Building comparison
head to head
Salt and SanctuaryvsShadow of the Colossus
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.
Salt and Sanctuary
Optimization · Practiced Mastery
A 2D Souls-like with metroidvania exploration.
Shadow of the Colossus
Optimization · Practiced Mastery
A minimalist action adventure about toppling sixteen colossal puzzle-bosses.
Salt and Sanctuary leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Shadow of the Colossus leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Salt and SanctuaryShadow of the Colossus
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 6
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Salt and Sanctuary
Souls-like timing in 2D
Shadow of the Colossus
Climbing, grip management, and sword timing on moving giants.
Reads2 vs 1
Salt and Sanctuary leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Salt and Sanctuary
Scripted bosses with telegraphs
Shadow of the Colossus
Colossi follow fixed behavior patterns.
Variance2 vs 1
Salt and Sanctuary leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Salt and Sanctuary
Loot drops
Shadow of the Colossus
Encounters play out nearly identically each attempt.
Optimization7 vs 7
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Salt and Sanctuary
Skill tree builds and gear routing
Shadow of the Colossus
Each colossus is a solvable climbing puzzle.
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.