Saros Unveils a Hidden Tribute to Clair Obscur in Expedition 33

Saroshas includes a nod to Returnal, the latest title from Housemarque, cleverly integrated into its dynamic world, which is pretty cool but not entirely unexpected. What caught me off guard, though, was the connection to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. While you won’t spot any direct references to Sandfall Interactive’s RPG in the game’s environments, there’s a fun surprise waiting for you on your PS5 once you install it.

One of the trophies in Saros is named Carcosan Cartographer. To earn this trophy, you’ll need to utilize the game’s Carcosan Modifiers, which allow you to customize the difficulty settings to suit your playstyle. These modifiers can be as simple as reducing incoming damage while boosting your outgoing damage, or they can delve into more intricate mechanics, such as increasing the corruption you incur when hit or disabling your “second chance” revival after death. If you toggle any of these options and manage to survive a run to the end, it will count towards the trophy, which requires you to “survive 33 expeditions.” The number may seem peculiar, but the wording clearly ties back to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Aside from this trophy, there isn’t much that links the two games, as they belong to vastly different genres and are developed by separate studios. It seems Housemarque might just be fans of the other title. Saros also features more explicit references to games like God of War, Death Stranding, and Ghost of Yotei, with in-game costumes for the main character, Arjun, but there could be some subtle nods hidden throughout Carcosa as well.