Not often do you come across a video game that blends live-action cutscenes with retro 8-bit style gameplay. But when you do, it’s something worth keeping an eye on. Ever since I played the demo for Tenebris Somnia, a 2D survival horror adventure game, I was hooked and itching to play more. Now that it’s officially released and I’ve had the chance to play it for review, does it hold up to the hype it created with the initial demo?
I’m happy to say that Tenebris Somnia is a strong horror experience that lends itself to a nerve-racking 6 to 8 hours of gameplay. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but as someone who dabbles quite a bit in indie and small-budget horror games, Tenebris Somnia as a whole has some nail-biting scares and wild cutscenes that’ll always make the switch from 2D to live action enticing.
The game’s story begins with a lot of mystery and slowly unveils itself in mind-bending ways. In Tenebris Somnia, you play as Julia, an actress who returns to the apartment of her ex-boyfriend to soon find out his life is in grave danger due to his involvement with a crazed cult and performing a deadly ritual. The story lives up to the majority of its promises, giving us a detailed look at the messy relationship between Ivan and Julia that wasn't so picture perfect.
I loved how the game used its FMV-style live action scenes in relation to its main plot: Ivan is a self-made filmmaker and made a short film starring Julia. Not only do you witness real-time cutscenes, but you’ll catch glimpses of Ivan’s short film, Devora, as well as learn how some of the filming was done. Not only is it a game that celebrates a love of horror, but it’s a game that celebrates the love of filmmaking in general. It’s a game that reveals how much a passion project can consume you as a filmmaker.
As for the gameplay, there were plenty of enjoyable puzzles and combat scenarios until the latter half of the game. I often found myself struggling to figure out what to do next, or what I was doing wrong, when the solution was either too obtuse or lacking in direction. Not all the puzzles were like this, but there were enough roadblocks during my time with Tenebris Somnia that got in the way of my enjoyment.
When it wasn’t the puzzles bothering me, it soon became the combat. The first half of the game has a great balance of difficulty, always giving me enough ammo and health regeneration items to survive. Near the end, though, I often felt like I was put into unfair combat moments that made it nearly impossible to survive. Although I liked the majority of the unique boss fight designs and mechanics, it didn’t take long for me to get frustrated after many failed attempts.
Nevertheless, Tenebris Somnia still kept me glued to the screen, even when it frustrated me. I wanted to know what would happen next and why Ivan and Julia’s relationship fell apart. Especially when I expected the game to end at a certain point, only for it to completely surprise me with a twist that kept the game going much longer than expected.
Speaking of the unexpected, Tenebris Somnia did a good job of keeping me unnerved nearly the entire time. Its eerie sound design and nostalgic graphics made for an even creepier experience. I often find myself more scared by horror games with less realistic graphics, but even so, some of this game’s live-action cutscenes truly unsettled me.
Verdict
Tenebris Somnia is a short but terrifyingly sweet horror game that deserves its recognition. If you can get past the often complicated puzzle design and combat encounters, there’s a lot to love with this survival horror adventure game. If you're a fan of similar games with live-action cutscenes, like Alan Wake 2 and Immortality, you’d be remiss to ignore Tenebris Somnia.
