Saros

I'm a sucker for sci-fi games, so when I first saw Saros previewed I knew that I would be giving it a try - even more so because it is a spiritual successor to Returnal, a game that I quite enjoyed several years back. Like Returnal, Saros is a third-person shooter with bullet hell and roguelite elements. You play the role of Arjun Devraj, an enforcer on a space crew who is searching for information about two ships that landed on a remote planet and have gone radio silent. As some added incentive for our protagonist, one of those ships was carrying our wife Nitya, and so her whereabouts are a central piece of the narrative. The game here is rock solid, if only a bit derivative of the afforementioned Returnal. The core gameplay loop sees you traversing different zones in search of Nitya while blasting "aliens" and avoiding projectiles. Each zone culminates in a boss battle, which were always a nice reward and usually offered a good deal of excitement and challenge. As you progress through the various zones the story begins to unravel, revealing secrets about the protaganist and the world around him - without spoiiling anything I found the story to be an interesting take on some classic sci-fi tropes. The roguelite gameplay loop is a bit barebones, which I think is intentional so that the story plays more linearly. The difficulty settings are interesting, and allow the player to fine-tune the gamplay with different modifiers depending on what experience they are looking for - think "heat" levels in Hades. To me, the two strongest elements of the game are the art and sound design. The artwork is stellar throughout the game with a strong emphasis on light and dark, and the sound design complements it along the way making for a mysterious and imposing atmosphere. Saros is not without it's shortcomings, but there isn't anything glaringly wrong with the game. At times the pacing isn't perfect, and I found some of the weapons to be imbalanced, but overall the final product is enjoyable, and something I'd recommend trying if it sounds to your liking.

Play it for the:

• Third-person bullet hell gameplay
• Cool gothic sci-fi aesthetic
• Synergistic soundtrack

Reviewed on 2026-05-27

The environmental design is a highlight here, with each zone sporting their own quirks.