All Articles: Salt and Sanctuary

WarioWare Gold, Dead Cells, Overcooked! 2, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week

It is another big week for the Switch, but this Nintendo eShop belongs to the 3DS as Wario makes his debut on Nintendo’s dedicated handheld.

WarioWare Gold is the latest microgame collection starring Mario’s (other) nemesis, and this time around players will be able to tackle more than 300 new and returning microgames. Players will need to “use the touchscreen, tilt the system, push buttons, and rock the mic” when WarioWare Gold is available to download for the 3DS beginning tomorrow.

But Switch owners will once again get to choose from dozens of new releases this week, including today’s eShop launch for Salt and Sanctuary, a brutally challenging 2D Action RPG from Ska Studios. Also available to download today is comedic side-scroller Guns, Gore, and Cannoli 2 and picture puzzler Picross S2 (now with a Story Mode!).

And early next week, on August 7, Switch owners will be able to download Dead Cells, a MetroidVania-style roguelite from Motion Twin; Overcooked! 2, another multiplayer cooking sim from Team17; Slam Land, a basketball-style party brawler from Bread Machine; and 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, an interactive adventure set during the Iranian Revolution.

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop (including Iconoclasts, Not A Hero, Flipping Death, and more) after the break. (more…)

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The Walking Dead: A New Frontier Episode 3, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5, MLB The Show 17, more added to PS Store

It’s another big update for the PlayStation Store this week, so let’s get right to it…

Kingdom Hearts III is still no closer to release, but Square Enix wants to prepare PS4 players with the downloadable release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix. The compilation includes four full Kingdom Hearts games (Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Herts: ReChain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep), and it offers the most complete look back at the franchise’s beginnings.

Telltale continues the story in The Walking Dead: A New Fronter this week with Episode 3: Above the Law. Now available to download for the PS4, players will need to help Javier find a role in his newly reunited family in the middle episode of this season.

Sports fans will have several new choices to choose from this week on the PlayStation Store, including dueling baseball games (MLB The Show 17 and RBI Baseball 2017), an old school hockey game (Old Time Hockey), and a boxing management simulation (Punch Club).

Elsewhere on the PlayStation Store, the “Play Collective” promotion rolls on with the PS4 release of Videocult’s side-scrolling survival game, Rain World.

Finally this week, Ska Studios will bring Salt and Sanctuary, their side-scrolling action RPG, to the Vita.

You can learn more about this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store after the break. (more…)

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Salt and Sanctuary Review: Derivative, But Who’s Complaining?

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It is often said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. If this is true, the folks at From Software must be fanning themselves like a Victorian lady in search of a fainting couch, because Salt and Sanctuary is an unashamed imitation of Dark Souls. In fact, licensing aside, it essentially is a Souls game. Of course, Salt and Sanctuary is not the first game to copy the formula established by From Software, but where others have become mired in being too much like Dark Souls, Salt and Sanctuary strikes out in new, interesting directions and successfully transposes the Souls style onto a 2D action-platformer. (more…)

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EA Sports UFC 2, Salt and Sanctuary, Paragon, more added to PS Store

Sony uploaded a massive number of new titles to the PlayStation Store this week, so let’s get started…

This week’s top release is most likely EA Sports UFC 2 (PS4), the latest mixed martial arts simulation from Electronic Arts. In the sequel, players can take control of more than 250 fighters, or use the Create-A-Fighter mode to enter The Octagon as themselves. EA has also promised that EA Sports UFC 2 will include a deeper Career Mode and a “revolutionary new Knockout Physics system.”

This week also marks the kickoff of Sony’s Launch Party 2016 promotion, and the first game to be released is Salt and Sanctuary from Ska Studios. The PS4 game is a “brutal” side-scrolling adventure with “richly developed RPG mechanics.”

Paragon, Epic’s upcoming MOBA for the PS4, will also be available this week on March 18. The game will eventually be free-to-play, but the $19.99 Founder’s Pack will be the only way to play during the game’s current “Early Access” period.

Finally this week, the arcade classic Bubble Bobble is now available to download on the PS4. If you’ve never had the chance to spit bubbles as Bub and Bob, now’s your chance to fill a major gap in your knowledge of video game history.

More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And, as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita | Tagged ,

Launch Party 2016 promo brings six PS4 titles to PS Store in March/April including Invisible Inc, Day of the Tentacle, Alienation, more

For the last few years, Sony has flooded the PlayStation Store with quality titles in the Spring as part of their “Spring Fever” event. “Spring Fever” is no more, but the spirit of that event lives on in this year’s “Launch Party,” which will deliver a half-dozen new games to the PS4 and Vita this Spring.

Head over to the PlayStation Blog (or keep reading) to find out more about each of these titles:

Salt and Sanctuary (March 15)
We’ve admired Ska Studios’ games from afar for years, and we’re so thrilled to have their latest masterpiece debut exclusively on PS4! If you’ve enjoyed games like Bloodborne or Dark Souls you’ll feel right at home in Salt and Sanctuary’s brutal but beautiful world (brutiful?). Deep combat and rich RPG elements, all set in a cursed realm of forgotten cities, blood-soaked dungeons, and desecrated monuments. What else could you want? (PS4 + PS Vita Cross-Buy)

Day of the Tentacle Remastered (March 22)
We’re so excited to be working with Double Fine on bringing another classic LucasArts adventure to PS4, after their fantastic work on Grim Fandango. Originally released in 1993, Day of the Tentacle is a mind-bending, time travelling, cartoon puzzle adventure game in which three unlikely friends work together to prevent an evil mutated purple tentacle from taking over the world! This loving remaster features all-new, hand-drawn, high-resolution artwork, with remastered music and sound effects. (PS4 + PS Vita Cross-Buy)

Enter the Gungeon (April 5)
Enter the Gungeon is the latest in our ongoing partnership (more of a kinship, really) with Devolver Digital, developed by the devious geniuses at Dodge Roll. Making its console debut on PS4, Gungeon combines The Binding of Isaac-style dungeons with an action-packed repertoire of shooting, looting, dodge-rolling, and table-flipping (and two-player local co-op!). All on a quest to reach the ultimate treasure: a gun that can kill the past! (Of course.) (PS4)

Stories: The Path of Destinies (April 12)
Spearhead Games was one of the very first developers to jump on the PS4 train with their underrated multiplayer puzzler Tiny Brains. They’ve been working hard ever since on a sumptuous action-RPG called Stories: The Path of Destinies, a madcap epic fantasy where each choice you make takes you through a different story. Each story — some dark, some romantic, all action-packed — is true in its way, and will lead you to victory if you pay enough attention… (PS4)

Invisible Inc (April 19)
If you’re anything like us, you’re still playing Klei Entertainment’s singular PS4 survival sim Don’t Starve, over two years later. Invisible, Inc. is a very different beast, but similarly applies Klei’s whip-smart design prowess and beautifully stylized aesthetic to a tactical turn-based adventure. Take control of Invisible’s agents in the field and infiltrate the world’s most dangerous corporations. Stealth, precision, and teamwork are essential in high-stakes, high-profit missions, where every move may cost an agent their life. (PS4)

Alienation (April 26)
If you’ve ever played Super Stardust, Resogun, or Dead Nation, you know the visceral pleasures Housemarque is capable of. They’ve collaborated with SCE Worldwide Studios on another amazing PS4 exclusive, where 1-4 players can team up online against alien hoards with an array of conventional and hybrid weaponry. All taking place in massively destructible environments where collateral damage can literally bring the house down! (PS4)

All six games are currently available to pre-order from the PlayStation Store and buying any of them early will net you a 20% discount on the final price.

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