Trauma On Carcosa

Mousemarque’s returnal follow-up was released to acclaim in April (we gave it a 9.25 in our review). It is a game that provides as much challenge as it does mystery. We spoke with creative director Gregory Louden and art director Simone Silvestri to try to shed some light on its cryptic story, learn more about development, its cosmic-horror inspirations, and much more.

Saros is not a Returnal sequel, but they are intentionally mechanically similar. Was there a temptation to try something completely new, or was there excitement about reevaluating Returnal’s mechanics and expanding them?

Gregory Louden: I’d say there was excitement about wanting to re-examine them. We really loved what we made, but we also knew we wanted to push it and reshape it and elevate it and sort of twist it to a point. We had all these amazing lessons that we learned, and we wanted to keep pushing them and add new layers. And Returnal really resonated with a lot of people, so we knew we built something special. It was just about refinement, not reinvention. It was really that we’ve got something. Let’s keep expanding the formula and keep trying to build something really special. It was a very early decision to say, “Let’s keep building, but let’s also add elements that change it. Have some reverence for the past, but also an ambition to be innovative and push for new things.”