What’s the hardest game you’ve ever played? Ninja Gaiden always used to top the list, but now my mind immediately goes to Dark Souls and the upper difficulties of XCOM 2. Elden Ring has its moments, especially Shadow of the Erdtree, and Dwarf Fortress can definitely catch you out. But don’t forget old Salt and Sanctuary. Originally released back in 2016, the soulslike RPG with bags of visual flair may look a little lighter than FromSoft’s creations, but if you don’t take its 2D combat seriously, it can rip you to pieces. Eight years since it first arrived, Salt and Sanctuary is suddenly a lot harder thanks to a transformative update from developer Ska Studios.
In Salt and Sanctuary you play a seriously unlucky sailor who gets shipwrecked on an island and must fight to find a way home. It’s a big game, boasting hundreds of weapons and items, loads of customizable abilities, and intricate combat mechanics. Beloved on Steam, Salt and Sanctuary maintains a ‘very positive’ rating even after 18,000 reviews. If you’ve played it over and over and want a new challenge, or if you’re coming to the soulslike RPG for the first time, it is now, somehow, a lot harder.
The new Salt and Sanctuary update adds an official randomizer. There are three different options here. First, you can choose to randomize every non-essential item in the game. Memorized where to find health? Got your boss preparation down to a fine art? Not any more. Everything is jumbled up and moved around, and it will change with every new save file.
Second, you can randomize monster spawns. Everyone remembers The Witch of the Lake, Salt and Sanctuary’s hardest and most dreaded boss. Imagine fighting her right at the start of the game, before you’ve even got a decent loadout. Yes. That’s going to be tough. But you can make it even worse, because you can also randomize enemy and boss stats.
Technically, this could actually work in your favor – depending on your luck, the randomizer might set bosses to 1HP and take away all their attack power. But Murphy’s Law says it will go hard the other way. Expect even the most basic mobs to become one-shot killers.
Available for free right now, the randomizer update is the perfect way to keep Salt and Sanctuary fresh after all this time. If you’ve never played it before and want to one of the best soulslikes, head here.
Otherwise, try some of the best fantasy games, or maybe the best action-adventure games available on PC.
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