Salt and Sacrifice

 PC
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 102 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 102
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 102
  3. Negative: 64 out of 102

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  1. Roconder
    May 14, 2022
    10
    I enjoyed playing the first part and really looked forward to continuing after the announcement of the second. I was very pleased! An interesting combination of metroidvania and dark souls has added an additive in the form of a monster hunter mechanic with crafting things from bosses, pumping is quite diverse and simple. The presence of a full-fledged online game made the game an order ofI enjoyed playing the first part and really looked forward to continuing after the announcement of the second. I was very pleased! An interesting combination of metroidvania and dark souls has added an additive in the form of a monster hunter mechanic with crafting things from bosses, pumping is quite diverse and simple. The presence of a full-fledged online game made the game an order of magnitude more convenient than the first part. Small glitches are, but the picture is not spoiled. But the balance of the bosses is strange, at the beginning it is very easy, but in the second half it becomes sharply painful (maybe I did not have the optimal build).… Expand
  2. AkumaRon1n
    May 12, 2022
    10
    Игра весьма хороша,жаль тех кто не понимает высокое искусство
  3. Jestaru
    May 12, 2022
    10
    That is not entirely a sequel to the previous game "Salt & Sanctuary" as it contains a lot more interesting mechanics and build progression gives a lot of variety of who are you wanna play. And I personally adore this game! Ska Studios did an amazing job!
  4. Kpiche
    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.
  5. DMcGee2288
    May 11, 2022
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I only played through til soul level 7 fought and killed a boss and mage and fought another mage but ran out of berries so had to farm berries for flask heals but I ran out of time.. the other mage was a bubble maze that was annoying he used aqua volcanoes and **** very challenging mage but could’ve killed with full pots gotta get use to roll and dodge still it does feel a bit awkward. Overall solid game.. will invest 100+ hours into earning double plat on PS4 / ps5. Solid game with solid combat.. reminiscent of many fromsoft games like Sekiro with a grappling hook … Expand
  6. Plaminator
    May 13, 2022
    9
    Pretty good for a sequel. There are some minor problems that I wouldn't bother to go into detail for, but other than that it's
  7. CptSlevin
    May 13, 2022
    8
    So....

    Let's start from the beginning! I don't care about whole EGS vs Steam debate, it doesn't affect quality of the product. Salt and Sanctuary was my first experience with SKA Studios games and I really liked it, over 100 hours and personally art design was mind blowing, I really felt the depressing mood and haunted theme of the first game. Salt and Sacrifice is different,    So....

    Let's start from the beginning!
    I don't care about whole EGS vs Steam debate, it doesn't affect quality of the product.

    Salt and Sanctuary was my first experience with SKA Studios games and I really liked it, over 100 hours and personally art design was mind blowing, I really felt the depressing mood and haunted theme of the first game.

    Salt and Sacrifice is different, it's NOT Salt and Sanctuary v.2.0, it's a while new game with same core.
    When you understand that and start playing it as it was designed - you will get x3 times more unique bosses and game interactions.

    I would give S&S 9/10, but in my opinion there is not so many locations to explore.
    At the moment of this review I got around 26h of playtime.    … Expand
  8. orangepunch
    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.
  9. NakedPlumber
    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.    … Expand
  10. yorumdar
    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!
  11. MattM
    May 14, 2022
    7
    Salt and Sanctuary is up there with Hollow Knight as one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played. This sequel, not so much. It starts fairly strong but once the real gameplay loop takes hold the issues become glaringly aapparent. Some of the design decisions here are absolutely bizarre and out of place, or lack the balance of the systems from the games they clearly pulled from. ThereSalt and Sanctuary is up there with Hollow Knight as one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played. This sequel, not so much. It starts fairly strong but once the real gameplay loop takes hold the issues become glaringly aapparent. Some of the design decisions here are absolutely bizarre and out of place, or lack the balance of the systems from the games they clearly pulled from. There is absolutely zero reason whatsoever why healing items should require a mat, it seems they took the worst parts of the bloodborne and ds3 healing systems and combined them to make this abomination. The system from the first game wasn't broken, but for some reason they felt the need to "fix" it. Same with leveling up, there is no valid reason why I shouldn't be able to do it at an obelisk like you could in the first game, and the lack of fast travel makes leveling up a tedious time waster. After I kill a boss, there is no question that I am going to level up immediately, but the game forces you to do a 5-10 minute run back for no good reason. The monster hunter elements fall completely flat, I love monster hunter and dark souls but I don't want to play them at the same time. The foundation of this game is solid, because it is the foundation laid by the first game. Everything good in this game are elements that were carried over, and almost everything bad are the new systems they tried to implement. I want to love this game, but I don't. I can commend the dev for taking risks amd trying to deliver something that wasn't more of the same, but I can't pat him on the back and pretend that all of these experiments are successful because they aren't. There is a good game somewhere in here and fans of the first should absolutely buy this so hopefully he can take a crack at a 3rd entry, as well as judge for themselves whether these new ideas work, but to me and it seems many others, this entry is a dud. I cannot go higher than a 7 for the reasons listed, but I can't go lower because I can see the love, heart and soul that was poured into this game.… Expand
  12. balvan64
    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.    … Expand
  13. Jt0429
    May 21, 2022
    7
    Good-
    Creative art direction. Gameplay is intuitive. Lore is pretty cool
    Bad- A lot of technical problems like crashing and glitches. The enemies feel too repetitive. Thoughts- For veterans of Soulslikes, especially 2D ones, Salt and Sacrifice will fit neatly into your library as yet another largely successful interpretation of the subgenre. Those looking for the next level of    Good-
    Creative art direction. Gameplay is intuitive. Lore is pretty cool

    Bad-
    A lot of technical problems like crashing and glitches. The enemies feel too repetitive.

    Thoughts-
    For veterans of Soulslikes, especially 2D ones, Salt and Sacrifice will fit neatly into your library as yet another largely successful interpretation of the subgenre. Those looking for the next level of challenge, artistic creativity, or gameplay innovation in it will almost certainly be left wanting though, as so much of this game’s DNA has already been explored countless times. Still, while Salt and Sacrifice’s few wrinkles do add to the format, and with how well the boss fights pop off the screen, it’s still a game that has much more to like about it than not.    … Expand
  14. ylnylmn
    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
  15. Mandulum
    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.
  16. TheFrostyPen
    May 19, 2022
    6
    Extremely unfair, hyper frustrating, poor boss design, constant juggling of character, no good fast travel system, inflated level reuse via mage hunts, very poor UI, and needing to farm for arrows and health potions...

    I sucked it up and beat the game anyway. Times I screamed in anger/rage at the screen: 10+ Times I sat mouth wide open with awe: 1-2 Verdict: Play the original    Extremely unfair, hyper frustrating, poor boss design, constant juggling of character, no good fast travel system, inflated level reuse via mage hunts, very poor UI, and needing to farm for arrows and health potions...

    I sucked it up and beat the game anyway.

    Times I screamed in anger/rage at the screen: 10+
    Times I sat mouth wide open with awe: 1-2

    Verdict: Play the original or restart Hollow Knight instead of suffering through this game that is barely tolerable even to the most masochistic of gamers.    … Expand
  17. loderunner
    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.    … Expand
  18. Redman_07
    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
  19. Lgn
    May 12, 2022
    5
    Played and enjoy Salt and Sanctuary a lot but this one is honestly worse in everything.
    They introduced dumb ideas and mechanics runining the whole experience.
  20. inhowmusic
    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!
  21. elchurdo
    May 16, 2022
    4
    How to play Salt and Sacrifice:
    1) Install
    2) Play a piece of flaming poo
    3) Delete
    4) Install Salt And Sanctuary
    5) Enjoy
  22. ebojaza
    May 15, 2022
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. eusushsshshshsjjjjaiaiakaklaiudujddjddjddddddhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhd… Expand
  23. Almost2Friendly
    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!    … Expand
  24. Jaycottz
    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.
  25. AguBoomers
    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 atención    … Expand
  26. LinkToFuture
    May 17, 2022
    3
    I loved Salt&Sanctuary, beat it 4+ times and got all achievements, But this game is just bad I have to force myself to play it, and I'm constantly asking myself "Why did they do this?" so many bad changes from the first game, I'll list some below.

    -Weapons are paired, no more dagger and shield, if you want a shield you have to use a sword with it, also no more two handing or one handing    I loved Salt&Sanctuary, beat it 4+ times and got all achievements, But this game is just bad I have to force myself to play it, and I'm constantly asking myself "Why did they do this?" so many bad changes from the first game, I'll list some below.

    -Weapons are paired, no more dagger and shield, if you want a shield you have to use a sword with it, also no more two handing or one handing weapons (unless its a two handed or one handed weapon to begin with. was this broken in the first game?, no it wasn't why change it?

    -No more spells or incantations that you can change because they're tied to your staves, really like that tier 1 stave spell too bad it will be out ranked by other staves soon enough, weapons also have spells attached to them, but they're very unreliable because instead of being tied to a mana bar it's tied to a "rage" bar you need to build up. Again not broken, worked well in the first game why not expand on it.

    -Mage bosses are just annoying seeing how a large chunk of them will drop materials you don't need for your build because they didn't add gear for all build styles for each of the mages, but they will always be around annoying you anyway.

    -Animations are just bad huge step back from the 1st game, attacking seems slow and sluggish, grappling hook looks very bad, and wall jumping feels awful and you cant slide down walls so if you go up you can't go down, there might be an upgrade i don't know I couldn't force myself to play anymore.

    -The bosses I fought literally attack non stop i couldn't do anything but roll 1 attack roll 1 attack backing off to try and do anything else would punish me, very dumb and boring.

    -No fast travel and world isn't interconnected anymore, and you can only level up by going back to a hub world, I miss the old shrines and covenants tied to them, there's covenants here but they don't seem as useful or fun.

    -Perfect guard is useless literally leaves YOU open for attack as your follow up attack is too slow and you can't perfect guard multiple times in a row so if there's a combo attack coming your way might as well spam roll.

    That's just a few things that are a huge failure for me in the first 4 hours of playing I'm sure if i gather the will to play again there will be much more, very disappointed with this.    … Expand
  27. TheDresdenDoll
    May 13, 2022
    3
    SKA Studios has a real knack for making games that SHOULD be fun but aren't. I'm a sucker for the Soulslike and Metroidvania genres but S&Sac managed to take the worst parts of each and package it into a tedious chore. Check out Vigil the Longest Night if you want this formula but with less grating of your nerves.
  28. AlexBeast
    May 20, 2022
    3
    How can you ruin a sequel so badly.
    Every single new idea and mechanic makes the game so much worse.
  29. Silens
    May 15, 2022
    3
    Salt and Sacrifice is a bad game on it's own, but it's even worse as a sequel to Salt and Sanctuary.

    The fair but challenging bosses of the first game are replaced by cheap unbalanced ones with infinite combos. The fun of exploration is ruined by the grindy nature of the game. You'll get sick of chasing down the bosses all over the place, and that while gathering everything you see    Salt and Sacrifice is a bad game on it's own, but it's even worse as a sequel to Salt and Sanctuary.

    The fair but challenging bosses of the first game are replaced by cheap unbalanced ones with infinite combos.

    The fun of exploration is ruined by the grindy nature of the game. You'll get sick of chasing down the bosses all over the place, and that while gathering everything you see because not even the health potions are restored at checkpoints, you have to craft them.

    Salt and Sanctuary is a good 2D RPG that got inspiration from Souls. Salt and Sacrifice is a bad mash of Monster Hunter, From software games and Metroid. Skip.    … Expand
  30. Aenorr
    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.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Most Discussed PC Game of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 40
  3. 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. IGN Japan
    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.
    Read full review
  3. Player 2
    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.
    Read full review
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