Salt and Sacrifice

Gaming NexusHenry Yu

8/10

Salt and Sacrifice to Salt and Sanctuary is like Dark Souls 2 to Dark Souls 1. It diverges a lot from the original, with some ideas that work well and some that don't. All in all, it's still an excellent 2-D Souls-like Metroidvania that brilliantly infuses Monster Hunter elements with challenging combat. Despite some poor design choices and questionable difficulty spikes, it's still astonishing to think this game was created by a team of just two people.

Gamers HeroesJohnny Hurricane

75/100

Salt and Sacrifice has a lot going for it, but some bad design choices hold it back. I'd recommend watching some gameplay footage - especially of its bosses - before buying.

Video ChumsA.J. Maciejewski

7.2/10

Ska Studios has taken a 2nd stab at the 2D Soulslike genre but does Salt and Sacrifice live up to their previous efforts? Let's find out.

RPGamerAlex Fuller

Ska Studios returns with its follow-up to action RPG Salt and Sanctuary. Though the game largely treads familiar ground, it features an unnecessary innovation that feels shoehorned in.

Game RevolutionJason Faulkner

7/10

Salt and Sanctuary was a hit when it was released approximately six million years ago in 2016. It distilled the gritty atmosphere and challenge of Dark Souls into a leaner 2D package. It also shared that games’ predilection for subtextual storytelling and featured a world that was on its last leg and where little was as it seemed. When I set out to review Salt and Sacrifice, I had hoped for an evolution of the original 2D Soulslike formula. Unfortunately, what we’ve got is different and altogether less satisfying.

GameSpotRichard Wakeling

7/10

Salt and Sacrifice imbues its Souls-like formula with elements from Monster Hunter, creating a peculiar mixture that falls just short of realizing its full potential.

GamingBoltJohn Cantees

7/10

Salt and Sanctuary checks all the boxes for what a 2D Soulslike should have but doesn’t do much beyond that, delivering a worthy, albeit conventional addition to the sub-genre.

Game RantAdrian Morales

7/10

Overall, Salt and Sacrifice still nails the core elements that make a 2D reimagining of Dark Souls a compelling idea thanks to its fundamental understanding of how character and level progression should flow and its expansive combat system. By adding in an extra layer of Metroidvania-style exploration and a unique approach to boss encounters with its Mage Hunt mechanic, Salt and Sacrifice sees Ska Studios carve out a space for itself as more than the studio that is good at making 2D Dark Souls games.

VGChartzPaul Broussard

6/10

It's tough to view Salt and Sacrifice as anything but inferior to the original.It really can’t be overstated how much game reviewers sacrifice sometimes. My intention had been to review Salt [...]

InverseJoseph Yaden

6/10

Soulslikes are appealing because of the sense of accomplishment they evoke, offering tremendously difficult battles that — with practice — can be overcome. Every death feels fair, and the design philosophy is fine-tuned in such a way that feels intentional and deliberate. Salt and Sacrifice, on the other hand, achieves difficulty with clunky design, which completely misses the point of what makes a good challenge worth the time. Instead, the sacrifice of wasted time here is more than enough to make you salty.

Checkpoint GamingNat Patterson

5.5/10

Souls-like games truly are a dime-a-dozen these days. After the success of From Software’s flagship series, Dark Souls, and the subsequent smash hits Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and most recently Elden Ring, the genre is well established as one of the most dominant and popular flavours in the current market. Alongside these large, sprawling 3D beasts are a humble smattering of 2D games that echo the same game design sentiments: overcoming immense challenge, decisive gameplay, and...

eXputerHuzaifah Durrani

When Salt and Sanctuary was first released back in 2016, it was hailed as a phenomenal little indie game that had managed to do what a lot of other bigger and more elaborate games had failed to accomplish. It had successfully captured the essence of the Dark Souls series of games, with all of their emphasis on difficulty and balancing, while also translating that into a 2D format.