Saint Kotar, the game where the genre of the point and click joins horror: in this review we will tell you if the title of Red Martyr Entertainment has managed to convince us or not. Let’s find out all the details together. Below we report the official launch trailer.
The review of Saint Kotar: on the roads of Croatia
Each horror title that wants to attract the attention of the public takes place in an environment characterized by a ‘eerie and terrifying atmosphere. Our adventure begins in fact in one strange city in Croatia called Sveti Kotar. In this title, we play as two protagonists: Benedict e Nikolay.
Nikolay is married to Viktoria and Benedek is his brother. Benedek is a man of God, a monk and hardly doubts the Lord. Nikolay’s faith, on the other hand, is slowing down deteriorating e svanendo.
Suddenly Viktoria, Nikolay’s wife, disappears and the city buys one even more disturbing note, incomprehensible e side. At the beginning of our story we learn that Viktoria is probably the main suspect behind the recent deaths in the city.
Benedek is certain of this. Nikolay, on the other hand, refuses to believe it. In the course of our adventure we will also learn about one particular sect that is hiding in the city, characterized by “demons of the moon and mysterious activities.” What happens in this city? It is up to us to find out.
The city probably is the best element of the title. It is disturbing and the characters who live there make it even more frightening and strange. An interesting aspect concerns the thought of the characters about the city: each of them he hates her but can’t – or can’t – leave.
The developer used 3D characters and placed them in a 2D environment. The graphics sector is a lot interesting, is hand drawn and you can see the personal touch that the artists applied in every little corner of the title. The developer could have paid more attention to thecharacter animation, clearly lower than the settings, but we don’t complain too much.
The shadows, the lighting, the attention to detail on all the old buildings, the paintings or just the fog that covers the city have been admirably designed. The attention to detail makes the whole city creepy in just the right place. We also feel that with the right pair of headphones, the experience could become even more immersive and realistic.
Gameplay and sound sector
The gameplay turns out fun, simple e functional. It is a point and click so we will have an inventory screen and the cursor that changes shape whenever we need to talk to a character, to observe something up close or use an object.
Any little extra information about a character or an object can be obtained through the left button of our mouse. However keep in mind that this extra information will not be available unless it is actually useful for our case.
As for the puzzles, don’t expect too complicated puzzles. The title focuses primarily on exploration and the information we glean from it. The plot, on the other hand, seemed a lot to us interesting ed compelling. The curiosity it grows more and more, until we discover the truth and the secrets that lurk in the dark corners of the city.
Now let’s talk about the sound sector for a moment. We know that it turns out to be one of the fundamental elements of the horror genre. It has to be done to perfection so that you can convey concern to the public e distress. In Saint Kotar the main element is the conversations, which are extremely useful for continuing with our story.
Reluctantly we can say that the dubbing was made in mediocre mode – honestly we expected more. Many characters turned out dishes e woody and the dialogue choices were particularly sides e unrealistic.
This is quite a problem, particularly because of the title it relies heavily on dialogue and on choices. Oddly though, we managed to comprehend to perfection the whole story. Was it luck or did the Red Martyr team calculate everything? Who knows.
As for the soundtrack, we can happily say that he fared better. It is simple but effective. Fortunately it blends perfectly with the creepy atmosphere built by the graphics and the plot and thus manages to transmit the right vibrations: the ones we needed.
In conclusion
After all, Saint Kotar is a good title. The Red Martyr team did a brilliant job of delivering a point and click horror worthy of the genre. Of course, we recognize that there are gods defects: first of all the dialogues to which the team could have pay more attention as the backbone of the game.
The fact that many of them turned out surreal and little credible, did not allow us to enjoy the title to the fullest. If the dialogues had been secondary, we would have turned a blind eye. However, they are one of the main elements of Saint Kotar so it seems fair to point out this flaw in our review.
In any case, despite this flaw, Saint Kotar still manages to convey a disturbing story e complex. Furthermore, without showing too much violence, the title allows us to go further with the imagination: all this is thanks to the story, the settings and all those left and dark corners.
If the title caught your attention, you can find it on Steam and Epic Games.