When comparing Subnautica vs Salt and Sanctuary, the Slant community recommends Subnautica for most people. In the question“What are the best low-spec PC games?” Subnautica is ranked 15th while Salt and Sanctuary is ranked 79th. The most important reason people chose Subnautica is:
The game takes place underwater, and it looks very good especially because of the new candy eye update. Looking up at the sun through the ocean looks pleasant and real. Coral reefs have multiple colors and look real as well. Graphics wise this game looks great and pulls off its theme of an underwater survival quite well.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great theme and looks
The game takes place underwater, and it looks very good especially because of the new candy eye update. Looking up at the sun through the ocean looks pleasant and real. Coral reefs have multiple colors and look real as well. Graphics wise this game looks great and pulls off its theme of an underwater survival quite well.
Pro The sound effects really set up the overall atmosphere
The sound design in Subnautica is amazing. Even though the soundtrack can be bland at times, the sound effects for the ocean noises are incredibly atmospheric and really help to get the player in the mood for exploring a vast, alien ocean.
Pro Interesting creature design
The creature design in Subnautica deserves some major praise. Spotting a new, never seen before creature is extremely rewarding and there's a large variety of alien creatures to look for.
Pro Has a mode for people who just want to explore
Subnautica has four game modes: survival, freedom, hardcore, and creative. The first one pits the player against the elements and forces them to think about food and water through its thirst and hunger mechanics.
The second game mode basically removes every mechanic that is related to surviving, such as the aforementioned hunger and thirst mechanics. It also leaves all the items in your inventory after you die. In other words, it's a game mode for people who want to explore without having to bother with surviving. Which is nice, since Subnautica has a lot of stuff to explore.
The third one, as the name tells us, is more difficult. Not only do you have to worry about health, oxygen, water and hunger, you will have to worry about your life. Since this game mode gives you one chance to live, no respawning. If you die, you'll lose your progress and will have to start over again.
The fourth one will let you build a base of your dreams without worrying about food, oxygen, or thirst. It is the best mode for people who want to build and don't want to gather resources.
Pro No pointless multiplayer
Not every damn thing needs multiplayer, and multiplayer can often ruin an otherwise incredible experience. There's none to be found here, and that intensifies the lonely atmosphere. Also, the creators didn't waste resources on something that would fundamentally undermine the experience so they could focus on making the game the wonderful thing that it is.
Pro Very interesting for both new and long-time players
But it goes faster when you learn the game. Because everything is done manually.
Pro Incredibly satisfying tool-building mechanics
The whole process of creating new tools is mostly done using a sophisticated 3D-printer available from the start of the game. You gather various resources and transform them to create tools that you will need for your survival.
For example, organic matter gets printed into raw carbon, combine carbon with some zinc and you get a battery; combine that battery with some glass and you get a flashlight that helps you see in the dark. It's very straightforward but incredibly satisfying when you build your tools, especially since you are doing all of this while swimming in an ocean filled with predators.
Pro Immersive storytelling through exploration
Salt and Sanctuary doesn't tell you much in terms of story, so it's up to you to explore and figure it out. You can do it by talking to NPCs, reading item descriptions, and observing the environment. You'll piece the story together bit by bit, filling in the gaps with your imagination. This makes it feel like you're truly exploring the world of Salt and Sanctuary, finding out what interests you, without having exposition constantly thrown at you.
Pro Deep combat
While the combat may seem simple at first, it's actually quite diverse. A lot of it depends on your equipment, where the weight and reach affects how you can play.
For example, heavy armor will make you slower, but you'll be able to take more hits. This enables a safer playstyle, where you're allowed to make more mistakes. Large weapons have a better reach, but swing slower, so you'll need to have good timing to combat enemies effectively.
During combat, you'll be alternating between a light attack and a hard attack. These can charged to alter the timing and increase the damage of each swing, allowing you to perform very varied combos.
As a result the combat stays exciting for the entirety of the game.
Pro You can make a character that fits your playstyle
Your character has a large skill tree with many branching paths. It contains most abilities you see in a fantasy game, including spells, martial arts moves, and many others. This means you can make a fast mage, a bulky fighter, a mix of the two, or whatever fits your playstyle, making it a more enjoyable experience as a whole.
Pro Creed mechanic keeps subsequent playthroughs interesting
There is a feature in the game called "creeds" that allows you to ally with a faction of NPCs. You can only ally one creed at a time, giving you access to their unique perks, items, quest givers, and access to fast travel points. All of this offers just enough variety to keep subsequent playthroughs interesting.
Cons
Con Lacks Co-Op
This game was meant to be a survival game (and a bit of horror), most survival games are difficult, may get boring to play alone after time and this game has both. Having a second survivor in the story would mean to rewrite it again, but having a friend in an alien world would be better.
Con No real story
A bit underdeveloped story. Only in notes and some short cgi animations.
Con Difficult to know where you are
There is no map in the game, making navigation quite difficult at times. Most of the locations look very similar, so you can't really use them for orientation either. Sometimes it might even feel like you're running through the same area multiple times. This can be especially confusing if you're backtracking towards a locked area. You might faintly remember it being somewhere, but you won't be exactly sure where, causing you to re-explore everything.
Con May be too niche
The setting of the game is quite morbid and the gameplay is rather difficult. This causes it to be mentally draining even during short play sessions. As a result Salt and Sanctuary won't be very appealing to players looking to relax while playing a game.