Publisher and developer Santa Ragione announced an October 27 release date for Saturnalia, a brand-new single-player horror adventure game coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via the Epic Games Store. The neon-folk survival horror title was also spotlighted on the PlayStation Blog, with the studio head sharing more details on the game’s premise and its unique Italian Giallo horror roots. To celebrate the release date announcement, Santa Ragione has unveiled a launch date trailer for Saturnalia, which you can check out below.
The trailer shows incredibly unique and atmospheric visuals highly reminiscent of the late 60s to 70s Giallo horror, blended with some modern elements here and there. Developer Santa Ragione describes itself as the Righeira of video games, alluding to their new wave style and influence. According to Pietro Righi Riva, CEO of Santa Ragione, the team modeled Saturnalia’s village of Gravoi from Sardinia, Italy; combining it with a twisted, procedurally-generated layout, Gravoi has turned into a kaleidoscopic maze filled with horrors and mysteries at every turn.
Saturnalia is inspired and heavily influenced by the various folklores of Sardinia, a region rich in unique culture and traditions. Players take on the role of four different characters, each with their own deeply connected storyline that ties back into the haunting traditions of Gravoi, an ancient and mysterious village. Gravoi’s landscape itself is seemingly an elaborate maze with various iterations; to pierce through its mysteries, you will have to traverse its very depths without a guide.
Saturnalia’s unique gimmick is its ever-changing village structure; each time your characters die, the village rearranges itself into a new maze for you to tackle. Characters are equipped with abilities, tools, and consumables to open various shortcuts. The game also features roguelite elements, as you keep narrative and puzzle progress even if all of your characters die. The puzzles themselves are non-abstract, but deeply integrated into the village and woven into the narrative throughout the game’s non-linear progression. Your ultimate goal is to discover the ritual that takes place in Gravoi and use whatever means you can to stop it.
