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\u201cARCADE IS DEAD,\u201d developer Housemarque abruptly decreed in all caps on its blog shortly after Matterfall\u2019s release in 2017.<\/p>\n
This candid manifesto explained how the team saw no future developing the arcadey games it had specialized in for over two decades and was moving onto different genres. Returnal was the result of this shift in focus, taking the aesthetics and chaos inherent to Housemarque\u2019s house style and throwing it all into a roguelike third-person shooter. It was a cult hit that saw critical acclaim, but Saros, Returnal\u2019s spiritual sequel, seems to rebuke that glorious foundation by shunning the very genre with which Housemarque had just found great success. By paring back its roguelike elements in an effort to broaden its appeal, Saros becomes a discordant game that seems ambivalent towards what came before it.<\/p>\n
Given its suite of levels that cycle in various threats, randomized weapons, resources, and perks, Saros is technically a roguelike, even if Housemarque talks around genre specifics. When speaking to Game Informer, art director Simone Silvestri said labels were “ephemeral” and it was \u201chard for [him] to categorize Saros\u201d because Housemarque \u201cdidn’t set out to be in a genre or defy a genre.\u201d Creative director Gregory Louden was similarly elusive in that same interview, while admitting it had \u201crogue elements.\u201d<\/p>\n