Salt and Sanctuary

***Salt and Sanctuary*** is a 2D action-RPG video game developed and published by Ska Studios. It was released in 2016, on March 15 for the PlayStation 4, on May 17 for Microsoft Windows, and on July 08 for both MacOS and Linux. It arrived for the PlayStation Vita on March 28, 2017, and finally on the Nintendo Switch on August 2, 2018. A physical release was also released for the latter on December 11, 2018, under the title ***Salt and Sanctuary: Drowned Tome Edition***.

## Gameplay

Although it is a sidescroller, the game takes much inspiration from the *Dark Souls* and *Castlevania* series. It has several RPG elements, such as a leveling system and a large variety of weapons and armors. Players go from area to area, typically defeating the enemies in it whose salt can then be used for various purposes and continuing to the next after its main boss has been defeated. Gameplay is centered around Sanctuaries and shrines, which allows players to heal and act like checkpoints.

## Plot

The game opens with the playable character (which can be customized before starting) being on a ship that is on destination to another land in which a princess is to be married to its king, averting war. However, the ship is attacked by Marauders and its entire crew is killed. If the character survives this, they continue to the ship's deck, on which they encountered an infamous Kraekan known as The Unspeakable Deep. Regardless of whether or not they defeat the monster, the ship is wrecked and the player eventually washes up on the Shivering Shore of an uncharted island.

On the island, they first meet an old man (later revealed as Jaret) who asks them what their creed is. After, they mainly encounter hostile creatures both undead and of naturally hostile species (including more Kraeken), although they also meet some humans who have suffered similar fates, most notably the Masterless Knight, Despondent Thief and Black Sands Sorcerer. A talking scarecrow is also encountered occasionally, discouraging the player from continuing with their adventure but gradually revealing its real identity. These all give hints toward the "real" nature of the island: that it is a graveyard of fallen civilizations and dead warriors, eventually used for Salt Alkymancy by a cruel witch known as The Architect.

The playable character eventually arrives at The Still Palace, in which the island's Lord known as The Nameless God resides; he is revealed to have usurped the power of The Three (a popular religion) and imprisoned them in the Crypt of Dead Gods. After the playable character defeats the God, he is shown to be the same entity as the scarecrow encountered earlier. Players may choose to escape the island or take his Overlord's Turban and gain all his power, but become a "new" Nameless God and continue the island's curse.

## Reception

The game was well-received by critics. The PlayStation 4 version holds an aggregate score of 84/100 on Metacritic, while the PC version has the same score, and the Nintendo Switch version an 82. The PlayStation Vita version does not have enough reviews for a score to be decided.

## *Drowned Tome Edition*

*Salt and Sanctuary: Drowned Tome Edition* is a physical edition of the game, released for the Nintendo Switch on December 11, 2018. It is named after the Drowned Tome, a rare item from the game. It contains the game's cartridge, a manual for it, a download code for the *Salt and Sanctuary: Original Soundtrack* and a hand-drawn map of the island.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://nintendosoup.com/salt-and-sanctuary-drowned-tome-edition-delayed-to-december-11/
2. ↑ http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/07/brutal\_2d\_hand-drawn\_platformer\_salt\_and\_sanctuary\_hits\_switch\_next\_week
3. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/salt-and-sanctuary
4. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/salt-and-sanctuary
5. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/salt-and-sanctuary
6. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-vita/salt-and-sanctuary
7. ↑ https://ska-studios.com/2018/12/11/salt-and-sanctuary-drowned-tome-edition-in-stores-now/