1348 Ex Voto - Review - PC Steam

1348 Ex Voto is one of those games that makes a stunning first impression. Its opening hours paint a plague‑stricken Tuscany with a level of mood and texture that feels almost theatrical: candlelit chapels, fog‑drenched forests, and villages hollowed out by fear. You play as Aeta, a wandering knight whose life has been shaped by loss, duty, and a fierce devotion to Bianca, the one person who gives her fractured world meaning. When Bianca disappears, Aeta’s journey becomes a pilgrimage through rot, ruin, and the remnants of a society collapsing under the Black Death.

The game’s strongest asset is its atmosphere. Environments are lit with a painterly, almost stage‑like precision, and the soundscape leans heavily on creaking wood, distant chanting, and the quiet dread of a world that has already surrendered to death. For a while, it’s easy to believe you’re stepping into a grounded medieval tragedy, something closer to folk legend than fantasy.

But the moment combat becomes the focus, the illusion cracks. The game’s swordplay is built around blocking, parrying, and wearing down enemy stamina, yet it never feels reliable. Dodges slip at the wrong moment, hitboxes feel inconsistent, and the lock‑on system has a habit of snapping to the wrong target mid‑swing. What should be tense, grounded duels often devolve into messy scrambles where you’re fighting the controls as much as the enemies. Even when you understand the intended rhythm, the mechanics rarely cooperate long enough to make it satisfying.

Exploration fares better, though it’s limited. Levels are linear, with light branching paths and occasional hidden items, but the world often repeats visual motifs to the point of disorientation. You’ll wander through similar forests, similar ruins, similar courtyards, searching for the one interactable ledge or doorway that progresses the story. It’s atmospheric, yes, but also easy to get lost in ways the game clearly didn’t intend.

The narrative aims high, weaving themes of devotion, faith, and the fragility of human institutions during crisis. Aeta’s bond with Bianca is the emotional spine of the story, and the performances do a lot of heavy lifting, especially when the facial animation struggles to convey nuance. The plot eventually takes a sharp turn into more dramatic territory, but the execution is uneven, and the final act leans on twists that feel abrupt rather than earned.

Technical issues further erode the experience. Frame drops hit during key scenes, animations stutter, and transitions between areas can feel rough. None of these problems individually ruin the game, but together they create a constant friction that pulls you out of the world just when it’s trying hardest to immerse you.

By the time the credits roll after roughly five to six hours, 1348 Ex Voto feels like a game with a powerful artistic vision that couldn’t quite survive the weight of its own ambitions. There’s beauty here, and sincerity, and moments where the setting genuinely shines. But the clumsy combat, technical instability, and uneven storytelling make it difficult to recommend at its current price.

1348 Ex Voto is a game I genuinely wanted to love. It has the bones of something special, a haunting setting, a clear artistic vision, and a protagonist whose grief and devotion could have carried a powerful narrative. There are moments where it all clicks: a quiet chapel lit only by dying candles, a forest path swallowed by fog, a whispered line of dialogue that cuts deeper than expected. You can feel the ambition in every frame.

But ambition alone can’t hold the experience together. The clumsy combat, the technical instability, and the uneven pacing constantly pull the game away from the emotional weight it’s trying to build. Instead of sinking into the world, you’re too often reminded of the seams holding it together. By the end, the story’s impact is dulled not by its ideas, but by the friction of getting through them.

Pros

• Atmospheric, painterly environments that capture plague‑era Tuscany with striking mood

• Strong voice performances, especially for Aeta

• Evocative themes of devotion, faith, and societal collapse

• Memorable opening hours with strong tone‑setting

Cons

• Clumsy, unreliable combat with inconsistent dodging and targeting

• Technical issues including frame drops, stuttering, and rough transitions

• Short runtime for the asking price

• Repetitive environments that make navigation confusing

• Uneven storytelling with abrupt late‑game twists

There’s beauty here, real beauty, but it’s trapped inside a game that needed more time, more refinement, and more mechanical clarity to truly shine. 1348 Ex Voto is memorable, but not always for the right reasons. It’s a bold attempt at historical drama wrapped in a rough, often frustrating action framework, and while its heart is unmistakably in the right place, the execution never fully rises to meet its vision.

If you’re drawn to moody medieval worlds and can forgive a mountain of jank, you might still find something worthwhile. For most players, though, this is a pilgrimage best approached with tempered expectations.

XPN Rating: 2 out of 5 (SILVER)

1348 Ex Voto is available now!