Review: Smoke and Sacrifice (PlayStation 4)

Smoke and Sacrifice

Smoke and Sacrifice sees Sachi, a mother forced to give up her son, adventure into a grotesque underworld on a quest that will lead her to a darker truth.

Pros:

  • Hand drawn graphics.
  • Platinum trophy
  • 1.15GB Download size.
  • Survival RPG gameplay.
  • Play how you want.
  • Craft- You can do basic crafting in the menu but need equipment for a higher grade and more sophisticated crafts.
  • Recipes- Use Sourfruit juice on recipes to reveal them.
  • Weather- Different types and you need the gear so Snow would need more layers whereas Sun would need less. It can affect your performance.
  • In engine cutscenes.
  • Map fills in as you explore.
  • Menu shortcuts on the d-pad.
  • Simple hack and slash combat.
  • Smoke- Need light to push the smoke back so you can move or else you take damage.
  • Colorful NPC to meet/interact with.
  • Unlock fast travel.
  • Save terminals.
  • The map will fill in icons not only for missions/quests but also vendors/points of interest etc.
  • Really nice soundtrack.
  • Smoke and Sacrifice has huge crafting tables and opportunities.
  • A solid story full of humor and darkness.
  • Has a Don’t Starve vibe about it.
  • Stunning locations.
  • Drips in a very dark open world with some memorable adventures.
  • Smoke and Sacrifice is a linear experience.

Smoke and Sacrifice

Cons:

  • Minimal graphics options with only fullscreen and resolution available.
  • Slow pace.
  • Little direction.
  • Item management is a nightmare.
  • So much crafting it soon outstays its welcome as items have short life spans.
  • Not as much fun with the keyboard and mouse as shortcut keys are either awkward or not a thing.
  • Combat can get sloppy especially with more than one enemy on you.
  • A lot of backtracking.
  • Small inventory space.
  • Save points instead of saving anywhere.

Smoke and Sacrifice

  • 8/10
    Graphics - 8/10
  • 7/10
    Sound - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Accessability - 7/10
  • 8/10
    Length - 8/10
  • 7/10
    Fun Factor - 7/10
7.4/10

Summary

Smoke and Sacrifice looks the part and for the majority of the time nails what it is going for. It does however still suffer from some issues like poor item management, Having the arduous task of finding a new area, Having to backtrack to craft particular items to then carry on. You have free reign in a way as yes you can kind of go where you want but they really push the story on you so to see more I really recommend doing side quests as they tend to show off more landscape. Ok so that’s the bad stuff out the way, The good stuff is it is a very accessible game, A stunning soundtrack and some great ideas like the smoke mechanic and crafting, You will fall for its charms and the story will keep you entertained, Just be aware, Crafting isn’t just for life, Its for everything.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!