Developer: Creepy Ska Studios, Devoured Studios
Publisher: Ska Studios
Release Date: May 10, 2022
Platforms: PS4, PS5 (reviewed), and PC.
In a land plagued by powerful and twisted Mages, the condemned Marked Inquisitors take up the hunt. Salt And Sacrifice is a sequel to 2016’s Salt and Sanctuary, which at the time was one of the first great off-shoots of the relatively new ‘Souls-like’ genre. I’ll be honest the first time I saw the Artstyle for the salt games, I wasn’t immediately sold. But after a short while, you learn to really love the charm and simple details in every little thing. Follow that with the wonderful music and the inherent mystery that all souls-like games start with Salt, and Sacrifice looks and sounds like an intentionally beautiful nightmare. Some of the first notable differences between its predecessor were things like the Hub world and the Grappling hook. Still, the biggest difference Is the chasing down of Mages and battling through mobs of enemies to claim their energy.
Like any ‘souls’ game, you start scared and directionless, looking for any sort of place to run and hide in, but you get better over the course of learning and grinding. The amount of times I’ve run across the first level just grinding for Salt has to be near twenty just so that I could kill my first boss. And he wasn’t even one of the vaunted mages that you’ll eventually run into. I will say compared to, say, Dark Souls or Elden Ring. The game isn’t as much of a struggle. So if you think these kinds of games aren’t for you, the Salt series isn’t as ruthless of a grind. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a matter of watching your opponents and learning patterns followed by you being patient or dodging, but the leveling feels a bit more impactful. The traversal of your environment is also different this time around. You have multiple tools you can use to get around. The first one you get is a grappling hook. It certainly adds a nice sense of verticality to the game and can make for even more ridiculous character deaths.
While not all Bosses in the game are Mages, the crux of this plot is your character chasing down these dangerous magic-wielding giants to try and steal their power and save the surrounding area. But instead of just coming upon them throughout the world, you have to hunt them down, and as you hunt them, you get thrown into a mob of tougher enemies to try and deter you. It is a fun new idea that works well with the new traversal mechanics to follow these Mages throughout the map and put down these waves of enemies along the way. In between dodging and dying is the Hub world you’ll venture back and forth to a lot. Here you can level up, forge new weapons, improve old ones, and portal to various maps along with a few more magical things. My biggest gripe with the game is how often I returned to the hub world and traversed its many stairs to level up or minorly improve my armor. It’s a small quibble, but the quality of life issues seem to be more of an issue for the entire genre of souls-like games, not just Salt And Sacrifice.
The various locations might have a similar style, but the look changes with each new map. And the new grapple hook makes the levels more vertical than anything before it. It might seem strange, considering that so many games these days use the Metroidvania mechanics of backtracking that it’s almost genreless. Still, each new tool helps you explore beyond your character’s previous limits. The satisfying grind and fluid mechanics fulfill any desires you may have for a sequel to Salt and Sanctuary. The way in which you hunt down your enemies might seem like a large deviation from structure, But It’s a welcome adjustment to try and find new ways to move you around the map and gather resources. The gothic theme mixed with the 2D art style is gorgeous yet horrifying—a wonderful follow-up to a beloved game.
Score: 9/10
