Salt and Sanctuary Review

Ladies and gents, prepare yourselves for a truly unique view of Salt and Sanctuary. A bold claim, true, but if you have read other reviews for this particular title you will have noticed the same comparison thrown out time and time again: The Souls series. It seems impossible to look at Salt and Sanctuary without thinking of FromSoftware’s world-dominating games of legendary difficulty and distinct style. How then can you expect any different from myself? Simple. I have never played any of the Souls games. Down pitchforks! I’m not proud of it, but it is the situation we find ourselves in, and for once it puts me at an advantage as I could play through Salt and Sanctuary with a clear and open mind. So let’s get to it, shall we?

As a starter for ten, let’s look at the tone of the game. Ska Studios have gone for an intriguing 2D art style with a great big dollop of darkness thrown into the mix, which affords the title a unique look which allows the player to really focus on the backdrop and appreciate the smaller details that are to be found. I found myself likening the dimly-lit setting and horrifying array of perils to Limbo, which incorporated a similar 2D style to great and terrifying effect. The grim atmosphere also ties in well to the game’s story, which pits you as a shipwrecked sailor traversing a hostile land full of all manner of nasty’s just waiting to make a corpse of you. Music is used sparingly, and can be heard only during boss battles and while in the comfort of your sanctuary. Outside of these occasions, you’re left alone with the sounds of the world, the whispering wind and your own heavy footsteps providing the soundtrack to your adventure until you hear the horrid moan or cry of an enemy waiting to kill or be killed. The ability to create and customise your character is one which I yearn for in every game I play, and Ska Studios did not disappoint with the initial character creation providing a nice array of options for appearance and class. While not the most in-depth customisation process you will find, it does very well for the minimalist style and I particularly liked that rather than choose a skin colour for your character, you instead select their land of origin which influences their complexion. Once the game has commenced, you are also able to select the religion followed by your character, with each faith bringing unique gameplay benefits to the table.

“gruelling battles which take your character to the edge”

The enemies on display are varied and sufficiently challenging. A wide array of artistic influences are obvious to see within the enemy designs, from standard bandits and zombies to Lovecraftian horrors which wouldn’t look out of place at a Cthulhu family reunion. Battling this veritable smorgasbord of ne’er-do-wells and supernatural nasties provides a suitably meaty level of difficulty, with the more common enemies requiring minimal effort to dispatch while the big bad monstrosities you will come up against will send your broken body back to your sanctuary time and time again unless you prepare yourself adequately. These sanctuaries serve as safe havens and checkpoints within the game world, and you will be glad to see them after gruelling battles which take your character to the edge. Each sanctuary comes with additional benefits also, as you are able to fill them with allies such as sellswords, merchants and blacksmiths who will all prove invaluable as you progress. The various items and weapons you will obtain from the latter two will certainly come in handy throughout your quest, with throwing daggers and bombs allowing you to cause some chaos at range while the standard health items are always a must-have in a game such as this. Plus, who doesn’t love an upgrade to their base weapon?

If you want to level up yourself and your weapons and armour though, you’re going to need salt. Salt is the currency used within the game to upgrade your character and your abilities, and trust me when I say you’re going to need it. Once you have sufficient salt I would recommend heading straight back to your sanctuary, as when you die your salt is left behind.

“god help any poor soul that comes between a Scotsman and his sodium”

And guess who has to go get it back? If you’ve played ZombiU before, you’ll know exactly what the score is. If you are killed by an enemy, you’ll have to head back and kill them to take back their ill-gotten grains (forgive me Father, for I have punned) while falling to your death requires a trek to wherever you went splat to defeat the monster that your salt has manifested into to reclaim it. Personally I loved this mechanic, as I found myself with a vendetta against whichever unlucky undead sonamagun (to quote the immortal Santino Marella) had decided to pilfer my salty goods, and god help any poor soul that comes between a Scotsman and his sodium.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the world’s first Souls-comparison-less review of Salt and Sanctuary! Don’t let the similarities within a game cloud the experience for you, as this is a quality product with solid gameplay, unique visuals, intense enemy battles and a dark, foreboding tone that any DC Universe director would kill for. So pick up your sword, gather your salt and do not go gentle into that good night.