Salt and Sacrifice is a 'hardcore RPG platformer' sequel to Salt and Sanctuary

YouTube

The hit 2016 2D RPG Salt and Sanctuary is getting a sequel, announced by PlayStation Indies head Shuhei Yoshida during today's Summer Game Fest Kickoff livestream as Salt and Sacrifice.

The trailer showcases some very stylish side-scrolling action telling a tale about a condemned criminal turned marked inquisitor who hunts mages in a bizarre fantasy world. Graphically, it looks more advanced than its predecessor—which, by the way, we included in our 2019 list of the best Souls-like games on PC—but the gameplay seems to be very much in the same vein.

Players will customize their inquisitor's appearance, class—Highblade, Paladin, Assassin, Cleric, Dualist, Fighter, Ranger, or Sage—and crime, and then partake in the Magebane Rite, leaving them in a state between life and death. From there, they'll prepare for excursions at Pardoner's Vale, a hub for inquisitors, and then embark upon quests through villages, tombs, temples, and swamps, searching for clues and tracking down more than 20 different types of wicked mages.

Salt and Sacrifice will support both singleplayer and drop-in, drop-out multiplayer, as well as multiplayer factions including the co-op focused Dawnlight Order and the player-killing Shroud Alliance.

"Seeing the multiplayer aspects of Salt and Sacrifice come to life has been really cool," Ska Studios founder James Silva said. "There are so many interesting things we can do with our different factions’ goals within this perilous Mage-wracked world."

The trailer only lists a release on the PS4 and PS5, but Ska Studios confirmed after the show that it will be coming to PC as well. It's expected to be out in early 2022. Check out some screens below.

Image 1 of 9

Salt and Sacrifice — (Image credit: Ska Studios)

• What's up next? Here's the full E3 2021 schedule
• Check out our list of every game at E3 so far

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.