Saint Kotar is a recently released psychological horror adventure game by developer Red Martyr Entertainment and published by Soedesco, which comes into the genre of point-and-click game that sticks to its roots with the traditional point-and-click elements, but lacks in some aspects that hinder its potential at being a decent horror experience. A review copy of Saint Kotar was provided to me by the publisher to test out this new game on PC. And having been a fan of point-and-click games like Unavowed and a little bit of Deponia, it was hard for me to say no to Saint Kotar.
Saint Kotar is a mystery that starts right from the moment you begin, all the way to its end. You start in complete darkness, in a location that turns out to be a basement, looking for a way out. At first, you take the role of a small boy, trying to find some source of light and making the way up from the basement. This section of the game also acts like a tutorial where it takes you no more than a couple of minutes to get familiar with features like opening up your inventory, dragging and dropping items to use them, interacting with items and points of interest, and highlighting interactable areas. Anyone who has played a point-and-click game will instantly recognize these basic and traditional features, so it barely is a question of getting familiar at first.
Saint Kotar truly begins when you wake up as one of the two main protagonists, Benedek. It is only then that you realize that the dream you had a few moments ago was being experienced by this confused man you now have control over. From exploring items and interacting with objects, you start questioning your presence in this creepy and dimly lit house, that has all but blocked any sunlight to enter inside. You are then immediately introduced to Nikolay, your brother-in-law who is married to your sister, Viktoria. You both learn about your mysterious admission into the house, waking up with bizarre dreams, where Nikolay had the worst of it with a decapitated crow and blood-filled experience.
The game gives you the option to switch between both Nikolay and Benedek to experience each of the characters during exploration and dialogue. However, there is no real freedom to switch between any character at free will, as you only get the options when the scenario or the story builds up to such a situation. The premise is pretty straightforward and wastes no time where players will immediately be thrown into the mystery and bizarre occurrences and inhabitants of Sveti Kotar, the small yet elusive town somewhere in Croatia.
As Benedek and Nikolay try to figure out the situation that they find themselves in, both come to the initial conclusion that Viktoria has something to do with these events. In search of Viktoria and why she had the two brought here, Nikolay and Benedek are now tasked with finding out where Viktoria is and what is really happening. As you progress, you learn that things are way stranger and that something more sinister is at hand. This is where the story will send the characters into a twisted tale of cults and conspiracies, questioning their own belief in God.
The area where Saint Kotar shines is the illustrations of the environment. Every area, whether indoor or outdoor, produce a depressing setting, morbid and strange statues and art on walls. There is no shortage of new areas and plenty to discover and explore. And while the game features some puzzles for you to solve and progress in the story, they are more elemental and nothing that will have you stuck trying to figure out your next step.
Moving on to the flaw that I felt really pulled this title down, making it slightly less than a really good horror experience, is the voice acting. Other than the two protagonists, the voice acting is pretty awful, to say the least, where at times it seems forced or if some characters were just reading from a script. This totally killed the mood and the setting that a scene tried to portray. The dialogue is pretty great and the script is on point with how the story and encounters build-up, but it comes crashing down with shoddy voice acting.
Final Verdict
As a point-and-click game, Saint Kotar will have a soft spot for me, especially when it is a horror game like itself. However, it does have its problems that can significantly hamper the immersion and experience, with the major flaw being the voice acting. If you don’t mind the voice acting, the horror aspects are pretty great, while the story is decent enough to get you through to the end looking for answers and to come to a conclusion. The puzzles are pretty easy and shouldn’t be considered a major part of the game, but the player does have some choices that they can make in this branching story. Saint Kotar is currently available to play on PC via Steam, while a console release is also planned for the future.
Score: 7.0/10
