Despite having released six months ago on PC and Nintendo Switch, Smoke and Sacrifice had largely escaped my notice until its more recent release on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. All I really knew going in was that it was a survival game in the vein of Don’t Starve, and that it had a unique visual style. Both of these preconceptions proved to be accurate, with much of the gameplay revolving around collecting resources, crafting equipment and items, and dying many, many times.
What I didn’t know about Smoke and Sacrifice was the fact that both the story and the environments combine well with the visual style to present an experience that feels quite different from a lot of games. Characters resemble a mixture of animation and marionette, and the world they inhabit is a similar mixture of gothic fairytale and steampunk. Smoke and Sacrifice is a game in which I took a perverse enjoyment out of aesthetically, as it felt strange to appreciate a world that is clearly so broken, and an atmosphere that is so depressing.
In terms of mechanics, you spend equal time exploring and fighting, though you’ll really be spending the time evaluating risk and reward, and trying to figure out whether it’s worth pushing your limits just a little further, or retreating and taking stock of your gains. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Smoke and Sacrifice is punishingly difficult, but carelessness and stubbornness will often result in the death of your character, and the return to your most recent manual save. You’re in control of your own destiny here, in that as long as your approach is considered, you’ll likely come out the other side ok, save for a few minor mishaps.
With crafting and survival games being so popular over the past couple of years, I’ve played quite a range of different experiences, with different developers presenting their own take on how the genre should be constructed. Some games work well, in that you’re given enough freedom to do what you want, but enough guidance to know what you’re supposed to be doing, while others either give no guidance whatsoever, leading to confusion, or hold your hand too much, and try to dictate your experience to the point where it’s almost linear. Smoke and Sacrifice has a few missteps in this area, where it can sometimes feel a little too much like you’re merely collecting items for a shopping list, but there’s still a good sense of this being your own story.
You can be given recipes by NPCs or find them in the world, and a lot of the items that you’re given prove to be mainly optional, though many of them will help you to progress if you use them correctly. There are a few instances of recipes being used to gate off certain areas, such as requiring certain items of amour to protect you from environmental dangers, or items only being available in certain places, but for the most part progression feels fairly natural, and the number of side quests that are available in addition to the main narrative means that you’ll frequently be kept busy enough to not really notice the machinations behind the scenes.
Perhaps the biggest point of contention for a game like Smoke and Sacrifice, which presents a relatively difficult experience, is how ‘fair’ it feels, and whether or not you’ll feel like returning to the game after you character has died, especially if you’ve just lost a lot of progress. From my experience, Smoke and Sacrifice manages this quite well, as long as you’re sensible with your approach. Save spots are common if not plentiful, and there’s a fast-travel system to zip around the map, if you need it. It’s also often clear when you’ve entered into an area that you’re not yet ready for, and the game world is designed in a way that will often prevent you from venturing into an area which will prove too punishing. There were a couple of instances where I would put the controller down out of frustration, but this was more with myself than with the game, as I knew that I’d pushed things too far and should have noticed minutes before that I was heading towards almost certain death.
I enjoyed my time with Smoke and Sacrifice, and there’s enough here to keep fans of the genre entertained, while being unique enough to draw people in who are looking for something different from the norm. The game is visually intriguing, gameplay is difficult but measured, and the crafting and survival mechanics are well balanced between handholding and freeform. Combat can sometimes feel a little hit and miss, and longer gameplay sessions can make the experience feel a little repetitive, but if you’re looking for a game of this type, Smoke and Sacrifice is well worth some of your time.
