How long to beat Saros? Story length and time to beat revealed

An enforcer smiles ominously with glowing eyes in Saros — (Image credit: Housemarque / Sony)

How long to beat Saros? The game's length will vary depending on whether you're aiming for 100% completion or just want to do the story, but it's also a game where your personal skill level is highly significant as to how far you can get through it. Saros can be a pretty brutal game at times, and if you're not engaging with the difficulty-altering Carcosan Modifiers then it's possible to get stuck for long periods – or maybe you power through and snatch success on your first time. Having completed the game myself, I'll go through the rough estimate of how long it takes to beat Saros, and what you need to know before you go in.

This guide is free of spoilers for Saros' story.

Time to beat Saros and story length revealed

Arjun evades an attack in Saros while firing back — (Image credit: Housemarque / Sony)

Depending on how you approach Saros and what kind of experience you want from the game, the time to beat will vary accordingly:

Just Story: 20-25 hours
Story and Secret Ending: 22-27 hours
100% Completion (all upgrades, collectibles, and Database entries): 30-45 hours

All that being said, these are rough averages based on certain assumptions about play skill levels and what kind of challenge you want to set for yourself (or not). Saros can be a pretty difficult game, but the permanent levelling system that allows you to increase Saros Attributes and Stats means that victory is more inevitable than merely possible, as you get stronger after every run. There's also a Modifier system that alters the game in ways that make it easier or harder, which can definitely impact the time you spend playing the game through.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.