Loved the first game; this just isn't it.

I have currently defeated two bosses, both forgettable and easy. I have found no secrets despite hitting every wall. The dodge rolls further past the enemy than my attacks reach, and there’s usually not enough time to catch back up to them before they start swinging again. The parry is gone, and now you just have a timed block that acts as a stagger, rather than the original system of block + attack, which just feels awful paired with the dodge roll. None of this was an issue in the first game.

As well as this, the hub is super confusing to traverse, and is way too big. You have to go back to the hub to level up as well as do various other things, splitting the original camp in the first game into multiple areas. To travel back to the camp you have to teleport back, and upon reaching it, travel up to level up, then travel down through caves towards the portal, which you then have to put 5 specific runes in each time to unlock the ability to teleport back to your original location. This issue gets worse when you realize that there are two functionally different save points, one that you can travel to, and one you can travel from, meaning if you haven’t unlocked the former you have to carry on until you do, or lose progress in the map. This is functionally similar to Dark Souls 2/3, but made even more tedious, while the first game was functionally similar to Dark Souls 1. This whole system is just made unnecessarily inconvenient, and adds nothing to the experience.

While I haven’t got much hours, I do not want to go over 2 hours and lose my refund period, and I don’t see myself enjoying this game after reading the other reviews describing more flaws than I’ve experienced so far. If I had to compliment this game, I do enjoy the grappling hook + wall jump. If I had to nit pick, I prefer the jump + dodge = fling yourself far bug in the first game, even though it wasn’t intended, making for some fun/fast movement.

I just don’t see the appeal of this game. The combat isn’t anything special either compared to other games like Blasphemous 2/Hollow Knight. While Salt and Sanctuary was my first 2D souls-like game, and holds a special place in my heart, it’s been long enough that the standards for games like these have raised so much that this just feels out of place.

Loved the first game; this just isn't it. I have currently defeated two bosses, both forgettable and easy. I have found no secrets despite hitting every wall. The dodge rolls further past the enemy than my attacks reach, and there’s usually not enough time to catch back up to them before they start swinging again. The parry is gone, and now you just have a timed block that acts as a stagger, rather than the original system of block + attack, which just feels awful paired with the dodge roll. None of this was an issue in the first game. As well as this, the hub is super confusing to traverse, and is way too big. You have to go back to the hub to level up as well as do various other things, splitting the original camp in the first game into multiple areas. To travel back to the camp you have to teleport back, and upon reaching it, travel up to level up, then travel down through caves towards the portal, which you then have to put 5 specific runes in each time to unlock the ability to teleport back to your original location. This issue gets worse when you realize that there are two functionally different save points, one that you can travel to, and one you can travel from, meaning if you haven’t unlocked the former you have to carry on until you do, or lose progress in the map. This is functionally similar to Dark Souls 2/3, but made even more tedious, while the first game was functionally similar to Dark Souls 1. This whole system is just made unnecessarily inconvenient, and adds nothing to the experience. While I haven’t got much hours, I do not want to go over 2 hours and lose my refund period, and I don’t see myself enjoying this game after reading the other reviews describing more flaws than I’ve experienced so far. If I had to compliment this game, I do enjoy the grappling hook + wall jump. If I had to nit pick, I prefer the jump + dodge = fling yourself far bug in the first game, even though it wasn’t intended, making for some fun/fast movement. I just don’t see the appeal of this game. The combat isn’t anything special either compared to other games like Blasphemous 2/Hollow Knight. While Salt and Sanctuary was my first 2D souls-like game, and holds a special place in my heart, it’s been long enough that the standards for games like these have raised so much that this just feels out of place.