Each session playing Saros ends the same way: palms sweaty and neck stiff from tension, accompanied by a sense of elation or linger sadness depending on how the last run through the yellow-tinged world of Carcosa went.
I am not a fan of rogue-likes, preferring to make linear progression rather than banging my head against a wall for incremental gains. Where Housemarque have improved on their spiritual forerunner Returnal is with a persistent upgrade tree that converts the effort of each run into tangible progress.
Much like Returnal, Saros is a punishing bullet-hell shooter, with a plethora of different coloured ‘bullets’ that can be rock-paper-scissored to your advantage during frenetic, screen-filling melees. Blue can be absorbed, Red cannot be dodged but can be deflected, Yellow is a bit of a headache.
Indeed, you’ll be sick of seeing yellow by the end of the game. Saros wears its influences on its sleeve, and The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers is daubed in lavish strokes throughout. The story charts the protagonist Arjun Devraj’s descent into the depths of an alien world, as he succumbs to the madness borne of its persistent eclipse. Much like in Returnal, the story was the main pull for me – and while the game’s generous concessions helped coax me through one nerve-wracking run after another, it was the tantalizing glimpses into Devraj’s past (future?) that spurred me on.