Review for Salt and Sanctuary. Game for Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One, the video game was released on 15/03/2016 The version for PC came out on 17/05/2016 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 02/08/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 06/02/2019
Already available on PC, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, the Salt and Sanctuary ship also lands on the Microsoft store of Xbox One thanks to the port created by BlitWorks. Salt and Sanctuary is nothing more than a hybrid between the souls-like and metroidvania genres: shares with the first that mystery about the plot, characters and game mechanics, while from the second it draws heavily on the action-platform component. We had already indicated it in the PS4 review but here we repeat it: Ska Studios, a Seattle team consisting of only two elements, succeeds with the few means available in order to create a small 2D cult title.
A ship in storm, a princess on board and the mission to escort her to an enemy kingdom where a marriage of convenience will establish a long-coveted peace. Then the boarding, pirates, blades, blood and chaos. But it is no coincidence, in fact the princess will be kidnapped by the brigands of the sea and our attempt to stop the catastrophe will be thwarted by the appearance of a sprawling monster of Lovecraftian memory. Needless to say, our story does not end here: we will wake up alive and unharmed on a mysterious beach in a land unknown to us.
From here our true mission will start, no longer of an empty soul but of a brave warrior in search of a princess, as in the most classic fairy tale, and to the discovery of a hostile territory but which will also make us meet precious allies and, above all, will reveal the importance of faith. The plot is simple but at the same time complex, since it will be the player's responsibility to understand and deepen the lore behind Salt and Sanctuary.
The beginning of Salt and Sanctuary closely resembles the From Software titles, too much to be honest. We will in fact customize our protagonist by choosing physical and somatic traits, albeit in a limited way, deciding the class (warrior, paladin, thief, magician and so on) with relative starting equipment. Done that we will find ourselves wandering around in apparent freedom, slicing the unfortunate and obtaining the precious salt in exchange, until we meet the first sanctuary, where we will find refreshment and we can not only increase the level but also evoke, through artifacts, characters useful for our purpose.
Specifically, we will be able to take advantage of the services of various merchants, blacksmiths and mercenaries, the latter able to start a cooperative mode locally. The sanctuaries can be voted to one of the seven creeds available in Salt and Sanctuary, each of which characterized by its own peculiarity that will also affect the various merchants that can be evoked within the sacred place.
Very interesting in this context, even if in some ways chaotic, is the skill tree that replaces the classic role sheet of the character and will allow us to spend the skill points obtained with the level pass. In this regard it should be noted that Salt collected from defeated enemies will easily be lost if killed in battle, so it will be good to spend it wisely and with timing so as not to run the risk of seeing all our efforts frustrated. However, there is no need to despair: returning to the point where one's life was lost will make it possible to recover the lost salt. But be careful: if before recovering the booty we go to perish again (under the blows of an enemy or because we have fallen from a chasm) we will say goodbye definitively. To this deja vu is added another: it is the combat system, which provides two types of cut, the classic parade as well as the possibility of equipping various sidearms or throwing weapons, objects, armor, rings and accessories.
So far it seems to be playing a title from the Souls series in 2D, but that's not all: the platform component is fundamental in our explorations where to jump, grab a ledge, avoid traps and pull levers will help us to continue on our path. Apart from this feature, there is a single other element that makes Salt and Sanctuary think as a metroidvania and that is to be able to reach certain areas only after learning a particular skill, while for the rest it will be enough to defeat the various bosses ( and there are really many) to obtain the precious and necessary keys capable of opening new areas.
The difficulty level of Salt and Sanctuary stands at very high levels, both for the ease with which you can lose your life and for the difficult boss fights that we are going to face, the real heart of the title. However, it will not be difficult to learn the "turns" of the enemies, in consideration of the limitations given to the depth of the two dimensions, and so we will find several repetitive battles despite the excellent customization work of the various enemies. But the fight will not be the only difficult element for the player, in fact we will have to pay a lot of care in the jumps, in the holds and paying attention to the traps scattered in the various game environments. All these elements guarantee an excellent longevity to the title, which will be able to entertain even the most experienced players for many hours.
Although the graphic level of Salt and Sanctuary is of low caliber and does not represent the surplus of 2D art, there is a certain inspiration in the creation of the various game areas, in which the sense of mystery and gothic is easily appreciated thanks to the care for the details and the excellent play of light and shadow in which we will move, assisted in some cases by the precious torches. In general animations are fluid, especially in violent executions, and the game moves very well. However, we have noticed a response that is not always reactive to the commands, which is somewhat annoying both in the most demanding fights and in the exploration phases on high platforms. The great atmosphere of the Ska Studios title is finally completed by a soundtrack that is the background to the most epic sections of the title as well as the effects, simple but limited, and which adequately completes the picture of the Salt and Sanctuary audio sector. Lastly, the complete and finally adequate localization in Spanish of the various menus, texts and all the information scattered around the game world must be mentioned.
Ska Studios gives us a game so unoriginal that it captures us for the extreme peculiarity of the dark environments, the frequent splatter executions and able to guarantee us many hours of fun alternating with moments of great frustration, and that's what we expect from a title in pure souls-like style. Closed one eye on the all too retro graphics, on the controls that are not always excellent and on certain repetitive situations, Salt and Sanctuary manages to break through and add a fundamental piece to the already vast indie catalog on Xbox One.
► Salt and Sanctuary is an Adventure-indie-Platform-RPG type game developed and published by Ska Studios for Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One, the video game was released on 15/03/2016 The version for PC came out on 17/05/2016 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 02/08/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 06/02/2019
