After MONTHS of watching it from afar on PlayStation waiting for it to arrive on PC, on launch day I bought it without thinking about it. Curious move to launch it not long after the release of Dark Souls 3 as it is a very Souls/Bloodborne-inspired title.
While the game is inspired by the Soulsborne series, A LOT of mechanics are left unexplained and added in the most frustrating way.
The level-up works through skill trees, but they are very confusing and low-key repetitive in the type of abilities you can unlock. You can't level up HP they increase automatically, which leads to being two-hit killed by every boss.
Fall damage is very inconsistent making it frustrating when death is the result of a fall that looked completely safe.
The level design is quite admirable, well interconnected and it’s nice coming back to previous maps with crazy shortcuts. The enemies are unique and it's fun to try various ways to kill or overcome them. The thing I liked the most was the inclusion of typical platformer mechanics like double jumping or wall-jumping, which makes everything extra fun, and with the level design almost Metroidvania-like, adds a reason for backtracking!
The only bad thing about exploration was the soundtrack with what felt like only 2 tracks, one for exploration and one for the boss fights for most of the game.
The boss fights are somewhat nice, but not very interesting and a bit unbalanced. With each hit taken, the life bar decreases until it reaches half – like in Dark Souls 2 - and decreasing the minimum possible life results in being one-hit killed. The most frustrating thing is that the health bar goes lower even when using a shield with 100% defense to the damage you're taking!
Difficulty is an important key in these titles, and boss fights should teach you something with each death leading to victory, and here I didn't have this feeling, on the contrary, they made me want to rush the kill as fast as possible. I often felt pushed towards entering the arena and being done as fast as possible before taking damage lowering my health to half. I even ended up trying to shield as little as possible, or the health bar would be lowered anyway.
My build was shield and sword too...
In the words of the great Kennedy Davenport: "f*ck my drag", I guess.
I dwell on this a lot because most bosses are quite simple, with few moves for the whole fight, and while there is nothing wrong with that, I should not be punished for my build choices.
Last but not least, when rolling, unless performed right next to the boss, won't let you go behind the boss, and most attacks have just enough attack frames that although your roll might be perfect, it’ll still come through and damage you lowering the damn health bar.
So I can't dodge, nor shield.
As one of the first attempts at making a 2D souls-like, although with some successes, devs also failed at making some of the mechanics fun instead of just frustrating. I’m sure that if I had chosen to do a ranged build instead of sword and shield, which the game was clearly not thought for, would have made it more fun for me in particular.
And years after, I had this confirmed by many friends who loved the game...they also had ranged builds.
5/10
While the game is inspired by the Soulsborne series, A LOT of mechanics are left unexplained and added in the most frustrating way.
The level-up works through skill trees, but they are very confusing and low-key repetitive in the type of abilities you can unlock. You can't level up HP they increase automatically, which leads to being two-hit killed by every boss.
Fall damage is very inconsistent making it frustrating when death is the result of a fall that looked completely safe.
The level design is quite admirable, well interconnected and it’s nice coming back to previous maps with crazy shortcuts. The enemies are unique and it's fun to try various ways to kill or overcome them. The thing I liked the most was the inclusion of typical platformer mechanics like double jumping or wall-jumping, which makes everything extra fun, and with the level design almost Metroidvania-like, adds a reason for backtracking!
The only bad thing about exploration was the soundtrack with what felt like only 2 tracks, one for exploration and one for the boss fights for most of the game.
The boss fights are somewhat nice, but not very interesting and a bit unbalanced. With each hit taken, the life bar decreases until it reaches half – like in Dark Souls 2 - and decreasing the minimum possible life results in being one-hit killed. The most frustrating thing is that the health bar goes lower even when using a shield with 100% defense to the damage you're taking!
Difficulty is an important key in these titles, and boss fights should teach you something with each death leading to victory, and here I didn't have this feeling, on the contrary, they made me want to rush the kill as fast as possible. I often felt pushed towards entering the arena and being done as fast as possible before taking damage lowering my health to half. I even ended up trying to shield as little as possible, or the health bar would be lowered anyway.
My build was shield and sword too...
In the words of the great Kennedy Davenport: "f*ck my drag", I guess.
I dwell on this a lot because most bosses are quite simple, with few moves for the whole fight, and while there is nothing wrong with that, I should not be punished for my build choices.
Last but not least, when rolling, unless performed right next to the boss, won't let you go behind the boss, and most attacks have just enough attack frames that although your roll might be perfect, it’ll still come through and damage you lowering the damn health bar.
So I can't dodge, nor shield.
As one of the first attempts at making a 2D souls-like, although with some successes, devs also failed at making some of the mechanics fun instead of just frustrating. I’m sure that if I had chosen to do a ranged build instead of sword and shield, which the game was clearly not thought for, would have made it more fun for me in particular.
And years after, I had this confirmed by many friends who loved the game...they also had ranged builds.
5/10
Add a map so backtracking is more enjoyable and delete all enemies' grabs or make them way more telegraphed. Those two things would already improve the game a lot for me, i do like exploring and fighting, the paladin is cool so the game is good.
ho apprezzato molto, poi considerando che è stato fatto da sole 2 persone è ancora meglio
Bel giochino indie, fatto da due persone ti fa capire lo sforzo. Giocato in eng perché la traduzione italiana era fatta con google translate. Ma drop rate tradotto in goccia tasso mi ha fatto ridere
Um jogão! Mistura soulslike com metroidvania e vc tem Salt and Sanctuary, que tem um combate q vc precisa gerenciar estamina e se curar com itens, um mapa muito bem conectado com atalhos e back tracking. Arte bem única mas peca um pouco na trilha sonora visto que 99% do Bosses tem a mesma OST. Recomendo demais!
Obs: zerei com 15h
Obs: zerei com 15h
Um metroidvania raso que se sustenta no título de "Dark Souls 2D"
Lembro até hoje do barulho que este jogo fez em seu lançamento, no qual as pessoas o rotularam como um Dark Souls 2D devido a semelhança de sua estética, interface e alguns elementos da gameplay. Desde então eu tive vontade de experimentar, porém acredito que decidi jogar ele tarde demais...
Nos últimos anos experimentei alguns metroidvanias ótimos, como Hollow Knight, Blasphemous e Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. O que eles tiveram em comum? Bem, todos possuem elementos que marcaram a minha experiência, tais como a direção de arte, soundtrack, level design, dentre outros. Agora, se me perguntar o quê Salt and Sanctuary possui que me fará lembrar dele, a minha resposta é "nada".
Salt and Sanctuary possui mapas curtos e sem personalidade. Um ou outro lembra algum dos jogos da From Software, em destaque para a região de Sunken Keep que se assemelha ao mapa de Central Yharnam de Bloodborne. O lado bom é que existem vários atalhos e o fast travel entre altares para acelerar o deslocamento.
O ponto mais "Dark Souls" deste jogo é a interface. Os menus e o HUD são bem similares, em conjunto com a ausência de pause e mapa. A criação de builds e atributos do personagem são uma versão simplificada de Dark Souls, sendo bem tranquilo compreender o quê é necessário evoluir de acordo com a build/situação. A árvore de skills é sem sal, apresentando nós simples, como o incremento de atributos, aumento de poções e habilitar o uso de equipamentos de níveis superiores.
A dificuldade do jogo é baixa, são poucos os bosses que exigem uma gameplay mais específica. Aqui eu dou destaque para o The Tree Of Men, devido a sua estética sinistra por se tratar de uma torre de corpos vivos e ser um dos poucos bosses que possuem uma gimmick diferente em seu confronto; e a The Witch Of the Lake, que na minha run foi o boss mais perigoso por ter um ataque que dava hit kill se eu não me posicionasse corretamente na arena. A pouca quantidade de desafios faz com que a sensação de conquista que os jogos da From e alguns metroidvanias oferecem seja inexistente.
Outros problemas deste jogo são: a soundtrack limitada com pouquíssimas músicas e nenhuma interessante; bugs de cenário, sendo um na arena do boss final, no qual fiquei preso na parede em umas 3 tentativas; o dano de queda é imprevísivel, pois algumas quedas pequenas te matam, enquanto outras maiores não (oi???); a falta de variedade de inimigos, principalmente no começo do jogo onde demora pra aparecer alguma criatura diferente.
Por fim, Salt and Sanctuary vale a jogatina em 2024 caso você tenha pego ele de graça na Epic ou em alguma promoção por 3 reais, e não tenha outros jogos nesse estilo para jogar. Caso contrário, invista seu tempo e dinheiro em metroidvanias superiores.
Lembro até hoje do barulho que este jogo fez em seu lançamento, no qual as pessoas o rotularam como um Dark Souls 2D devido a semelhança de sua estética, interface e alguns elementos da gameplay. Desde então eu tive vontade de experimentar, porém acredito que decidi jogar ele tarde demais...
Nos últimos anos experimentei alguns metroidvanias ótimos, como Hollow Knight, Blasphemous e Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. O que eles tiveram em comum? Bem, todos possuem elementos que marcaram a minha experiência, tais como a direção de arte, soundtrack, level design, dentre outros. Agora, se me perguntar o quê Salt and Sanctuary possui que me fará lembrar dele, a minha resposta é "nada".
Salt and Sanctuary possui mapas curtos e sem personalidade. Um ou outro lembra algum dos jogos da From Software, em destaque para a região de Sunken Keep que se assemelha ao mapa de Central Yharnam de Bloodborne. O lado bom é que existem vários atalhos e o fast travel entre altares para acelerar o deslocamento.
O ponto mais "Dark Souls" deste jogo é a interface. Os menus e o HUD são bem similares, em conjunto com a ausência de pause e mapa. A criação de builds e atributos do personagem são uma versão simplificada de Dark Souls, sendo bem tranquilo compreender o quê é necessário evoluir de acordo com a build/situação. A árvore de skills é sem sal, apresentando nós simples, como o incremento de atributos, aumento de poções e habilitar o uso de equipamentos de níveis superiores.
A dificuldade do jogo é baixa, são poucos os bosses que exigem uma gameplay mais específica. Aqui eu dou destaque para o The Tree Of Men, devido a sua estética sinistra por se tratar de uma torre de corpos vivos e ser um dos poucos bosses que possuem uma gimmick diferente em seu confronto; e a The Witch Of the Lake, que na minha run foi o boss mais perigoso por ter um ataque que dava hit kill se eu não me posicionasse corretamente na arena. A pouca quantidade de desafios faz com que a sensação de conquista que os jogos da From e alguns metroidvanias oferecem seja inexistente.
Outros problemas deste jogo são: a soundtrack limitada com pouquíssimas músicas e nenhuma interessante; bugs de cenário, sendo um na arena do boss final, no qual fiquei preso na parede em umas 3 tentativas; o dano de queda é imprevísivel, pois algumas quedas pequenas te matam, enquanto outras maiores não (oi???); a falta de variedade de inimigos, principalmente no começo do jogo onde demora pra aparecer alguma criatura diferente.
Por fim, Salt and Sanctuary vale a jogatina em 2024 caso você tenha pego ele de graça na Epic ou em alguma promoção por 3 reais, e não tenha outros jogos nesse estilo para jogar. Caso contrário, invista seu tempo e dinheiro em metroidvanias superiores.
Game's decent but whoever decided to not provide the player with a map should burn in game design hell (for a few weeks).
Finished the game twice. With a DEX/INT build for the first time and with a pure STR build the second time. Both predominantly melee with fast dodge and no shield.
great parts:
- story and lore
- atmosphere
- environmental visual style
- some genuinely interesting weapon concepts - a broken greatsword, a gunblade, a massive stone hammer, a pair of two-handed lightning scissors, an actual anchor
- most builds seem viable (STR build is clearly OP though)
so-so parts:
- combat is simplistic and somehow not very engaging
- platforming is janky and mostly boring
- enemy/boss visuals range from acceptable to downright ugly
bad parts:
- "Can't see shit", the game
- level design is all over the place
- the skill tree makes no sense (most nodes just add +1 to stat)
- no map
- so many lingering hitboxes
- some bullshit enemy designs - Spindlebeasts just suck, there is no other way to put it
- the absolutely worst being the combination of platforming, aerial combat, lots of flying enemies, low air control and massive fall damage
Mild recommendation, worth playing once or twice to experience the world and story. It's a damn shame the video gamey bits are not equally good.
Finished the game twice. With a DEX/INT build for the first time and with a pure STR build the second time. Both predominantly melee with fast dodge and no shield.
great parts:
- story and lore
- atmosphere
- environmental visual style
- some genuinely interesting weapon concepts - a broken greatsword, a gunblade, a massive stone hammer, a pair of two-handed lightning scissors, an actual anchor
- most builds seem viable (STR build is clearly OP though)
so-so parts:
- combat is simplistic and somehow not very engaging
- platforming is janky and mostly boring
- enemy/boss visuals range from acceptable to downright ugly
bad parts:
- "Can't see shit", the game
- level design is all over the place
- the skill tree makes no sense (most nodes just add +1 to stat)
- no map
- so many lingering hitboxes
- some bullshit enemy designs - Spindlebeasts just suck, there is no other way to put it
- the absolutely worst being the combination of platforming, aerial combat, lots of flying enemies, low air control and massive fall damage
Mild recommendation, worth playing once or twice to experience the world and story. It's a damn shame the video gamey bits are not equally good.