1348 Ex Voto Review - A Plague Fail

Ole Gamer Joe
2 minutes ago
6 min read

1348 Ex Voto

PC/PS/XBOX

3/12/26

Sedleo/Dear Villagers

There have been some amazing third-person action games released over the last few years. Senua’s journey through the Viking ages in Ninja Theory’s Hellblade captivated audiences with its gorgeous visuals, its strange and unsettling puzzle design, and incredible storytelling as she battled not just the bleak world surrounding her, but the demons within her own mind. In a similar fashion, The Plague Tale series—drenched in drama, horror, and the thick, suffocating atmosphere of the 1348 plague—equally wowed gamers with its mix of intense storytelling and well-balanced gameplay.

1348 Ex Voto, coming to us from Sedleo—a brand-new studio based out of Italy, looks to offer some of what those aforementioned games brought audiences, while adding realistic, stance-driven sword combat reminiscent of titles like For Honor and Bushido Blade. But does this indie release bring great honor to the many games before it? Or does it die by the sword? Let’s find out in our full review.

Set in 14th-century Italy, 1348 Ex Voto is a third-person action game that centers almost entirely on its combat engine. There’s some light exploration across a handful of beautiful set pieces, the occasional crate to push, a touch of platforming, and a few narrative cutscenes to keep the story moving. But the vast majority of your time is spent in small, arena-like encounters as you try to master the game’s interesting—though ultimately unsuccessful—take on swordplay.

Our tale centers around lead Aeta and her "closest friend" Bianca. Aeta dreams of being a great knight, while Bianca grew up under much different circumstances, as a servant within the castle where the lead character lived. Despite this, the two characters were able to form a unique bond between one another. There’s been much fuss made online about 1348 Ex Voto’s main plotline and its historical accuracy, but the reality is storytelling is the least of the game’s concerns. In fact, the little bit we do get is somewhat interesting and mostly well-written.

Unfortunately, Aeta, the person we spend the most time with, is a pretty one-dimensional character and maybe the weakest part of the entire narrative. For the vast majority of this 6–9-hour campaign, she moans and cries about her dear missing Bianca, but we don’t learn much else that’s interesting about her. But that said, there are interesting characters inhabiting this world, and you can’t say the voice actors don’t try their darndest to breathe life into these dying lands. Regardless of who’s speaking, each line is delivered with strength and conviction, making it a bit of a shame that the story wasn’t a bigger part of the experience—or that more focus wasn’t placed on the political drama rather than its generic, “go rescue your lover” plot. There are some genuinely great deliveries here, backed by a stirring soundtrack filled with beautifully orchestrated pieces fitting the era. Unfortunately, getting to those more interesting narrative moments is difficult, because the act of playing 1348 Ex Voto is the equivalent of being smacked on the head with a wet noodle.

Let’s start with the combat, which makes up the vast majority of playtime. As you run from point A to point B, you’ll encounter small groups of enemies—usually no more than three at a time, with a few more sometimes joining in once those initial foes are dispatched. While enemies will occasionally attack you simultaneously, most can be baited out and dealt with one at a time. The few times where that isn’t possible, well, your odds of survival are about as good as trying to hold down a glass of spoiled milk you chugged an hour ago. As for why the rest of the enemies prefer to patiently stand around and wait their turn while you slice it out, well, you’d have to ask the developers. Maybe they were practicing some old-time chivalry.

Aeta uses her longsword, which can be upgraded throughout gameplay, and she can also level up and learn additional attacks by spending scrolls hidden throughout the environments. She also collects food to restore hit points because, for all the realism 1348 Ex Voto tries to project, it never lets you forget that it’s still very much a video game in the goofiest of ways. Let’s have realistic swordplay, but then eat an apple and magically gain back a hit point! I dunno—bandages or something could have been cool, or at the very least it would’ve been neat if certain limbs became wounded and unusable. Remember when Snake would get all messed up in Metal Gear Solid 3, for example, and you had to try and fix him? That was kinda awesome.

In battle, Aeta can switch between two different stances: one‑handed or two‑handed. In the one‑handed stance, you’re left more wide open than Jerry Rice was on the football field, but you can target an enemy’s mid‑section and try to dodge attacks. The two‑handed stance lets you block incoming attacks, though your guard will steadily drop and eventually break if it’s pushed all the way down. The goal is to chip away at an enemy’s guard until it’s fully lowered, then finish them off. In the meantime, you have to make sure you’re not leaving yourself wide open in the process.

Attacking is done with the Right Trigger, eventually causing more cramping than the Taco Bell value menu. The two‑handed stance is activated with the Left Trigger, and it has to be held down to block. The control scheme is extremely uncomfortable, not helped by how unresponsive everything feels. I’ve gotten more response out of my shit‑box car’s Bluetooth connection than I did in this game. That’s a shame, because I like the idea of switching between stances, but here it’s been poorly executed. There are a few advanced tactics, such as perfect strikes that are faster and deal more damage, but for the most part, combat never evolves much beyond gaining a few additional swings.

Making matters worse is the fact that every enemy has seemingly trained at the Royal Academy of Overly Aggressive Sword Enthusiasts, as they can block just about every attack thrown their way with lightning speed. Meanwhile, Aeta is left open to cheap hit after cheap hit, sometimes having to rely on a dodge that doesn’t like to dodge. These battles are about as much fun as walking in on your lover ass‑up with the mailman, and a lesser man would have quit at the first boss encounter.

Oh yes, there are bosses, and they’re just as miserable as you’d expect—requiring tremendous luck and a deep understanding of the game’s somewhat broken mechanics to survive. And on the topic of brokenness, 1348 Ex Voto has no shortage of bugs and glitches, including one boss who disappeared into a tree and became completely untouchable. That fight was so obnoxious I quite literally had to email the very nice PR people to make sure I wasn’t doing anything wrong and that there was, in fact, a way to win the encounter. I struck this fool over 100 times, but because his guard didn’t break twice, he was apparently invincible—like Wolverine’s adamantium claws. That was one hour of my life I will never get back.

And here’s the thing: you might be willing to forgive some jank-ass combat and a standard upgrade system if the rest of the game had variety, but there’s almost none to be found. Your only reward for victory is a trek through some admittedly beautiful nature paths, which don’t offer any side quests of interest—just the occasional scroll or trinket. For the most part, it’s an empty march that gives you plenty of time to think about how much you’re dreading the next combat encounter, because you know it’s coming. Occasionally you’ll need to climb a nondescript rock or attempt to jump between platforms which, well, you already know how that feels, but that’s about it. At least the game ran well enough on my 4070, without too many glaring framerate drops that hindered the experience further.

The kicker here is that with more time in the oven, you get the sense that 1348 Ex Voto very well could have been a good game. Its environments are absolutely gorgeous for as little as they offer. Trees realistically sway back and forth, vast open skies stretch across rolling plains, castle walls are wonderfully detailed—it’s a fantastic-looking product, only held back by some very creepy character models with stiff, awkward facial animations. It’s a world begging for deeper lore, more adventures, and better gameplay.

Those things might have come a few years down the road, but here’s the reality: I take no joy in calling out the many flaws of an indie game. I want every game I play to be great, and I want to be able to recommend it to you. But 1348 Ex Voto is an unfinished game. There’s really no other way to say it, and you only need about an hour with it to reach that conclusion yourself. Your time and money are precious, and sadly this release respects neither.

KRAMPUS/TERRIBLE