Review by: Jeff McAllister

Venetica is an ambitious game, but unfortunately the goal is ultimately unrealized and ends up being no more than a dull and frustrating journey through an unpolished world filled with poorly executed gameplay.

As the game opens, you take the role of Scarlett, a townswoman who is betrothed to a warrior named Benedict. Not that any of this exposition matters a great deal, as Benedict is quickly cut down during the struggle and Scarlett fends off the attackers only to abruptly and coincidentally learn that she is the daughter of Death. As she spews hate for those that killed her love, her father tells her that she must destroy the villainous Undead Archon by finding the relic known as the Moonblade and a book of great power called The Black Grimoire. You just can’t make this stuff up, folks.

Venetica is an action RPG where the hack and slash approach takes is the order of the day. You have the option to use four different weapons, each with its own traits and purpose, as well as the ability to block and roll out of the way of incoming attacks. Swords are quick and deal medium damage, Axes and hammers deal the most damage and can be used to smash down doors. Spears are pretty much useless and the mystical Moonblade can be used on demons to recover orbs that will allow you to resurrect if and when you die.

The most frustrating part of having a particular weapon equipped at any time- and one that exponentially grated on my nerves as the game progressed- is that you cannot interact with anything while a weapon is in your hand. You cannot open doors, pick up items or even talk to people. If you smash open a pot, you need to put your sword away, pick up the item, and then pull out your sword again. Along with your weapons, you are also given a full skill tree of magical attacks and spells – such as being able to see areas of interest through a perched raven’s eye - which again, isn’t all that useful, and those that are an absolute necessity, are given to you at the time they are needed.

Like most RPGs there is plenty to do to keep you occupied along the way to the end game. Citizens need things done for them- some need medicine, some need a loved one rescued- and while that is all commonplace in similar games, returning to the NPC to collect your reward can be a chore unto itself. They are usually found in different places than when you first met them and since many of the NPCs use the same character model, it can take a while to find the right person.

Quests are also confusing at times since most of the information given to you during a spoken dialogue is vague and sparse, and while you may think you know exactly what to do to complete it, the real details are in your journal and give accurate directions on where you should be going, usually quite different than was mentioned by the quest giver. The in-game minimap does little to help you figure out where to go, as locations are marked with nondescript names like “house” instead of naming them after the people residing in them. Seeing the map with eight different “house” locations is about as useful as not having a map at all.