Saros needs to stop pretending it's a roguelike
Saros, developed by Housemarque, presents itself as a roguelike but fails to adhere to core genre conventions. The game forces players to return to the base after certain bosses, resetting progress and preventing full continuous runs. Its inclusion of permanent upgrades and adjustable difficulty undermines the challenge and replayability typical of roguelikes.
- ▪Saros forces players to return to the base, Passage, after specific bosses, resetting run-based progress.
- ▪The game features permanent upgrades through resources like Lucenite and Halcyon, which are retained between runs.
- ▪Procedural elements and run-based progression are undermined by the inability to complete a full run from start to finish.
- ▪Difficulty can be significantly reduced using the Carcosan modifiers system, which allows players to stack powerful buffs.
- ▪Unlike traditional roguelikes, Saros does not allow players to theoretically reach the final boss on their first attempt.
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Follow Followed Like Thread Link copied to clipboard Add us on By Ford James Published May 2, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT Feature There isn't enough replayability { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": "1", "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.polygon.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position":"2", "name": "Feature", "item": "https://www.polygon.com/features/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position":"3", "name": "Saros needs to stop pretending it's a roguelike", "item": "https://www.polygon.com/saros-isnt-a-roguelike/" } ] } Related Housemarque says Saros is easier because no one could beat Returnal After 3 hours, the new James Bond games feels faithful — to Hitman and Uncharted Resident Evil director Zach Cregger didn't…
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