Review Roundup For Salt And Sacrifice

Salt and Sacrifice, the sequel to acclaimed 2016 indie Souls-like Salt and Sanctuary, released this week for the PC, PS4, and PS5, and reviews are starting to come out. Salt and Sacrifice retains many of the same features as its predecessor, featuring hand-drawn visuals and side-scrolling action, as well as adding new elements like a new multiplayer hub area.

Early reviews are mixed to positive, with many reviewers saying the sequel unfortunately doesn't live up to the promise of its predecessor. Salt and Sacrifice currently sports an aggregated score of 73 on GameSpot sister site Metacritic, while the original Salt and Sanctuary has a "generally favorable" score of 84. Here's what critics are saying about the sequel.

• Game: Salt And Sacrifice
• Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5
• Developer: Ska Studios
• Release Date: March 10
• Price: $20

TheGamer - 4.5/5

"It cannot be understated how compelling this game feels. It takes all the best things from its inspirations and blends them together in a way that works. It's a game with the combat of a Soulslike, the gameplay loop of a Monster Hunter, and the exploration of a Metroidvania, all set against a beautiful backdrop - conflicting flavours that come together to form a delicious experience. It's greater than the sum of its parts, and it's a game I won’t be putting down for a very long time." -- Ryan Thomas Bamsey [Full review]

Twinfinite - 4/5

"While Salt and Sacrifice does bring a few new things to the table, for better or for worse, it's still largely the same 2D side-scrolling RPG experience that we’ve played all those years ago." -- Zhiquing Wan [Full review]

Screen Rant - 3/5

"Salt & Sacrifice has the potential to be a great game, but it badly needs balancing fixes to allow it to live up to its potential, especially in regard to its battle system. A few tweaks to the stamina meter, the dodge roll and blocking mechanics, and the enemy attack patterns would do wonders for the game, as would a way to skip the chasing sequences and jump straight to the Mage bosses. As it stands, Salt & Sacrifice is a game full of frustrating moments that bog down the rest of the experience." -- Scott Baird [Full review]

WellPlayed - 6.5/10

"I'm a little disappointed in Salt and Sacrifice. It's certainly not a bad game, but it makes a lot of changes that remove the charm and heart of the original, favouring more standardised mechanics instead. One of the more egregious design choices is definitely the new hunt system for named and nameless mages, which creates an arbitrary progression block and breaks the flow of the game. I’m not sure what happened between this game and its predecessor, but the graceful understanding of Metroidavanias as a whole is lost in this game, and what remains is not as compelling as the original." -- Jordan Garcia [Full review]