Now with 2D Bloodborne!
Still no release date. Comes out on PS4 first. I believe he’s well into the certification process now. I’m hoping first thing 2016.
I could’ve sworn this used to have an ampersand…
Now with local co-op and PvP. Is that still a thing?
No online because that’s too hard.
They have a definite release date for the timed-exclusive PS4 version. It’s Q1 of this year so I’m not sure why they won’t tell everyone. Must be part of the marketing plan with Sony.
Local co-op or pvp on a console? Er, yeah, that’s still a thing.
I like the art and stylish animation, but I’m not sure this grabbed me like I would have assumed reading the description in your original post. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on, though, thanks for putting this on my radar!
Most people complain about the art, so you’re already ahead of the game!
I’m not 100% sure this will grab me either. There’s enough magic in the Souls formula and 2D combat in general that you can’t guarantee success from the description.
I’m sure I’ll play it and enjoy it. The question is whether I’ll like it so much that I end up playing it over and over with new characters.
This, Eitr and DS3 all in the same year? Sign me up.
I’m rather frustrated that the Vita version seems to have fallen off the radar, like with so many other indie titles that were announced for PS4 and Vita but lost the latter platform somewhere down the line.
On their FAQ page they say it’s still coming, just not right away. If you buy the PS4 version you will get the Vita version later.
It’s only two people. These things are difficult and time-consuming.
The PlayStation store spilled the beans: March 15th for $18 (actually they just said it would be cheaper, the store is wrong because it wasn’t supposed to go live until tomorrow). So 9 days before the Japanese release date for Dark Souls 3. Smart timing.
They said on a livestream tonight the Vita version is still coming but it’s being outsourced. Sorry, WarpRattler. :(
Sweet. Definitely looking forward to this one! Looks to be a spring filled to the brim with Souls action!
Yuck, outsourced ports. There’s a pretty high chance of that being some gross Blighttown framedrop city.
I guess I’ll wait for reviews and eventually get the PC version if it turns out to be my sort of thing.
I think they said it was done buy the guy that does MonoGame, for whatever that’s worth.
Looks like Sony took the store page down due to the leaked date. It should be up today if all goes well.
Outsourced ports are pretty much the standard for Vita and very very common for other consoles. In my experience, they tend to end up better than in-house ports (we are talking indies here) since there’s a lot of performance and optimization expertise porting houses have that indie devs can’t get without having worked on dozens of titles for the specific target platforms.
Behold the catalog of just one local company: http://www.blitworks.com/home/
It’s up on the PlayStation store officially now. The preorder discount is only 10% so no big deal.
It seems to have broken the ska-studios.com website.
Now I have to hustle to reach a good stopping point in my backlog.
Man, watching a stream of this on fextralife, I can’t decide if it’s a loving homage or a wholesale rip-off. I mean, it doesn’t just take inspiration from DS, it basically just says “Okay, let’s do ALL of that, but 2D”. Definitely straddles the line and yet… I sort of can’t wait to play it?
http://fextralife.com/salt-and-sanctuary-release-date-revealed/
The video of the co-op in here makes it pretty clear that, start to finish, this is a Demons/Dark Souls tribute album, from the monster that kills you right off the bat to the “Vanquished!” every time you beat a boss to the various save shrines… I mean, wow.
Yeah, I personally don’t care either way, but a lot of the same beats are there. It’s probably the most direct copy of the Souls formula compared to other recent games that simply borrow a few design concepts. One of the funny things you might have heard in the stream is that they had already developed some innovations prior to finding out they were coming to Bloodborne, such as enemies absorbing your souls (salt) when you die.
The differences mostly seem to be in the 2D combat feel, which looks similar to the games they’ve been making for a decade, and other tweaks on the formula, like deciding which sanctuaries to invest resources to bring in shopkeepers, and the sprawling skill tree rather than an a traditional RPG system. Plus all the platforming of course.
I never played any of their priors, although I was tempted by the Dishwasher. They seem to have a mixed rep among my friends as to the quality of their previous efforts but I’m likely a day one purchase for the PS4, since they haven’t announced when they’re releasing the PC version (which I believe was the first version and I’m guessing is being held back as part of a deal with Sony). Weirdly, I’d say it’s more overt than, say, Lords of the Fallen in some regards and yet it’s also far more distinctive, due to art style and the 2d approach, so that I feel like it’s also more original.
In hindsight, it does make me wish Lords of the Fallen had managed to feel more than slightly-above-average in my memory and I hope that this holds the surprises that that one didn’t.
They said the Sony exclusivity was 3 months, so that’s the minimum time before a PC release. They still have to get it ready of course. They were actually streaming the Steam version so they’re probably close. The last little bits can take a long time though. They also plan to port the Dishwasher to PC as soon as possible. I don’t know how good those games are either. I’ve just wanted to play them since I’m an old fan of their early freeware/indie work on PC before they become XNA stars.
The Fextralife stream already spoiled a few surprises like a somewhat-common gimmick for platformers. I’m not sure how much else there will be. The real “surprise” compared to Lords of the Fallen would be tight combat and enemy design that make the game worth playing over and over! I’ve heard a lot of praise for the Dishwasher’s direct and immediate controls, so I suspect that will be okay. The developer admitted he couldn’t put as many weapon combos into the game as he wanted, so moveset breadth and depth will be something to watch out for.
BTW, they openly admitted the exclusivity window paid for the entire development. I don’t know if that was an advance or what, but getting that security without having to deal with Kickstarter, all in exchange for 3 months of exclusivity, seems like a good deal for an indie developer.
Sony approached them after Microsoft dropped the ball with indies this generation. They had been exclusive to X360.
I totally don’t fault them. Bigger studios doing it for a payout is kind of annoying (Looking at you, Rise of the Tomb Raider) but I can’t get mad at an indie studio using it to make sure they’re not in the red. I just hope it does well for them … and for me.
Especially impressed that, on further research, this is a two-person team here in my own city (four if, as they say, you count the cats). Good on them - it looks far more slick than you might expect from a two-person team, although I think Valdis Story was also a two-person team so maybe I need to manage my two-person team expectations up a bit. ;-)