Recent reviews by Royal

Yeah I just can't. This game is crammed full of just mismatched design philosophies and solo play is basically the worst way to play because of how off kilter the balance is. Enemies are too spongey, weapon durability is VERY poorly thought out in general, and the worlds feel really bland due to too much empty space between landmarks. There's something great here, but it's not quite there. I'll probably check back in when it's finished.

Inflated health bars, tedious material gathering, imprecise character movement, annoying Diablo-ass enchantments that can legitimately result in something being worthless by way of one bad effect, a botched healing system and annoying time gates on town upgrades. These are why I'm dropping this game for the foreseeable future. I tried everything in my power to like the game, but eleven hours in I realized I just wasn't having any fun. It's obvious the developers have a great idea here, but the implementation is a frustrating slog a lot of the time. I deeply hope the game improves, and maybe it will, but I'm shelving it for now.

Legitimately an amazing DLC. The new Forlorn Coast area is a blast to explore and feels wonderfully interconnected, making it feel like a real place, the new weapons are solid and fun to use, and the One True King himself definitely lives up to the in-universe hype. Plus, his voice acting and dialogue are just great. He's a really interesting character, and I'm glad we got to meet him.

PEOPLE WHO VOTE POSITIVE ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED. DO NOT BELIEVE THEIR LIES, THIS GAME IS TRAAAAAAAAASH

Worth the wait. Courage and honor, brothers.

I feel really bad for the people having issues because I've mostly been able to enjoy the dlc without problems, and when it works it's a lot of fun. But I recognize that I'm an anomaly and the issues can't be ignored, so I'm adding my voice to the choir here. Randy, you are an incompetent hack of a CEO who needs to step down immediately, because the way you run your company has now started to negatively impact games you DIDN'T EVEN MAKE.

I previously played this game on the EGS, so while my playtime seems low, this review comes from the perspective of someone who has beaten Salt and Sacrifice. If you want me to say whether I like this game or not, well, yes, I do, and I hope you do too. But my review comes with a caveat.

If you are looking for a proper followup to Salt and Sanctuary that expands on what that game did right while alleviating or abandoning what it did wrong, you will not like Salt and Sacrifice.

Sanctuary was a metroidvania with soulslike mechanics, while Sacrifice is more of a Monster Hunter-like with soulslike mechanics. Instead of one big interconnected world, you are sent into smaller, still interconnected worlds that, while still well designed, fun to navigate and containing some really fun boss fights, aren't connected to each other, making this less of a metroidvania and more of a Demon's-Souls-but-2D kinda deal. Additionally, instead of making the big-ticket Mages isolated story bosses you need to destroy, they're structured like a Monster Hunter hunt. Beat on them, they run away, you chase them and beat on them more, they run away, rinse and repeat until they finally stand their ground in an isolated boss arena.

You are very much meant to kill the same type of mage over and over to grind out materials to make and upgrade elemental weapons. Which is a system I enjoy wholeheartedly, don't get me wrong, I'm a total sl*t for grindy games. But probably the most frustrating aspect of the mages is that they will spawn enemies exclusive to them during the chases that makes that chase so, so unpleasant sometimes. As much as I enjoy the hunts, it gets annoying really fast. This game definitely reeks of being a game that more heavily rewards multiplayer than single player.

That being said, there are still aspects of Sanctuary at play here. The leveling system is the same, there's some new weapon types and a whole new set of throwing weapons, you still get abilities that expand how much of a given area you can explore, the combo system is still present(albeit a bit watered down seemingly), the gameplay is still as weighty as ever, and there are still unique bosses that are one and done affairs that are pretty darn cool. And there's some neat lore reveals for fans of the first game.

Ultimately, Salt and Sacrifice is a followup that fails to be a proper successor to its predecessor. It's more of a sidegrade to the original game, doing some things better, some things worse, and doing some new stuff that won't always land. But on its own terms, I like it a lot. I just hope the next Salt game is a proper followup to Sanctuary.

I rate this game 9 Vladimir Putins riding a pterodactyl out of ten.

This game has the funniest ragdolls in existence

Edit: The SES Knight of Destruction is being recommissioned as we speak. Good job Sony.

Betrayal of democracy will not be tolerated again.