2016's surprise indie hit Salt and Sanctuary had many fans hoping for more of its Dark Souls inspired world. A sequel game, Salt and Sacrifice, was announced 5 years after the original game’s release and now the long wait is almost over.
Salt and Sanctuary released in 2016 by indie game developer Ska Studios cemented itself as a first-rate example of the quickly developing Souls-like sub-genre of games. Its main draw being that it could capture all the atmosphere and gloomy world building of the Souls series, plus mimic its famous combat system, only using 2 dimensions.
Now the sequel, Salt and Sacrifice, has a release date, revealed in a new trailer for the game. Releasing almost 6 years to the day after the original, Salt and Sacrifice comes to PC, PS4, and PS5 on March 10, promising more brutal boss fights and Metroidvania style exploration. The trailer also emphasizes a player summoning system close in style to the Dark Souls series, where players join different factions with different motives and can choose to either invade or offer cooperation in the worlds of other online players. The game promises a “fuller” co-op mode compared to the original, advancing the story for both players simultaneously rather than just the host player.
Since the Dark Souls series exploded in popularity in 2011, its influence has been seen everywhere in the gaming industry. The Souls-like genre mostly relates to game that try to emulate the difficult but satisfying combat system of the Souls-series, including triple-A releases like Nioh and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. When Salt and Sanctuary was released, its undeniable influence from the Souls series on the game’s tone and atmosphere, as well as the cryptic way it explains its mechanics, placed it as a leading example of a sub-genre of 2D Souls-likes.
Many indie games would follow in the same vein as Salt and Sanctuary. 2017 saw the release of Hollow Knight, a game that focused on capturing atmosphere and tone. 2018’s Dead Cells would go in the other direction focusing on the combat system. The demand for 2D Souls-likes has grown into its own market and is, luckily, a far more accessible option for indie developers without huge resources or staff. Salt and Sanctuary’s success is even more impressive when one considers that both the original and the upcoming Salt and Sacrifice were developed by teams of only two people.
Salt and Sacrifice releases March 10 on PC, PS4, and PS5.