Independent publisher Dear Villagers and developer Sedleo have announced that the action/adventure game 1348 Ex Voto will be released on March 12, though only for PC and PlayStation 5, as the Xbox Series S|X version has been canceled. This is far from shocking. Xbox Series console sales have been dwindling for several years now; for small studios, spending resources on the port might no longer be worth the cost.
Anyway, the game itself looks quite interesting. Developed by a team of around 15 Italian developers, it is set in 14th-century Italy, a period marked by political strife and the plague (which raged for a long time). The protagonist, Aeta, voiced by Alby Baldwin, is a young noble training to become a knight errant. However, her village is suddenly attacked by bandits, who also kidnap Bianca (voiced by award-winning actress Jennifer English, who played Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3 and Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), someone very dear to Aeta. Thus begins her dangerous journey across the Italian peninsula, with environments ranging from medieval villages and castles to the Appennino mountains and even the ruins of classical Rome, to rescue Bianca.
The creators from Sedleo drew inspiration from chivalric story tropes and spent extensive time in rural Italy recording environments to create an authentic, historically plausible world. The ‘cinematic’ combat system is inspired by HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) and was animated with the help of trained performance-capture actors.
Aeta’s martial knowledge will allow players to strategically choose between two combat stances: one-handed and two-handed weapons. Skill books have been scattered throughout the environments, and players who can find them will unlock new combos to personalize Aeta’s swordplay with different weapon parts.
On PC, 1348 Ex Voto will be available for purchase via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The official system requirements haven’t been revealed yet, but we know that the price will be $24.99 on both PC and PlayStation 5.
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