How The SAROS Difficulty Modifiers Make The Game More Approachable Than Returnal
· Vice
SAROS is one of the latest games to implement a granular and highly customizable modification system, rather than just offering traditional difficulty settings. This is a major change from Housemarque’s previous title, Returnal.
Housemarque’s Gregory Louden on the Carcosan Modifier System
Screenshot: PlayStationRather than offering simple Easy, Medium, Hard difficulties, SAROS usues the Carcosan Modifier system to give players a ton of control over various pieces of the environment. Players can scale difficulty up or down dramatically and find an experience that is just right for them.
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Recently, VICE had a chance to chat with Housemarque Creative Director Gregory Louden about the conception, philosophy, and inspiration behind the approach to the Carcosan Modifiers system in SAROS.
VICE: Returnal was famous for its uncompromising, singular vision of difficulty and every player had to face the exact same hostile environment. What triggered the design shift for SAROS to hand that control over to the player via the Carcosan Modifiers? How did the team reconcile giving players this level of mechanical agency with Housemarque’s traditional roots in strict, arcade-hard design?
Louden: With SAROS we allow players to come back stronger and make sure every death is valuable and rewarding. So players can grow and adjust their experience through upgrades as well as their skill. This way it is a more approachable experience for even more players. We loved what we created with Returnal, but we also wanted to share the experience of Returnal with even more players.
During development we began to find that challenge is very subjective and we wanted to provide players with the means to adjust SAROS to be exactly the challenge level they wanted. For some players, the default was not enough, they wanted even more challenge, hence the idea of allowing players to remove second chance and more. Some players also wanted less. So for us it was a way for us to allow players to adjust the experience to their liking.
VICE: Granular difficulty systems that modify specific environmental rules – rather than just adjusting enemy health bars – are becoming an incredible sub-genre of design, much like what Yacht Club Games is exploring with Mina the Hollower. Were there specific games, either within the roguelike space or outside of it, that served as the inspiration for how you structured the Carcosan Modifiers system?
Louden: No specific references, but when Abebe Tinari our Lead Enemy Designer proposed the idea, I was super impressed. It felt like a way to allow more specific brutality and also more approachability for SAROS which I loved. I feel it’s a great system with a lot of potential.
The key benefit is the specificity, which rather than a general change you can drill into different aspects of SAROS to adjust the challenge for example the corruption and the damage. So you can choose what you’d like to adjust to make it the ultimate challenge experience for you.
VICE: The Carcosan Modifiers system doesn’t actually unlock until a player suffers their first defeat against the first boss. What was the rationale behind this choice? Is it a way to ensure players experience the “pure,” intended baseline of Saros before they start tweaking the parameters, or is it fundamentally tied to a narrative revelation about the nature of the world itself?
Louden: We decided to postpone unlocking the Carcosan Modifiers to allow players to learn the world, gameplay, systems and also discover the Armour Matrix first. We were mindful of overwhelming the player with so many systems and a key goal for us is to have great game flow and smooth onboarding for players. We also wanted players to spend time with the game and understand its core experience before adjusting it.
However, post launch we have decided to unlock modifiers a little bit earlier now in a recent update we have made to SAROS. This way after players have learned the systems and Carcosa, they can adjust the game to their preferred challenge level faster.
VICE: When players are given the power to dramatically alter the environment, pacing, and threat levels of Saros, it inevitably alters how they absorb the story. How do you balance giving players total freedom to mitigate or escalate danger with your goals as storytellers? Are there certain core narrative or atmospheric elements that remain entirely untouched by the Carcosan Modifiers to preserve the authored experience?
Louden: The Carcosan Modifiers still mean the players have to triumph and overcome adversity. They are not game breaking, but rather another tool for players to use if they wish. Atmospheric elements are played the same way whether or not you use the system. A player going through the experience of SAROS with or without modifiers still allows us to let you be on lost Carcosa, tell the story arc, explore the themes and allow you to study Arjun as a character.
VICE: In your playtesting, how did you ensure that stacking various Carcosan Modifiers didn’t
accidentally break the core gameplay loop, and instead created unique, emergent play styles?
Louden: For playtesting, we ensured that Carcosan Modifiers could not be used to break the experience. Rather they adjust the experience so that players can play in their play styles and enjoy the experience we set out to create.
Be sure to check back soon for more SAROS and Housemarque news and updates.
SAROS is available now exclusively on the PlayStation 5.
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