Forget Modern Hand-Holding: Saint Slayer is 8-Bit Sadism at its Finest
The year is 1698, and the Holy Roman Empire is under threat from a power-mad priest named Father Pacer who has been violently stealing sacred relics. Players take control of Rudiger, an ex-soldier turned farmer, who must pick up the Spear of Sacrilege to protect his people from a growing horde of monsters. This 2D action-adventure title draws heavy inspiration from the 8-bit era, delivering a dark, retro crusade filled with challenging platforming and massive boss encounters.
Specs & HUD | Gameplay Review | Performance & Fidelity | Settings & Controls
Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege PS5 Review: Specs & HUD
- Awesome 8 Bit graphics.
- 233MB download size.
- Platinum trophy with 40 trophies.
- Tutorial pop-ups as you play and give button prompts.
- The collection menu fills in for the bestiary and treasures as you encounter and find them.
- The world map level select is a huge drawing of the land, and to me is reminiscent of the map in Ghosts’ N Goblins.
Gameplay Review & Mechanics Breakdown
Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege is a 2D action-adventure gameplay experience that feels like it was inspired by classic games like Castlevania on the NES, from the gameplay itself to the colour palettes. It features hack-and-slash combat where you can throw spears for ranged attacks, but they also stick into walls, and you can use them as platforms. You can also jump on player heads to kill them and bounce off; it’s the same notion as it is in Shovel Knight if you ever played that. There is a health bar system where you eat food or buy items to replenish it, and you’ll find gems and coins drop from enemies and breakable objects to use for shops you find, but you lose them upon death.
This is a difficult game even on easy, featuring big boss encounters that are initially difficult but are a case of learning the pattern and or timing. These boss fights are clever and are always at the end of a level. Lives matter, as once you lose them all, if you don’t have enough rosemary beads, then it’s Game over, and you start again, but of course, you lose beads as you die, so it is a brutal mechanic. I do like that a game over isn’t a huge bummer, as you eventually learn the level layouts and what you need to do, so it gets quicker each run. There are many fun little variations like rowing your own boat and finding wall meat, which is a clear Castlevania reference.
Power-ups you collect are assigned to your spear so you can make it explosive or poisonous, for example, and there are many breakable elements within levels. You can even get a familiar or pet if you were to follow you around and attack and find secrets for you. The game features multiple endings, and it has a lot to do with prisoners, as you can choose to save or kill them. It is such a great bit of fun and does more than enough to break itself out of any copycat shell and elevate the genre.
Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege PS5 Review: Performance & Fidelity
- Classic-sounding chiptune soundtrack.
- Old school password system where a series of letters acts as your save; write the password in and continue your game.
- No checkpoints in levels, no matter what difficulty you play.
- Hitting the water is an instant death and a level restart.
- The knockback is as annoying as it has ever been in games.
Settings, Customisation & Control Details
- Game settings include a friendly fire toggle, music and sound volume sliders, and vibration.
- You can remap the controls.
- The controls are easy to learn and support movement with the d-pad or analogue stick; personally, I found the d-pad is better.
- Four game difficulties – Easy, Normal, Hard, and Classic. They change your health pool, lives, rosary uses, enemy count, and things like no knock back on easy, but no shop or revives on classic.
- Jumps have to be pretty much pixel-perfect.
- No real accessibility options to speak of.
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Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege
Summary
THE GOOD STUFF
Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege is such a great bit of fun that does more than enough to break itself out of any copycat shell and elevate the genre. The awesome 8-bit graphics and classic-sounding chiptune soundtrack feel like a proper inspired nod to Castlevania and Ghosts’ N Goblins. The combat is satisfying, letting you throw spears that double as platforms or bounce off heads like in Shovel Knight. I love the depth here, from the collection menu that fills your bestiary to the power-ups that make your spear explosive or poisonous. Even with the brutal mechanic where lives and rosemary beads matter for a game over, it isn’t a huge bummer because you eventually learn the layouts. Whether you are rowing a boat, finding wall meat, or using a familiar to find secrets, the game is packed with variety and clever boss fights that reward learning patterns. It even includes an old-school password system and four difficulties that actually change the mechanics, like removing knockback on easy or revives on classic.
THE BAD STUFF
The game can be a real test of patience, as it doesn’t explain a lot very well in terms of the currency versus the rosemary beads. No matter what difficulty you play on, there are no checkpoints in levels, which makes the fact that hitting water is an instant death and level restart even more punishing. You have to deal with jumps that need to be pretty much pixel-perfect, and the knockback is as annoying as it has ever been in games. While the difficulty is part of the charm, the total lack of real accessibility options to speak of and the steep challenge even on easy might push some away.
FINAL VERDICT
Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege is a fantastic, gritty throwback that proves 8-bit style still has teeth. It’s a brutal, rewarding, air-punching experience that captures the NES era perfectly without being a total copycat. If you can handle the pixel-perfect jumps and the lack of checkpoints, it’s a must-play.
