Saturnalia
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Saturnalia
A pretty Sardinian village merges with all kinds of hellish influence in this nightmarish, claustrophic horror from arthouse developer Santa Ragione.
Saturnalia mixes mechanics to effectively elevate the entire survival horror genre.
Saturnalia is a smart survival horror title that offers plenty of freedom despite its claustrophobic and anxiety-inducing encounters.
Saturnalia excels at delivering a unique horror experience rich in creepy atmosphere and sinister themes.
One of the most visually interesting video games of the year but also a survival horror that's not quite scary enough to reach its full potential.
A game that conveys in a very fascinating way the principles of magical thinking, folk horror and hauntology connected to the Italian rural tradition thanks to an awesome artistic work. Gameplaywise, though, Saturnalia struggles to offer solid survival horror mechanics and the roguelite elements are quite shallow, while the core of the narrative adventure is nonetheless gripping and interesting.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Ultimately, Saturnalia is hard to call a must-play horror game, as it's likely to be polarizing both in terms of its presentation and its mechanics. A slower pace, somewhat minimalist gameplay, and mystery-laden narrative style will keep it from being everyone's cup of tea. Yet fans of exploration looking for a beautiful, atmospheric mystery (with just a handful of things that lurk in the dark) will find that Saturnalia is a wholly unique adventure that's well worth taking.
Saturnalia is a striking homage to Giallo films and makes effective use of Italian folklore to power its horror. It's often better in the ideas than it is in practice, but those are some damn good ideas.
