Salt 2: Shores of Gold

About

"Salt 2: Shores of Gold" is a high-sea adventure game where players sail across vast oceans, discovering islands and looting treasures. The sequel brings new features such as underwater exploration and ship customization, allowing for a more immersive and strategic experience. With its immersive soundtrack and stunning visuals, players will experience the thrill of the open sea and the lure of untold riches.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+30

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,780 reviews

story46 positive mentions

grinding78 negative mentions

The game offers a relaxing and enjoyable exploration experience with beautiful graphics and a calming atmosphere.
The crafting and skill progression systems are engaging, allowing players to customize their ships and characters.
The procedural generation of islands keeps the gameplay fresh and encourages exploration.

Combat feels clunky and unresponsive, making it less satisfying than expected.
The sailing mechanics are overly simplistic, lacking depth and excitement.
There is a lack of diverse NPC interactions and life in the world, making it feel empty at times.

story
326 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
82%
4%
The story in "Salt 2" is largely open-ended, allowing players to create their own narratives as they explore a world filled with fetch quests and side stories. While there is a main quest and some character interactions that hint at a broader lore, many players find the quest system repetitive and lacking depth, with most tasks revolving around simple item retrieval. Overall, the game shows potential for a richer narrative experience, but currently feels unfinished and overly reliant on mundane quest mechanics.
- “Salt 2 inserts you as a pirate with no certain story, leaving it to your open mind to decide your true lore.”
- “The NPCs that give you quests at least make an effort to introduce you to the world affairs.”
- “I love ocean and island exploration type games, and this has a very relaxing and open world feel to it, with some danger and excitement when encountering NPC pirates and wild animals on your quests and adventures.”
- “Combat is unsatisfying (played on hardest difficulty), exploring islands is kinda boring after like 3, skills felt grindy and unrewarding, story was not engaging.”
- “The quest line is hard to follow, so it makes the story not so much fun.”
- “In terms of story and writing, there really isn't any that I've discerned yet.”
graphics
260 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
62%
8%
The graphics in the game have received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the colorful, low-poly aesthetic that offers a charming and immersive experience, while others criticize the simplistic and occasionally dated visuals. Some users noted that the graphics are not a major selling point and could benefit from more optimization and customization options. Overall, while the visuals are generally considered pleasant and fitting for the game's style, they may not meet the expectations of players seeking high-end graphics.
- “The graphical style of chunky low poly pastel colored textures is one of my new favorite styles due to the simplicity and lack of visual noise that pervades current gen games.”
- “The graphics are extremely pleasant to look at, and have a colourful vibe throughout the entire experience.”
- “The graphics are beautiful and vibrant which makes such a refreshing change from a lot of similar games where for some reason developers like to make them all dark and gloomy.”
- “The bad graphics seem to add to the lameness.”
- “Character animations are wooden; map designs are repetitive and obviously artificial; the graphics, which look like something out of PS2 abandonware, are decidedly not the selling point.”
- “This game is a graphical and logical mess; the lighting is off, and the tree color palettes are painful to look at.”
gameplay
222 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
73%
5%
The gameplay of Salt 2 has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying its simple mechanics and intuitive controls, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking depth. Many highlight the engaging crafting and exploration elements, but express disappointment in the combat and sailing mechanics, which feel basic and underdeveloped. Overall, while the game shows potential for improvement, it currently struggles with a lack of compelling content and variety in gameplay.
- “The gameplay loop is varied enough to please any player and the game is pure and simply entertaining.”
- “The sailing and the survival mechanics of this game are really thought out and fun.”
- “Overall I've enjoyed the gameplay, it's a great break from battle passes and reminds me of playing a game without a specific goal in mind other than just exploring and collecting.”
- “10 hours in, you are doing exactly the same gameplay that you were doing in the first hour.”
- “For a game that is ostensibly about sailing, you spend most of your time running through featureless island environments, doing the same wood-gathering, ore-mining, flower-plucking survival crafting gameplay that we have seen in the survival sim genre since 2012.”
- “Salt 2 is now literally unplayable and the community is absurdly defensive to criticism of the primary gameplay which is searching nearly featureless islands for unrewarding trinket clutter, receiving fetch quests 'bring me a piece of rope' or 'bring me 3 oils' (actual examples), or the insipid combat against largely unresponsive enemies.”
grinding
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
1%
98%
The game's grinding mechanics have received mixed feedback, with many players finding the leveling and resource gathering excessively tedious and unrewarding, often feeling like a repetitive chore. While some appreciate the grind for its potential payoff and enjoy the exploration aspects, others criticize the lack of engaging content and meaningful progression, suggesting that the game leans too heavily on monotonous tasks. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant aspect that could benefit from improvement to enhance player engagement.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “I don't mind a grindy game when there is a payoff, but I've currently played for about 12 hours and I'm level 30+ and I don't really feel like the skills I've gotten so far have had any real effect whatsoever.”
- “The only challenge is the mundane ore/herb farming that you need to do to progress the crafting.”
- “It's a lot of grinding just for nothing really.”
music
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
28%
5%
The music in the game is widely praised for its soothing and immersive qualities, enhancing the overall atmosphere during exploration and sailing. Players appreciate the calming soundtrack, which adapts to different situations, making it a perfect backdrop for relaxation and adventure. However, some criticism is directed at the battle music, which does not match the high quality of the rest of the soundtrack.
- “Beautiful scenery and relaxing music while decorating your ship.”
- “It sets the right tone in everything you do, and the music is outstanding in reinforcing your exploration, discovery, and questing.”
- “Battle music is really bad as well.”
- “I love sailing around especially when the music hits but I'd like there to be some events at sea like other pirates, monsters, or weather.”
- “The music is soothing and you can lose yourself in this game for quite a while without having to mute it.”
optimization
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
74%
18%
The optimization of Salt 2 has received mixed reviews, with players noting significant stuttering issues, particularly when loading new islands or around large ships. While some users report an average performance of 50-70 fps at 1440p, many express a desire for more customizable graphics settings and improvements in overall performance. Despite these concerns, there is optimism for future updates to enhance optimization and address current balance issues.
- “Very solid gameplay loop, large amount of content (so far), optimized fairly for early access, has consistent art direction and general gameplay is solid.”
- “Could be optimized a bit better but, so far it has a solid foundation and can't wait to see what else they do with it.”
- “Again, I'm sure this will change in time with some better optimization of the game.”
- “There are also some performance issues; the game every so often stutters very notably and annoyingly (I had it installed on SSD).”
- “But then once I sailed to a new island, I noticed massive frame chunking and stuttering as the game loaded in the new island.”
- “There is some optimization issues and balance issues at the moment regarding almost everything.”
atmosphere
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
25%
11%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive qualities, combining simple yet effective graphics with captivating sound design that enhances the experience of exploration and adventure. Players appreciate the relaxing ambiance, beautiful sunsets, and vibrant wildlife, which contribute to a sense of discovery and enjoyment, making it a standout feature that encourages repeated play. Overall, the atmosphere is described as both stunning and engaging, providing a perfect backdrop for the game's survival elements.
- “The sound quality adds to the immersive atmosphere, breathing life into the high seas adventure.”
- “Fantastic atmosphere, great exploration and questing.”
- “The graphics are simple, but they work well with the chill atmosphere.”
- “It has a relaxing atmosphere of discovery with moments of exhilarating combat.”
- “I got jettisoned into the atmosphere just fishing on my boat and wound up an hour and a half south of where I was.”
stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
8%
69%
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while some players report a smooth experience with minimal bugs, others experience significant stuttering and freezing, particularly during loading and rendering. Many acknowledge the presence of minor glitches typical of early access titles, but opinions vary on their impact on gameplay. Despite these issues, some users still recommend the game for its enjoyable mechanics and performance on platforms like the Steam Deck.
- “I can't wait to see what they add in, but honestly, if they didn't do anything else, this game runs great and has amazing gameplay. Totally recommend if you like crafting/pirate games.”
- “Improvements on the first Salt in visuals without losing some of the fun whimsy. Not sure how I feel about the full ships yet, but enjoyable and bug-free.”
- “Runs great on Steam Deck too.”
- “While it doesn't boast mind-blowing unreal graphics, the game suffers from severe glitches and stutters when loading new content.”
- “The game stutters and freezes while rendering islands (and while saving), which makes approaching land a pain.”
- “An example is the 'freeze', where the entire world simply freezes while it loads, multiple times in a row.”
humor
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its humor, featuring witty dialogue, memorable characters, and amusing scenarios, such as the comical tale of a muffin-loving character. Players find the inventory UI humorously bad, adding to the lighthearted experience, while the combination of fast-paced combat and entertaining lore keeps the atmosphere engaging and fun. Overall, the humor enhances the gameplay, making it a delightful experience.
- “The game’s fast-paced combat system and challenging puzzles will keep you on your toes, while the game’s witty dialogue and memorable characters will keep you laughing.”
- “The music is calming with a touch of adventure and the lore that you find in books and talking to NPCs is entertaining with some humor.”
- “The guy who ate a lot of muffins and died is super hilarious.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of the game has drawn criticism, with some users feeling that it prioritizes profit over player experience, particularly noting that the previous installment, Salt 1, was left behind in favor of this new release. While not labeling it outright as a cash grab, there is a sentiment of disappointment regarding the handling of the franchise.
- “Salt 1 was left abandoned for this cash grab.”
- “I'm not saying the game is a cash grab, or the devs are bad or whatever.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players appreciate the game's inherent replayability and randomness, which contribute to its longevity. However, many express a desire for additional features, such as ship-to-ship combat, which they believe would significantly enhance the fun and replay value.
- “Replayability, randomness, all is here.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game to be a fun and wholesome experience that serves as a welcome distraction from the challenges of daily life. It evokes a sense of exploration and adventure, allowing players to engage with the world by discovering merchants and points of interest on various islands.
- “Fun, wholesome, and a welcome distraction from our turbulent lives.”
- “It made me feel like more of an explorer, and I was able to mark down what merchants or points of interest were on a specific island.”