Wash ashore in Salt and Sanctuary, Ska Studios’ 2016 action-RPG masterpiece that crashed onto PS4 on March 15, 2016, spread to PC, Vita, Switch, Xbox One, and beyond, and still slashes strong in 2025 with over 2 million copies sold by 2022! This isn’t just a Dark Souls knockoff—it’s a 2D bloodbath where you, a shipwrecked sailor, carve through a cursed island’s fog-drenched horrors, chasing a lost princess amid forgotten lords and salt-soaked doom. With a 2023 Enhanced Mode patch and Salt and Sacrifice out since ‘22, this indie beast keeps its edge sharp!
Swing steel—wield 600+ weapons from daggers to greathammers, tweak builds with a sprawling skill tree, and chain air combos or parries against Kraekans like the Sodden Knight or Witch of the Lake in a Metroidvania maze of crypts, cliffs, and gore. Explore a hand-drawn hell—shattered cities, mossy corpses, labyrinthine depths—powered by a custom engine hitting 1080p/60 FPS (4K on PS5/Xbox Series X|S via compatibility). Enhanced Mode (2023) buffs co-op loot and balance, Classic Mode keeps the old grind—20-30 hours of punishment, doubled with New Game+, no DLC needed, just raw replay fuel.
The vibe? Grim fantasy meets comic-strip dread—think salt-worn ruins, shambling fiends, and a Brian Barnes OST that hums with eerie menace. The story’s a dark riddle—shipwrecked, creed-bound, hunting a princess through a purgatorial sprawl—voiced sparse but haunting. Solo’s a gauntlet, local co-op’s a lifeline—critics (89 on Metacritic) and X posts praise its depth, though some curse cheap deaths or Witch’s wrath. Steam’s Spring Sale (ends March 20, 2025) slashes it 75% to $4.49—Salt and Sanctuary dares you to claim your salt. Grab a blade and defy the abyss!