Although it’s been the biggest first party PS5 exclusive of the year so far, a reader is disappointed with Saros and how it compares to predecessor Returnal.
Those in the know all agree that Returnal is the best exclusive on PlayStation 5. Even though it looks like it could be a PlayStation 4 game, it’s definitely my favourite game of the generation, with amazing action and a fantastic atmosphere and story. So, obviously, I was really looking forward to Saros, which isn’t a sequel in terms of the plot but is in every other way.
Naturally, I pre-ordered it and at first it seemed as good as I hoped. The action is very similar to Returnal but that in itself I found a bit disappointing. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was better in any way. The shield is an interesting addition, but it seems a bit underused a lot of the time and I prefer the way you upgrade weapons in Returnal.
In terms of action it is good though. You could argue it’s either a little bit worse or a little bit better, but for me the rest of the game is a major step down.
The most obvious problem is the story and characters, which are far too straightforward, compared to Returnal. In Returnal you never knew if anything you were seeing or doing was real. In Saros though there’s kind of a mystery but it’s very obvious what’s happened and for most of the game you’re just playing some generic tough guy who’s looking for his wife.
Things do get more involved towards the end but it comes way too late for you to really care and most of it I’d guessed beforehand anyway. The game has the same sort of Lovecraftian influence as Returnal, but it’s all a lot more on the nose and nowhere near as interesting. There’s still an atmosphere to it but it’s not borderline survival horror like Returnal, just because it’s not much of a mystery as to what’s going on.
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Another problem is that the world design doesn’t change nearly as much as you’d like between areas. Most of it is the same dull grey world and ruins everywhere and while the graphics are good, especially the underground area, it’s all just minor variations of the same thing, unlike Returnal which seemed to have a lot more variety.
To me, the overall problem seems to be that the story and setting is too literal. What’s going on is never really a question and the motivations of the characters (none of which are likeable) is also very obvious. Lovecraft is all about fear of the unknown but the mystery in Saros is not good enough as, for some reason, they try to ground things a bit too much, rather going with the more surreal approach of Reutrnal.
Saros isn’t a disaster or anything like that, but it is a disappointment. It’s worse in just about every way than Returnal, except maybe the graphics, when I hoped it was going to better and become an undisputed classic. Instead, it just got a bit overshadowed by Pragmata, which I didn’t expect, and I’m not sure a lot of people even realised it came out.
In terms of what went wrong I think part of the problem was trying to make the game more mainstream. In terms of making it slightly easier I think that all went fine, although now it seems a bit too obvious that each level is just a boss run. But I think making the story more obvious and straightforward was part of the same thing of making it more accessible.
Another problem is that the director changed, in fact he left and went to set up his own company, which I think explains a lot. The end result is that instead of potentially getting the best game of the generation we ended up with a game that is… very good. Not exactly the end of the world but I was hoping for more.
By reader Keller
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