1348 Ex Voto

The most important thing to know about 1348 Ex Voto is that it's a small game. A thorough run will take something like 6 hours. If you're confident in the combat and don't care about collectibles, it could be substantially less. Some games can make a powerful, lasting impression in under 10 hours, but most games don't. 1348 Ex Voto is, overall, very simple. Combat is pared down to its most basic elements (two forms of attacking, blocking, dodging); exploration is limited; there are no dialogue choices during conversations. There are effectively only three recurring characters, including Aeta herself, and only two of those have any real significance. The world is melancholically empty for poor Aeta: everyone you see, outside of cutscenes, is someone you will kill. All of that is fine. However, I think the game stumbles at the end when it tries to circle back around to themes and issues that it introduces at the very beginning but does not adequately explore. It's not that these issues aren't present through the rest of the game, but ultimately too much of the 6 hours of gameplay are spent walking around and swinging a sword, and not enough is spent on storycraft. Because there are so few characters or interactions, the game relies too heavily on Telling its narrative, at the expense of Showing. What it's saying is worth thinking about, but not expertly expressed or depicted. But -- because the game is so small, that's forgivable. I would still recommend 1348 Ex Voto to anyone who likes the idea of playing as a weird woman with a sword. Aeta is a naïve yet thoughtful protagonist; I'd genuinely like to see more of her future. And people-less as it is, I did enjoy simply looking at the world, which has some beautiful environments. My two actual critiques of the game are (at the time of this review) a lack of ability to remap controls, and only being able to invert one of the camera axes. I had to switch to a controller to make dodging comfortable during combat, and it's just annoying to not be able to move the camera how you want to. 1348 Ex Voto is imperfect, but I'm glad it exists and that I played it.