Tenebris Somnia Review: A Riveting Concept Executed to Perfection

At first glance, I thought Tenebris Somnia looked cute. A small indie-type horror game with an intriguing concept that might just turn out kind of cool. I’d never heard of Andrés Borghi or Saibot Studios before, so I didn’t really know what to expect.

It turns out that this may just be my favorite horror game after Silent Hill 2 (the original), and the best game I’ve played all year. It calls itself retro on Steam, and it certainly took me back to a time when games were more about art and the stories they could tell, and less about summoning every cent of profit from the wallets of the audience.

But before I yammer on any more, here’s my full review of Tenebris Somnia, a delightful indie from the minds of Andrés Borghi, Saibot Studios, and published by New Blood Interactive.

The Concept Pulls You In, The Story Keeps You There

The concept is what got me to try out Tenebris Somnia. As a half-movie, half-game, it’s not something I’ve ever seen done in gaming before. I mean, we’ve had cutscenes forever, but actual movie scenes within a game? I can’t recall anything else like it.

So I wanted to take a peek behind the curtain and see what this little game held in store for players. That peek quickly turned into an obsession, as the fantastically crafted, intricate story pulled me ever deeper. There are quite a few layers to the story, and they unravel at a pleasing pace as you go. They do get heavier the longer you play, and the game definitely comes with a bit of a trigger warning.

It does not hesitate to explore heavy, even distasteful themes, but in the most tasteful way. It’s a brilliant bit of game design.

And the transitions between 2D pixel game and HD movie are impressively seamless, with fantastic set design that matches the game perfectly. It’s something else seeing a 2D scene you were just in completely realised in HD.

What’s more, I expected the “movie” part to be fairly cheaply made. Not sure if you know this, but movies can be exceptionally expensive. I was genuinely surprised by the quality of some of the special effects, and while there’s a cheap-looking scene or aspect here and there, overall, I think they did a fantastic job on the movie part of the game. But given that Andrés Borghi is a movie director, it makes sense, right? There is no real voice acting; dialogue and monologue are all handled by text boxes, but I don’t mind this. Some of my favorite games of all time don’t have a single line of voice.

The story itself, for me, gets a perfect score. There’s not a single line of dialogue I’d change, even the bits where it gets a bit clunky or rough around the edges. I don’t love that the game explains so much to you, and you’re never really left to wonder, but at the same time, this is a good thing, since one incorrect assumption could pretty easily derail your perception of the story.

Overall, the game isn’t super long, clocking in at somewhere around the 4-8 hour mark, depending on how quickly you solve some of the puzzles. There are multiple endings, too, which add some replayability.

But then if all I want is a great story, I might as well read a book, right? So, what’s the game actually like?

Don’t Ever Fight on Stairs

Alright, so we have a great concept that’s been executed at a level far beyond my expectations, but how does it play?

It’s alright. Honestly, it’s functional and basically bug-free, at least in my experience, and I’ve been through several sections of the game twice. The run is a bit slower than I’d like, even though the speed is perfect for keeping combat challenging. Move any faster, and nothing could touch you. So I think it’s balanced for that goal pretty well.

But getting to the end of a long empty hallway can be a bit tiresome. And while we’re roughly on the topic of combat, it can be really frustrating at times. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been done well. You’ll find several weapons throughout your time in Tenebris Somnia. The pipe has range, high damage, and is slow. The wrench is quick, short-ranged, and low damage. You even get some guns. But different parts of the game needed different weapons. There are times when the pipe just doesn’t do, and others when the wrench is nearly useless.

The guns are always pretty powerful, but you’ve got a limited amount of ammo, so you have to conserve it when you can. It all works well, until you get stuck on a rogue pixel you can’t even see.

There are times when this is purposefully done, such as in one fight where it’s completely dark during the battle. You’ll get stuck on stuff and maybe even take damage because, well, that’s what happens when you can’t see.

Other times, your surroundings are perfectly visible, but you’ll still get stuck on some random thing that doesn’t look like it should be able to stop you — for example, running adjacent to a wall. It can definitely be frustrating. The title of this section is kind of an inside joke with myself, sad as that is, but stairs are the worst offenders of getting stuck on that random rogue pixel.

There’s one long red staircase as you progress (you’ll know it when you see it). It twists and turns, and I got stuck on this thing all the time. Thankfully, I never had to fight anything while I was also busy fighting a set of stairs, or that might’ve been it for me. There’s also this annoying issue where, sometimes, if you aren’t lined up with an enemy exactly, your bullets will simply miss, whereas other times being slightly misaligned doesn’t seem to matter. So it’s kind of an experiment every time you fire at an oncoming enemy.

The game definitely loses a little with the clunky movements at times, but overall, I am seriously impressed with all it has to offer. But then, this is supposed to be a horror, right? So, does it horror?

Masterful Horror Rarely Seen in Gaming

Alright, here’s the thing. I don’t really play horror games all that much anymore, even though I love them. I don’t watch horror movies all that much anymore, either. I’ve just become immune to their effects. They’ve become so predictable that the rush that used to draw me to them just isn’t there anymore.

Tenebris Somnia is no different. I never felt outright scared the way horror games used to make me feel, but my word, did they do a fantastic job of getting me to feel on edge and even unsettled at times.

For the most part, jump scares are horribly overused and cheap. In Tenebris Somnia, it’s like some evil genius planned out the jump scares. There were two specific moments in the game where, as the kids would say, my soul left my body, and that’s not an easy thing to achieve for me.

In the first such case, the game got me properly unsettled, and then started to give me all the signs that something bad was about to happen. It pulled me along like this, heart beating, ready to fight, for quite a while. Then it slows things down and gets me feeling nice and safe again, and that’s when it pounces.

I still remember pausing the game here and just needing to take a breath. And the other case was similar. It taught me that I was safe in a certain area, so for the 10th time going through this area, when it sprang its trap, I wasn’t expecting it at all.

There’s a lot of psychological horror here, and being a game, one really feels it. The jump scares feel earned, though there were a few others that didn’t land for me, but would probably give the less desensitized a good kick.

But it all comes back to the story, and that’s what makes this game pretty much a masterpiece in my book. I quickly began to form a connection with the couple’s story and began to care about the outcome. But as you go, and you unravel more layers, your expectations shift with each layer, and you realize that things weren’t really at all the way you thought they were.

I can’t recommend this game enough to anyone who loves a good story. I’m sad that I have to dock the score a little for the technical bits that could’ve been done better, but this is as close as it gets to a perfect game, if you ask me.

Keep in mind, this is exactly my kind of thing, and if you like stories with hefty emotional weight, heavy and even uncomfortable themes, and a little sprinkling of horror on the side, you’ll love Tenebris Somnia as much as I have.

Even though it’s not all that scary, I’d still advise against playing it alone in the dark at 3am.

Verdict

In my humble opinion, Tenebris Somnia is a masterpiece. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but anyone who enjoys a strong, dark story and doesn’t mind a bit of horror will feel right at home. It may not be the most technically brilliant game, but it’s certainly the most memorable game I’ve played all year.