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Not so many developers nowadays dare to make a game like 1348 Ex Voto – a game that screams love and dedication from every step, from start to finish. I don't know if it is just me having a huge soft spot for the narrative-driven, minimalistic action-adventure games, or 1348 Ex Voto has that special something, but from the moment I ran the game for the first time, I couldn't let go until I saw the credits.
The game isn't huge by any means - just five hours or so - but regardless, 1348 Ex Voto grabbed my attention like few games of late managed to. If you want to imagine what kind of game 1348 Ex Voto is, imagine Hellblade mixed with A Plague Tale games, and you'll have a pretty picture of what to expect.
A Tale of Chivalry, Love, and Betrayal
We need to get one thing out of the way: 1348 Ex Voto is far from an ideal game, but one thing that 1348 Ex Voto does almost perfectly is tell an amazing story.
Forbidden love, medieval chivalry and knighthood, the position of a woman who wants to be a knight no matter the price, and the steep climb from the bottom of medieval society – all that and many more await you in this fantastic story. You play as Aeta, a girl from a noble family of knights who lost her parents and, as odd as it might sound, wants to become a knight herself, even though society was strongly against it back in 14th-century Italy, where the plot of this game takes place.
One day, during her usual training sessions, her town is attacked and almost completely destroyed. Most of the townfolk are killed during the attack while her friend, postulant Bianca, gets captured. Here and there, Aeta took an oath to find her friend and save her or, if she were killed, to avenge her, and this is how the story starts.
But if you think it will be a good old 'rescue the damsel in distress' kind of story, you couldn't be more wrong. Aeta will come across a lot of revelations on her journey and figure out that things are not always as they seem. The story of love, compassion and chivalry will soon turn into the story of self-discovery and betrayal, turning everything Aeta once believed in completely upside down.
Of course, to avoid spoiling this amazing story, I won't delve further into details, but I do recommend you give this game a go, if for nothing else, then for the fantastic story that will stir a hurricane of emotions within you.
Apart from a very well-written plot, the amazing voice acting elevates the experience to a whole new level. Alby Baldwin did an amazing job giving her voice to Aeta; from the dialogues and the interactions with the other characters to the many monologues she will lead while commenting on things on her own, every line of text is brought to life with the incredible level of quality.
Not to mention Jennifer English, last year's Best Performance Award winner at the Game Awards for lending her voice to Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Her performance as Bianca in 1348 Ex Voto is nothing short of spectacular. And not just those two; every other character is written fantastically, and you'll really care about their fates.
Quality writing, plot twists and extraordinary voice acting are just some of the aspects that make 1348 Ex Voto shine brightly.
Stances, Steel, and Linear Paths
The gameplay in 1348 Ex Voto isn't robust; the game features just a couple of mechanics, but what it does, it does solidly, so the gameplay can be divided into combat encounters and very light, almost nonexistent, exploration. The combat is melee, and the only weapon you'll use is the sword. However, you'll be able to alternate your sword by adding different pommels, guards, handles, and blades, all found through exploration.
The combat is stance-inspired – you'll use one-handed and two-handed stances, and each stance will have its own combos and special moves. As the defensive options, you'll use dodge and parry (once unlocked through skills). Once you engage in combat, you'll be hard-locked until you kill all the enemies. At the beginning, it will usually be one or two soldiers, but as the game progresses, more enemies will gang up on you, and those encounters can get really hard.
Speaking of difficulty, 1348 Ex Voto isn't particularly hard, and there are no difficulty options to choose from. The game is very generous with the checkpoint system, and even if you keep dying on certain encounters, you'll always respawn right next to their start.
The health system of either Aeta or the enemies is not the conventional one. Apart from the classic health bar, the game will feature the guard bar, which, once depleted, will make you or your enemies staggered and open to receiving damage. You'll be able to replenish health by consuming provisions found through exploration.
The only downside of the combat system is that you can be easily overwhelmed, especially during the late game, once the enemies start ganging up on you and during the boss fights, which are probably one of the biggest disappointments of 1348 Ex Voto.
Luckily, you'll only encounter three bosses inside nine chapters, but even those three are enough to lay bare every single flaw of this system when implemented in boss fights.
The problem with the boss fights is the inconsistency and very strange hitboxes. Also, the bosses are poorly designed in general and will usually spam the attacks, leaving you almost no space to react. Don't get me wrong, those fights are far from difficult, only unimaginative and mood-killing, and once you get rid of the boss, you won't have that particular feeling of satisfaction but rather relief because such a dumb fight is finally behind you.
Exploration, too, leaves a lot to be desired. The levels are designed in an extremely linear fashion, and the only places where you can deviate from the beaten path will be so obvious that even a gamer with no gaming experience wouldn't miss them. On those deviations from the beaten path, you'll come across one of just a handful of collectables or consumables: provisions, sword parts, trinkets (used to gain some passive buffs), and treasures (not sure what their use is).
The worst thing about the level design is that the game doesn't support any sort of level selection for revisiting them; once you finish with one level, you'll be transferred to another one without the possibility to ever return there and perhaps try to find something you missed earlier, but to be honest, since there is not much to be found, you probably won't have any desire to revisit those levels anyway.
Mediaeval Italy Brought to Life
1348 Ex Voto isn't the most stunning game ever, but to say it doesn't look good would be a fat lie. Medieval Italy is just gorgeous, and in 1348 Ex Voto, it is depicted really well. Every area you visit, every level and chapter, has something significant and will most certainly leave you in awe each time the new beautiful vista appears in front of you.
What impressed me the most when it comes to the visual presentation is the clever use of lighting. In 1348 Ex Voto, the light is bright, and the dark is pitch-black, and when the game decides to play with the lighting, that usually ends up with gorgeous effects.
It is well-known that Italy has beautiful nature, and the developers went the extra mile to showcase exactly that. From gorgeous hills and meadows full of olive trees to the vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see, every biome looks stunning, and I often found myself doing nothing in the game, just admiring the view.
Face models look decent, but nothing really spectacular, while the enemy design, especially the enemies you meet towards the end of the game, all with their significant shiny armour, looks just perfect.
The performance on the PlayStation 5 isn't something the game can brag about. 1348 Ex Voto is locked in at 30 FPS, and I had experienced some really strange glitches before the first patch arrived. After the patch, the glitches were reduced to a minimum, but Aeta could still lose half of her hand, or the entire hill or forest could fail to load.
Also, during one boss fight involving fire, the FPS significantly dropped, rendering the game almost unplayable. I really don't know how I managed to finish this section; it was just awful. I sincerely hope the devs put effort into fixing this particular encounter; otherwise, it's going to be a very bad look for the game.
I did not get to play this on PC, so I can't really say how good or bad it runs there.
Sounds, along with the soundtrack, are quite good. Authentic sword-clanging deserves praise here and, of course, the already-mentioned fantastic voice acting.
Final Verdict
If you are willing to look past the obvious flaws and shortcomings of 1348 Ex Voto, within it, you might find a touching and emotionally driven journey that will stay with you long after the credits roll. It is not a perfect game, and perhaps not even a traditionally “great” one, but its passion, atmosphere, and remarkable story make it well worth experiencing, especially for players who value good storytelling above all else.
The Good
Excellent and emotionally engaging story- Outstanding voice acting performances
- Strong writing with memorable characters
- Beautiful depiction of medieval Italy
The Bad
Simplistic and limited gameplay mechanics- Poorly designed and inconsistent boss fights
- Extremely linear level design
- Lack of level revisit or chapter selection
- Technical issues and performance drops on PS5
