Salt & Sanctuary is a fantastic game. Seriously. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and as an unabashed love letter to Demon’s Souls (and by extension, the Dark Souls trilogy as well), Salt & Sanctuary imitates everything that makes the Souls games fantastic, and it does it with its own unique art style and platforming format.
Ska Studios basically made Demon’s Souls into a side scroller and changed all the background flavor. Instead of Souls, you collect Salt. Instead of bringing those Souls to the Nexus, you bring them to Sanctuaries, which you unlock one by one as you play. They function as upgrade points as well as save points, using a Skyrim-like upgrade system to select how your character grows. Oh, and didn’t I mention? This game is hard!
It’s virtually impossible to avoid talking about comparisons to the Souls franchise when discussing Salt & Sanctuary, but basically every section of the game is an exercise in frustration and challenge. From the near pitch black depths of various caves to the dizzying heights of abandoned (or mostly abandoned) castles, you’ll die pretty much everywhere. Constantly. And you lose your salt too. To get it back, you need to return to where you died, kill the monster that killed you (or another one if you fell or whatnot) and do it without dying or your hoard of salt is lost forever (again, pretty much Demon’s Souls).
As you play through, you’ll find statues that summon NPCs to your Sanctuaries, a wide assortment of weapons, armor, and accessories, and bits of storyline that slowly reveal more about the world. You’ll also get obliterated by massive bosses that are significantly challenging or sometimes even impossible unless you make a concerted effort to level up. Salt & Sanctuary is a game that rewards utter, grinding tenacity. Keep trying and eventually you’ll manage to get through to the next section, wherein you’ll have to grind your way through all over again as you suddenly stumble awkwardly across a brand new area. This is absolutely not a game for the casual gamer, though the abundance of Sanctuaries do make short plays possible.
In terms of how the game stacks up against the PS4 version, it’s a close race. Overall, the game looks virtually identical on both consoles, and it’s a very dark and dreary title with a hand-drawn feel to it, so it’s hard to judge. Blitworks did an excellent job on the port and honestly, Salt & Sanctuary looks a tiny bit crisper on the Xbox One than it did on the PS4. Keep in mind that there is a significant amount of detail in the hand-drawn artwork for Salt & Sanctuary, and to keep that crisp while in motion in dimly-lit corridors while blood is splattering about everywhere (and there’s plenty of that) is a challenge, especially for a port. You definitely won’t regret getting this one for the Xbox One though, as the tight controls from the PS4 are even better on the Xbox One and with a very slight graphical edge, you’re getting your money’s worth at $18.99.
Oh, and don’t forget the soundtrack! Salt & Sanctuary has an excellent soundtrack and it just so happens you can get all that darkly atmospheric music direct from Ska Studios’ website through Bandcamp. Pay what you want, too (which does include free for those of you who are a bit strapped) and enjoy the ambiance of Salt & Sanctuary wherever you go. The soundtrack is quite good and blends seamlessly with the game. For an indie title, Salt & Sanctuary really is quite polished, with excellent structure, playability and a high fun factor.
If you like a challenge, or want to essentially play a unique offshoot of the Souls series, it’s hard not to recommend Salt & Sanctuary. For anyone that was worried that the port might not live up to the original release of the game, there’s absolutely nothing whatsoever to worry about either. You simply can’t go wrong with Salt & Sanctuary. It’s amazing on every level. The Xbox One version might even be the definitive version of the game. If you don’t already have it, or only have an Xbox One, go buy it. Now.
A digital copy of Salt & Sanctuary was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review. The game was played on an Xbox One X running on a 55” Sony 1080p LED. All screenshots are from actual gameplay, and all are from early sections of the game so as not to spoil anything! It’s always scarier when things are a surprise, after all!