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The game starts with the names of the developers. I have no clue if this is a full list given there's full on credits later.
Title screen features a Celebi and the Old Chateau music. Definitely sets a somber mood whenever you open up the game.
A preview of my completed save file. Yes that is a 43 hour playtime; I wouldn't say the game is long but it is meaty.
Booting up a new game starts us... underwater?
(The mouse cursor will disappear in a few images, I realized I was recording it fairly quickly)
Talking to rocks gives us money and a super potion. Always keep an eye out for hidden goodies!
At the end of this watery tunnel is our choice of starter pokemon. We have the choice of the Bird of Ill Omen, the Whimpering Fairy or the Emblem of Treachery. These correspond to Murkrow, Mimikyu, and Croagunk respectively.
The game doesn't tell you which pokemon specifically it is until you pick, so here's me saving the game in order to reload whatever I pick. One thing this game has is multiple save slots, which is cool! The first 3 have stuff related to my first file, so we'll be saving to file D. Also we get some information, such as our name (The Wanderer), the area we're in (The Sunken Boundary), our current playtime, and... Days Left. We'll learn what that means in a bit.
I opted for Mimikyu just to get the intro out of the way and because Mimikyu is cool. The choice of starter doesn't really matter that much in the grand scheme of things, but if you guys would rather see croagunk or murkrow I can redo the intro off-part.
I'm not good with names, alright? 
Can't get any of the other starters once we made our pick.
: There may not be enough time left to save it. Its Guardians now stand in stasis, defending the status quo. This will not be a gentle experience. The challenges ahead are unfair. Some may not even be possible. You will have little guidance and many paths.
World ending? Pfft. Should be a walk in the park.
: They begin the Perish Song.
I imagine this used to be a title drop before the game got renamed to Salt and Shadow.
We get asked if we want to play on hard mode.
I've played reborn and insurgence, what could go wrong?
Cool panning shot showing the lighthouse. I think this is the only time the game does this, but it's neat. I think I messed up the gif though cause it feels faster than it does in game.
: To guard the world against an ignorant and foolish ocean.
Buddy I don't think a lighthouse is going to stop an entire ocean.
More goodies laying around. Checking suspicious looking objects is very worthwhile!
Heading inside, there's a few things to check out.
Aww, poor thing. 
Once again, my terrible naming comes into play.
Seems like a very happy place.
: Hundreds of names are scrawled down.
Hundreds? Is the sign-in sheet multi-page, or is the handwriting really small?
: Two children stand beside him. There once was a third child, but someone ripped them out of the painting.
: "The children refuse to listen. Their battles threaten the land and sky. I will make them listen."
Definitely some lorebuilding going on here. I feel like commenting on it is not my place given I've beaten the game, but maybe ya'll are interested in figuring out stuff?
Oh okay just 40 pokeballs just casually sitting here. There's a comment about how all pokeballs act like heal balls and fully heal whatever is caught. Picking these up causes the locked door to open.
: They look burnt and stained with soot.
Wow! You know if I had any awards I wouldn't treat them so poorly. If I had any.
Oh who am I kidding I absolutely would just leave them to rot in storage.
Going through the now-unlocked door causes it to lock behind us (in other words, it is now the door formerly known as the "now-unlocked door"). In front of us are... a lot of bookshelves. Each half of a bookshelf has something to say, and there's 6 bookshelves for a total of 12 things that could be read. On one hand, I want to include all of it, but on the other I don't want to pad out this update with a bunch of potentially boring reading, so if you want to read what all the books have to say, click here: https://lpix.org/sslptest/index.php?id=165501.
Some monitoring equipment. Seems like it's monitoring the ocean?
: It smells like home.
Anyways, there's a professor here! Lets see what his deal is.
: The cages are full...
Our first battle! He has 3 pokemon compared to our 2, so this might be a bit tricky but doabl-
Oh. They're 6 levels higher than my team.
Well this is probably going to be over very soon but I guess I might as well Astonish the ghastly and buff my teams attack...
Wait that's a KO???
Wait they're doing barely any damage to me???????
So this fight is a really good introduction to one of Salt and Shadow's main gimmicks. You'll be thrown against pokemon who are a higher level than you on paper, but in practice your own power level is probably a few levels over the actual shown level. I'm unsure if it's something weird like you having max IV/EVs and your opponents having none, but in effect it obfuscates whether or not you're on equal footing with your opponent or not.
Mimikyu's disarming voice is both super effective against the zigzagoon and attacks both pokemon at once, pretty handy!
Zubat heals a bit off leech life and then Zigzagoon uses leer. I pay no mind to it and opt to try and rush both down next turn with quick attack and disarming voice.
Unfortunately, Zubat also has quick attack and almost KO's Eve here. Thankfully Kyubey outspeeds Zigzagoon and is able to KO it before it can get an attack in.
This seems like a good time to use one of those potions I found...
Healing Eve with Kyubey's turn just on the offchance Zubat tries for another quick attack; it doesn't though, so Eve's quick attack finishes the job.
I'd be speechless too if a level 5 pokemon kicked my level 12's ass.
The professor disappears, leaving behind a dust cloud. It's ambigious whether trainers flee or they die from fatal lose-battle-itis and crumble to dust here; we will be seeing the false professor again though, so that does sort of tip the scale in one direction.
Through the door seems to be the office.
: [...] tide is rising [...] Mother [...]
Is it cursive? It's probably cursive. Stupid fancy writing.
: His eyes shine with pride as he gazes at the boy beside him.
Oh hey, a healthier family dynamic than the last painting!
We'll be back here much later for this.
Through the north door is a balcony with a... purple pidgeot?
Yes please get me out of here. There's an animation of pidgeot flying away but I was too lazy to gif it.
Ranger's rest, huh? I suppose next time we explore the hub area.
Next: https://lpix.org/sslptest/index.php?id=165612