Salt 2: Shores of Gold

86%
Game Brain Score Based on 890 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Salt 2: Shores of Gold Game Cover
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"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.

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Reviews

86%
Audience ScoreBased on 890 reviews
story23 positive mentions
grinding39 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 developers are actively updating the game and responding to community feedback, showing commitment to improving the overall experience.
  • Combat mechanics feel clunky and unresponsive, making battles less engaging and often frustrating.
  • The sailing experience lacks depth, with no real ship-to-ship combat or dynamic weather to enhance gameplay.
  • Many islands feel repetitive and similar, leading to a sense of monotony in exploration.
  • story163 mentions

    The story in "Salt 2" is largely open-ended, allowing players to create their own narratives as they explore a procedurally generated world filled with fetch quests and side stories. While there is a main quest and various faction quests, many players find the quest system repetitive and lacking depth, with most tasks revolving around simple item retrieval or combat. Despite its potential for engaging storytelling, the current execution leaves much to be desired, with many players expressing a desire for more intricate plots and diverse quest types.

    • “The way Salt 2 works with its exploration is you get a sextant to get your current location; you can either use your quest to mark on the map where you need to go or just go off exploring each island.”
    • “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.”
    • “With the promise of more plot lines, quests, and different types of islands, I'm really looking forward to where this game is going.”
    • “The quest system is not great and leaves the player frustrated with no clear directions.”
    • “The game has a ton of potential, but the mindless grind, broken combat, terrible map, and terribly confusing and un-explained quest system that relies purely on text from books is not worth the money.”
    • “In terms of story and writing, there really isn't any that I've discerned yet.”
  • graphics130 mentions

    The graphics in the game are a mixed bag, with many players appreciating the colorful, stylized aesthetic and low-poly design, which adds charm and immersion despite being less realistic. However, some criticize the graphics as basic or dated, with repetitive environments and wooden character animations detracting from the overall experience. While the visuals have improved from the original game, there are calls for better optimization and more graphical options to enhance performance and visual appeal.

    • “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 colorful vibe throughout the entire experience.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful and vibrant, which makes for a refreshing change from a lot of similar games where developers tend 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.”
    • “Because the map is procedurally generated, the islands quickly become samey and unexciting to explore, especially since the graphics are so lackluster.”
  • gameplay111 mentions

    The gameplay of Salt 2 has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its intuitive mechanics and enjoyable crafting and exploration elements, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking depth, particularly in combat and sailing mechanics. Many users express a desire for more customization and engaging content, noting that the current gameplay loop can feel linear and tedious. Overall, while the game shows potential for improvement, it currently struggles with repetitive tasks and a lack of compelling RPG elements.

    • “The gameplay loop is varied enough to please any player, and the game is pure and simply entertaining.”
    • “The sailing and 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.”
  • grinding40 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and often unrewarding, with many expressing frustration over slow leveling and tedious resource farming. While some enjoy the grind for its own sake, others feel it detracts from the overall experience, making exploration and combat feel less engaging. The game's reliance on repetitive tasks and lack of meaningful progression has led to mixed feelings, with some hoping for improvements in future updates.

    • “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.”
  • music30 mentions

    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 complements the game's serene visuals and gameplay, making it a relaxing experience. However, some critiques mention that the battle music does not match the high standard set by the rest of the soundtrack.

    • “The music is very nice and fitting, changes with your situation.”
    • “Adventure/exploration part is good and music makes the atmosphere immersive.”
    • “Beautiful scenery and soothing music to sail to.”
    • “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.”
  • optimization17 mentions

    The optimization of the game is currently a mixed bag, with users reporting notable stuttering and frame drops, particularly when loading new islands or encountering large ships. While some players have experienced stable performance, many express a desire for more graphics options and improvements to overall optimization. Overall, there is optimism for future updates to enhance performance, but the game still requires significant work in this area.

    • “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.”
    • “Edit: since my initial review, far more locations and points of interest have been added to the game as well as performance increases and combat tweaks.”
    • “Optimization is not the best; give me more options in graphics please to tinker with and choose the settings I want.”
    • “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.”
  • atmosphere14 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive qualities, enhanced by simple yet effective graphics, captivating sound design, and beautiful environmental features like sunsets and wildlife. Players appreciate the relaxing and exploratory vibe, which balances moments of excitement with a chill ambiance, making it a compelling experience that encourages repeated play. Overall, the game's atmosphere significantly contributes to its appeal, creating a rich and engaging world for players to explore.

    • “The sound quality adds to the immersive atmosphere, breathing life into the high seas adventure.”
    • “Fantastic atmosphere, great exploration and questing.”
    • “It has a relaxing atmosphere of discovery with moments of exhilarating combat.”
    • “The graphics are simple, but they work well with the chill atmosphere.”
    • “I got jettisoned into the atmosphere while fishing on my boat and ended up an hour and a half south of where I was.”
    • “It has a relaxing atmosphere of discovery with moments of exhilarating combat.”
  • stability13 mentions

    Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while some players report a smooth experience with minimal bugs, others experience significant issues such as stuttering, freezing during loading, and glitches when rendering islands. Despite these problems, many still find the gameplay enjoyable, especially for an early access title, though some recommend waiting for further updates before purchasing.

    • “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 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.”
  • humor6 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by witty dialogue, memorable characters, and amusing situations, such as the absurdity of a character who dies from overeating muffins. Players appreciate the blend of humor with engaging gameplay elements, including a notoriously bad inventory UI that adds to the comedic experience. Overall, the game successfully combines lighthearted moments with its adventurous narrative.

    • “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.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    Reviewers express concern that the game's monetization strategy feels exploitative, suggesting that it prioritizes profit over player experience, especially in light of the perceived abandonment of its predecessor, Salt 1.

    • “I'm not saying the game is a cash grab, but it certainly feels like one.”
    • “Salt 1 was left abandoned for this cash grab.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    Players express a desire for additional features, such as ship-to-ship combat, to enhance the game's replayability. While some appreciate the existing elements of randomness that contribute to replay value, there is a consensus that more diverse gameplay mechanics could significantly improve the overall experience.

    • “Replayability and randomness are both present in abundance.”
    • “I really wish there was ship-to-ship combat; I feel like that would make the game ten times more fun and replayable.”
    • “Replayability is lacking; once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to return.”
    • “The game feels repetitive after the first playthrough, diminishing its replay value.”
    • “While there are some random elements, they don't significantly enhance the overall replayability.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is characterized as fun and wholesome, providing a comforting escape from daily challenges. Players feel a sense of exploration and engagement as they interact with the game's world, marking down points of interest and merchants, which enhances their overall experience.

    • “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.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Buy Salt 2: Shores of Gold

Play time

20hMedian play time
59hAverage play time
7-40hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 20 analyzed playthroughs

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