Psychedelic survival horror Saturnalia now has a 40-minute demo on Steam

eurogamer.net:

Saturnalia, the acclaimed survival horror from MirrorMoon EP developer Santa Ragione, is shaking off the shackles of Epic Games Store exclusivity and coming to Steam this October — and ahead of its launch, a 40-minute demo is now available on Valve's platform.

Saturnalia — which Eurogamer contributor Simon Parkin called a «horrible nightmare in all the right ways» in his Recommended review last year — whisks players away to the ancient, ever-shifting village of Gravoi, for an adventure heavily inspired by Sardinia folklore.

The goal here is to solve the mystery of the village and escape its confines, exploring and avoiding its horrors along the way. To aid in that atttempt, players can switch between four different characters at will, but should all of them die, the town will reassert itself, reconfiguring its labyrinthine layout for another attempt — albeit with narrative and puzzle progress retained.

As part of its move to Steam, Saturnalia is gaining a number of new features, including a first-person mode, a photo mode, camera customisation settings, and a monochrome film noir mode for those that would prefer a slightly more subdued visual style over its dazzlingly psychedelic default. It'll also offer an option for «smoother animations» that can be activated if you find the characters' stylistically jerky movements a bit too much to bear.

All the above will be included in Saturnalia's newly released Steam demo, which Santa Ragione says should provide a good look at the game's world, mechanics, and characters over the course of its 40-minute duration. We're still awaiting an exact date for Saturnalia's arrival to Steam, but expect it to happen some time this October.