Overview
In 2017, Housemarque declared “ARCADE IS DEAD” after releasing Matterfall, pivoting from its signature arcade shooters to new genres. The result was Returnal, a critically acclaimed roguelike third-person shooter that fused chaotic action with procedural loops. Now, with Saros—a spiritual successor—Housemarque seems to distance itself from the very genre that brought success. Officially, the team avoids labeling Saros a roguelike, yet the game is technically one: cycling levels, random threats, weapons, and perks. This guide dissects Saros as a roguelike that resists its own foundation, explaining its design, contradictions, and what that means for players and developers.
Prerequisites
Before diving into this guide, you should have:
- Basic familiarity with roguelike mechanics: procedural generation, permadeath, resource management, and run-based progression.
- Awareness of Housemarque’s catalog: especially Returnal (2019) and Matterfall (2017), to understand the studio’s evolution.
- Access to Saros (or its public materials): this guide references developer interviews, including statements from art director Simone Silvestri and creative director Gregory Louden to Game Informer.
Step-by-Step Analysis: How Saros Functions as a Roguelike
Step 1: Identify the Core Roguelike Elements
Saros contains the hallmarks of a roguelike:
- Procedural level design: Each run generates a new suite of environments with shifting threats.
- Randomized loot: Weapons, resources, and perks appear unpredictably across runs.
- Permadeath: If the player dies, the run ends (with partial retention of meta-progression).
These features place Saros firmly in the roguelike category—even if Housemarque avoids the term.
Step 2: Contrast with Returnal’s Roguelike Implementation
Returnal embraced roguelike randomness fully: runs could drastically differ, and death sent you back to the beginning with only story progress saved. Saros parses these elements back. For example:
- Less punishing death: You may keep more upgrades and progress between runs.
- More curated weapon drops: Instead of fully random, some items appear in fixed locations or by unlocking through achievements.
- Reduced emphasis on run-based narrative: Story triggers are more deterministic, breaking the roguelike tradition of lore-through-repetition.
Step 3: Examine Developer Ambivalence
In an interview with Game Informer, Silvestri said labels are “ephemeral” and it’s “hard for [him] to categorize Saros” because they “didn't set out to be in a genre or defy a genre.” Louden admitted the game has “rogue elements” but remained elusive. This deliberate ambiguity suggests Housemarque wants to broaden appeal beyond hardcore roguelike fans—potentially diluting the genre’s core tension.
Step 4: Diagnose the Discordance
The result is a split identity: Saros is technically a roguelike, yet it rejects the genre’s punishing, unpredictable nature. Fans of Returnal may feel betrayed, while newcomers might find the lighter rules confusing. For game designers, this is a case study in how genre compliance doesn’t guarantee cohesion.
Common Mistakes
- Mistaking label avoidance for innovation: Not calling a game a roguelike doesn’t remove its roguelike characteristics—it can confuse players about expectations.
- Assuming all roguelike elements must be uniformly punishing: Some variation is fine, but Saros’s cuts undermine the run-to-run tension that defines the genre.
- Ignoring the historical context: Housemarque’s arcade roots explain their discomfort with rigid genres, but Saros’s design feels reactive rather than deliberate.
Summary
Saros is a roguelike that hesitates to own its identity. It includes procedural levels, randomized loot, and permadeath, yet purposefully scales back the genre’s core tension and permanence. The developers’ reluctance to label it mirrors the game’s internal conflict—a spiritual sequel that ambivalently rejects its predecessor’s foundation. For players and designers, Saros offers lessons in how genres constrain and liberate, and why a game can be technically a roguelike while feeling like anything but.