The Impact Factor

Supreme Architect

Review

Salt and Sanctuary, Ska Studios (PS4)

Abstract: Salt and Sanctuary is a 2D action-platformer with heavy role-playing game and metroidvania influences. Sold to players as “2D Dark Souls,” Salt and Sanctuary had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, the game met and even exceeded expectations. Salt and Sanctuary skillfully reimagines Dark Souls as a 2D adventure, including hallmarks of the prestigious franchise as well as bringing something new to players. Great combat, punishing difficulty, organic world building and masterfully designed platforming can be found throughout. A few gameplay missteps detract from the final experience, but taken as a whole, Salt and Sanctuary is a remarkable experience that’s well worth playing.

You awaken in a dimly lit room. You’re at sea, aboard a wooden ship buffeted by a turbulent storm. A quick walk down the hallway and you find yourself greeted by a worried looking sailor. Out of nowhere, an assassin comes out of the dark and ends his life in one fell swoop. A bloody display. You were among a group of individuals tasked with protecting a princess in her diplomatic journey across the ocean—your country’s last best hope at peace. Slicing your way through the swashbuckling assassins brings you to the deck of the ship, soaked by the rain’s heavy downpour and enveloped by the all-encompassing blackness of night. In front of you stands something unbelievable. In front of you stands a towering eldritch horror, with hulking arms and flowing tentacles. It’s The Unspeakable Deep. You’re taken out in one hit, only to awaken shipwrecked on a gray, fog-enveloped island. Your journey has truly begun. Prepare to die.

Welcome to Salt & Sanctuary.

That is how the player is introduced to the world of Salt and Sanctuary, a 2D action-platformer from Ska Studios. Salt and Sanctuary comes from an incredibly small independent studio—a husband and wife. The first game in PlayStation’s annual Spring Fever promotion, now titled “Launch Party,” Salt and Sanctuary amassed an eager fanbase as the game was gradually revealed to the public. A lot of that initial excitement at least, stemmed from the game’s clear inspiration: Dark Souls. The developers themselves sold Salt and Sanctuary as a “Soulslike,” a game that draws thematic, world-building and gameplay inspirations from the hugely influential Souls series. I’ve written quite a bit about my love for the Souls series here on The Impact Factor. The term “Soulslike” is new, and one I expect we’ll see with increasing frequency as the industry moves forward. But what are the tenants of a “Soulslike”? If Salt and Sanctuary and the Souls games are any indication it’s (1) a simple but mechanically complex combat system, (2) punishing difficulty based upon pattern recognition and self-improvement, (3) organic world-building through sparse characters interactions, environmental hints, and/or item- and boss-based cues. Ska Studios, through Salt and Sanctuary, intended to make a 2D version of Dark Souls. Did they succeed? Unequivocally yes. And it’s truly remarkable.

Derived from a now fairly long lineage of Souls games, the story of Salt and Sanctuary only gradually makes itself clear as you progress throughout the game. After washing up on The Shivering Shore your objective isn’t clear. You need to move forward. Your quest is part finding a way to get off this foreboding island and part figure out what exactly is happening in this increasingly mysterious place. A short stroll finds you surrounded by undead ghouls as they participate in their festering banquet. It’s clear that there is evil on this island. An evil you’ll have to fight. Perhaps the same evil behind the attack on your boat? As you get further into the game, the true vastness of the island is revealed. There’s a gargantuan ziggurat, a dark woods, a floating castle, a laboratory. The geography is diverse and confusing, but it all fits together. It’s the work of an evil architect, one that’s supremely powerful. I won’t get much more into Salt and Sanctuary’s story in part because it’s worth discovering for yourself and in part because I’m still trying to piece together what all transpired. Suffice to say the narrative is enough to keep the player moving and the world is fascinating enough to keep you hooked.

Explore the world and meet new people. Well, death and monsters mainly.

The core facet of your experience in Salt and Sanctuary, or any Souls game for that matter, is the gameplay. Souls games have been widely praised for how expertly crafted their gameplay systems are. As I have written before, the Souls games “exude complete confidence in every single design decision.” Dark Souls and Bloodborne are masterclasses in excellent game design. So I felt it only fitting to spend the bulk of my review writing about the gameplay in Salt and Sanctuary.  I want to preface my discussion by saying that I am writing from the perspective of someone who is deeply passionate about the Souls games. As someone who scrutinizes the minute details of how I interact with the games. Ska Studios willingly brings comparisons of their title to Dark Souls by selling Salt and Sanctuary as a 2D Souls game. Therefore, even more so than in my other gameplay-focused reviews, I will be more specific and severe in my analysis of Salt and Sanctuary’s gameplay mechanics. I owe that much to a “Soulslike.”

Let’s start with talking about combat, the first hallmark of a Souls game. It’s what you’re engaging with for a majority of your roughly 15-20 hour first playthrough. Salt and Sanctuary’s combat is excellent. Attacking is fast and fluid, but always thoughtful. Every action, attacking or jumping, requires stamina. Stamina is represented by a green bar below your health. You need to wait between attacks to allow your stamina to regenerate which, to be fair, happens quite rapidly. The combat itself is remarkably simple and pulled straight from other Souls games. You need to balance attacks with dodging or blocking, brashness with hesitation while learning enemy attack patterns, and pushing your luck versus stepping away to heal. It’s a dynamic dance of risk and reward that you’ve seen before, but it still works so well. Salt and Sanctuary nails that Souls combat feeling—what you’re doing is simple, but executing your actions perfectly is immensely skill intensive. The combat makes great use of the game’s 2D world, allowing the player to visualize enemies in the 2D space and plan their attack strategy accordingly. See a big brute flanked by two smaller enemies? Try to jump around the map to draw the smaller monsters away to finish them one by one.

Combat in Salt and Sanctuary is deeply satisfying.

Salt and Sanctuary has an incredibly well thought healing item system, keeping it (for the most part) to one “Estus Flask” like restorative item that has a limited number of uses. The uses regenerate upon resting at a checkpoint (sanctuaries). Salt and Sanctuary also has a remarkably clever risk-reward system with wounding & focus. Each time you get hit by an enemy you are wounded, temporarily losing a small portion of your maximum health until you return to a sanctuary. Focus acts a similar way but for your max stamina and it is triggered by casting spells. Both wounding and focus keep you keenly attentive on every moment of gameplay. Get hit too many times before getting to a boss? You’re going to be working with a reduced total health pool that could make the difference between winning and losing. Cast too many spells? Now you not only have to watch when & how you cast spells at the boss, but your ability to roll out of danger is also reduced (it costs stamina!). Wounding and focus add to a solid Souls combat foundation in novel ways and round out an already exceptional combat experience. Hallmark one, check.

Salt and Sanctuary’s combat is not without its faults, however. The chief issue among them is the game’s dodge roll—it just doesn’t one to one translate from 3D to 2D. Rolling is an essential part of the Souls games, as blocking with your shield will often fail you. Overall the roll works well, with telegraphed invincible frames and distance traveled. What doesn’t work, however, is trying to roll around or past enemies. It’s wonky. Because Salt and Sanctuary is a 2D game, rolling past an enemy requires rolling through them. But enemies take up physical space and have their own hitboxes. You cannot be standing in the same place as an enemy, nor walk through them. But it also means that rolling through them (essential for many boss fights) can be hit or miss. Space your roll just slightly incorrectly and you’ll roll into a boss rather than through it. It can lead to frustrating and sometimes cheap-feeling deaths. Not good. Salt and Sanctuary’s combat also has some balance and strategy viability issues too. Fast-hitting low damage weapons are essentially useless with the damage scaling system in place. Heavy hitting weapons like greatswords and greathammers are overpowered, touting little risk with great rewards. Not every weapon has to be equal, but to gain no advantage whatsoever for using a dagger over a greataxe is an issue, albeit small (because I love using giant weapons, per my JRPG heritage).

Using magic won't stop your need to cleanly roll through enemies.
I died a lot by ending up on the wrong side of a monster.

How does Salt and Sanctuary fare when looking at a Souls game’s second hallmark: punishing difficulty based upon pattern recognition and self-improvement? Pretty darn well. Salt and Sanctuary feels like a Souls game. Each new area is nerve wracking and death by silly mistake hides behind every corner. Each new obstacle you overcome leaves you with a sense of elation. You overcame the odds and executed your plan to perfection. All enemies are lethal. One on one you have the advantage, but you’re often pitted against several deadly monsters at once. Monsters and bosses alike have clear patterns ripe for exploitation. Patterns that are essential to memorize if you hope to quickly and efficiently take out your foe. Boss fights are standout in the Souls series and are done well in Salt and Sanctuary too. Bosses range from the grotesque to the dark, from man to monster to everything in between. Visually, bosses are stunning, often placed against dramatic backdrops. Getting better at Salt and Sanctuary does rely on leveling up and improving your weapons and armor, certainly, but even more important is the player’s self-improvement. You are the experience points. I was able to beat 75% of the game on a fresh second playthrough in 3.5 hours because I had gotten better. It is an exceptional, and essential, feeling that I was so happy to see recapitulated in Salt and Sanctuary.

The place where the Souls difficulty begins to stumble, however, is a little over midway through Salt and Sanctuary. The game loses a lot of its challenge. This is due in large part by recycling of enemy and boss attack patterns. It got to the point where I could look at a boss I’ve never seen before and already know how it would attack and how I should dodge. This is where a little more boss diversity would have been nice. There are just too many “big humanlike dude that has 3 attacks.” I can think of no better example than the final boss itself. I beat it on my first try. I’m good at Souls games, but not that good. Neither had I overleveled nor worked too hard to upgrade my weapon. I just looked at the boss and figured (correctly) what its attack patterns would be. The final boss in particular should be the culmination of your experience with the game and a final test of the skills you’ve gained throughout. In Salt and Sanctuary, the final boss (and several others along the way) were a bit of a letdown.

Not as hard as he looks.

The final hallmark, organic world building, Salt and Sanctuary knocks out of the park. Salt and Sanctuary’s lore and island are fantastically rich. Item descriptions are a blast to read, adding to the world at large piece by piece. You meet a few other adventurers throughout your journey, each of whom is interesting and enlightening of the game’s hidden lore. The island itself is standout because it not only facilitates a diverse gaming experience, taking you to varied locations for your adventure, but all of it fits within the larger narrative of the game. The hodgepodge is explained. Even more impressive is the island’s interconnectivity. I got jaw-dropping moments like those I had in Dark Souls or Bloodborne when a shortcut would open, linking two seemingly disparate areas together. Salt and Sanctuary’s map is one huge open world. Discovering every nook and cranny is a joy and you never go unrewarded, be it lore-wise or loot-wise. The world’s design just feels so clever, so well thought out. With no in-game map and a gigantic world you’re tasked with exploring, you’re forced to make a mental map. In the process you deepen your immersion. I got lost in Salt and Sanctuary’s world.

Salt and Sanctuary's world is huge and interesting. And interconnected.
And now I want to go explore some more.

Where Salt and Sanctuary dramatically differs from other Souls titles is in its 2D platforming. Longtime followers of TIF know how much I love my 2D platforming. I’m happy to write that Salt and Sanctuary does it well. The first area teaches you everything you need to know without beating you over the head with it. You very quickly learn your jump arc, height and distance. You can eyeball a jump and just know if you can make it or not. Salt and Sanctuary also teases the player very early on with areas they cannot reach (yet), fueling the excitement in discovering how you’re supposed to get there. I learned as I was playing that Salt and Sanctuary also derives substantial inspiration from metroidvania games. As you play you unlock new movement options that, while not new for the genre, work perfectly in Salt and Sanctuary. Your first unlock is gravity inversion, allow you to interact with strategically placed obelisks throughout the map. Next is the wall jump, which allows nimble back and forths between nearby walls. Movement through the world is consistently satisfying. There are a few challenging platforming sections throughout the game, but never do they hinder exploration. Ska Studio’s 2D pedigree is evident, and it makes Salt and Sanctuary all the stronger.

The platforming feels great, especially when you start getting movement power-ups
(brands). Oh, also the game has local co-op multiplayer. Very cool.

Salt and Sanctuary is also an extraordinarily deep game. There are a huge variety of items, weapons, and ways to approach playing. You can collect boss armor, items that damage your opponent when thrown, dozens of spells, dozens of miracles, and the list goes on. You manage familiar stats like strength and endurance and magic. RPG elements are clear in the micromanaging of player equip burden, attack damage, armor reinforcment, and leveling up your affiliation with a chosen deity (essential for your healing poultice count). Playing using magic is totally different than using heavy weapons. Playing a shield-reliant build is totally different from a fast-roll build. Salt and Sanctuary is designed to appeal to all kinds of players, as you can make it by with as little or a much investment into the game’s depth as you want. My only major issue is the unnecessary Tree of Skill used to increase your character’s stats. Inspired by the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X, the Tree of Skill feels out of place in a Soulslike and is incredibly intimidating at first glance. It could have been reduced to a much simpler system, at least on a visual level.

I love the game's complexity, but come on. Looking at the Tree of Skill is horrifying.

Finally, a few quick nitpicks. As beautiful as the world and monsters are, I never came around to liking how characters look in Salt and Sanctuary. I was elated when I got my first face-covering helmet. The music is pretty weak and recycled a bit too often for boss fights. And just a bit too much in Salt and Sanctuary felt directly lifted from Dark Souls. From aesthetics to UI to stats to everything in between, I wish Salt and Sanctuary had established more of its own identity. All of these complaints are minor, though.

I was blown away by Salt and Sanctuary. How two people made a game so rich, so expertly crafted is beyond me. There’s a depth and sophistication I never expected. The best complement I can don upon Salt and Sanctuary is that the game is exactly what it sold itself to be: 2D Dark Souls. Its scope was ambitious, its goals lofty. A few missteps aside, Salt and Sanctuary achieved an extraordinary level of success. I got to play 2D Dark Souls and I could not be happier. For Souls fans and newcomers alike, Salt and Sanctuary is deserving of your attention. It’s really good.

EDIT: In the days following this review, I couldn't get out of my head that the final score was too low for just how impressed I was with the game (previously 4/5). It's a stellar 2D take on Dark Souls, it continues the legacy of amazing 2D Iga-vania games, it's huge, it's deep, it's smart. So I've revised my final score. My nitpicks were just that, nitpicks, and I would hate for them to impact the legacy of my review here. Salt and Sanctuary is one of the best games this year and my final score should reflect that. Thank you for your understanding.

Salt and Sanctuary

5/5