A 40-day delay for Housemarque’s Saros hasn’t dulled our enthusiasm for its bullet hell combat or rogue-lite machinations. If anything, the recent trailer highlights tensions that go beyond Soltari enforcer Arjun Devraj, as his crewmates struggle with the repeating events on Carcosa.
In a new video (and PlayStation Blog post), game director Gregory Louden talks about how the trailer showcases the deeper commitment to storytelling and the game’s ensemble cast. “We wanted to explore a lot more of our storytelling and show off our ensemble cast of NPCs. We have a phenomenal cast. They’ve brought such authenticity and reality to the characters.”
Of course, these different personalities will eventually collide as the nature of their predicament becomes clearer. “The more the characters learn, the more the sense of dread grows. The friction within the crew increases, and each handles that in different ways,” said narrative designer William Shaughnessy.
Rahul Kohli, who plays Arjun and goes on “quite the arc,” received praise, but there’s another face in the mix that some may recognize: Jane Perry, who played Selene in Returnal. This time, she embodies Echelon Four commander Sheridan Bouchard, and suffice it to say that it’s quite intriguing to see her interact with Devraj.
Which you’ll see plenty of through Saros’s extensive cinematics. Cinematic artist Khalil Osaimi recalls one of the first scenes that the team shot, which he called “a revelation moment for me: what we can achieve nowadays in storytelling.” While Housemarque isn’t “afraid to bring the camera close,” there are challenges involved.
“We’re doing, for the first time, cinematics with characters in your face. We’re not afraid to bring the camera close. But animating a human face is incredibly difficult: one wrong muscle and a happy expression can become a smirk or something unintended,” said technical director Martin Contel.
Overall, it’s incredible to see Housemarque evolving more than just the gameplay loop and embracing real rogue-lite progression. Hopefully, we’ll get to see more before Saros launches on April 30th, 2026, for PS5.
