3 Indie Games Have Overtaken Saros Cycle as Player Tastes Shift

Three indie releases newly added to the PS Store this week — Chainsaw Princess of the Wasteland, Mixtape, and Will: Follow the Light — all have higher user ratings than Housemarque’s PS5 title Saros Cycle. Based on the figures cited in the original piece, Saros Cycle sits at 4.67 stars on the PS Store with a media average of 87, while the three newer games launched on May 5 and May 7 and posted player ratings of 4.89, 4.92, and 4.71 respectively.

Compared with Saros Cycle, the more interesting point here is not which game is absolutely better, but how sharply critic and player sentiment diverges. Saros Cycle is a clear case of critics scoring it above users, and that 87 media average is still strong. These three indies show the reverse pattern: player enthusiasm is generally running ahead of critic opinion. In a broader cross-platform context, this resembles the way smaller-scale games can pick up more immediate “worth it” support on console storefronts, while AAA releases are more likely to suffer from inflated expectations.

If you compare the three new releases side by side, Mixtape makes the strongest all-around case. Published by Annapurna Interactive, it launched on May 7 at $20, earned 4.92 stars from more than 700 user ratings, and also holds a Metacritic average of 85. That combination suggests it is not just driven by fan enthusiasm; it is performing solidly with both players and critics, even if players are clearly more positive. By contrast, Chainsaw Princess of the Wasteland also costs $20 and launched on May 5, with 4.89 stars from nearly 300 user reviews, while its Metacritic average is 79 — the kind of game players are plainly buying into more than critics are.

Viewed from another angle, Will: Follow the Light feels more like a useful caution inside this data set. Developed by TomorrowHead, it launched on May 7 at $25 and currently has a 4.71-star PS Store rating, which does put it above Saros Cycle. But that score comes from only 34 user ratings, while its Metacritic score is 70. In other words, the trend is visible, but the conclusion is not fully settled yet. Compared with the other two, it looks more like the kind of game that gets lifted early by a smaller circle before proving whether it can hold up as the review base grows.

As a buying guide, Mixtape is currently the safest pick if you rely on PS Store user sentiment: $20, 700+ ratings, and 4.92 stars make it the most balanced option. If you care more about action feel and stylized presentation, Chainsaw Princess of the Wasteland fits the profile of a game where player scores beating critic scores can translate into a stronger low-expectation surprise. Saros Cycle, meanwhile, has not suddenly become a weak game. It looks more like a title that performs very well within the critic framework, but has not created the same sense of possibility among players. By comparison, these three indies benefit from lower prices and tighter scope, delivering their appeal more directly.

For this kind of discussion, the broader pattern is already clear: PS Store users are not only responding to production scale, but increasingly to whether a game feels worth $20. AAA games can arrive with premium specs and premium expectations; smaller indies do not look as lavish on paper, but they often hand over their fun much faster. Based on this week’s comparison alone, indie games have, at least in terms of immediate PS Store user reception, outperformed Saros Cycle.