The dice have once again had their say and picked something from the void of the backlog. This time we visit an ancient village with a dark secret and an art-style unlike just about anything else I've ever played. It's been too long since we got to play something this steeped in the atmosphere of horror, and I had a great time with it, warts and all! Step inside.
Story: This is not a game with a story that is easy to describe, but it's not because of why you would think. It is expertly written, but it is hardly a single story. You will start the game playing as a young lady named Anita. She is a geologist and has been in the village of Gravoi for about a year studying the old mine. However, she has been busy in other ways such as finding love and finding herself with a plus one as a result of finding it. The game begins with her returning to town after a doctor's appointment to make sure her pregnancy is going well to pack up as her study completes. Today, she also planned tell "her man" and ask him to come with her to come with her to the big city, but life had other plans for her. For you see, today is a special day in the village complete with a religious ritual... and one that every time it occurs, has horrific results.
As for Anita's part, she is merely a victim caught in the events since the villagers close off the town for the night and let everything happen "as it must." And what is happening? When the stars align, a creature leaves the underground areas of the village and prays among the living for it's next meal, and the village seals itself to keep it's meals from leaving, lest they take it's place.
And with this basic ground, you have the basic outline of the game: survive the night and get out alive. And indeed it is designed so that you could if you so desired, speed run the game and do nothing else but find a way out and escape. However, you would be doing yourself a disservice as a large part of this game's intrigue is the weaving of each character's tale into the grand narrative of this horrifying night. (And for that matter, they weave together so effortlessly you would have to put in an obscene amount of extra work to not stumble on the trails of them at the very least while just trying to survive.)
The main plots (including Anita's) will introduce you to other playable character when unlocked who join your "party" and add to the tapestry of the night brilliantly, each exceedingly well and realistically written. Unfortunately this does mean you will likely not be a huge fan of most of them, and in fact I personally found myself wanting to get at least an understanding of each's position, even as I only really favored one of them by the end (and hint, it wasn't Anita), but to explain more is to do you a disservice as figuring all this out is good chunk of what will keep you coming back for more. It's simply amazing how realistic a game based around a monster hunting in a village can write it's characters, their situations, and the world itself... and yet this game is a prime example of just that.
9/10
Graphics: If you grew up in the 80s you will instantly feel nostalgic for the art style of this one, but again, not for the reasons you would think. Instead of harkening back to the days of sitting in front of your TV with your a friend or sibling and making Mario kill goombas late into the night, it will instead harken to the days when MTV was actually about music videos since it shares the same style as the video for Take on Me.
For those of you unfamiliar with the video, despite everything being in a 3D world (and rendered as such) it is all drawn up in sketch-work like you are walking around through someone's penned drawings. Just about everything in the game is a monochrome color with the drift of a pen from a skillful artist making up the details. And the people themselves are no exception, drawn and animated in the same style. Rather color in this game is more used for significance then detail to make important things you can interact with stand out in the light... or tint the world to suggest how much danger you might really be in. While most of the time there is a strange neon-purple hue over the world, this color will change depending on if how relatively safe you are and how on edge you should be.
But above all this game is dark on top of this, which both plays into the theme and the fact that this game (once it gets started) takes place over a single night. Expect this game to do it's best to feel like an ancient city abandoned and gone wrong, which for the most part it is. Enjoy the gloom and knowing despite being alone, you are not.
8/10
Sound: When it comes to the sound, this is one of those games where less is more. There is very very little in the way of music and absolutely no voice acting in the entire game. But that is not to say the game wastes any time using it to the full advantage. Right off in the title screen, you will be greeted with crackling flame over whispered murmurs that just sets the creepy tone perfectly, setting you up for the creep-show you are about to play.
Nor will you get much in the way of music for the rest of your time. Most of the game is played in the silence of the night with only the background noise of the village itself to keep you company, be it the crackle of bonfires you yourself set, rattling cans, the church bells, or even your own footsteps on the coble-stone. The exception being when you are being hunted by the creature. This thing sounds creepy as hell with a clacking noise like ritualistic beads that tell you you are now in trouble. It's the stuff of nightmares hiding just out of view and waiting to strike, but making itself known and demanding you realize how close you really are. It will put you on edge the first several times you hear it and know you need to watch for the inevitable, hoping to prevent it.
But there is also a little music to end-cap your adventure... and what is here is absolutely awesome! Expect to enjoy the opening credits for this alone!
8/10
Gameplay: At it's core, Saturnalia is a very basic game. You will play the entire thing from a third person view as you explore the village. There isn't really any hand-holding in this game. You are just put out there to make it on your own, or fall to the creature which shares the village with you. You are unarmed, but not without means to protect yourself. Pay attention to the hue of the fog and the sounds around you, since these will be the biggest hints of how on your guard you have to be. Furthermore, you can light several fires in the area to give your self an earlier view of him before he finds you to get away. Just be aware that you do have limited matches (which can be used for light on their own as well) and it may well give you away if he sees it, too.
If you can catch onto his presence but not get away (or need to do something in the area so you don't want to leave) there are several hiding places you can dive into until he leaves. And while running is almost always a choice, you do have a stamina bar, so planning ahead if you can is a good option to make. Still if you get caught, that is not the end of the game, for you will simply shift to another of your characters and you may still be able to rescue the captured one if you can find where in the city the creature has chained them up and have found the right tool to cut them down, one of the many things you will find as you play. And while avoiding him is high on your priorities, it is just something to balance while you work on your real goal, getting out of here.
As noted in the story section, our party members are outsiders from the village church proper (mostly as residence of the outside world) and stuck since the villagers blockaded the one bridge in and out, so the normal means to do so is not an option. You will have to find another, crawling over the village to do so, stumbling on other story lines (and party members) along the way. Simple things like coins and matchboxes will be invaluable as a source of light you can use as needed (and you will need them) and currency to buy more later, or even buy your ultimate weapon: film for Paul's camera. Using this you can stun the creature to get away, but these are few and far between so it's more of a solution in a pinch then anything you want to rely on.
In addition, you will find a handful of tools you will need to complete the various puzzles throughout the village hiding clues about what is happening and why as well as give you shortcuts and easier ways to get around and even work closer and closer to getting out for good. Although sometimes the most useful tools are the ones you already have like Paul's camera. Each of your characters has an ability like that they can leverage for specific advantages as you play. Anita, for example, carries a map and compass, and as such does not need to rely on the maps you find around the village for guidance, while Paul, as noted, has a camera that when absolutely cornered by the beast, can use the flash of to stun him and run by. The others also have their own advantages, so use your team as best you can.
But if you fail, it is not the end, but just another step. This game expects everyone to be captured at least once in a while, and by default this is not the end of the game. Rather you will find everyone you have found replaced at the the villa Anita has been staying and ready to try again, just not without punishment. You won't lose any progress, which is a good thing considering this is one of those games where you don't get to save along the way, opting only for occasional saves done automatically updating your progress and replacing it when you save and quit (there is no quitting without saving). What you do lose is anything you had in your inventory. Coins, matches, flashes for the camera, and even tools you had are all gone. You also have to relight any fires you lit before as well as well as refind them while re-exploring the village. The big gimmick of this game is when everyone is gone, it shuffles up the map, changing up the layout of the land, and not everything is noted on Anita's. Expect to lose some time when you lose everyone, but really little else.
Still, the game is not without flaws. The controls are not exactly what you would call tight, opting for "more natural" turning when running, and it can be easy to get hung up on the tight corners of the streets when in a rush to get the hell away from the creature chasing you. Even when not in a chase, the game tends to use the same button to do multiple things, designating a single button for "interact" and deciding what you mean by how you press it, muddying things from time to time. Thankfully this is forgivable since when you care to follow a character's memories of the map (what shares the action button most of the time), you are not darting around to escape anything.
And finally, the creature itself can be cheap as hell sometimes, spawning in places there is no way it should be able to get to. Normally this isn't an issue even when it happens, but it will lead to a cheap death if (as happened to me before) that place is hidden by a fixed camera so you only see him when he's about 3 feet away, effectively walking you right into him. Expect to be annoyed once in a while.
7/10
Bugs: Sadly this is not a game I could say ran without any bugs. Nothing game breaking by any means, but this team definitely did not have the experience behind them to make something truly polished.
- That camera, though: There is no nice way to say it... the camera for this game is rough. For the most part it works well enough to play the game, but you will be haunted by the jank whenever you are in a tight space and try to turn around since the game will do it's best to give it physical space as well.
- I swear she's here: This one happened to me exactly once. When I called Claudia to join me the game acted like she was in the room like she should have been... only she wasn't. The game did not render her model into the scene until I happened to position my current character just right to talk to her and ask to swap places, taking control of her instead. Not game breaking but VERY annoying.
Score: Saturnalia is a very solid game hidden behind a light varnish of jank. It is also absolutely brilliant at the art of environment and creeping you out with that overall solid gameplay backing it. It will leave you to explore at your own pace, for better and for worse and there may be times no one would blame you for wondering if the game actually has an ending. But you can escape and given time, observation, and a little thought, see your way clear of this nightmare. And if you can deal with need of some extra polish around mechanics of it all, it's a tense and enjoyable stay in Gravoi that will thrill you from beginning to end.
8/10
System Requirements:
- X64 Dual Core CPU 2.0 Ghz
- 4 GB RAM
- Radeon Pro 560X/Nvidia GTX 960
- 4 GB hard drive space
- Windows 7 or later (64-bit only)
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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