Salt and Sanctuary

Outside of the bleak atmosphere and art style, this was just a game I could not connect with.

The skill tree looks complex at first glance, but just ends up being three separate skills of stats/health/proficiency, so there is not much room for creative builds. The combat is slow with not many enjoyable enemies, and most of the permanent upgrades and platforming sections were dull. Movement feels rigid which does not help.

My biggest issue is I just did not find it fun to explore. The areas have set darkened backdrops that makes it easy to get lost, so I often just ended up looking at a map online.

The bosses were alright, but they mostly ended up being a weakness check. I was stuck on one boss as a caster, and swapped out to a lightning attack to realise it did a third of the boss’ health, to then kill it instantly.

There is also a weakness mechanic to mana and health, where your max bar drops whenever either takes a heavy hit. Why does this exist? I assume its to try to make adventuring feel even more daunting, but instead it makes it feel more tedious.

I really tried to like this game, but I just never got there.

5.5 / 10

first game with 100% achievement. love the art, love the gameplay. it took me a while to fully optimize game experience, since you had to experiment with game items (2/3 game progress til i found how helpful stone leader and their perks).

TLDR: A co-op souls like metroidvania made by the underrated Ska Studios. I hope to see more games from them. Bosses will let some people down, but I was just fine with not having to smash my controller. The game keeps all the good bits of souls games and adds co-op, without invaders.

Story: Shipwrecked and lost, your give yourself the mission of saving the princess, I think. The game being a love child from the souls genre, the story takes a back seat while you simply forge ahead, meeting the occasional oddball that says weird stuff.

Gameplay: As mentioned before, this is truly a love child of the souls genre but done in a 2D style. So, yes, parries, rolls, blocking, stamina, limited heals, etc, it's all there, so I won't mention those further. Only difference on those basics is that whenever killed by an enemy, the enemy will retain your salt (XP); kill it to get it back (bosses included!) and If you fall to your death, a bat will spawn, kill it to get it back.
There are 2 kinds of checkpoints: sanctuaries and little rooms where you can only light a candle, the latter's only purpose is to fill up your heals and revive you and your partner, should you die. You cannot level or summon NPCs there.
Speaking of NPCs, whenever you are in a sanctuary, you can level, summon NPCs like a blacksmith, a guide (which allows you to TP between other sanctuaries you've unlocked already), merchants, etc. Half the fun is discovering what they do. Oh, and they are permanently attached to where you summoned them at.
I should quickly mention that there are 2 kinds of currency in the game, your salt (XP), and gold. When dying, you will always lose 10% or so of your gold, but that is what is used to purchase items. I found this to be a nice feature as it detaches shopping from leveling.
Spending you hard earned salt to level will grant you a black pearl, an item you can only use in your skill tree. There are also grey pearls to refund any misplaced points.
The ''Tree of Skills'' is, uh, a skill tree that mainly spreads out in 5 branches which are awkwardly intertwined with class related gear and skills. It is initially a little off putting, but it works well as you can reinvest in the same nodes to further boost required stats, which I don't recommend doing early on as you should focus on unlocking higher tier of gear and heals. It's also note mentioning that not every node will boost a stat and that there are no nodes for HP, it increases as you level, on it's own.
There are many tiers and types of weapons and spells, to be able to use them at all requires the node in the talent tree and the proper stats to use it to it's full potential.
I think it's worth mentioning that it's not just light or heavy loads, there's more to it than that.
Enemies are often just cannon fodder, they aren't very challenging and usually award the salt they should.
Bosses are a mixed batch, where many From Software games excel at throwing memorable and stupidly OP bosses at you, this game tends to have overly easy bosses with obvious patterns. But that doesn't mean they're all push overs, it just means that they just aren't all memorable like, let's say, Melinia? Remember her? I do.
The game is also co-op early on, though you will have to remain close to each other as the screen only stretches so far. And I believe it's only couch co-op, so remote play together would be in order.
Exploration is heavily rewarded.
Oh... and there's no map.
My nitpicks would be that there's some really BS unicorns near late game and some questionable platforming, apart from those 2 sections, the game is solid.

Graphics: Pretty bad, I think Charlie Murder looked better (It's a great beat 'em up game up to 4 players, check it out!)... so that's weird (Charlie Murder was released 3 years prior). But the majority of the game manages to remain true to itself all the way to the end, for better or for worse. I think it's mostly the colors that put me off, many areas seemed too bland, but maybe it was intentional, even so...

Audio: A lot of reused assets from Charlie Murder but that's fine, it works well in this game. Funnily enough, guitar riffs fit the genre better than I thought!!!

I bought this in a bundle, without even noticing, when I repurchased the ever underrated Charlie Murder gem of a game. I hope to see more from Ska Studios, I have a soft spot for them. Did I mention Charlie Murder yet? It's pretty good.

This is the first game that I've ever 100% with achievements. I cannot stress it enough, the game is amazing! First two playthroughts were with my colleagues, and they felt amazing!

It is a bit hard to understand how you can get better weapons (which is something the sequel is a little better/easier to manage), however the game itself is amazing. The visuals are great, the gameplay loop is engaging, and the boss design is perfect.

If you enjoy souls-like, and like 2D, the game is amazing. I've spend too much time playing it, and it's even better if you have a companion to enjoy it with (play cleric, especially if your other colleague is new to souls-like)

The companions are great, the sanctuaries are completely different and really enojable, I've definitely spend too much time grinding, testing different playstyles, and having a lot of fun, do yourself a favor and just play it <3

Yep.
Another game I dumped a shit-ton of hours into on my PS4.
Its a pain-in-the-ass but holy crap is it fun.
The boss fights are fantastic and whooping that ass is so satisfying.
Don't forget to kill the first boss on the boat. It's actually very simple to do.
He's a big baby. Waaaahhhhh

People say this is like 2d Dark Souls, but that’s kind of selling this game short. It doesn’t hide that influence at all — even the parts I wish they wouldn’t borrow from Dark Souls like the item descriptions containing all the good bits of story or the fact that there’s no map. There are combos, there’s a Path of Exile style sphere grid, and the perks interact with the level system more than just equip the heaviest shit you can.

The big BUT is: these hitboxes are garbage. The parrying is way too easy. The dodging, even super fast rolling, just doesn’t cover enough distance for the massive bosses nor do the iframes line up with the roll animation accurately enough. For some reason, if you hold your control stick down even just a little and press jump, it will make you fall through the platform as if you had just pressed the stick straight down. This is the only platformer that has had this problem. This killed me a few times. The art also scared me away for many years because this game looks and sounds like it belongs on New Grounds.

You could certainly do worse than Salt and Sanctuary, but I also think they could have had something really special if they just dedicated a little more time to the more unique parts.

Greatsword go bonk. Great game, only complaint is that the levels very quickly become pointless once you've maxed your primary attack stat and have decent Willpower. I had ~20 unspent Black Pearls at the end of the game, and I was level 75, I didn't need anymore Willpower, and my Strength was 34, plenty to 2-hand a great sword and hit the soft cap. I could have gone for more healing potions, or for better armor, but I never really ran out of health potions, and didn't plan on getting hit.

Don't worry about salt too much, the game is VERY generous with it, I occasionally lost it after a boss, but it didn't matter. I apparently did a lot of things out of order, and pretty much always felt overpowered. Feels like a 2D Dark Souls 1, down to Poise and Poise Breaks being OP. Very fun. Pull a Gwyn and stagger the final boss to death, it's fun!

Wonderful 2D souls-like that actually captures the spirit of dark souls I

So, is this game just about spamming attacks with no mind? And the platforms what were you thinking when you made it, how is this good I don't see any good in this game let me. You could give me a double jump or a working dash that is good, but nah ur dash can't be aimed right like you give a newborn to aim, this game made me rethink that Souls-like should never be a thing.

"Whenever you're scared and alone, remember that you are your own hero"

At first, I found the graphics rather simple and unappealing. But when I grew used to them, I found that Salt and Sanctuary is much better than I expected.
The environment design is really good, and the lighting plays a major role in creating a gloomy, unsettling atmosphere. You can teleport to different sanctuaries, which makes exploring a lot eassier.
The music fits perfectly, specially in The Still Palace, and I really liked that there's so many different bosses and enemies.
The final boss fight was memorable.

Give it a try if you are into metroidvanias

PD: beware of the chests, they might kill you
PD 2: i played 25h offline, not 0.5h

You can have fun on this game only when you are skilled, have patient and have a big brain, which I don't have any of these but my wife does apprently.

I moon o'er you, Inis Mona. As long as I breathe, I'll call you my home

Dark Souls but 2D and more importantly it's made by goddamn Ska Studios, a (in my eyes at least) forgotten Xbox 360 game maker in the Xbox live arcade and indie sections, that made a really unique franchise while they were at it, that being The Dishwasher franchise or 2D Devil May Cry, it's kind of their thing really, to do 2D spins on traditionally 3D games

Now onto the Game itself, the artstyle is really unforgettable and unique to me, a Ska staple, The combat is varied with being able to use anything from a WarHammer to a potato as a weapon, the gameplay isn't too different from any other dark souls just dodge and hit gameplay really, the progression through the skill tree is really simple for most to understand and a sanctuary system to really set it apart from the competition

Beware, it has some really bullshit parts, but that was only like 4 parts of the whole game in my playthrough of beating every single boss so I don't think it takes away too much from the enjoyment of it so it's fine, it's kind of an unavoidable thing with souls likes for some reason

If you are just getting into the soulslikes like I am, I recommend this game for how unique this game is compared to any other souls like I have ever seen and how like a souls game incorporates players into another players experience through co-op, invasions and found bottled messages left by other players or your other save file characters for advice or to add humour to your experience.

Fantastic Dark Souls/ Metroidvania. If you've got even a passing interest in either genre, give it a look

This used to be a very entertaining 2D Soulslike, now it's terribly bugged with no audio. Do not recommend until the bugs get fixed.

The lively dark scenery decorated with the ocasional bodies and tomb stones of other fallen players. A complex dungeon filled with a diversity of enemies that go from the dullish zombi-like walking corpses to some pretty tricky ninja like assassins... Ah! forget the description. This thing is quite entertaining. I've been away from my PC for a while and I only have my old macbook with me. The game is not too long to finish, but in the same fashion as Dark Souls, it have saved me from dying of boredom. If you are in the market for a good game with a Souls-like experience, this one may be a good option for you.

Probably one of my favourite "souls-like" (I hate that term).
The combat is enjoyable and has enough variety to warrant multiple playthroughs, even if it seems deceptively simple, there are enough hurdles to make you want to bash your head against a wall.
There is so much detail and love put into the worldbuilding that I found myself just reading through the skilltrees flavour text, the multiple item descriptions or the INGAME BESTIARY.
And to top it all off the artstyle still manages to keep me wary and cautious the mix of dark colours and gruesome designs makes this game (atleast for me) unsettling.

Worth it's....salt :3
Worth full price, great game, good challenges, good design, cool mechanics. Pain. Suffering. Agony even. Good luck.

This is imo the perfect blend between a Souls-like and a Metroidvania game. Not Hollow Knight, not Blasphemous, but Salt and Sanctuary.

It has all the aspects of these two genres that you can think of, bonfire, map interconnectivity, movement unlock, bossfights, et cetera. Interestingly, the game provides no map despite having fairly complex levels, a design choice that I think paid off well since it made the world so much more memorable.

I really like SnS' twist on the genre combat. Player still has the traditional HP, MP and stamina bar. But when the MP bar is depleted, it also lower the maximum stamina bar. There's also element imbalance, which damages the player if they keep spamming the same element/spell. These two mechanics not only nerf but also make the caster build so much more engaging, which was historically considered "easy mode". You can also chain light attack and heavy attack, and for certain weapon types, even directional input into combos.

Bosses can be fairly easy first playthrough, but there are still some memorable fights. This changes in NG+ however, as some bosses become very obnoxious with more health and damage. The worst offenders are the mage ones, the Witch of the Lake and Murdiella Mal, both of which encourage close range combat, yet each has one move that is tough to dodge at close range, forcing the player to run away and then combo-ing them with their lethal long-range moves.

While I heard SnS' sequel, Salt and Sacrifice has mixed review, Sanctuary is so good that I still looking forward to playing it.

just amazing. a perfect mix of dark souls like combat, spectacular bosses and the right amount of metroid vania

100% the game a few years back, still one of my favorites.
Combat feels nice, bosses are cool, style kicks ass. Pretty good replayability, the tree of skill is cool, even if a little annoying. It's not too long a game, roughly 20 hours a first playthrough, and probably more than half that on subsequent runs, assuming you don't run around like a tard.
Don't think the game is too hard. parrying feels rather forgiving, and after you understand the bosses they aren't really any kind of hassle. I could just also be really good at video games though. Pretty well paced as well I think, generally think metroidvanias are a slog.
The map I really like. Like Dark Souls it's very interconnected, although it's not too useful since fast travel is pretty readily available from the start. It's still cool to explore and open up shortcuts to areas you've already been to, makes sense lore wise as well.
I think amalgamations of things are really fucking cool.

I wish there were more early game options for spells (not prayers there are a good amount of those) and light armour, other than that great game.

Salt and Sanctuary is basically Dark Souls if it were a 2D hand-drawn nightmare. It nails the Souls-like formula—brutal combat, deep lore, eerie atmosphere, and plenty of ways to die—while adding its own unique flair with fast-paced platforming and a massive skill tree.

The world is dark and dripping with mystery, full of grotesque bosses, hidden secrets, and lore that slowly unravels as you explore. Combat is tight and weighty, rewarding precise dodging, parrying, and punishing mistakes. And the RPG elements give you endless ways to customize your playstyle, whether you’re a sword-swinging brute or a spell-slinging glass cannon.

If you love the challenge of Dark Souls but want something fresh, Salt and Sanctuary is a beautifully brutal indie masterpiece. Just don’t get too attached to your salt—you will lose it.

You begin as a sailor shipwrecked on the Isle of Salt. You're on a mission to save some princess. Naturally, there's lore and characters talking in riddles, yet that's all you need to know. I took a liking to this game immediately due to its responsive controls - that's something a trailer can't convey. Loved it shortly. Love at first... not sight, I didn't even like the look before playing... at first goresplosion - definitely! Blood splatters and enemy torsos flying off their legs after I hit them with a gigantic morning star have sold me right off the bat. The executions are delightful, too! Soon, I learned to appreciate the grimy setting as it revealed its sights macabre. From rundown villages and foggy heights of abandoned fortresses to pitch-black dungeons with stairs going down for days, I relished in Salt's atmosphere and its epic music. Its style is unsophisticated yet uniform. Sure, the puppet-like animation is budgetary, but good particle effects and punchiness offset it. Various equipment that displays on your character's model never gets old, yet somehow I still looked like a bum by the end. As for the issues, I sometimes experienced baffling framedrops. Too slight to be bothered, too weird to ignore. Ooh, how dare they have mild technical problems. That's the extent of my rage, let's move on.

Heights

Genre-wise, think Hollow Knight with Dark Souls' deliberation. It's a metroidvania first, involving mandatory abilities required to progress. You're gonna obtain a slick moveset by the end, being able to walk on ceilings in certain areas, wall jump, air dash. It's also a soulslike since you get your sanctuaries for bonfires, salt as souls you can level up with or lose on traditionally quick death, upgradeable gear as an incentive for exploration, and stamina-based combat with a trusty roll as your saving grace. Not the only one, for some attacks are best avoided by jumping. When it comes to your means of offence, there are plenty of weapons, some sporting interesting combos or special moves. Not as intricate as Dark Souls, but let's face it: there, the battles are also 2-dimensional with rare exceptions, quite literally. You could fight in DS from a top-down perspective, couldn't you? While it's obvious that the metroidvania aspect took the wheel, Salt's combat is good enough. It's not that easy to master. And when you do, you still never feel safe. I mostly mean normal enemies who can put you in a world of pain if you aren't careful. At times, there's no escaping a wombo-combo, a tricky ability, or a malicious placement. I respect such an encounter design that makes you think before attacking. Also, f#ck them unicorns with a blowtorch.

But nothing killed me as often as heights. Since the game is a platformer at its core, expect many frustrating falls. However, as I've said before, the controls are responsive enough to make traversal and fighting fun ordeals to master. I enjoyed platforming the most because it spiced up the main course, that being the exploration of this game's vast interconnected world. Filled to the brim with secret walls, shortcut porn, and branching paths, typically leading to several bossfights you can tackle in your preferred order. The biomes they inhabit are curiously themed if not that spectacular visually. Just check out the names: The Festering Banquet, Red Hall of Cages, Mire of Stench... Don't you wanna be there right now? A reductionist would claim these are just sets of the same old platforms in different colour schemes, but I think the authors managed to imbue each area with a unique charm. More importantly, unique monsters. Considering how sprawling and intricately looped locations can be, I could surely use a map to orient myself. Alas, there's none, so I had to rely on the rare landmarks and my own mental chart. As accurate as a treasure map drawn by a blind child. Following that map, I lost my souls left and right, getting killed in every dark corner of the world I couldn't always find again.

Dips

And I enjoyed my freedom to do so! Both in terms of RPG elements and the joys of enduring the hardships of a free-roaming adventure. The former are rather basic, so I won't even stop at them for too long. You get your boring skill tree where you invest in nodes that give you stats and class upgrades, allowing you to use better stuff. No interesting perks or anything. Mage, str, faith, dex builds. Flexible, if standard. Be wary, respec points are rare. I played as a paladin, using no shield, relying on one-handed weapons and cleric buffs. Not weak, nor peak. The progression system is nothing to write home about, yet the rest is regulated by plentiful gear and consumables, making it serviceable. Powerful gear, magic, and game-changing rings are dispensed at just the right intervals. Finding a well-hidden stash never ceases to be a cause for celebration. Good stuff. Two things that hinder exploration are wounds and stamina fatigue. Between the bonfires, your health and stamina bars caps lower the more you swing your weapon or take damage. I wouldn't say that dubious addition is crippling since it can be easily mitigated. Just worthless. Much like the real stinkers of the show.

Yeah, we're going for the bosses. Most bosses were a cakewalk even for a scrub like me. I was waiting for them to get punishing, forcing me to learn my class and enemy patterns. It didn't happen, they only got tankier. Some had adds, some had instakill combos, but nothing interesting. There's a ton of bosses, alas, most of them have blurred from my memory. Their mechanics are paper-thin, they all sport extremely limited patterns, being weak to attack spam. At least killing them rewards you with ashes you can use for transmutation. A fancy word for converting your stick into a boss stick. I used it once or twice. In rare cases, you'll see badass designs like the Tree of Men. It is what it says it is, only less sexy. Some wear dubious names. Who called the Disemboweled Husk that? He was so much more than this! A pirate and... well, a pirate. And how can you forget some ghosts with an axe or a... big... brown... guy? Eventually, I stopped remembering their names. The Witch of the Lake was the first one to give me (bullet) hell. Her fight slapped. So did the final boss! And the dragon before him looks badass. But too little too late. Mere 3-5 out of 20+ bosses are decent. The rest popped like bubbles. But hey, not everyone plays to sweat and it makes for a good gateway drug.

Not Just Hollow Souls

Bad bosses and bland progression stop Salt two steps away from greatness. Two and a half if you count the lack of a map. That said, for the dimensions and budget Ska Studios had, some design flaws were to be expected. I think the game played to its strengths competently enough to look past its shortcomings. It's varied and gratifying in other regards, with exploration clearly being the top priority. Seeing how much thought went into building Salt's world, it doesn't seem to be a soulless cash-in on the trend I mistook it for initially. Instead, to me, it was a better substitute than most soulslikes I've seen. Or is it a wannabe? Can't say for sure, it depends on your preferences. I realise that it won't scratch the itch if bosses are the most important ingredient of Souls for you. I have respect for your position, it's understandable. But if you go in looking for a quality metroidvania with light soulslike elements and all the pleasant hustle packed in that combination, Salt and Sanctuary would be a bang for your buck. After all, I enjoyed the game for what it was, and I couldn't put it down for long until I was done. In my easily distracted world, such an engaging loop calls for a strong recommendation. All things considered, Salt is a hollow soulslike. But it's a rock-solid metroidvania.

My curator Big Bad Mutuh

Intimidating at first, but an absolute pleasure to play once you begin to understand and comprehend what type of title it is. Complicated but thrilling. And being able to remote in with a 2nd player is a blast!

It takes a while for you to find your footing in this game. Don't expect it to play like Elden Ring or Dark Souls. But the gameplay is dynamic, rewards curiosity (as well as making you work to satisfy it), and has a lot of stuff that even I missed on my first run. If you want an engaging, semi-grindy, challenging yet doable game that has a great atmosphere, this is the game for you.

Good but easy if you have played Dark Souls games, yet still some hard fights. Game looks great, plays great and has cool mechanics.

Salt and Sanctuary feels like that training montage from Karate Kid except it doesn't end. 10/10 recommend the pain and suffering

Fuck Those Unicorns

I'll start off by saying I'm not the best at soulslikes but always enjoy fighting through them. I enjoyed the moment to moment combat in this game and there are some cool traversal mechanics introduced. However, this game apes the soulslike formula to a fault and has uninteresting lore, garish visuals, abysmal platforming and some bosses/enemies that are more frustrating than challenging.

Perfect execution of the soulslike formula in my opinion, aswell as a nice blend with metroidvania. In fact, the game has a sort of "OG Dark Souls" vibe to it, specifically. One of the most enjoyable experiences i've had with the genre, can recommend to souls fans with 100% certainty.

The gripes i do have with it, are very minor. Such as the shortcuts being kind of useless, both because of their placement, and the fast travel system (they contribute a lot to worldbuilding though). Or maybe the placement of some of the sanctuary's, apart from that though, not really anything else. So again, huge recommendation from me.

I don't like giving this a negative review, really, but for me I a) couldn't get on with the art style and b) felt it doesn't quite do justice to either the Soulslike formula or Metroidvania formula. I went on wanting to play something 'new' and I didn't really get that feeling, instead I felt like I was playing a worse version of other games I've already played.

On the one hand, I had some fun with it for a bunch of hours.

On the other hand, it went on and on. Didn't like the art style. The physics reminded me of the old-school Castlevania games where your dude can't jump at all (but needs to), so felt pretty limiting. Maybe this just isn't my type of game anymore.

Salt and Sanctuary has a solid mix of Dark Souls 1, Dark Souls 2 and classic Castlevania elements. Ultimately it is a solid indie soulslike but with a few important caveats.

Platforming in this game can get really rough as you have limited sight distance, you can’t just tilt the camera down like in Dark Souls to see what might be below you. If the right stick simply moved the camera more that would help, because sometimes you sense you need to drop down but you can’t necessarily tell if the fall will just be damage or death.

Area traversal mechanically works similar to Castlevania 2 and Super Metroid, but yet feels like traversal in Dark Souls 2 especially with the torch mechanics. I personally feel that the torch in particular is done better here than in DS2. The pacing of area traversal feels especially good here.

Combat is essentially a 2D translation of Dark Souls 1’s combat with few notable changes. There is no weapon durability, but then equipment in Dark Souls 1 took a long time to degrade anyways. It also has a certain similarity to Lords of the Fallen 2014 where heavy weapons appear much more viable than faster weapons.

Finally, I initially was having a ton of performance problems with this game, which almost got me to quit. I figured out if I set the framerate cap to the max value, turned V sync on, and set CPU affinity to the last four cores fixed all my stutter issues. Until I did all that, the game stated it was running at 165 fps but looked like far less than 60 fps. I don’t see many other reviews stating issues like mine, so might just be an anomaly with high refresh rate freesync.

With the caveats in mind, I still think that this game is worth the asking price in 2025 of $18 USD. The game would be truly stellar if it didn’t have so many “blind faith jumps” but there is still a solid amount here for the asking price, maybe 25 – 35 hours for a normal first playthrough with plenty of unique areas and lots of differentiated bosses. I was worried it wouldn’t hold up for me after all this time, but I’m glad I was wrong.

Most atrocious level design I have seen in the last decade of gaming. Also, some of the worst bosses I have ever seen in gaming, such as Tree of Men.

While the premise of the game sounds cool (2D Dark Souls), it fails to understand that thoughtlessly copying 1:1 designs and entire mechanics from Dark Souls does not mean they will work as successfully in a 2D world.

As if that was not enough, the game balance is out of whack, even on the enhanced mode of combat, which supposedly was released to help with balancing the game. 2-handed ultra class weapons, having the same or almost the same attack speed as small weapons, while dealing 3-4 times more damage and having triple the reach is absolutely something that should not exist in a game such as this.

Finally, the game cannot decide if it wants to be Dark Souls, Castlevania or Hollow Knight, and thus, it fails at getting close to any of them. So, just go play any of those!

this is the closet metroidvania to soulslike i have played, i love the combat and the atmosphere of the game. there are some bosses that are wacky but overall the game is lit!

This game is the soulslike most directly similar to dark souls 1 that I have played. It is the mechanics/inventory/logic of dark souls translated 1 to 1 in a 2D metroidvania. It also has more modern conventions that give it some better QOL than dark souls, like earlier better fast travel, seamless perfectly implemented co op, a skill tree instead of a DS1's level up system. The co op is the main pull for me with this game as I am always looking for RPGs or complex games that have "perfect" local co op, meaning a complex game where both players can do everything, and this game fits the bill 100%.

I am playing the game in full co op and it is perfectly implemented. Both players make a character and then one invites the other to their world. Both players can level up, change inventory, buy upgrades, get items etc. If the host dies the co op partner can keep playing and there is no resummoning nonsense. This system can definitely be exploited to make the game easier and it is really fun.

Ranged and magic builds seem 100% viable and more accessible than dark souls. I think they are especially good in co op where 1 player plays traditional melee and tanks, and then the other puts out ranged DPS. This makes bosses a lot easier and is a good way to go if either player is not good at soulslike combat.

The 1 to 1 with dark souls also means there are familiar dark souls frustrations that may turn people off. The runbacks and bonfire placement are probably the worst part of the game and what will turn people off the most. There are much less bonfires like in DS1 so you often have to do runbacks to bosses. There is one section earlier in the game where you have to do a runback through what is effectively a poison swamp w/archers, and then complete a simple timed platforming segment. If I was playing single player I might have quit the game at this section. The game is also very dark and grey and it is sometimes very difficult to see enemies and trap, especially on your first run through an area.

I have only played a little bit of the game so far, (defeated first 2 bosses) but I think I can 100% recommend as a fun co op experience. If you are only playing single player I think the game would be much more frustrating and difficult and you should probably have some soulslike exp already.

A difficult and frustrating experience that is far more trouble than it is worth. The combat is unsatisfying at its best and nonsensical and unintuitive at its worst. I am 2 bosses in (fought 4) and cannot say I have had "fun" at any point. Most enemies are entirely too easy or insufferably annoying. Visibility is terrible and enemies have the ability to spawn out of the ground with no warning and attack immediately. In my nearly 2 hours of playing, falling to my death has accounted for 90% of my deaths. For some reason, the devs decided that lots of platforming in a game with a single jump and slow movement while bats and archers antagonize you constantly would be an interesting and fun challenge.

I get the sense that fast and light characters are the only ones that this game was designed for. My sword and board character swung far too slow and at seemingly random intervals. If an enemy attack hit, it always stunned me and stopped my attack. Perhaps heavier armor would stop this, but I did not have the patience to find out. Faster attacks would give the player and actual chance to hit and probably more opportunities to dodge at a reasonable time. Presumably it would help a lot with the platforming too.

I really wanted to like this game. I know this is a small indie dev team and not a lot can be expected, but I simply cannot recommend this game for anything less than free.

when the salt is stored in a sanctuary, i gotta make sacrifice to get it.

Would've been so much more enjoyable if they had added a map, but still, this feels like a lesser version of DS1&HollowKnight, and that is actually a compliment.

Many people call it a "2D Dark Souls," and it truly feels like Dark Souls has been directly translated into 2D. On the downside, the 2D world makes navigating the world and its map design much more intricate than expected. On the upside, it's impossible not to have fun.


2D 다크소울.

Extremely junky (platforming), simple "metroidvania" with combat focus. Satisfying gameplay, even with some weird balance decisions (Bitch of the Lake took me around 50 tries, while final boss took me 3 tries). Playable in 2025 only if you like games like this and know what to expect.

I wrote this review a few times in a few levels of tilt because damn it, you were so close. It's frustrating how much I want to like this game, but I just hate so many of your systems here. Enemies being able to auto tackle me with some Street Fighter II CPU levels of BS? Every attack having hit priority on me no matter how I build? Flying enemies being able to just pass through my character even though I can't pass through enemies? Blind falls? Mega Man II disappearing platform segments? Full on "we're so troll lol hweh hweh" traps at the end of platforming puzzles? Getting rag dolled if you dare to jump, but having no payoff for the risk? Broseph, this shit isn't endearing, it's annoying. I realize you've made other games (even another game in this series), but it makes me so effing mad how close you got to a legitimately good game. The vibe is great, I love the art, but the game itself is kind of miserable, and not in a "hit me harder, daddy" way like I normally enjoy.

It's a solid game made by two people that is more in depth than many AAA titles I've played. It's Dark Souls in Metroidvania form, and it is executed beautifully. Wife and I have been playing this game for years and we can't get enough.

twas a magnificent game. there was a calling... i answered.

2D Metroidvania with Souls-like elements. Stats, gear, and skill tree take a little getting used to but again, it's a souls-like. Fun game.

Perfectly Salted

Salt and Sanctuary is an amazing well polished game. Its a metroidvania with more souls-like elements where class, play style and traversal can all be determined by the players decisions.

It wears it strengths and weaknesses like a badge of honor and rightly so. The fish people style of art is unique. The religions and lore are deep and the world is littered with small jokes that use simple in game physics to make you think about combat and game play. Every biome has atleast 1 boss and is hauntingly beautiful and singular in its appeal. The RPG elements are well thought and tested and work perfectly to create fun, active gameplay.

If you want a souls-like metroidvania with fun game play, deep lore for not one but multiple playthroughs, I'd recommend Salt and Sanctuary.

I really like this game. For me, this is the best 2D soulslike like game with its own unique mechanics. Atmosphere also is really tasty. I do not like some platforming levels though. Team should be focusing on building Salt and Sanctuary 2 with not too difficult platforming with more boss designs and area details.

Salt and Sanctuary is sidescrolling platformer. Atmosphere and game world itself is cruel, bleak and desaturated. Players face against plethora of monsters, beasts and undead. Game poses a challenge by making players to learn enemy attack patterns and making jumps between platforms that can get harder than the actual enemies. There are plenty of unique bosses to fight, gear to find and upgrade. Game has plenty of melee weapons to choose from, some ranged weapon options, spells/prayers.
- Monsters are varied and change with each location. Most of the enemies have certain item drop pool and are farmable.
- All bosses have their unique attacks, combat rhythm, strengths and weaknesses.
- Game is hard. Saves are made on death and sanctuaries serve as checkpoints and area reset. It doesn't get much easier with a high level character and good gear but the game doesn't require to play like a pro. Players can take a beating, deal fast and heavy damage, exploit weaknesses and environment, make fool of enemies.
- Combat is mostly fair but enemies can stunlock, traps can push of the ledges.
- Experience is salt, currency - gold.
- Players temporalily lose all their salt upon death. Revives cost a percentage of gold carried at the moment of death. Getting revenge on the killer without dying gives back all the salt previously lost, but dying again - salt is lost permanently.
- Common enemies respawn upon area reset, bosses don't. Game encourages players to farm for salt, gold and items.
- Game indirectly suggests that it is best to spend resources when required ammounts are gathered for level up, upgrading and trading, so that those recourses wouldn't go to waste on death.
- Game world can be difficult to navigate. I would suggest to use fextralife wiki while playing. "Game progress route" in particular.
- Players equipment consist of 4 piece armor set, 4 rings, main and secondary weapon with a charm slot. They can use heals, weapon buffs, throwables, cast spells and prayers to buff themself and deal damage. Most of the gear can be upgraded.
- Heavy armor provides good resistance against physical attacks and stagger, while light armor have better stats against elemental attacks like fireballs, lightning, etc. Shields can block a barrage of elemental projectiles completely if wielders stamina doesn't get depleted to zero.
- There are secret items to find. Some areas need returning to.
- Skill tree is mostly stats and masteries to access higher level items.
- Going above 50 in single stat gives less improvement than before. Respec is available in small quantity of points.
- PVP exist. It can be done by making an offering of Stone Sellsword at the shrine. I have never tried it.
- There are no voice acting. Story is delivered in dialogues and can be ignored if not wanted.
- There are some things sought after by certain players. Most of the common enemies can be pushed of ledges or into traps by running into them. Certain player attack animations can be canceled and skipped. Some item combinations are pretty op (e.g. poison damage and glaives). Far sides of boss areas can be exploited. Monster hits can launch players through climbable platforms.

Game is great. First playthrough with equipped items fully upgraded took 26 hours. Second - 16 hours.

Fantastic early game gives way to just endless horrible programmed platforming. As a huge metroidvania and Dark Souls fan I WANTED to like this, I've tried multiple times to get into it, but it is just held back by a developer who didn't understand that the way they designed (and then heavily relied upon) platforming was BAD. Which explains the lack of success in the sequel, the devs didn't understand what they actually did right.

Very fun game. It has some serious inspirations as a metroidvania and soulslike, but I'd say it's neither in truth.

It's its' own thing, Ska Studios made an amazing game and should be proud.