Salt

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"Salt" is a horror-themed, open world exploration game that can be played solo or with up to one other player in co-op mode. The game features a good story, varied gameplay, and attractive visuals accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack. Players can explore islands, complete quests, and loot rare items while upgrading their ships and encountering other characters. However, the game is poorly optimized, filled with bugs, and requires a lot of grinding. The main quest and over 50 side quests, filled with lore and secrets, provide plenty of content to discover.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,727 reviews

graphics103 positive mentions

grinding59 negative mentions

The graphics and music are nice, and the art style is somewhat charming.
The amount of technical features in this game is impressive for a solo developer, including sailing, building, RPG elements, and co-op gameplay.
There is a great variety of items, armors, weapons, enemies, and ships to discover.

The game feels unfinished, with incoherent elements and a lack of direction, making it tedious and boring.
The combat system is terrible, relying on auto-attacks and lacking enemy AI, making encounters frustrating.
Sailing takes a long time, and the lore is tedious to learn, with many books to read and NPCs providing excessive dialogue.

graphics
353 mentions
29 % positive mentions
56 % neutral mentions
15 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players noting their simplistic and cartoonish style, which some find charming while others consider it disappointing. While the visuals may not meet modern standards, they are often described as functional and fitting for the gameplay, with beautiful moments such as sunsets and water effects. Overall, the graphics are seen as a trade-off for smoother performance and enjoyable gameplay, appealing to those who prioritize exploration and fun over high-end visuals.
- “The graphics give me a euphoric feeling as its simple design reminds me of games from the early years.”
- “The graphics are nice, there is a lot of content, lots to do.”
- “The visuals are very appealing, everything appears hand-drawn and has a golden hue, which adds some great atmosphere.”
- “The graphics are poor and at a distance islands can look pretty ugly.”
- “The game seems like a beta version with placeholder graphics.”
- “The graphics are absolutely woeful.”
story
252 mentions
14 % positive mentions
80 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The story in "Salt" is often described as minimal and fragmented, with many players finding the quest structure to be repetitive and lacking depth. While there are main and side quests available, they primarily consist of fetch missions and lack engaging narratives, leading to a sense of aimlessness in the gameplay. However, the open-world exploration allows players to create their own stories, and some appreciate the charm of discovering lore and quests scattered throughout the islands, despite the overall thin storyline.
- “Salt is about your story, not about loot or PvP dominance, just your journey from castaway to pirate billionaire.”
- “The gameplay is perfect, the boats are beautiful, the story is engaging, and the multiplayer is well executed.”
- “Overall, Salt is a fun little open-world sandbox game with lots of exploration, a bit of quest structure if you want it, a variety of weapons and armor in ascending tiers of rarity/power, and some interesting mechanics that evoke the feeling of exploring an unknown world and charting your own course on your adventures.”
- “The main story didn't really catch my eye; I can't even remember what it was about.”
- “The quests are not all there; there are bugs, and it's so very boring with none of the promises they had set out to do.”
- “This is a huge sandbox, but there's nothing to do in it; the world is empty, just a few pirates or NPCs, no towns, nothing that makes a huge world like this alive.”
gameplay
239 mentions
24 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Salt has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its focus on exploration and discovery, but criticizing its repetitive mechanics and lack of depth. While some enjoy the charming atmosphere and sailing mechanics, others find the combat and crafting systems clunky and unpolished, leading to a tedious experience. Overall, the game offers a unique open-world experience but suffers from significant gameplay flaws that detract from its potential.
- “Gameplay and controls are solidly focused on discovery and exploration.”
- “The gameplay gave me such a great feeling of adventure and truly sparked my love for sailing and boats.”
- “The exploration is interesting, the combat is fun, the quests are engaging, and the crafting meshes well with the other mechanics of the game.”
- “Gameplay is slow and boring; crafting is slow and not exciting, combat is archaic.”
- “Very obviously unfinished, feels more like a proof of concept than a final game, many very distracting gameplay bugs and very little to do in it.”
- “The game looks pretty, but gameplay is unpolished, with lots of odd UI glitches and wacky collision.”
music
114 mentions
50 % positive mentions
47 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beautiful, atmospheric quality, enhancing the overall experience of exploration and adventure. Players appreciate how the soundtrack complements key moments, creating a relaxing and immersive environment, although some express a desire for more frequent musical cues throughout gameplay. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and emotional depth.
- “The music is fun too, being just background incidental, and isn't overbearing like some game music can be.”
- “The atmosphere is beautiful, the music is some of the best in-game music I've ever heard, and the whole game is almost a mystery.”
- “Salt has great atmosphere that's reinforced by its awesome music and stunning visuals.”
- “The audio is bizarre; no music of any kind for long periods of time, kicks in randomly and stops abruptly.”
- “You won't hear music for much of the game, but when you do, you'll be asking why there isn't more.”
- “Honestly, my only two issues so far are that the music does not play nearly often enough and that there isn't enough to do while sailing.”
grinding
60 mentions
0 % positive mentions
2 % neutral mentions
98 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious, repetitive, and lacking depth, with many players finding the tasks unengaging and the vast open spaces empty. While some appreciate the meditative quality of the grinding, the overall sentiment leans towards it being a chore rather than an enjoyable part of the gameplay experience. Players suggest that the game could benefit from a more streamlined approach to resource gathering and questing to enhance enjoyment.
- “There is some charm to this game, but mostly it's just empty, boring, and tedious.”
- “Due to the overall lack of content and depth, the game is mostly just tedious despite some of the neat core mechanics it implements.”
- “Fun game for a while, but eventually turns into quite a tedious grind fest.”
atmosphere
57 mentions
67 % positive mentions
28 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its relaxing and immersive qualities, enhanced by beautiful visuals, soothing sound design, and a charming art style reminiscent of Caribbean settings. Players appreciate the serene sailing experience, ambient sounds, and engaging exploration, which together create a captivating and tranquil environment. However, some critiques mention that while the atmosphere is strong, the game's overall polish and gameplay mechanics could use improvement.
- “Freedom to do what you want, and boats combine with the nice atmosphere of audio for a surreal and immersive experience.”
- “The atmosphere, visuals, the sun reflecting perfectly off the water, the way the boats sway and make sounds, the ambient sounds of different island types, and the amazing music all come together to form salt.”
- “I love the atmosphere of the game, sailing on the ocean, the sound of the waves, the islands, just everything about it!”
- “The sound is pretty basic, the atmosphere is very generic, the island buildings and generation is very simplistic, graphics are pretty simplistic, advancing is slow and annoying, the map feature is cool but also really annoying at the same time, and there's all sorts of things that make this game just a very basic shell at the moment.”
- “Edit: so, now stars have been added, pretty cool, only one issue, now when the stars come out there are firefly-like things floating all over the place which first of all make no sense and second of all don't completely take away from your ability to navigate with the stars but they are definitely extremely distracting and well, they might make sense on an island but there should be no fireflies out on the water so I don't understand their purpose at all other than to add some kind of forced atmosphere during the day and a slight distraction at night.”
- “The graphics betray the atmosphere of this game - don't be fooled.”
stability
44 mentions
5 % positive mentions
2 % neutral mentions
93 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous users reporting significant bugs, glitches, and unpolished mechanics that detract from the overall experience. While some players find enjoyment in the chaotic nature of these issues, many express frustration over game-breaking glitches and a lack of updates to address these problems. Overall, the game is perceived as a buggy mess that requires substantial improvements to reach its potential.
- “There are basically no glitches from what I have seen so far; the randomly spawned islands are great. However, the first couple I went to, nothing really spawned.”
- “It's very smooth and runs great even on my crappy laptop.”
- “This game has been practically a heap of buggy mess since its release 5 years ago.”
- “The game looks pretty, but gameplay is unpolished, with lots of odd UI glitches and wacky collision.”
- “The game has so much potential, the one problem I have is that the devs released it in a terrible state and never updated it since February of last year... it is now a huge buggy abandoned game.”
optimization
39 mentions
15 % positive mentions
46 % neutral mentions
38 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is widely criticized, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including frame rate drops and stuttering, even on high-end systems. While some users note that it runs smoothly on lower settings, the general consensus is that the game is poorly optimized for its graphical style, leading to a frustrating experience. Despite some updates aimed at improving performance, many feel that the game still lacks polish and requires further optimization to reach its potential.
- “Great game, but we do need some optimizations done, and some multiplayer bug fixes.”
- “With a bit of optimization, this truly has the makings to be a great little survival game.”
- “Seeing how updates seem to be rather steady, I assume it won't take long for those optimizations to come out.”
- “The optimization is lacking; though it looks simple, it quickly reduces your framerate even on a decent computer.”
- “I like this game... that said, it is very poorly optimized; at first, I thought it was in pre-alpha.”
- “Obviously, whoever handles the graphics and optimization is massively inexperienced, and it's most likely the devs themselves, with some revolutionary-potential ideas but no aesthetic prowess or vision.”
humor
21 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players finding the jokes, memes, and absurdities of gameplay genuinely funny, particularly in multiplayer settings. Many reviews highlight the comedic elements of the game's mechanics, such as the ridiculousness of certain situations and the quirky interactions between players and NPCs. However, some players also note that the humor can detract from the overall experience, especially during serious moments in combat or exploration.
- “Very fun and even the jokes and memes about this game are actually funny.”
- “Pretty nice pirate game with tons of features which makes the game sometimes pretty hilarious, especially in multiplayer.”
- “Would definitely recommend, the only bug is when you wait or rest in a boat, sometimes you fly into the air but it's so funny and seeing as there is no fall damage it just makes you laugh.”
replayability
12 mentions
42 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
Overall, opinions on replayability are mixed; while some players appreciate the potential for infinite replayability through procedural generation and exploration, others find the environments bland and the overall longevity lacking. Some reviewers suggest that the game offers a decent amount of replay value, particularly for casual play, but others argue that it falls short compared to similar titles. Ultimately, the game's replayability seems to depend on individual expectations and play styles.
- “Pretty fun and explorative game that gives a vast amount of replayability.”
- “Even if you only play this for a few hours to space out with, well worth the sale price, but this game has the potential for a hundred hours or more of playtime with infinite replayability.”
- “It is also highly replayable since the main goal is exploration - even if you are trying to get the same things again, the journey to those items will be different every time.”
- “Replayability is barely there in my opinion.”
- “For a sandbox adventure explorer, I would expect a much higher replay value.”
- “All in all, I cannot recommend this game as it has very little longevity and replayability is almost non-existent.”
monetization
6 mentions
17 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
83 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with some players perceiving it as a cash grab due to its unfinished state, while others appreciate the absence of in-game purchases and loot boxes, viewing it as a refreshing change. Despite the criticism, some users acknowledge the developers' passion for the project, suggesting that it is not solely a money-making endeavor. Overall, the game's monetization strategy has led to polarized opinions, with many feeling disappointed by its execution.
- “There are no in-game purchases or loot crates in this game, and after coming off of some games that do, this is a breath of fresh air.”
- “The game feels slapped together, and the fact that there is a second game in the works when this still doesn't feel complete is a cash grab.”
- “It's apparent that you are only making unfinished products in the hopes of a quick cash grab.”
- “Uninstalling and hiding, don't waste your time or money on this cheap trash cash grab.”
emotional
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its heartfelt moments and beautiful visuals, which evoke nostalgia and strong feelings, particularly during poignant scenes like sailing under the moonlight accompanied by an impactful theme song. Despite its flaws, players find a deep emotional connection that sets it apart from many other games in the early access landscape.
- “I went to my boat at nighttime while the moon was out to go sail some more, and while I was out on the water, this emotional theme song came on suddenly, and I mean it hit the feels hard.”
- “This is an interesting, heartfelt, and independently made game that, despite its various glaring flaws, shines like a diamond in the rough of all the unfinished 'finished' early access beta games that plagued Steam when Greenlight was starting out.”
- “Pros: the game looks beautiful and it is heartwarming to look at; if you are into these types of games, note you will get a little nostalgic feeling.”
- “I paid full price for this game, but the emotional experience was completely lacking. The open world felt frustrating and filled with trolls, and the story campaign was just boring.”
- “After investing so much into this game, I was left feeling disappointed. The emotional depth I expected was overshadowed by a tedious solo play experience.”
- “The game promised an emotional journey, but instead, I found myself lost in a sea of trolls and a dull story that failed to engage me.”
character development
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is limited, with players noting that meaningful growth and progression for characters halts after approximately 10 hours of gameplay.
- “Unfortunately, any real further character development gets cut short after about 10 hours.”
- “The characters feel one-dimensional and lack meaningful growth throughout the game.”
- “I was hoping for deeper character arcs, but they all seem to follow predictable paths.”