A Vow in the Dark Ages: 1348 Ex Voto Launches With Brutal Combat and Beautiful Chaos

If you have been desperately craving a gritty medieval adventure to sink your sword into, the indie scene just delivered. Developed by a small fifteen person team at Sedleo, 1348 Ex Voto is officially out right now on PC and PlayStation 5! The developers are pulling no punches with this one, dropping us straight into plague ridden fourteenth century Italy. It is a gorgeous, story driven experience, but it is definitely coming in hot with some serious performance debates.

Let us look at exactly what this cinematic action adventure is bringing to the table and why the community is completely split right now.

The Chivalric Quest

You play as Aeta, a young noble and knight errant on a brutal journey to rescue her kidnapped childhood companion, Bianca.

• The Talent: The voice acting is absolutely top tier. Aeta is played by Alby Baldwin, and Bianca is voiced by the incredible Jennifer English, who you probably recognize as Shadowheart from Baldurs Gate 3!
• Historical Swordplay: The combat is entirely focused on Historical European Martial Arts. You will be actively switching between one handed and two handed longsword stances to break enemy guards and parry incoming attacks.
• A Ravaged Italy: The environments are stunningly detailed. Built in Unreal Engine 5, you will be exploring everything from lush vineyards to the crumbling ruins of classical Rome.
• Platform Exclusivity: Just a quick heads up, the previously announced Xbox version was completely cancelled so the team could focus entirely on optimizing the PS5 and Steam releases.

The Performance Debate

While the story and the authentic medieval vibes are receiving massive praise, the actual gameplay execution is struggling right out of the gate.

The Steam reviews and early Metacritic scores are pointing out some glaring issues. The auto lock targeting system is incredibly frustrating, making the grounded sword combat feel way more clunky than it should. On top of that, PC players are experiencing severe framerate drops and stuttering, even on absolute powerhouse rigs. The developers just pushed out their first hotfix patch to address some progression blockers and invisible walls, but it is clear the game still needs a few more rounds of polish.

It is always a bummer when a passionate indie project launches with technical issues, especially one with such a phenomenal cast and a beautiful setting. The romance and devotion driving the narrative are incredibly compelling, but the unoptimized combat might test your patience. If you are willing to fight through some jank to experience a unique slice of medieval history, it is absolutely worth checking out the stunning vistas.

For BREAK THE META, this is WILD SURF. Catch you on the next drop!