Saros is a third-person, bullet-hell roguelite developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Returnal is a third-person, bullet-hell roguelite developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. I think you see where we’re going with this and why people are questioning if Retunal is a sequel to Saros.
From the outside, both games look equally similar in terms of style, sophisticated graphics, lighting, gameplay patterns, movement, and more. Saros appears to be an upgraded version of Returnal, but does the name change actually mean Saros isn’t a sequel or prequel in any way?
Is Saros A Prequel To Returnal?
Saros is not a prequel to Returnal in any way.
Selene Vassos’ adventure takes place on Atropos, whereas Saros sees us control Arjun Devraj as he investigates the planet Carcosa. Two games, different protagonists, unique overall goals and locations, and zero direct connections.
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There’s been zero mention of Saros and Returnal connecting as a prequel: Nothing from Housemarque; nothing from anyone. Quite simply, Saros is not a prequel taking place before the events of Returnal, and there’s not much more to say about this!
Is Saros A Sequel To Returnal?
It also appears that Saros is not a sequel to Returnal either.
Saros is being developed as Housemarque’s next game, but it’s not Returnal 2, it’s not an expansion—this is a brand-new game and universe.
There’s a chance the team will put some fun easter eggs in Saros for Returnal players to find (and from previous Housemarque games), but Saros is viewed as a spiritual successor to Returnal. This means its identity and certain elements are borrowed from the previous game, but Sarios stands on its own two feet as a fresh IP.
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It’s more than likely that the developer will carry on its tradition of making one-off games after Saros is out—and we know Housemarque is already staffing up for its next project.
There you have it, while both games share similar characteristics, there’s no direct story correlation between the two games. Head to the Insider Gaming Discord and let me and the team know if you’re looking forward to Saros and what you want from the seque…sorry, new game!
Once you’re done with this, find out more about Saros, including whether Saros has early access or a demo, and the Saros game file size and pre-load date.
Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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