If we rewind the clock to 2021, Returnal demonstrated the true next-gen experience of PS5 after the Demon’s Souls remake. Housemarque’s first AAA game is still lauded as one of the best games of the PS5 generation. At that point, PlayStation players came in droves to play Returnal, but not everyone made it to the end. In fact, I was one of the players who gave up on Returnal early on. But this wasn’t the case for many with Housemarque’s latest title, Saros.
It’s not just Returnal; all the studios known for the brutal challenge their games pose can learn from Housemarque’s design philosophy in Saros to make their games more welcoming and approachable for every gamer out there.
Saros vs Returnal: Difficulty Done Right!
Historically, PlayStation’s first-party games like God of War, Spider-Man, TLOU, etc. (which are now available to play as PS Plus free games) always gravitated towards a cinematic and accessible experience for the audience. Returnal was a clear exception when it debuted on PS5, as the game strayed from the welcoming level of challenge that PlayStation games are known for.
Thus, Returnal was unapologetic and unforgiving, which made this game a favorite among PS gamers. However, that was not the case for the majority of them who couldn’t overcome Returnal’s arduous challenge.
Returnal is a third-person shooter game that blends elements of rogue-like and bullet hell, which became a living hell for casual players. It offers only limited permanent upgrades, has an extremely punishing difficulty, progress gets reset after every death, and requires longer runs to progress. All these challenging aspects of the game formed a barrier that the general audience couldn’t overcome.
With Saros, Housemarque reinvented its design philosophy, shattered Returnal’s barrier, and created a challenging experience for both newcomers and veterans. The core idea was to allow players to create their own difficulty. No, this wasn’t the usual case of slapping different difficulty modes in the game.
Instead, devs came up with ingenious features for the various genres Saros tackles. To address the disadvantages of the rogue-like element in Returnal (permadeath, limited permanent progression), Saros is a rogue-lite offering a permanent meta progression with a well-made skill tree.
No one can deny the fact that every run in Returnal takes a long time. To tackle this issue, devs introduced a teleportation ability that lets you choose the start point (biome) of your runs. Most importantly, the new Carcosan Modifier, an in-game tool that lets you pick up equal buffs and nerfs to adjust the difficulty of the game as you wish. This way, you can choose an easy, balanced, or a hardcore challenge by picking up the necessary buffs and nerfs that sit right with you.
This is truly a game-changing feature that allows players to confront the challenge in their own way. Those who wanted to love Returnal but couldn’t due to the difficulty can now hop into Saros and make it to the end without any hassle. At the same time, if you love Returnal for its brutal difficulty, then you can have the very same experience or even a more dialed-up challenge in Saros.
Housemarque did all this without tarnishing all the qualities that made Returnal great. These are the aspects that made Saros a very special game to me. And I assure you, it will be the same for every player who desires to get the mind-experience Saros delivers on all fronts.
Housemarque’s Saros Approach Is the Blueprint Every Tryhard Game Needs
I belong to the side of the gaming community that actively chases challenging games for their one-of-a-kind, rewarding experience. However, whenever I try to introduce these ruthlessly challenging games, such as Souls/Souls-like, platformers, roguelike/roguelite, to my friends, most of them would always give up before even completing the first level of the game. I get it! The unforgiving difficulty is simply not for everyone. But a part of my heart always wants them to face the challenge and overcome it just like I did.
And those only happened in my dreams until I crossed paths with Saros. Saros changed my perception of how devs must approach a game’s difficulty. Instead of simply adding a difficulty slider or letting an NPC companion do most of the work, Saros proved that there are many ways to optimize the game’s challenge that appeal to everyone.
Therefore, studios planning to make an exceptionally challenging game can learn from Housemarque’s brilliant design philosophy, which has opened the door for all kinds of gamers around the world to experience their games without any problems. I wish every studio could devise innovative strategies to tackle the issues faced by the curious players. While also retaining the challenging experience that veterans seek in their games.
I totally understand that the brutally challenging nature of these games is what makes them a special experience. And that is the very same reason why I’ve spent countless hours on these most difficult games and continue to seek more of it.
At the very same time, I would love to see studios offering players the choice to dictate their gameplay just like Housemarque did with Saros, without sacrificing the essence that sets them apart. So, players who aren’t willing to overcome the incredible challenge these games pose can still play the game and reach the finish line alongside you.
That said, what do you think about Housemarque’s approach to Saros? Let us know in the comments below.
