Salt & Sacrifice Review: A Repetitive 2D Soulslike

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Salt & Sacrifice is a 2D Soulslike action RPG developed and published by Ska Studios. The game has moments of exciting fantasy action, but a repetitive gameplay loop and numerous balance issues with the combat system mean that it doesn't live up to its predecessor.

Salt & Sacrifice is the spiritual successor to 2016's Salt & Sanctuary. The story of Salt & Sacrifice involves the player being banished to the far reaches of society, after being convicted of a terrible crime that is chosen at character creation. The player character is forced to undergo the Magebane rite, allowing them to return to life upon being slain, but losing most of their coin and Salt (experience points), which is left in a pile where they died. If they can return to the spot where they died, they can reclaim their lost items, but dying again before reclaiming them means they're lost forever. The player's goal is to travel the land and hunt Mages, who have been consumed by their lust for magic and are causing chaos in frontier towns.

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The player has a hub area, where they can level up, craft/improve gear, and buy new items. Once they are ready to depart, they can use the Mirrorgate to teleport to different stages. The gameplay loop of Salt & Sacrifice combines Dark Souls' action RPG combat with a 2D Metroidvania, where the player explores stages, kills foes for cash & experience points, and slowly unlocks new shortcuts through stages. The player will gradually find items that will let them explore new areas, such as a grappling hook and a parachute-style cloak.

The main new gimmick of Sal & Sacrifice are the Mages that the player is sent to hunt. The player needs to defeat