#Salt and sanctuary software
#Salt and sanctuary series

The fact that these large pockets of content are shrouded off the beaten path only makes discovering them feel that much more like an actually discovery. Towards the endgame you'll even come across whole areas and bosses that are entirely missable. Each area of the map is littered with obscure secrets and hidden loot providing ample incentive to retrace your steps later with new gear.

Looping corridors and surprising shortcuts are a mainstay in these sorts of games, but it's not until later on that you realise just how intricate the level design is. It's not just the combat Ska gets right, as the level design cunningly apes Dark Souls as well. It may be built upon someone else's foundation, but it's been captured so authentically in a 2D side-scrolling perspective it feels like an incredible achievement. Sorting your own path to victory in Salt and Sanctuary's deep combat system is a pleasure. As was the case in Dark Souls, figuring out when it's best to block, dodge, and whether to go in with heavy armour or light can tip the scales drastically in your favour. Combat is thick and crunchy, with each boss and enemy type having its own strengths and weaknesses, making experimentation with different equipment layouts and strategies is important. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, as it ends up giving Salt and Sanctuary a unique feel, even if it's seemingly assembled out of spare parts.ДЄs to my other point: Ska Studios handles this unlicensed conversion remarkably well. In 2D, however, it's a somewhat greater struggle to navigate. That sort of freeform navigation worked well in a 3D environment, when players had more peripheral vision and could see off into the distance. While non-linear platforming adventures like Symphony of the Night and Metroid provided players with maps so that they wouldn't get lost, Dark Souls wanted players to feel lost and made memorising its labyrinthine layouts part of the puzzle. One interesting discovery upon merging these two inspirations is how different navigation feels in a 2D world without a map. By the same token, Salt and Sanctuary feels like Castlevania donning Souls' whole wardrobe, and in a weird way Ska's obvious cribbing has resulted in a novel missing link between these two fabled franchises.

#Salt and sanctuary series

Amusingly, these two series already seemed to be colliding with From Software's most recent outing Bloodborne feeling like Dark Souls in Castlevania's clothing.

#Salt and sanctuary software

were letting us explore a non-linear gothic landscape long before From Software entered the fray, though it's been several years since Konami issued a 2D outing in the famous franchise. This new perspective gives Salt and Sanctuary's exploration and combat a sense of deja vu with a different series: Castlevania. Let's focus on that first point for a moment.

Sanctuaries can be claimed to different guilds, but you can only belong to one at a time - not unlike Dark Souls' covenant system. This borderline plagiarism should be repulsive - and on some level it is - yet Salt and Sanctuary survives this obvious intellectual thievery based on two conditions: it creatively adapts From Software's template to a 2D plane, and it's a damn fine imitation. There's even stats for Strength and Dexterity that scale your weapons' damage output on an E through S ranking system. You equip various pieces of armour, weapons, and rings with a weight system that influences your mobility based on how much gear you're currently wearing. You fight by managing your stamina meter that temporarily depletes with every strike, block, and roll. Not only does Salt and Sanctuary crib the Souls series' unique respawn mechanic - in which you need to reclaim your lost experience by retracing your steps - it copies Souls' entire combat system and RPG structure wholesale. Salt and Sanctuary is so beholden to Dark Souls' template that it's a little shocking the two-person Seattle studio hasn't been sued.

Ska Studios doesn't try to hide that fact.