User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 102 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 102
  2. Negative: 64 out of 102

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  1. May 7, 2023
    2
    Personalmente creo que es la peor secuela que he visto en mi vida en los videojuegos, peor aĂşn que la cagada de Dragon Age 2.
    Y es que la primera entrega, "Salt and Sanctuary" es una obra maestra y una maravilla que me tiene enamorado hasta dĂ­a de hoy, para mĂ­ top 5 en mi global de juegos y me he pasado cientos. Pero esta aberraciĂłn de secuela que ni sigue la trama del primero simplemente
    Personalmente creo que es la peor secuela que he visto en mi vida en los videojuegos, peor aĂşn que la cagada de Dragon Age 2.
    Y es que la primera entrega, "Salt and Sanctuary" es una obra maestra y una maravilla que me tiene enamorado hasta dĂ­a de hoy, para mĂ­ top 5 en mi global de juegos y me he pasado cientos. Pero esta aberraciĂłn de secuela que ni sigue la trama del primero simplemente hace todo mal, cogieron las mil virtudes que tenĂ­a su predecesor y las eliminaron todas. No puedo rescatar nada de esta basura. Menos mal que nada puede cambiar que la primera entrega sigue siendo DIOS.
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  2. Feb 6, 2023
    0
    This really is one of the most disappointing sequels. Stay away from this game!
  3. Dec 24, 2022
    7
    Salt and Sanctuary is probably my favorite game of all time, and I've been playing for a few decades.

    Salt and Sacrifice on the other hand is a mediocre game, it's not more than OK. it is has downgraded the original Salt and Sanctuary in almost every aspect, it's a shame, it just is, a shameful thing. It's only saving grace is local co-op. I'll give it 7/10 as it's OK, but for
    Salt and Sanctuary is probably my favorite game of all time, and I've been playing for a few decades.

    Salt and Sacrifice on the other hand is a mediocre game, it's not more than OK. it is has downgraded the original Salt and Sanctuary in almost every aspect, it's a shame, it just is, a shameful thing.
    It's only saving grace is local co-op.

    I'll give it 7/10 as it's OK, but for those coming from Salt and Sanctuary, get ready for a big let down.
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  4. Dec 14, 2022
    6
    Okay. Let's face it. Salt and Sacrifice is absolute failure as a sequel. There is no seamless map that was in Salt and Sanctuary, game world now split by separated locations which you can access only from hub. Consumables now need to be crafted by ingredients that you must farm. Imagine the situation where you trying to defeat a boss over and over again, which frustrating on it's own butOkay. Let's face it. Salt and Sacrifice is absolute failure as a sequel. There is no seamless map that was in Salt and Sanctuary, game world now split by separated locations which you can access only from hub. Consumables now need to be crafted by ingredients that you must farm. Imagine the situation where you trying to defeat a boss over and over again, which frustrating on it's own but now you losing your health flask, mana flasks or arrows, to restock them you go farm, which adds even more frustration to this proccess. Bossfights are borring, it's been few days as i finished the game and i can't remember most of mages. Now there is no such game mechanic as platforming in the game, because the whole game is platforming now, and it's terrible, enemies just waiting you on platforms to hit you when you jump on it, it's hard to dodge, especialy if platform is very small. I played as a sage and magic in the game is not the best part. Sage can carry "Channeling rod", which is basicly a bow with arcana scaling damage, even farmable ammunition looks like an arrow in inventory. Also Sage can carry dual wield weapon named Stave, which is blade and staff but all spells on it are predefined by stave you are carry, that means you forced to change your stave with your favorite spells to more powrful one just because it has higher tier and can deal more damage. And ofcourse once you run out of magic flasks and arrows, you go melee, and that's the worst part of playing Sage, because stave blade is sooo short that you can't hit anyone before they hit you. Errrh. Okay. Now i can go with some pros. Graphics and design are amazing, 10/10 for my opinion. There is also a feeling of exploration sometimes. Multiplayer over network working good and stable. Hunting mechanic was kinda interesting for me.

    That's not the Sequel that we were waiting for.
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  5. Dec 10, 2022
    5
    i truly don´t know what happened. The first one was awesome but this?!
    Your level up is completly given, gameplay became worse. It is not rewarding at all. I don´t know. Simply doesn´t feel good. Even the base is unnecessary big so you have to walk around for minutes to prepare. I´m sorry, but this is only for heavy souls like dyhard fans that have played about 20 others before
  6. Nov 4, 2022
    0
    Worst game ever made. Every mechanic from Sanctuary has been made worse. patches have improved nothing other than the 100% bs juggling. Most tedious thing I've ever played.

    I suggest that everyone do what most of use are doing and boycott, and ban any current and future games that these devs make.
  7. Sep 25, 2022
    6
    I enjoyed it at the start but the more I played the more frustrated I got with cheap enemies and annoying, vertical level design.

    Date Completed: 2022-09-25
    Playtime: 18.5h
    Enjoyment: 6/10
    Recommendation: I'm on the fence. If you liked the first one, then keep going.
  8. Sep 17, 2022
    2
    How do you f this up so badly? Every single element is a straight downgrade from Salt&Sanctuary.

    All you had to do is to ADD MAP and bunch of new locations/weapons/classes to S&S 1, slap "2" on it and ship it, and everyone would be happy. Why try to reinvent the wheel? Especially when you end up with a square one like this. This feels like a student project of someone trying to
    How do you f this up so badly? Every single element is a straight downgrade from Salt&Sanctuary.

    All you had to do is to ADD MAP and bunch of new locations/weapons/classes to S&S 1, slap "2" on it and ship it, and everyone would be happy. Why try to reinvent the wheel? Especially when you end up with a square one like this.

    This feels like a student project of someone trying to imitate Salt&Sanctuary
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  9. Sep 8, 2022
    1
    Im so devastated that I have to write this review but I need the developer who I admire to correct this for the next game. First I gotta say that Salt and Sanctuary is literally my favorite game of all time and is as close to masterpiece as it gets for me. It shares the throne with Bloodborne and Dark Souls series. So I was friggen beyond excited for Sacrifice but boy was I disappointedIm so devastated that I have to write this review but I need the developer who I admire to correct this for the next game. First I gotta say that Salt and Sanctuary is literally my favorite game of all time and is as close to masterpiece as it gets for me. It shares the throne with Bloodborne and Dark Souls series. So I was friggen beyond excited for Sacrifice but boy was I disappointed actually angry! Wtf did they do to my favorite game and why!? The game sucks in every aspect and is a massive downgrade from Sanctuary. Please Ska dont change something that was beloved by everyone especially for this mish mash of garbage. I dont wanna be a jerk but this is just not the game I fell in love with and it seems the developer doesn't understand what they truly had with Sanctuary. It feels disrespectful almost that they give us this as the sequel totally destroying the legacy of Sanctuary! Please give us a proper Salt sequel like Sanctuary! Expand
  10. Aug 15, 2022
    3
    I was truly shocked how bad this game is as I was really excited for Salt and Sanctuary sequel. Everything related to controls feels so clunky, enemies are constantly stunlocking you, i-frames are non existing, stamina is drained to the point, where you have to choose if you will use it to attack the boss or run to the other end of arena (which is really small) and heal.

    Bosses and
    I was truly shocked how bad this game is as I was really excited for Salt and Sanctuary sequel. Everything related to controls feels so clunky, enemies are constantly stunlocking you, i-frames are non existing, stamina is drained to the point, where you have to choose if you will use it to attack the boss or run to the other end of arena (which is really small) and heal.

    Bosses and their skills are really meh, mage hunting (their teleportation across the location) aspect is annoying and constantly reapeats itself to the point, when it is really not fun at all. The game is split to 5(+1) levels, so there is no one big interconnected world as it was in previous game.

    Map is missing and for leveling, you have to leave the location and lose your progress (if you didn't unlock shortcuts) as leveling can be done only in the hub location.

    The level design is just awful - vertical platformer without double jump (seriously?). But hey! You have grappling hook! Hook targeting and its functionality is awful as well and you should be prepared to die to fall damage. Not only because grappling hook, but also because enemies will be constantly stunlocking you and then throws you 100ft away from the platforms high above the ground.

    However, the art design is really beautiful and it is taking the best from the first game. And as I do quite like farming aspect of the game, it is a plus for me, however, even this could be done better and should be not dependent on constantly teleporting mage-hunts.

    If you enjoyed first game, and expect great metroidvania, do not buy this one, it is totally differen game genre which I would call a action vertical platformer more than anything else.

    I am really, REALLY sad, as I was looking forward to this game since its announcement.
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  11. Aug 12, 2022
    0
    Aviso: NO es una secuela, es un juego de la misma desarrolladora con una cantidad increible de malas decisiones.

    La unica esperanza es que la comunidad de "moders" arregle este desastre, el estudio ya ha demostrado con creces que no tiene ni idea de equilibrar sus juegos.
  12. Jul 20, 2022
    10
    I'm not sure why the reviews are so bad. This game is great. If you are planning to play it as coop, even better. The game is a bit different than the first one. But not that much. Lots of QOL improvments imo. If you enjoyed the last one, you will enjoy this one.
  13. Jun 27, 2022
    4
    Le falta sal se nota que James Silva y Michelle Silva en salt and sanctuary hicieron un mejor trabajo
    además de su dificultad artificial y exagerada y injusta y en salt and sanctuary
    la dificultad estaba justificada y justa sin tener que ponerte 6 enemigos en cada pasillo o 1000 enemigos cargados en una dungeon prefiero la estética de fantasía oscura de sanctuary que la colorida y
    Le falta sal se nota que James Silva y Michelle Silva en salt and sanctuary hicieron un mejor trabajo
    además de su dificultad artificial y exagerada y injusta y en salt and sanctuary
    la dificultad estaba justificada y justa sin tener que ponerte 6 enemigos en cada pasillo o 1000 enemigos cargados en una dungeon
    prefiero la estética de fantasía oscura de sanctuary que la colorida y saturada de magos de sacrifice

    gracias por su atenciĂłn
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  14. Jun 18, 2022
    2
    Dev should have called Salt and Stunlock.
    Fu*k this sh*t; waste of time.
    Salt and Sanctuary 10/10, imo.
  15. Jun 14, 2022
    4
    An ambitious sequel which tried to capture the best of the original and couple it with Monster Hunter and more Dark Souls systems, and failed miserably. The game is frustrating more so than difficult. It feels unbalanced, untested and far more clunky than the original. Many sequels cannot quite live up to the original, and this game belongs in that pile.
  16. Jun 13, 2022
    0
    If i could ask for a refund, i would. Loved first one. This... its just cheap. When you start out, if you get hit, youre almost certainly stunlocked and die. In heavy armor. Mid game is reasonably decent. Towards end, cheapness is even more apparent. They run out of ideas how to make game difficult, so every boss is super spazzy 'if a combo touches you, you die kind of fight'

    Again,
    If i could ask for a refund, i would. Loved first one. This... its just cheap. When you start out, if you get hit, youre almost certainly stunlocked and die. In heavy armor. Mid game is reasonably decent. Towards end, cheapness is even more apparent. They run out of ideas how to make game difficult, so every boss is super spazzy 'if a combo touches you, you die kind of fight'

    Again, loved first game, this, just dont buy.
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  17. Jun 8, 2022
    2
    This really is one of the most disappointing sequels I've ever played. It loses almost every positive aspect from Salt and Sanctuary and replaces them with downgraded mechanics. Overall, it is a step backwards in almost every way. The only thing it retains is a wonderful environment visual style and very cool weapons and armors.

    1. The skill tree: The Sanctuary skill tree allowed you to
    This really is one of the most disappointing sequels I've ever played. It loses almost every positive aspect from Salt and Sanctuary and replaces them with downgraded mechanics. Overall, it is a step backwards in almost every way. The only thing it retains is a wonderful environment visual style and very cool weapons and armors.

    1. The skill tree: The Sanctuary skill tree allowed you to intertwine specialties and change your build from one weapon type to another with minimal fuss which was really wonderful when you found new weapons you wanted to try. The Sacrifice skill tree is incredibly segregated, and to swap weapon types you may as well make a whole new character.

    2. The interconnected world: The Sanctuary world was all connected as one global map with various areas connecting in different ways and shortcuts that would allow you to explore and really enjoy circling back with your newfound abilities. The Sacrifice world is split into smaller worlds that are completely separate that you warp to via a hub.

    3. The enemies and bosses: Salt and Sacrifice enemies are all but completely immune to stagger, which means even with the biggest weapons, you are often forced to trade hits. In a game with minimal healing that is miserable (farming and crafting required). Enemies seem to have infinite stamina and very small counter windows as well.

    3a. The bosses alone are enough of a disappointment to warrant a negative review. Their primary function is to summon a bunch of minions and then teleport away much too quickly. Most often you could hit the bosses a few times between teleports, but this required ignoring or tanking the adds. On top of these downsides: Bosses re-spawn as area enemies - in the same area - with the same mechanics - for you to farm. Farming bosses that were uninteresting the first time is simply not a positive experience, but you must do this in order to acquire the materials to even try unique weapons.

    4. The combat more generally: Issues here were hinted at when discussing enemies, but this game simply doesn't have the impactful and satisfying feel of the combat in Sanctuary. Enemies stagger too little, the player staggers too much (or perhaps rather enemies have abilities to stun-lock), windows are very small especially with heavier builds. This sounds like a complaint rooted in a sense of frustration from a lack of skill, but I've gone back to Sanctuary to compare and it is a night and day difference that seems to serve only to punish the player.
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  18. Jun 3, 2022
    8
    I am so sad when I see the 4.1 score on the site. Yeah sequel is not that good as first game I agree u all but also there are good ideas on the game as well.

    I think this game is born early because of who I dont know!

    I hope third game will be better than even Salt and Sanctuary!

    Best wishes!
  19. May 30, 2022
    0
    This game is so annoying and boring with all this mage hunting thing + absurd boss combo and stamina, also no matter how many times you upgrade your skills you still weak. This game is trivial and from all aspects.
    For many reasons you should not buy SAS: first we miss that gloomy ambience, second the stamina thing is so ***** and annoying that you can't even block and attack or dodge,
    This game is so annoying and boring with all this mage hunting thing + absurd boss combo and stamina, also no matter how many times you upgrade your skills you still weak. This game is trivial and from all aspects.
    For many reasons you should not buy SAS: first we miss that gloomy ambience, second the stamina thing is so ***** and annoying that you can't even block and attack or dodge, third the mage hunting thing is way boring that you have to chase the boss which is repeated many times with different names, fourth there is no sanctuaries to load your play but instead you have to back to the camp and return all the way back when you play again, and last thing is the stupid fight system and moves no heavy attacks but only swinging your sword, also it is almost impossible to farm in order to upgrade your skills!
    Definetly not going to continue with this one, sorry SKA studio but you messed up badly here
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  20. May 27, 2022
    0
    Terrible follow up of Salt and Sanctuary based on Monster Hunter. Worst game I've ever played.

    Most problems that exist in Salt and Sanctuary also exist in this game. Horrible platforming. Most player deaths are caused by this. Salt is dropped at death spot, not before. Stamina regen has been greatly reduced. Patches still haven't fixed this. Stamina regen hold on action like
    Terrible follow up of Salt and Sanctuary based on Monster Hunter. Worst game I've ever played.

    Most problems that exist in Salt and Sanctuary also exist in this game.
    Horrible platforming. Most player deaths are caused by this. Salt is dropped at death spot, not before.
    Stamina regen has been greatly reduced. Patches still haven't fixed this.
    Stamina regen hold on action like jumping, climbing, blocking etc. still hasn't been fixed.
    Stun locking, and juggling are worse than the prequel. The bad stamina system only makes this worse.
    Parrying replaced with a worse perfect block system that is unreliable, and lower parry frame time window. Need multiple perfect blocks to get a riposte. Added boss riposte which I like.
    Boss stun locking, and juggling is terrible. Patches have only made minor improvements to this.
    From a game design, balance 101 prospective bosses only have elemental strengths, and not weaknesses makes no sense.
    No qol features like a map, fast travel etc.
    Game suffers from quantity over quality in gear like the prequel has.
    Ska like a lot of other devs continue the practice of extending a games length with tedious grinding, and crafting.
    Creeds have been replaced with Factions. All of them are multiplayer, and or pvp focused.
    Magic, and incantations have been replaced with a worse weapons art system.
    Weapons have no weight, and shields are tied to Vanguard weapons.
    Gray Starstones are bugged.
    Boss arenas are bugged where you get locked out of boss fights.
    Balance is as bad as the prequel instead it's magic and ranged weapons that are op now.
    Skilltree is back, and worst than the prequel. A simple Dark Soul stat system would of been better.
    Hitboxes are off on stuff like water mage bubbles as an example.
    Healing Flask animation, and regen are too slow.
    Horrible performance with the worst drop inputs I've ever dealt with. At times game was unplayable.
    Game is more luck and rng dependent instead of skill based like the prequel was.
    Game has about 7 patches, but little to nothing has been improved.
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  21. May 26, 2022
    5
    80 hours. 1.0.0.7 is better, but unbalanced mage boss fight and weapon system are frustrating. Ignore all the pros in Salt and Sanctuary. inherit and carry forward all the cons of Salt and Sanctuary. Great job!
  22. May 25, 2022
    3
    I have played all the souls games and the first game. This game is frustrating not hard, you get knocked off all the time, juggled between attacks, stuck in attack loops. There are sooooo many deaths are unavoidable even with enemies spawning on top of the spawn point. This game will drive you mad, the only reason im still playing slowly is because its a local coop game i can play with meI have played all the souls games and the first game. This game is frustrating not hard, you get knocked off all the time, juggled between attacks, stuck in attack loops. There are sooooo many deaths are unavoidable even with enemies spawning on top of the spawn point. This game will drive you mad, the only reason im still playing slowly is because its a local coop game i can play with me partner but we cannot handle more than a few hours on this **** game. My souls mindset does not allow me to give up but wow did the devs try really hard to make you quit for all the wrong reasons Expand
  23. May 24, 2022
    8
    Game actually not bad as some players are trying to show.
    Fair cons:
    -you cannot teleport from each chekpoint -lvl up only in hubs -magic is restricted to weapon arts = Runic arts -unfair Mage hunt in some situations. when you are fighting two mages at once and they just do not give you a chance. -grind same mage bosses. Was not true for me. did not notice any grind. These cons
    Game actually not bad as some players are trying to show.
    Fair cons:
    -you cannot teleport from each chekpoint
    -lvl up only in hubs
    -magic is restricted to weapon arts = Runic arts
    -unfair Mage hunt in some situations. when you are fighting two mages at once and they just do not give you a chance.
    -grind same mage bosses. Was not true for me. did not notice any grind.

    These cons could be fixed in patches, in DLC's etc.
    Dev decided to risk with new concept. I guess this did not go well.
    Let's appreciate it. Good suggestions to Dev are always better than unreasoned low score.
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  24. May 24, 2022
    2
    I loved Salt and Sanctuary. I literally made an account on here just now to tell everyone what a steaming pile of **** this game is. Design choices seem like they were made up my masochistic retards. Want to like but the more I play the more I question what moron made these awful design choices.
  25. May 24, 2022
    0
    Imagine my disappointment when the sequel to one of my favorite games (and imo one of the best Souls-like games since Dark Souls 1) not only goes for Epic exclusivity BeCaUsE mUh 88/12, but also continues that store's tradition of being host to mostly trash. Crying ****ing shame.
  26. May 24, 2022
    4
    Forget Salt & Sanctuary. The Mage hunts are fine. The level design is definitely more polished (at the cost of losing interconnectedness via a main "hub"). Weapon and armor sets are waaaay more visually appealing (plus Runic Arts are a super cool concept). Removal of parrying mechanic in favor of blocking is arguably more rewarding. Farming materials for consumables is... interesting.Forget Salt & Sanctuary. The Mage hunts are fine. The level design is definitely more polished (at the cost of losing interconnectedness via a main "hub"). Weapon and armor sets are waaaay more visually appealing (plus Runic Arts are a super cool concept). Removal of parrying mechanic in favor of blocking is arguably more rewarding. Farming materials for consumables is... interesting. Character creation is... meh. Silver is... pointless? Music is nice! And multiplayer is great.

    So what's bad? The skill tree is even more of a mess, which is super unfun. And weapon/armor balance is, once again, all over the place (Ska Studios' concept of "balance" consists in assigning a bunch of random numerical values to stuff and hoping it sticks, no playtesting needed!).

    Nothing a dedicated modding tool couldn't fix.

    Oh, but then there's "Witch of the Lake" moments in which bosses one-shot you regardless of armor (staying true to Sanctuary fashion, armor is pretty useless so rolling naked is the way to go... again). Some mobs also hit you like a truck. No rhyme or reason.

    And you'll still get flung across the map and into your death... but hey, that's Salt, baby!
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  27. May 23, 2022
    8
    i played "salt and sanctury", i enjoyed it.
    i was getting lost do i play this or not. because, reviews are not so good.
    but, i got it and enjoy it!
    i don't know why user score is so low.
    please play then make score.
  28. May 23, 2022
    1
    Loved the first one.
    This one is like spitting on face. Boring, yes he is Sir.
    Farming you will Do the same lvl X time, fast travel between points that you have already unlock is impossible. UI is terrible, i swear ! Why you thought it will be a good idea to minimize perk tree in little square ?! Avoid this game and return play some monster hunter or Castelvania, you will have a
    Loved the first one.
    This one is like spitting on face. Boring, yes he is Sir.
    Farming you will
    Do the same lvl X time, fast travel between points that you have already unlock is impossible.
    UI is terrible, i swear ! Why you thought it will be a good idea to minimize perk tree in little square ?!
    Avoid this game and return play some monster hunter or Castelvania, you will have a better moment.
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  29. May 22, 2022
    2
    A terrible misstep of a game after the brilliance of Salt and Sanctuary. Every aspect is a step back. Every positive aspect carried over from Sanctuary is watered down and/or ruined. Skill system is lazy. Mage hunts are boring. Hit boxes and physics are garbage. It's inconsistent, unbalanced, glitchy, contrived Salt and Sanctuary light It's as if this half finished piece of trash wasA terrible misstep of a game after the brilliance of Salt and Sanctuary. Every aspect is a step back. Every positive aspect carried over from Sanctuary is watered down and/or ruined. Skill system is lazy. Mage hunts are boring. Hit boxes and physics are garbage. It's inconsistent, unbalanced, glitchy, contrived Salt and Sanctuary light It's as if this half finished piece of trash was released for a quick buck with no further thought behind it. Expand
  30. May 22, 2022
    7
    Salt and Sanctuary has been my favorite 2D souls-like game. But this sequel was a disappointment for me. It was a game like Demons Souls where we went to different maps. The feeling of exploration is weak. There are no invisible walls. There are no secret places. I only like 1 boss. The final boss is very easy. It's good that Mages have variety. But hunting mages gets boring after a while.Salt and Sanctuary has been my favorite 2D souls-like game. But this sequel was a disappointment for me. It was a game like Demons Souls where we went to different maps. The feeling of exploration is weak. There are no invisible walls. There are no secret places. I only like 1 boss. The final boss is very easy. It's good that Mages have variety. But hunting mages gets boring after a while. Chasing mages is very annoying and when other mages get involved, chaos ensues. It can be said that money does not matter in the game. The upgrade items are not sold by the trader, you have to farm them. The worst mechanics in the game are climbing and grapling hook. Most of the time it is difficult to hold on and causes you to die. Graphically, there has been no improvement after 6 years. Some music is good. Art design is good. The variety of weapons is not bad. Expand
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 40
  2. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 29, 2024
    80
    The graphics stick to the boundaries set by its predecessor and only improve and smooth out. Although everything takes place in a dark fantasy world drowning in fog, the depiction of the world in watercolors makes the game almost beautiful. [Issue#319]
  2. Jul 4, 2022
    60
    By implementing too many popular elements from famous games in the wrong way, Salt and Sacrifice is a game that feels unbalanced throughout.
  3. Jul 4, 2022
    50
    I found that the best way to approach them was to cheese my way to victory. This left me with the feeling that I was exploiting the AI rather than using skill to overcome adversity. Think long and hard if this is the game for you, but for this reviewer, it isn’t something I will likely never pick up again.