Hollow knight X Dark souls

More entertaining than what I expected. Amazing map and great variety of weapons. Worth playing.
Note to souls-like players: the oonga boonga strategy is ridiculously overpowered.

Yes

TL; DR Definitely a great game, it has atmosphere, build variety, punishing gameplay, interesting areas to explore, and jumping puzzles. Certainly not for everyone but a must-play if you like a bit of challenge, or if you do not mind getting a bit salty.

Note there is co-op, but only through Remote Play Together, only the host needs to own the game, but only the host’s characters can be used.

You have been charged with escorting the Princess, to take her across the seas to her betrothed, and to put your kingdoms to peace. What a shame that you fail in your duties, the vessel is attacked by pirates and an unspeakable horror, there is nothing you can do, the ship is shattered to splinters but you do not drown, you reawaken on a strange, unfamiliar shore…

I really like Salt and Sanctuary, it has a short but captivating introduction and quickly envelopes you in the mysteries of the island. Where are you, how did you get here, how does this island exist at all, these are one and all good questions and your only hope of finding any answers is by setting out on a journey to the other shore and to the very depths of the isle.
It draws inspiration from certain other titles, and asks you to make connections, pay attention to dialogue, and read descriptions to fully understand the lore, however, the actual narrative is a lot more transparent. Yes, it is missable but Salt and Sanctuary makes an effort to draw your attention to the most important NPCs and the information you need to understand the most fundamental questions.

Another thing in Salt and Sanctuary is all the company you get, you have various NPCs on their own quests, some not too different from yours, but you also have a set of smiths, merchants, and other vendors in each Sanctuary.
It is always great to see friendly faces, especially when the rest of the world is filled with so much hostility, therefore it feels so welcoming to return to a Sanctuary, even if they are filled with nameless NPCs. It is also a nice touch that each Creed has their own views and values, because that can give each playthrough its own flavour, especially if you feel like roleplaying a bit.

Salt and Sanctuary was made by Ska Studios, so it has the Ska Studios art style, and I like that. There are so many cool designs, frightful monsters, tortured souls, and bloated corpses, and everything is so consistently the same style that it immerses you and you can feel like a part of the world, even though it is a far cry from appearing realistic.
It uses darkness, murkiness, muddied and damped tones to sell an atmosphere of a washed out, strange isle in the middle of the ocean. Surprisingly, the areas are very diverse, it is a mishmash of different climates, and ecosystems which ensures that there is always something more to see, and that it can be wildly different from what came before.
This all serves to give Salt and Sanctuary a sombre beauty, and that is an achievement when so much of the game is morose greyscales.

The score is also good, they make use of electric guitars to create tense but thrilling moods, while other songs are more imposing, and even the song that plays in the Sanctuary, where you are safe, feel apprehensive and melancholic. I like all of this but there is one issue, repetition, there are unique themes, but areas and bosses have two repeated tracks each, the only difference between one and the other are slight variations such as the tempo, this means that bosses, and areas lack identity.
The only exception is the final boss, and the associated area, those are by far the best songs in the game, they are fantastic on their own, but it also upends that lack of identity and makes the entire thing even more memorable because it sticks out without any effort at all. That could not have happened if each had their own unique songs, so in summary, I do not know if the repetition works in Salt and Sanctuary’s favour or not.
What I do know is that I think the sounds are great, especially the screams of agony, the throes of death, and the hiss as bosses die and salt gushes forth from their carcasses.

Salt and Sanctuary can be a bit bemusing, finding the Princess seems like a good start but you have no leads, so you explore without a clear idea of your goals, forcing you to rummage through room after room, however, the game does do a good job at funnelling you to new areas, and new abilities, so it all manages to feel very natural. The fact that it can be confusing works in the game’s favour and reinforces the fact that you are in a strange and mysterious land.
It helps that exploration is fun, many places have unique enemies and challenges, rewarding you with neat equipment, interesting problems, and enjoyable encounters. The world is also very interconnected, with several alternative paths to reach a given area, as well as secret locations, which encourages you to revisited, and reexplore, especially after receiving new movement abilities.
You might also find yourself drawn to certain Sanctuaries, filling them with important NPCs, buffing the entire region and spreading your Creed!

As for its combat, it is very deliberate, and pretty slow. You need to manage your stamina and keep an eye on your opponents and their movements. If you make a mistake Salt and Sanctuary is quick to punish you, nor will you be able to survive too many hits, but you are also given plenty of tools to alleviate the harshness and put a fight in your favour.
Enemies are quick to stagger, and since their attacks are easily memorised, you can get in massive, and satisfying counter, seeing enemies fly off after a great hit, feels extremely good. Not to mention that you have tons of weapons, Creed exclusive equipment and a number of spells to make each playthrough unique and interesting, Salt and Sanctuary’s moment-to-moment gameplay is brutal and feels great.
You can exemplify this with the boss fights, generally simple movesets with attacks that can be avoided or exploited in numerous ways, they are fun to figure out and to beat. A few of them act a bit clumsily but most of them feel perfect for this sort of game, so beating a good boss is always great, but especially so when you struggled with it, however, a couple of bosses feel a bit frustrating…
Salt and Sanctuary has jumping puzzles, they are often fun, but I quite dislike bosses that pair platforming with instant death, and Salt and Sanctuary does do that. It is only one boss, but it can be very difficult for certain builds, and certain players, but more importantly it is simply not fun. That is why the Tree of Man is the worst boss in the game, even if other bosses like the Witch of the Lake are more difficult.
There are other platforming challenges with instant death falls, and while they are often optional, they are also worthwhile to do. Just remember to spend your gold before you attempt them as you might find yourself completely broke if you die too much.

Another kind of tree is the skill tree, and Salt and Sanctuary’s skill tree is so large that it feels overwhelming. There are so many paths, and nodes, that new players will not know what to do, therefore the most important thing is figuring out what sort of character you want to play as. As soon as you have a weapon type picked out things will clear up and you can focus on that as you make your way through the massive skill tree, but it is always important to increase your healing capacity.

I've platinated this game 3 different times: on PS4 when it first came out as an exclusive, on Switch and EGS..
My controversial opinion is that this is the best Soulslike "not made by Fromsoftware" ... that includes games like Lies of P, Lords of the fallen (both versions), The Surge, and a ton of 2D games that mix soulslike and metroidvanias (Blasphemous, Hollow knight, Death's gambit, Dark Devotion, Vigil, Shrouded in sanity.... i've played so many of these games...).
While i do 100% realise that many of the above games have certain aspects that are done infinitely better compared to this title, especially when it comes to crucial aspects of these games (EG: the bosses, which in this game unfortunately can be made either a complete joke or a frustrating mess due to animations which lack visual feedback)
however what elevates it above them is what i consider my favorite aspect of these games, which developers outside of FROM often miss:
The world. Both thematically and architecturally.
I am of the opinion that this game comes the closest out of any other to the gold standard represented by Dark Souls 1. The interconnection is present and meaningful, and in these games unfortunately compromises are often made. If the game is vast, then the interconnection is made meaningless (E.G Lords of the Fallen 2023, which has a vast and well interconnected world...that you barely notice because you can port at any bonfire from the start)
My first playthrough of this game lasted around 75 hours, despite the game being easily completed in 20-30...that's because the abundance of secrets was so vast that i constantly had the sensation that "there could be something else down there", and the joy of being able to verify that i found all on my own...that's my favorite part of these games. Nothing else comes close.
When i talk about world i also mean the themes and lore of the world, and in that regard Salt & Sanctuary is also a master in it's own right.
It tells the story of a very weird, ambiguous and ephemeral world, which by the end leaves you with questions of which the answers you're gonna have to interpret for yourself, without leaving you the sense that it's all meaningless.
I reccomend this game with all my heart to anyone who likes Metroidvania-Soulslikes even in the slightest

Salt ✅

god i need to finish this game, but damn do i love parry mechanics

2D Souls-Like. The combat and rpg elements are very good - but the world design is what is standout here. Few games inspired by the From Software's series manage to emulate their interconnected, rich worlds. Salt and Sanctuary's world feels rich and alive - each area has an incredible sense of place and purpose - and players will learn how each area relates to one another as they explore. The metriodvania mechanics contribute well.

The post-rock music is really cool if only there was more...

Really Good Game

i decided to check it out bc i love the dishwasher series, and im interested in playing other games by ska studios. it's definitely different than most i've played, as im used to just running through games without caring much about builds or focusing on the perfect skills and weapons for my character... eventually found out how important it is in this game if i actually want to get somewhere. it's overall pretty addicting, and a fun and interesting game. most people's complaints are that there is no map, but i expected such based on my experience of the dishwasher games. if that's something you don't like, though, you might find this to be a bit annoying sometimes. please still give it a try, though. overall, i really like this game so far. i've never played dark souls before and i really hope to, but i suck at playing games lol so im hoping to play this to ease myself into playing it... which was good thinking considering i didn't level up my character at all before battling the sodded knight. again, i suck at games.

im rambling now. tldr; awesome game. addicted.