Steam Next Fest: Saturnalia’s sketchbook visuals make its weird mysteries compelling

destructoid.com:

Picture this: You’re in a small European village, there’s an ominous church, and you don’t quite know where to go. This could be the setup for countless Italian horror films. It’s also where we find our protagonist at the beginning of the Saturnalia demo, which went live as part of Steam Next Fest. The demo sets you free to complete simple objectives that eventually open up into a larger, interwoven mystery. It’s all vaguely interesting from the start, but it’s the off-kilter sketchbook visuals that make me want to explore further.

After heading to church to meet her paramour, Anita retreats to their villa to kick off the conundrums. What’s going on at the mines? What’s up with the strange rituals held in this small town in Sardinia? Who’s this dude sleeping on the couch and why do I need to keep an eye on him? Frankly, even suggesting that I need to “keep an eye” on someone who’s crashing on my couch gave me major college flashbacks. It’s clear from the beginning that something very strange is afoot, and it’s all accented with scratchy, amorphous art design that makes it more unsettling than it really is. 

The deeper you get into Saturnalia, the more likely you are to run into a mysterious creature that stalks the streets. Avoiding encounters gets easier the more you play, as you’ll eventually learn the layout of this labyrinthine location. Don’t count on rote memorization for too long, though. Saturnalia lets you switch between characters, each with their own unique abilities. One may be more suited to a particular situation than another, or may be necessary for solving a specific puzzle. Once all of your characters die, however, the town’s layout changes. 

There are still plenty of literal signposts to help you get