It's a decent game and one of the better Souls-likes for sure.
Worldbuilding and design are alright but often feel too bland to get invested enough.
I wish there would have been something like a map to navigate through the areas since the layout can get a little confusing at times and all the shortcuts to previous areas just add to this.
Build variety is great, the whole skill-tree however way too overcomplicated.
Combat is fortunately simple and satisyfying. Light and heavy attacks transition mostly nicely and feel like there is weight behind them, the hit feedback is also good. Pulling off a parry and the sequential riposte feel great.
Worst parts of the game are probably the platforming, which is just never really fun and the bosses out of which there are simply too many. You can enounter up to three in one area and they're usually either absolute pushovers or annoying. There's no boss I would describe as truly fun, challenging or even memorable, something I wish the game would have focused more on since the devs are so obvious Souls fans up to the point that they even straight up ripped off a Dark Souls boss...
A quality over quantity approach would have surely improved a lot in that regard.

If you're in for a good souls-like give it a play, but don't expect it to redefine much or improve on the formula.

Salt and Sanctuary is singular in its success at sussing out the essence of Souls, if not in world-building, but at least in "feel". Mind you that the former element is a crucial complement to the latter, making Souls Souls. I could map out the grand cosmology of the Dark Souls trilogy and even draw thematic lines to Demon's Souls and Bloodborne, but I couldn't tell you a thing about the lore behind the fog-filled alkaline island of S&S.

It's a compromised achievement, but what an achievement it is nevertheless. Heft is key to making combat consequential in Souls. In Salt and Sanctuary, claymores (or should i say kureimoas) cleave bodies, hammers crush heads, pistols blast fire on faces, and successful ripostes end in explosions of blood, gold, and salt. Accomplishing all this after removing depth is remarkable.

This weightiness doesn't burden the movement, which is all the more emphasized in the flattened world where vertical traversal is integral. It's slow going in the beginning, but its Metroidvaniness will have the player zipping about the intricately interconnected levels. It distinguishes the game from its biggest inspiration, and it just feels right to wall jump and air dash. It also led to most of my deaths with the many long falls and dissipating platforms that expand every area. It's a strange reproduction of the risk/reward tension of progression in Souls, but what's a Souls experience without frustration born out of a lack of patience?

I haven't beaten it, and I might come back to it, but 11 hours in and it just feels like a deliberately taxing experience, putting annoyance over both challenge and entertainment. The art style is kinda eh and makes everything blend together, and most of the bosses are super forgetable (tree of men is kinda cool in all fairness). Hitboxes and telegraphs are horrifically underdeveloped at times with many encounters feeling like dicerolls in a game that shouldn't be based on luck. It's a shame because it is an ambitious game with some solid core mechanics, I just don't think it was designed with fun in mind. I may come back to give this another chance.

Solid 2D action RPG that wears its influence (Dark Souls) on its sleeve.

Like the Souls-series games, it has lots of unique bosses and enemies, divergent build variety as you progress, and a dark setting, story and atmosphere.

It does feel a bit lacking in originality due to it clinging so tightly to its inspiration.

If the idea of Dark Souls but in 2D appeals to you, then I would highly recommend this game.