Blitworks and Ska Studios announced that Salt and Sanctuary has finally launched on the Xbox One after moving more than 900,000 copies on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC. The game is currently available over on the Xbox Store for $17.99.
The game is literally a 2D, side-scrolling, indie-themed version of Dark Souls. The atmosphere, combat, and scattered-lore approach to the game’s design was inspired by From Software’s iconic series, and it’s something that Ska Studios isn’t afraid of mentioning in the press release, with Michelle and James Silva, co-creators at Ska Studios, stating…
“When we first released our indie Soulslike, we were thrilled by the reception, but heard a loud and clear demand from our longstanding community on Xbox. Returning to Xbox is a homecoming for Ska Studios as a company, and it comes after an incredible journey full of support for our nightmarish creation!”
The game itself sees players washing up ashore on a mysterious island after an unspeakable monster shipwrecks your vessel.
From here you create your character and begin to focus on a play-style that best suits your enjoyment of action-RPGs.
You can see what the gameplay is like in the trailer below.
So much like Dark Souls, it’s not entirely based on how good your equipment is, but how well you use what you have.
As you can see in the gameplay trailer, you get a wide variety of different weapons to utilize, including scythes, swords, hammers, axes, and spears.
Each weapon has its own pros and cons, as well as juggling between single-handed weapons and two-handed weapons; the former giving you access to a shield while the latter is focused on dishing out more damage.
You’ll have to mix and match your tactics depending on the enemy you’re facing and the boss that’s giving you trouble. Much like Dark Souls you’ll need to memorize the boss’ patterns, find a good skill-combination to do damage and hit ’em where it hurts.
The big difference between From Software’s title and Ska Studios’ outing is that in the latter’s case it incorporates more side-scrolling platforming like a traditional 16-bit platformer, so it definitely adds a different set of challenges for those you looking for a grimdark action-RPG to dive into.
You can grab a digital copy of the game right now for the Xbox One for just $17.99, or pick up a copy of the game on PS4, Nintendo Switch, or PC.
