It will be very often that you need to hunt down more named/nameless mages as, unless you know exactly where to find their hunt information, you will constantly find yourself up against doors that need more of these mage hearts. Metroidvania have a wonderful way of promoting backtracking by connecting areas that are pertinent to various stages of their respective games to earlier sections, but because Salt and Sacrifice exists with much smaller worlds, they cannot do that. It’s this door mechanic that makes the game feel disjointed and arbitrary in its progression. This not only provides vital materials for making some really cool gear, but also can unlock glowing red doors. As you go through the different parts of the game you come across hunts which provide a named or nameless mage for you to track down and defeat – and you’ll consume their heart upon defeat. The game feels a lot less rooted in its Metroidvania ideas, and it tries to make up for it with arbitrary progression requirements. While it’s not entirely a problem to split your game into smaller worlds like Salt and Sacrifice does, it can come at a cost. The sanctuary/oath system was incredibly unique and its removal makes the game feel a little more generic, like its key identifying feature has been traded in for something that other games have done many times before. While this is fine, I do find it removes some of the charm that was in abundance in the previous game. This also means that there is a hub area where a majority of your NPCs will head to, and safe areas function a lot more like a traditional resting point rather than the unique sanctuary system from the previous game. Instead, areas exist in smaller, independent worlds, similar to the structure of Demon’s Souls. Salt and Sacrifice does some of this, but the world isn’t one massive interconnected beast. The design understood the importance of backtracking, shortcuts, and had a good sense of logic in how the areas were connected. The Island was one world where all the areas were so seamlessly interconnected there was elegance in the flow of the levels, and more areas would constantly open up as your character’s abilities expanded. One of the things I praised Salt and Sanctuary for was its level design.
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