Salt and Sanctuary Finally Lands on Xbox – Review (Xbox One)

There are certain words or terms that we try to avoid when writing reviews for games. We won’t waste your time printing them all here, but phrases like “love letter” etc. are just so cringeworthy to a writer we avoid them at all costs. Slowly joining this list is the term “Souls-Like” referring to a game that implements a lot of the mechanics found in any of the Dark Souls or Bloodborne games. While this is a testament to how good those games are…the phrase is just being beaten to death with its own shoes. Having said that, Salt and Sanctuary may very well be the best “Souls-Like” 2D game on the market.

Story

A doomed sailor is shipwrecked on a hopeless island after his ship was invaded by pirates. Fearing that he had crossed over from the land of the living, our hero is tasked with fighting off countless types of enemies and bosses for their very survival. While most of the plot seems hidden, the reality is that this is the story of the individual playing the game. With an impressively extensive character creation to begin your quest you can choose every aspect of your character. Along with physical appearance you can choose your character’s place of origin and backstory as well. With eight different character classes to choose from, you can be anything from a Knight to a Chef.  This adds a level of depth that most triple A games lack during the character creation process. As you traverse the world, you’ll carve out your own path and place within it.

Gameplay

Avoid it as much as you like, Salt and Sanctuary plays like Dark Souls 2D set in a fantastical Metroidvania style world. It’s a concept that anyone reading this will immediately be able to imagine without seeing a single screen shot of the game.

The depth at which this plays out is quite impressive though. Upon reaching this distant land you make home in your first sanctuary. This is the hub where you will return after each of your many many deaths. With an alter to the three gods there for you to return home to, you can do everything from leveling up to make sacrifices right here in your own private refuge.

Each time you set out from the sanctuary you’ll find yourself making it further and further as you put to memory the lay of the land and the enemies that inhabit it. You see, combat isn’t just about hacking and slashing your way through each area. No. It’s about finding the patterns and rhythms of each enemy and choreographing their steps with your own. In fact, it’s more like a dance than combat – especially the boss battles. These particular fights will take your full concentration. You’ll need to learn their moves and patterns and counter with your own blend of block attacks and parries. You’ll be using your shield, jumping over lightning bolts, and then landing your own crushing blows in order to finish each boss. There is something incredibly satisfying about each one that you slay. You will feel a sense of accomplishment when each skirmish is over.

Failing to kill the boss, or just dying in general, will cause you to lose the loot that you’ve collected along the way. Killing enemies will produce salt and gold that you’ll use to buy objects and upgrades. Dying at any point in the game will cause you to lose all your salt and your character must pay a gold toll to be revived and returned to your sanctuary. Returning to the point of your death gives you the ability to kill the enemy that took you out and your salt will be returned to you. Over time, dying too many times will cause you to lose all your salt for good and no amount of brutal killing will bring back what was taken from you.

The boss battles are not only brutal but hard to recognize when they are about to happen. You’ll want to double back to your sanctuary or other ware sellers from time to time to buy goods in case you happen upon a boss you’re not prepared to fight and end up losing all the hard-earned salt you’ve worked to acquire. Nothing hurts more than having a purse of 5,000 salt only to stumble on a boss and die instantly – losing it for good. While it’s not terribly hard to acquire more, you’ll do more backtracking that way in an already backtracking heavy game.

Recommendation

If you’re looking for a challenging 2D RPG and love everything that From Software has created over the past ten to fifteen years, you’ll love Salt and Sanctuary. There are some glitches on the Xbox version that we received for review. Often the game will freeze before you enter a new area or big battle. This can break the experience for you briefly, but not enough to ruin it. For a game that is a couple years old and just now appearing on Xbox this is surprising, but other than that the game plays great. Controls are precise and you always feel in control of your character. If you’re looking for a “Souls-Like” Metroidvania, look no further. This is a brutally challenging game so keep that in mind if you choose to take it for a spin.

*Salt and Sanctuary was provided to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*

Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.

Ben Smith

Philip is better at buying video games than he is at playing them. He was once told “it must suck to love something so much and be so terrible at it.” As a boy he would write terrible poems about himself and Ross Perot. He enjoys the best and worst of all forms of media, but nothing in the middle. Puyo Puyo Tetris has almost caused unreconcilable differences between him and his wife. He’s never had a hangover, but not from lack of trying.