1348 Ex Voto

A technically crude medieval story game that was clearly made with love, but can’t hold a candle to contemporary titles.

1348 Ex Voto is a highly imperfect work that—much like its own history—thrives on dualities, on light and shadow, yet manages to leave a mark in its own way: a small *ex-voto* capable of speaking to us and our modern cages, drawing upon a Middle Ages that proves itself both intimate and relevant.

1348: Ex Voto is a rough-around-the-edges project that still manages to be engaging. With a bigger budget and proper polish, it could have stood alongside Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice or A Plague Tale: Innocence, but that didn't happen.

Despite awful PC performance dragging down the gorgeous visuals, 1348 Ex Voto excels at offering satisfying sword combat in an enjoyable, bite-sized adventure. However, as a whole package, it wasn't able to keep me invested in a story that I would otherwise love had there been more time spent developing its central relationship.

1348 Ex Voto starts with a wealth of potential, and unfortunately manages to squander it at every turn, creating a hollow, rage-inducing, and disappointing experience, with its beautiful depiction of Italy and talented performers being its only saving graces.

1348 Ex Voto joins games like A Plague’s Tale and Kingdom Come: Deliverance in giving players a slice of medieval life. Unlike those titles, 1348 Ex Voto is a short time commitment with a relatively simple story and unique character dynamics. If the world weren’t quite so barren and the combat were less frustrating, 1348 Ex Voto’s attractive environments could be the foundation for a special little game.

1348 Ex Voto has proven to be a largely disappointing project. Not everything should be discarded, and some enthusiasts of medieval history might even find it interesting. However, none of the aspects of the production fully manages to convince.

A short medieval tale that aims high but falls short. This debut from Sedleo Games attempts to evoke the simpler, linear experiences of seventh-generation titles, but lacks both the budget and ideas to succeed. Combat is unremarkable, puzzles uninspired, the story fragmented, and the technical state poor. What remains are sympathetic performances from the leads.

1348: Ex Voto is an interesting game with a great atmosphere, but it has a lot of problems. Its strongest point is the gloomy mood of the medieval world, which draws the player into a plague-ridden environment. However, the title suffers from technical shortcomings, repetitive combat and an empty world.

This is a game with great ideas but a really poor execution. There a couple of levels that are not too bad, but everything else is not at the level you would expect.

Despite its fascinating 14th-century Italian setting and a combat system inspired by real historical martial arts, 1348 Ex Voto collapses under the weight of its own ambition. The rushed narrative, clunky and repetitive gameplay loop, jarringly empty environments, and a severe lack of technical polish overshadow the undeniable passion of the small development team. It's a game with great potential that sadly bites off much more than it can chew, leaving players with a frustratingly unrefined and buggy experience.

Not enough time is spent with characters to sympathise with their plight, while the narrative itself discordantly jumps between several themes without committing to a singular vision. It’s not helped by a middling combat system and exploration that is too simplistic and predictable for its own good. As a queer woman, I’m delighted that games like this exist, but I can’t bring myself to ignore the fatal flaws that hold this passionate effort back from greatness.

1348 Ex Voto is sick with its own pestilence. Every attempt it makes to upend the status quo for stories like this either goes criminally unexplored, is undercommitted to, or was never really deep to begin with. The rigid mission structure makes poor use of the beautiful areas throughout, giving you space to explore but nothing all that interesting to do otherwise. And every few minutes, you’ll have to plod through soupy, boring combat that never changes no matter how many options to modify small parts of it exist. The best parts of this package – a great setting, picturesque landscapes, and some truly standout acting – would be better served without all the video game bits around them.

There are good ideas in 1348 Ex Voto, but they're undercut by the shoddy implementation of its systems. The voice cast carries the game, with several amazing performances woven throughout. Unfortunately, the whole experience is letdown by a variety of glitches, fundamental design flaws with the combat, confusing levels, and several jarring story transitions that make it seem as if 1348 Ex Voto was shoved out the door before it was ready.

Although 1348 Ex Voto appears to be the labor of love of enthusiasts seeking to toy with history, it proves to be as tedious as a lecture delivered in a monotone voice. Quite simply—and sadly—Sedleo’s title is nothing more than a bad game. Whether in terms of gameplay or narrative, it suffers from a relentless string of minor flaws, nasty bugs, and deeper structural issues. Unlike many indie games of this ilk—which can rely on a compelling story to make up for mediocre gameplay, or vice versa—*1348 Ex Voto* cannot lean on either of these crutches. The result is a spectacular failure; it may indeed go down in legend, but in the worst possible way.

It does sadden me that the game turned out this way, as I fear a certain dark corner of the internet will use the game’s negative reception to push an unwarranted agenda, namely that the game’s failure is tied to the assumed relationship of the two female leads which, of course, is not the case. It’s difficult to overlook 1348 Ex Voto’s flaws though. While there are some charming performances on display, it’s ultimately let down by a dull and problematic combat system and poor optimisation that doesn’t really give you any incentive to push on with what is, sadly, a slog.