I started playing Saros.

I’m not sure what to think yet about the structure of the game compared to what Housemarque did with Returnal a few years which I thought was mesmerizing.

First, if you never played before, this is a roguelite type game.

When you die, you start over from the start.

Saros does offer checkpoints though, so it’s a little more manageable than Returnal.

But the moment to moment gameplay is superb.

This game feels like all the good parts of video games.

Beautiful art direction, extremely crisp 3D sound effects, uber tight gameplay.

It feels new and it feels old.

It feels new because of the haptic feedback in the controller.

The beautiful graphics of course.

The cinematography of the bosses.

It feels old because it reminds me games from the amiga era almost.

It can be part action, part platforming, part bullet hell.

The difficulty makes it go from extremely frustrating to immensely satisfying.

Finally killing a boss after X failed runs feels so so good. Liberating almost.

It’s the simply joy of playing good ol’ video games.