These use Focus or Rage to cast, and have effects such as magical attacks for staves, or the ability to imbue them with elemental damage.Ī camp called Pardoner’s Vale acts as a hub zone where you can craft items, restock consumables, and access your stockpile. There are multiple elemental effects and attack speeds, and each weapon has a unique Runic Art attached. The former has a great selection, starting with the standard sword-and-board combo (here called “vanguard”) and going through warhammers, greatblades, maces, glaives, daggers, staves, and katana-like highblades. The latter can be anything from throwing daggers to hatchets, bombs, a crossbow, or channelling rod.

Here you follow tangents like constellations on a star chart, upping individual stats or unlocking proficiency with specific weapons and armour.Įach character has a melee and ranged weapon. Rather, your HP will go up each time, and you’ll receive a Black Starstone, which acts as a skill point to spend in the expansive Skill Tree. Although you won’t get to assign points to individual stats with each level.

As in, say, Elden Ring, you’ll be able to change this as you go. There are 8 classes to choose from, and this choice will decide your starting gear and stat spread. Salt and Sacrifice: A 2D Soulslike masterpiece Your choice of crime determines which starting item you receive (the arsonist has firebombs, for example), some of which have obvious uses and some of which you’ll need to work out. Rather than, say, murder or genocide or writing the eighth season of Game of Thrones, they’re transgressions like vagrancy, alchemy, or sumptuousness (if that’s a crime, lock me up). Although, to be fair, none of the crimes seem punishable by repeated grizzly deaths at the hands of mages. The Marked Inquisition is an organisation comprised of low-level criminals. So obviously the best way to deal with the problem is to throw drunkards, vagrants, and perverts at it until it goes away. They corrupt or destroy everything they touch, including the King of the realm. It’s set in the Kingdom of Altarstone, where warped Mages are an elemental plague on the land.

It’s a bigger game, more colourful, more detailed, and more challenging. Salt and Sacrifice builds on everything its predecessor did. The sequel, Salt and Sacrifice, could be considered more of the same, but that really wouldn’t be giving James Silva his due. A faithful 2D translation of FromSoftware’s Soulslike formula it was equal parts side-scrolling platformer, Metroidvania, and challenging dark fantasy. But it was 2016’s Salt and Sanctuary that brought his studio the most attention. James Silva has been making games for 15 years, including titles like The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile and Charlie Murder. I still find it hard to believe that Ska Studios is just one person.

Salt and sacrifice secret area