising up and up as you fall again and again. Put simply, Saros is Returnal but better in every single way for the people that
[03:21] the people who wanted to love it but couldn't. That's really it. Now everyone can and should and will love this because Saros [ __ ] rocks.
[03:42] >> This is what it does. It gets in our heads and it twists and it turns. >> Saros is the story of Aaru and Devaraj, played by Rahul Kohli. Aaru is part of a rescue mission dispatched to a distant planet called Carcosa, trying to track
[03:55] exploratory and scientific missions, all of which went dark after touching down. being there. A woman by the name of Nitya was on one of the prior missions, and Arjun is singularly obsessed with tracking her down. Indeed, the mission
[04:09] who are missing then seems like a bit of a nuisance to him as his gaze is >> They're here. They need us. They need us. I can't let her
[04:23] premise is anything but as it quickly becomes clear that Carcosa harbors a has everything to do with the sun and to say that the sun is really messing
[04:36] touch down on Carcosa, one of the team members snaps possessed by a voice not >> It was promised. >> [screaming]
[04:54] >> It's me, boss. >> After this, what begins to unfold is a gripping cosmic horror mystery that centers on not only Arjun, but also his differences between Returnal and Saros. That previous game's narrative had a
[05:07] that I certainly won't spoil here, but it's a much broader cast here in Saros. own reasons, and each of them wrestle with the threat of the sun in different >> Stack. What are you on about?
[05:21] I have seen it. Heard it. Like a dream far beyond these walls. >> Maybe um maybe you should get some rest. >> It's a chilling notion actually, almost
[05:35] brought to boil. You know which way it's going to end, but the question is how they're cooked, and what are they willing to say or do to avoid or perhaps embrace that grim fate. The central cast aren't the only way that Saros tells its
[05:49] story, though. While exploring Carcosa, you'll regularly find audio logs left each of them telling their own story of their own desperate struggle to retain their sanity, flecked by hints that their sanity has already long left them.
[06:01] fight, and dolled out in just the right measure during repeated runs through biomes, these story snippets are always worthwhile little snacks while you await a main course back at base. >> The time stamp data on the E2 black box
[06:14] gives me a new hypothesis. I can't focus with all these people so close. And the whispers. whispers. >> The best parts of this story, though, I
[06:26] can't share with you, but I will say this. The concept of a roguelite is inherently an insane concept. Like, imagine if you kept dying and coming hopeless mission again and again, and each time you step out into the world,
[06:40] were actually happening to you, you'd think that either the world was broken or your mind was broken or both. Saros's story is a recursive feedback loop that, for the first time I can recall, sets the roguelite structure against itself,
[06:53] prompting its main character to both confront and ignore the inherent madness of a landscape that can reorganize itself and his own flesh that can remake it's brilliantly told and it's brilliantly voiced by the actors. It's
[07:06] Carcosa, the mission to find survivors, and Arjun's obsession with Nitya all kept me utterly riveted throughout my entire playthrough.
[07:23] looking biomes in this game because it's better for you to see those in game for going to show you is probably more than enough to convince you that Saros is an incredible looking video game. And given how fast all of this moves and how clear
[07:36] it's yet another strong showcase of the power of the PS5 and Housemarque's talent in putting that power to work. Just as in Returnal, you're exploring a hostile alien landscape built by someone or something that is clearly not human.
[07:48] architecture that makes you feel at all times deeply unwelcome and also small and fighting in have often been built at monumental scale. Each of the environments look striking and distinct. The rocky waste of the first biome looks
[08:02] Returnal, but Housemarque completely rewrite their own design rules with the sewer-style space bestowed with technology. When combined with the almost feels like you're fighting squiddies in the underground of the
[08:16] won't say how many total biomes there are, but I will say that there are significantly more than what Returnal served up and each of them are bigger explore owing to their scale, their secrets, their layouts, and their
[08:28] Returnal's spaces is that Kerakozian biomes will often employ a transformative mechanic triggered by the eclipse. And I guess we first need to explain what that is. Every new biome in Returnal can be explored under the sun's
[08:40] uninterrupted light. Here, the level is in its default state with less enemies dropping less currency and with the pickups you collect being pure, aka no corruption, no tradeoffs. At some point though, Aja is always forced to
[08:53] point though, Aja is always forced to trigger the eclipse.
[09:07] More enemies spawn, they're more ferocious, and they inflict semi-permanent corruption damage on you. They drop even more currency when you rewarding. And all the artifacts and weapons you collect are now corrupted so
[09:20] by some sort of negative tradeoff. But that's not all. The eclipse can also hostile. I won't spoil all the ways this manifests, but one example is this swamp you're running through are pretty harmless, but under the eclipse, these
[09:35] same pools turn poisonous. That's right, they added poison swamps to Returnal. Miyazaki-san would be proud. Many of these biomes have eclipse triggers, and myself like laughing. I was like, "I can't believe they did this." Just
[09:48] incredible stuff. Another thing that sets Saros' level design apart from its Metroidvania unlocks to fuel exploration. And to incentivize you to cleared, Returnal had permanent upgrades, too, but they were often used
[10:02] repeated clears, since the game's structure was centered on needing to clear spaces over and over again. Here in Saros, you can always teleport to any new biome you've unlocked, so returning to previous biomes is always optional.
[10:15] like grapples, jump pads, and charge melee attacks isn't about giving you shortcuts through the levels, but rather giving you more ways to explore those first biome, you're already being teased with sections locked behind upgrades you
[10:29] permanent upgrade isn't awarded until like the very end of the game, so you're parts of the game cuz there's stuff waiting for you there. But of course, it want to just focus on your quest to find Nitya, you can do that, too. I think the
[10:43] design is that you have a very different relationship to space in Saros than you did in Returnal. The forced repetition closer to a traditional roguelike experience, where early levels are run
[10:56] every single time because that's how you start a run. As such, you developed a high degree of familiarity to Returnal's spaces. No such familiarity emerges here you've cleared a biome, you can instantly teleport to the start of the
[11:09] next biome on all future runs. That means you never spend so long in a place push through it on a first clear and then return to it intermediately for specific reasons, to farm up levels and gear up ahead of a big push, or to
[11:22] accessible owing to some of those Metroidvania power-ups you've collected. previous biomes are jolly excursions rather than punishments for failure, and it fundamentally alters the way you take these levels in because these return
[11:36] trips are almost always about peeling back the layers of these spaces, finding first time around. I said in the intro that Saros is Returnal but better in design is the perfect example of that. More biomes, better looking biomes,
[11:49] bigger biomes, biomes that transform under the eclipse, and biomes that invitingly welcome you back rather than punishingly forcing you to play them Visually, thematically, and structurally,
[12:02] didn't stop there because just wait until you get your hands on these until you get your hands on these controls.
[12:19] "Arjun, slow down, buddy. Let me Let me catch up." Returnal was by no means a but it did feel like there was a bit of sense and what Selene was capable of actually doing. Wasn't much of a gap,
[12:32] but it was there. There's no such gap here in Saros. Immediacy is the best word I can use here because the speed at which Arjun moves, how quickly he can precise and versatile his jumps are,
[12:45] there is no gap between your intent and what Arjun can do. It is entirely down avoiding threats and creating opportunities for yourself in every threats to avoid here because the work that Housemarque has done on enemy
[12:57] design is just absolutely nuts. This two categories of enemy, mechanical and organic, and together they provide such a rich combat chessboard. Organic nature and focus on close-quarters combat. Their job is to suffocate you
[13:10] pushing you out of safe spots and into the open. In contrast, mechanical battlefield-wide threats that demand you move with precision and intent. They're pyrotechnics, and honestly, going back to look at old Returnal footage, it
[13:24] the madness that some of these combat arenas are capable of serving up.
[13:40] responded to one of the biggest pain points of Returnal, namely the difficulty spike that came from alpha level enemies. Returnal was actually a pretty easy game most of the time, but then a big alpha dog would rock up and
[13:52] massive difficulty spike that felt like you were suddenly playing a completely literally harder than the actual bosses. Here in Saros, there are alpha enemies difficulty has been precisely calibrated to feel like a more graduated step. This
[14:07] means less frustrating death and it also broadens build craft options, since exclusively with these alpha enemies in mind. Now you have a lot more freedom to Moment-to-moment combat also greatly benefits from improvements to movement
[14:20] during combat arenas as a means of repositioning. Jump pads are also techniques that I won't spoil yet, but they too add to the speed, precision, and strategy of combat. The overall damage and sustain framework is also
[14:33] deeper and more rewarding, too. Saros adds a shield mechanic that can be absorb the blue projectiles, which then gets converted into ammo for YOUR POWER gets converted into ammo for YOUR POWER ATTACK.
[14:48] during an eclipse and they apply corruption damage that not only damages can clear this corruption by killing enemies.
[15:04] they cannot be shielded. They can be parried. Pressing R1 at the precise to whoever sent them to you, inflicting not only damage, but also stagger has a stagger meter that leaves them vulnerable when it fills up. Between
[15:18] aiming, and shooting, there is a lot to keep your fingers busy at all times. So, would be this. If you can play with a controller that has back buttons like the DualSense Edge, it gives you a massive, massive advantage. I had jump
[15:32] bound to the right back button and grapple to the left. Literally never had combat. It's just an absolute game changer in a game that demands so many changer in a game that demands so many quick reactive movements.
[15:49] get to one of the game's defining characteristics, its meta progression and along with that, an evolved approach to difficulty. I've already spoken about you to teleport to new biomes rather than having to re-clear the previous
[16:02] the difficulty smoothing that comes from revised enemy design. But, the biggest way that Saros becomes easier over time is this thing, the skill tree. It's not it's pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, push as far as you can, collect
[16:16] unlock permanent stat upgrades that make future runs easier. It's a pretty its nodes without doing many, many repeated runs. The intention isn't to fill it all out. The intention is to fill out as much as you need in order to
[16:30] progress. I actually found progression through Saros to be pretty smooth until was totally shreking me. I went back and ran some old biomes, collecting upgrades as I went and that gave me the stats I needed to push through that
[16:43] later biome. And then I went back to base to deposit all that currency, think this is a really important point to dwell on here. Saros is hard if you boot up the latest biome and step into it trying to clear it without having
[16:56] however, you take a bit of a run up to it and clear some previous biomes first, stats to the point where I'd say progression becomes pretty easy. Like,
[17:08] ever was. But, important to note that this is not Housemarque stepping back from their commitment to difficulty. It's just them giving the player choice. biomes without farming up, or you can choose to make things easier for
[17:21] yourself by clearing previous biomes first. It just takes time. The same philosophy applies to this modifier menu, where you can make the game easier or harder by selecting modifiers such as you do more damage or the enemy does
[17:33] entirely if you want, or you can utilize it to take the edge off something you're harder if you're feeling like things are just too easy for you. It's entirely up to you, but the most important takeaway here is that Returnal was as hard as
[17:46] Housemarque wanted it to be, but Saros is as hard as you want it to be. And Returnal but couldn't because of its rigid structure and punishing difficulty, Housemarque made Saros for you, but they also didn't leave behind
[17:59] those that still want that really grueling challenge.
[18:16] died here? >> Rounding things out now, and Saros delivers the same industry-leading audio that Returnal did, in that you can see this game with your ears as much as you can with your eyes. The third-person
[18:28] ability to see threats behind you, but the Tempest audio engine combined with Housemarque's wizardry make for a soundscape that is so easy to parse, those you need to react to, all while having an absolutely incredible
[18:41] having an absolutely incredible soundtrack blasting the entire time. Bot, of course. Reactive triggers allowing you to feel the halfway point
[18:57] engage your weapon's secondary fire, and the haptics are firing so rapidly that like 20 minutes. Okay, not that long, but way faster than other games, that's for sure. So, yeah, Saros is like incredible industry-leading visuals and
[19:10] sound, one of the few games that utilizes the DualSense's full suite of without ever over-indexing in lengthy cutscenes that take you away from the action. It's more levels, bigger levels, better levels, levels that transform
[19:22] during the eclipse, new movement tech, a new approach to Metroidvania upgrades and how they utilize, incredible enemy design with difficulty spikes smoothed new game structure that's less about repetition and more about exploration,
[19:35] gives you a variety of ways to tune the difficulty to whatever level works for you. All of that is incredibly impressive. And as I said at the top, I just couldn't imagine somehow topping Returnal, but Housemarque cleared that
[19:47] personally though, the biggest reason that I love Saros as much as I do is because of its evolved feel. It is faster, it is more immediate, it's more the tools come online and you internalize them and commit them to
[20:01] muscle memory, you stop thinking and you just start feeling. There are so few barriers between what you want to do and what you are able to do. And when that veil falls, instinct takes over and you find yourself doing incredible things
[20:13] are very few games that manage to make you feel like that. I think the last one favorite games over the past, I don't I love this one, too. I knew Saros would be good, but I wasn't expecting it to be
[20:26] this good. It is next level, it's a must-play, I strongly recommend it to must-play, I strongly recommend it to you. and harder every day as governments and corporations continue to enact things
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