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Saros | Review Thread

I also found a video. Im not gonna watch it because i wanna see these ingame, but it probably shows the modifiers



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Solid scores, but like Returnal, I'll be surprised if this game does more than 1-2m lifetime without a mult-plat release.

It just doesn't have the cache of a big name or IP behind it to shift more than that.
 
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xenosys said:
Solid scores, but like Returnal, I'll be surprised if this game does more than 1-2m lifetime without a mult-plat release.

It just doesn't have the cache of a big name or IP behind it to shift more than that.
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It wouldn't make a difference. The game severly underperformed on PC. The vast majority sold on PS5. People that want to play the game can simply hack it on PC because the game was quite expensive.
 
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Cumulus said:
Will this finally be the game that helps housemarque to break out of their niche existence? (honestly kinda doubt it)
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i've played/enjoyed all the souls games, & i get intimidated just watching it in action. so i'm thinking no (i did give returnal a shot for a few hours, but that was plenty)...
 
The artful mincer said:
Let me get this straight.

Restarting a run where you get different weapons, items and levels is " repetitive ".

Bashing your head against a boss for an hour isn't repetitive.

Got it
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Ill assume you're talking about Souls games ? Vs Rogue likes ? ... One is only about getting good and learn patterns for that boss without having to do much to face it again... the other is about doing a whole run again and again, counting on luck to attain good loot and than having the opportunity of learn its patterns to eventually do another run, get lucky again with loot and finally beat the boss.

I liked returnal but it is very repetitive as every rogue like I played is, and I enjoy it for a few hours, but not enough to pay full price.

Saros probably is a very good game on its own, but unfortunately trapped in a not highly popular genre, nothing wrong with this btw. Not every game has to be a blockbuster for the masses.

Ill definitely play it down the line probably on Psplus next year. I dont spend money on rogue likes anymore.
 
Bernardougf said:
Ill assume you're talking about Souls games ? Vs Rogue likes ? ... One is only about getting good and learn patterns for that boss without having to do much to face it again... the other is about doing a whole run again and again, counting on luck to attain good loot and than having the opportunity of learn its patterns to eventually do another run, get lucky again with loot and finally beat the boss.

I liked returnal but it is very repetitive as every rogue like I played is, and I enjoy it for a few hours, but not enough to pay full price.

Saros probably is a very good game on its own, but unfortunately trapped in a not highly popular genre, nothing wrong with this btw. Not every game has to be a blockbuster for the masses.

Ill definitely play it down the line probably on Psplus next year. I dont spend money on rogue likes anymore.
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Hades 2 for example or the first is half the price of this game and it offers 10 times the content and it's very story/dialogue focused. There are a ton of other higher quality roguelikes on the market. Returnal sold like shit not because ppl disliked its difficulty or roguelike aspects, it's because it was fucking overpriced just like Saros. I doubt Housemarque has any say in this, it's clearly Sony being absolute scums.
 
Bernardougf said:
the other is about doing a whole run again and again, counting on luck to attain good loot and than having the opportunity of learn its patterns to eventually do another run, get lucky again with loot and finally beat the boss.
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I think you're describing a poorly designed roguelite here. I played a whole bunch of Risk of Rain 2 and never once i felt i needed to be lucky to pass levels.
 
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Guilty_AI said:
I think you're describing a poorly designed roguelite here. I played a whole bunch of Risk of Rain 2 and never once i felt i needed to be lucky to pass levels.
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Agreed. I felt the same with Sifu, though I don't know if purists consider it a roguelite. Certainly fits the bill of "runs" and getting better with repetition. Nothing is RNG at all, so no luck at play.
 
It's a lot like a shmup, but better. You have way more versatility in Returnal/Saros. You aren't on a vertical or horizontal screen. I'll forever have appreciation for shmups aka vertical shooters. I've only ever owned a handful of them in my life time. Great thing about Saros and Returnal is that they give me that feeling on a larger level. I can't say that about Hades because it's not really bullet hell. What use to frustrate me with some shmups was dying and restarting from the beginning of the stage.
 
I'm really curious to know more about the games structure. From the video reviews I've watched, it kind of sounds like we'll an even more granular version of Returnal's halfway point reset with being able to start at any cleared level and maybe that's why there is a permanent progression system to invest in.
 
Steve Holt said:
Imagine being in a games dedicated review thread, which happens to be critically acclaimed, and telling people to go and buy other games instead.
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I never told anyone to buy a different game. I was just making a point about Returnals poor sales. Reading is hard, I know. Its always funny to see gaf get defensive for any game that gets high critic score, as if they matter, but when it gets trashed by the same critics who gaf hates, its ok to criticize it.
 
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reezoo said:
Usually when you bash your head against boss, you learn its patterns and gets sense of progression. In returnal it's the same with bosses, but during Normal gameplay that sense of progression was virtually non existent (specially against elite enemies which seems to be there to just ruin your run ) for most players and that was the main issue, I hope they add Saros mode in returnal. I beat Elden ring bosses with only sword and shied and silk song ones without skills and tools but returnal is off putting.
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Learning the weapon traits in Returnal could make a huge difference to future runs.

Bosses in Returnal do way less damage than souls like bosses so you can learn there moves as you fight as opposed to having to restart every time you take a couple of hits.

The Elite Enemies probably need there damage adjusted down but honestly once you get a good run going you can destroy them and they add to the tension.

It not necessarily about progression but variety. The Rogue like nature forces players to experiment more which keeps things fresh.

Nothing like getting a GOD mode run in Returnal. Personally I died way less in it compared to souls games.
 
Bernardougf said:
Ill assume you're talking about Souls games ? Vs Rogue likes ?
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Yes. Rant incoming not at you the Genre.

Souls-likes have become an absolute shit show of escalating Difficulty. Devs know players hate boss runbacks (Except team cherry) but expect challenge. The solution is always massive damage which has meant learning the bosses is fucking tedious because you can die in one or 2 hits. Even worse is multiple phases bosses with different move sets basically requiring perfection on the first phase to get a fair attempt on the second phase.
Bernardougf said:
... One is only about getting good and learn patterns for that boss without having to do much to face it again... the other is about doing a whole run again and again, counting on luck to attain good loot and than having the opportunity of learn its patterns to eventually do another run, get lucky again with loot and finally beat the boss.
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You can absolutely learn boss patterns in Roguelikes. I would say it's easier as they do less damage so you need less attempts. The runbacks and luck are what add tension and variety to the gameplay.
 
Guilty_AI said:
I think you're describing a poorly designed roguelite here. I played a whole bunch of Risk of Rain 2 and never once i felt i needed to be lucky to pass levels.
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Nah.. Ive played several rogue likes, just finished one with my son, and luck of the power/weapon draw almost always comes into play, sure you can power trough with whatever you have with enough "git gud"... but you cant have a system that gives you "random" weapons that can be good or bad and say "randomness" dosent come into play in the genre.

But thats my perception, anyone can have theirs.
 
Intentionally stayed only vaguely aware of this one. Reviews sound like it's right up my alley. Improved Returnal with a little gentler learning curve.

I love Returnal but I definitely bounced off the first time when I got stuck at the second or third boss. Came back around later and it all clicked much better.
 
Luipadre said:
There is a carcosan modifier. You have to balance it with negative and positive modifiers before your run, but there is an option in the games menu that lets you ignore the balance meter so you can do only positive modifiers without choosing negative ones to keep it balanced. This is the only pic that i found. It only shows 1 positive modifier and you cant see the rest. I dont know what they are, but my point is, you can make this game very easy

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I wonder if you can turn on only negative modifiers too? I hope so, I'm certainly not going to be good enough to do it but I'd love to watch people do full negative runs.
 
Agree with the discussion around price. $40 would have been more fair for what is essentially a bigger budget version of an indie game.

Also this really took five years to make? WTF has Housemarque been doing this entire time?
 
Was initially set on purchasing the game, but there seems to be less replayability compared to Returnal. No tower mode (at least so far), game is generally more forgiving, making the pace way faster than Returnal, less weapons as I understand it, but everything else is great. Will most likely wait for more impressions on GAF.
 
xenosys said:
Solid scores, but like Returnal, I'll be surprised if this game does more than 1-2m lifetime without a mult-plat release.

It just doesn't have the cache of a big name or IP behind it to shift more than that.
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If it does 2 million at an average price of $60, that'll be good. Sony needs more games like this. Not everything will sell 10 million copies and generate $500+ Million dollars.
 
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evanft said:
Agree with the discussion around price. $40 would have been more fair for what is essentially a bigger budget version of an indie game.

Also this really took five years to make? WTF has Housemarque been doing this entire time?
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4 years if we want to be exact lol. They started in 2022.

It's funny. People said the same thing about Returnal's price. I'm not sure in what world we would expect a game like this to be priced at $40. But I guess there's Gamefly if you want to rent it.
 
The Cockatrice said:
I never told anyone to buy a different game. I was just making a point about Returnals poor sales. Reading is hard, I know. Its always funny to see gaf get defensive for any game that gets high critic score, as if they matter, but when it gets trashed by the same critics who gaf hates, its ok to criticize it.
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You're giving a subjective opinion comparing the game to hades which is far less appealing to me given its low budget aesthetic. Now, you can't get mad at me for saying that cause my opinion is just as subjective as yours.

Given a game at more than half the price cheaper only sold 3.5MM copies, i would say that's pretty poor too for how damn cheap it is and how accessible the price is and its been 9 months since it released in EA.

But i guess it's all a matter of perspective
 
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