Saturnalia, a Survival Horror Adventure, Comes to Xbox

There are many things to be thankful for in the world SaturnaliaNothing is what it seems. The small Italian village Gravoi might seem unassuming and unassuming from first glance. But it is filled with many hidden secrets. Similarly, there’s more to the four co-protagonists of SaturnaliaThere is more to the story than meets your eye. While each one is an outsider for their own reasons, all of them share the same cause: to root out Gravoi’s darkness, even if that means facing down demons.

The first of these is Anita Giannini, geologist extraordinaire and the very picture of the late 80’s businesswoman. Unlike her fellow protagonists, she had no attachment to Gravoi prior to her arrival a year before the game’s events. Her initial mission in the village was actually to perform reconnaissance for corporate mining companies that wanted to extract the natural resources. A woman of her assurance and confidence isn’t easily deterred, in matters both professional and personal—so perhaps it was inevitable that she’d find herself involved in an illicit affair with none other than Damiano, the married town sacristan. The beginning of Saturnalia, she’s discovered that she’s with child, and despite the controversy sure to arise if her affair was made public, she’s determined to keep the baby.

The conservative values of Gravoi are at odds with Anita’s unflappable character, but there are other, darker forces at work that even she can’t dismiss.

In contrast, Paul Izem is a child of Gravoi, even if he didn’t know it for most of his life. Paul was just a infant when his parents mysteriously died. His adoptive family was located in Iglesias in south Sardinia. After finding a letter from his birth parents urging him to not return to Gravoi, he decided to defy them and set out on his personal quest to discover the truth. To avoid raising the suspicions of a town already distrustful of outsiders, Paul uses his profession as a photojournalist to shield his true motive, claiming he’s working on a feature for a tourist magazine even as he quietly seeks out clues about his past. Little does he know that his camera will be of critical importance in documenting the horror lurking in Gravoi…

Paul, quick to present a brave face and conceal his insecurity as well as his motivations for going to the village, is not afraid to show his vulnerability. However, the main characters in this story were not Paul. Saturnalia don’t exactly share his self-consciousness.

Sergio Aulas, who was raised in Gravoi and left to Manchester at the age of sixteen, was born. It seemed that his departure would be celebrated. He was able to go abroad to study thanks to Bruno Bissani who is the Lord and Owner of Gravoi’s Castle. But in truth, this wasn’t an opportunity, but an exile: discovered in bed with Bisssani by the lord’s own wife, Sergio was sent to England as a means of covering up the scandal, at the urging of his father. Thirty years later, he’s become a successful computer programmer, returning to Gravoi only to care for his iron lung-bound father. Sergio, analytical and aloof, is naturally antagonized in his hometown by traditionalist norms, especially as a gay man who doesn’t feel compelled to conceal his sexuality. But motivated by his obligation to his sick father, as well as his lingering curiosity about the fate of his former lover—who’s since disappeared—Sergio has no choice but to reinsert himself back into the community and mystery of Gravoi.

But Sergio is also secretly battling a morphine addiction, which he treats by pilfering his father’s medicine. If he wants to find the answers he seeks, he’ll need the one thing he’s most discomfited by: the help of others.

Claudia Mirai is more comfortable in her silence than asking for help. There is no one else like Claudia Mirai. Saturnalia, she despises Gravoi: as a sixteen-year-old punk, she knows she was made for more than just tending her father’s bar, and the antiquated culture of her remote hometown stifles her to the point of exasperation. But it’s not just youthful rebellion shaping her worldview. Her aunt was a young girl who saw her in her wedding gown and was hanging from an ancient olive tree outside her village. Claudia suffered a terrible trauma from the sight. omertaThe Southern Italian code for silence that she followed when her father refused to admit the suicide. Since then, she’s stood in stark opposition to every institution in her community, be it patriarchal values or religious instruction. She’s defiant and only aligns herself with those she views as in opposition to the system—but in truth, her cynicism is a coping mechanism for her painful memories and her bitter relationship with her father. Her wish is to leave Gravoi and begin a new life somewhere far away from everything she’s ever known.

To make her wish come true she must survive the night of winter solstice.

These characters are unable to do much on their own. They have a chance together to solve the mysteries of Gravoi, and escape Saturnalia.

The team here at Santa Ragione is putting the finishing touches to the game, and we can’t wait for you to play it. S on October 27th, 2022.|S on October 27th, 2022.