Housemarque’s Next Game is VERY Returnal-Esque

The closer for last week’s pretty disappointing State of Play, ‘Saros’ is the next game from Housemarque- the creators of one of the better games to utilise the PS5’s Dualsense capabilities: Returnal. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Saros is a direct sequel to Returnal considering its similarities within the reveal trailer (as well as confirmation that it would be a roguelite story set on an ever changing alien planet). Soras, however, is very much its own entity with a new character, world and lore to delve into.

Image by Housemarque

The most glaring similarity between Saros and Returnal is its genre and setting. Both set on a hostile planet that changes with each run and both seemingly being roguelikes. Saros does differ in one way here compared its predecessor though. Instead of the incredibly punishing roguelike gameplay of Returnal, Saros instead implements a roguelite system that allows for more updates to be slowly unlocked rather than lost at the beginning of a new run. Think games like Hades compared to the more punishing Enter the Gungeon. Still expect a high difficulty with this one though.

With a new world comes a new main character. Saros is led by Arjun Devraj- an enforcer who has been sent to hunt down someone (or something) on an abandoned colony planet. This is quite different from the set up for Returnal- which involved main character Selene attempting to escape from the planet on which she crash landed. What impact this difference will have on the themes, story and gameplay remains to be seen but Saros looks like a far angrier game based on the reveal trailer we’ve been shown.

Image by Housemarque

Of course, with only a reveal trailer being shown, a lot of what Saros actually is will be kept under wraps until closer to release. Said release is expected in 2026 so there’s plenty of time to check out Returnal in anticipation for its not quite sequel/spiritual successor. The bullet dodging manic gameplay of Returnal always managed to keep players on their toes so hopefully the roguelite centric Saros manages to keep the tension high while implementing some more casual friendly elements. Keep your eyes open for more news on this one likely coming later this year.