Saros Reviews Praise a More Accessible Returnal, but Opinions Remain Divided

The reviews for Saros, the eagerly awaited successor to Housemarque’s punishing PS5 roguelite Returnal, have officially arrived. The prevailing consensus is that while Saros is decidedly more accessible than its notorious predecessor, it is far from a walk in the park. Critics remain somewhat divided on whether this shift in difficulty serves the game or if it dilutes the singular intensity that defined Returnal.

On the whole, the reception has been stellar, with the title currently boasting a strong 88 on Metacritic. This nudges past Returnal’s 86, firmly establishing Saros as one of the standout releases of 2026, even if it hasn’t quite breached the elusive 90-point threshold that remains unconquered this year.

GameSpot’s Richard Wakeling, who awarded the game a 9/10, argued that Saros “improves upon its spiritual predecessor in every conceivable way.” He praised the design choices, noting that the game effectively resolves his previous frustrations with Returnal: “The structure is remarkably flexible, combat feels more nuanced and rewarding, and I found myself completely captivated by the foreboding, mysterious narrative. As someone who often finds roguelites hit-or-miss, I was quickly infatuated with Saros. It is a masterful evolution of the formula.”

VGC’s Jordan Middler echoed this enthusiasm in his five-star review. He admitted initial apprehension that the studio might over-correct in an attempt to please those who bounced off Returnal, but concluded those fears were baseless. “What Housemarque has delivered is a tightly tuned, polished experience that leans heavily into the studio’s core strengths,” Middler remarked.

Kotaku’s Kenneth Shepard was particularly impressed by the studio’s refusal to compromise its identity. “Housemarque has captured lightning in a bottle twice,” he wrote. “In a PlayStation landscape that feels increasingly homogenized, this studio’s commitment to its signature brand of symbol-laden, high-stakes action is a triumph. Saros is a demanding, thorny experience that defies easy interpretation, yet I find myself constantly drawn back to uncover its mechanical and philosophical depths.”

Others were captivated by the sensory spectacle of the game, even if the storytelling occasionally took a backseat. Lewis Gordon of The Verge described it as a “euphoric, trance-inducing experience.” While he noted that protagonist Arjun Devraj’s personal motivations occasionally get lost in the “kaleidoscopic chain reactions” of the combat, he ultimately viewed the player as the catalyst for the game’s beautiful, brutal pyrotechnics.

However, the critical reception wasn’t without its detractors. IGN’s Michael Higham awarded it a 7/10, suggesting that the game’s narrative ambitions were hampered by its structure. “Saros bites off more than it can chew,” Higham wrote. He argued that the increased focus on storytelling felt disconnected from the roguelite mechanics, leading to themes that often rang hollow. Despite this, he conceded that the game’s core loop remained compelling enough to keep him coming back.

Polygon’s own Giovanni Colantonio expressed similar reservations, suggesting that the ability to customize difficulty inadvertently eroded the tension that made Returnal so potent. “There’s no death-and-rebirth cycle here that forces you to adapt or experiment,” he wrote. “Both you and Devraj feel too insulated from the peril of this brutal world. I wanted my choices to carry weight, but instead, I found myself swept away by a power fantasy.”

Regardless of these design debates, most critics were clearly swept away by that very power fantasy. Overall, Sony has another hit on its hands, officially disrupting Capcom’s dominant streak in 2026.

Source: Polygon