Venetica

About

In the fantasy world of Venetica, Scarlett, the daughter of Death, must save her father and prevent a necromancer from destroying the council of Corpus. After discovering her supernatural powers, Scarlett becomes a warrior and sets out to defeat the necromancer and his henchmen, saving both the world of the living and the hereafter. Along the way, she uncovers secrets about her destiny and the true nature of her enemies.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 311 reviews

story97 positive mentions

stability40 negative mentions

The game features a unique and charming setting with a fantasy take on Renaissance Venice, which adds to its appeal.
Scarlett, the protagonist, is a well-developed character with a compelling story that engages players throughout the game.
The combat system, while simple, is enjoyable and allows for some strategic gameplay with various skills and abilities.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs and crashes, which can significantly hinder the gameplay experience.
Graphics and animations are dated, leading to a less immersive experience compared to modern RPGs.
The quest design can be tedious, with many fetch quests and a lack of clear direction, making navigation and progression frustrating at times.

story
270 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
56%
8%
The story of Venetica is set in a unique fantasy version of Renaissance Venice, featuring a compelling premise centered around the protagonist, Scarlett, who embarks on a quest for revenge against dark forces. While the narrative includes interesting twists and moral choices, many players find it somewhat predictable and linear, with a mix of engaging and tedious quests that can detract from the overall experience. Despite its flaws, the story is often described as entertaining and charming, with a strong character and a richly designed world that invites exploration.
- “The setting, with its fantasy take on Renaissance Venice, is unique, and the story has an interesting premise.”
- “The narrative concept is uniquely compelling and the story is well-paced; it's not very long by RPG standards but nor is it bloated with filler.”
- “The story drew me in and made me want to keep playing to see how it unfolds.”
- “The story is a bit on the thin side.”
- “The main narrative is somewhat disjointed, and makes for a jumbled flow to the plot and a slight tedious method for progression.”
- “The story is bad and some dialogues are cringeworthy, but many of them are decent and usually the writing is okay.”
graphics
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
65%
17%
The graphics of the game are widely regarded as dated, reflecting its 2009 release, with many users noting weak textures and various graphical glitches. While some appreciate the art style and find it charming, others feel it detracts from the overall experience, especially when compared to modern titles. Overall, the visuals are considered acceptable for an indie RPG, but they may not satisfy players seeking contemporary graphics.
- “The graphics hold up surprisingly well despite the game's age, thanks to great style and architecture.”
- “The artwork is superb, and our heroine is the best-looking female protagonist I have seen.”
- “Bright, colorful visuals, especially once you get to Venice.”
- “The combat is clunky, the graphics are super dated, and there are some bugs that can be frustrating.”
- “Strange little game... 90s graphics with pretty poor combat, a really poor story and plot devices, and the 'puzzles' are atrocious!”
- “The graphics of the game were clearly dated.”
gameplay
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
63%
10%
The gameplay of Venetica is a mixed bag, with many players noting its outdated mechanics and frequent bugs, which detract from the overall experience. While some appreciate the unique elements like the death powers and exploration, others find the combat simplistic and repetitive, lacking variety in enemies and boss battles. Overall, the game offers a decent RPG experience with enjoyable moments, but it struggles with polish and technical issues that may frustrate players.
- “Gameplay is alright for its age and after you get the hang of it, it's very enjoyable.”
- “The gameplay is fun and intuitive.”
- “The gameplay consists of exploration, combat, and occasional puzzles.”
- “However, there are several frustrating mechanics and it is very buggy.”
- “You can sense repetitiveness in gameplay and quests pretty often, mainly due to the low budget of the game.”
- “It's just not up to today's standards in terms of gameplay, which is a pity; this game is killed by its engine limitations and long dialogues.”
stability
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
98%
The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including game-breaking issues that can lead to crashes and soft-locks, making it frustrating for players. While some enjoy the gameplay when it functions properly, the instability often detracts from the overall experience, necessitating frequent saves to mitigate the impact of these technical problems. Overall, the game's stability is a significant concern, with many players describing it as a "buggy mess."
- “When there are no glitches with the lighting or the shadows, the game is beautiful.”
- “The game runs smoothly without any crashes, making for a seamless experience.”
- “I appreciate how stable the gameplay is; it allows me to fully immerse myself in the story.”
- “There are quite a few glitches, so make sure to save often and when they occur, simply restart the game.”
- “Not only are there many minor glitches, like not saving some settings after quitting the game, but the game also has many game-breaking glitches as well. I'm surprised I even managed to beat this; sometimes you can soft-lock the game, so be careful, as sometimes it crashes at that moment.”
- “Unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy this game due to the numerous glitches and bugs that made it impossible to progress beyond a certain point.”
music
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
50%
15%
The music in the game, while generally considered suitable and relaxing, receives mixed reviews; some find it memorable and enjoyable, particularly the tavern song, while others describe it as generic and lacking standout pieces. Overall, the soundtrack is deemed acceptable for a 2009 title, with moments of greatness overshadowed by mediocrity in certain areas.
- “The tavern song is freakin awesome, a real earworm! Every time I think of Venetica, I go like: send my ships to the islands far away, bringing silk and gold and silver to the bay...”
- “Memorable music and beautiful landscapes for the 2009 year.”
- “The music was definitely likable, especially in the city and in some of the boss fights.”
- “The soundtrack is generic fantasy music, and there are no pieces that really grab attention or stand out.”
- “Music and sounds are very mediocre, with hardly any interesting skills; being able to left-click spam monsters to death, there is nothing fun in combat.”
- “The soundtrack is boring.”
optimization
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
56%
22%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including low frame rates and unresponsive gameplay, even on capable hardware. While some users found workarounds, such as disabling fullscreen effects, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized and can feel unpolished, detracting from the experience. Despite these challenges, some players still enjoyed the storyline and graphics, suggesting that the game may appeal to those willing to overlook its technical shortcomings.
- “If you're running into performance issues, just turn off the fullscreen effects in the options menu, and you should get a solid 40 fps throughout.”
- “Hope someday developers provide support/fixes/optimization because I would definitely like to continue playing the game in the future.”
- “The game's presentation is done reasonably well, although there seems to be some optimization and frame rate issues with my more than capable PC.”
- “This game is not for everyone since it is slow-paced and kind of unoptimized.”
- “Trust me and try this hidden gem, but keep in mind it's not an easy experience. You'll need a walkthrough and a lot of patience, not because it's an impossible game, but because it has an unoptimized, broken game engine, a horrible quest system, and pacing that leaves you wandering aimlessly with no clue where to go.”
- “The game's presentation is done reasonably well, although there seem to be some optimization and frame rate issues with my more than capable PC.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and repetitive, characterized by monotonous tasks such as rolling, waiting, and a cumbersome lock-picking mini-game. The lack of engaging combat, limited rewards, and frequent backtracking contribute to a disjointed narrative flow, making progression feel laborious and frustrating. Overall, the grinding mechanics detract from the enjoyment of the game, leaving players eager to move past these elements.
- “The whole process becomes a tedious cycle of rolling, waiting, rolling, waiting, and then attacking.”
- “After doing a few of these and realizing that the experience rewards are negligible, the gold rewards are meaningless (because of the equipment system; it is very limited), and the overall quest structures are tedious, all players will want is to get back to the game.”
- “The lockpick system receives a 3 out of 10 for being tedious, repetitive, annoying, and removes the player from the story.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as a mix of charming and awkward, with some players finding it genuinely funny while others criticize the disjointed dialogue and clunky delivery. The game features a unique style of humor that pokes fun at traditional RPG tropes, though opinions vary on its effectiveness. Overall, it offers a lighthearted experience, appealing to those who appreciate a more simplistic and quirky approach to humor in gaming.
- “However, the game has its own kind of humor, where it subtly pokes fun at other RPG games.”
- “The dialogues are pretty stupid but funny.”
- “And there is this old man who says 'oh hello' in a kind of funny way, which makes me laugh every time.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
Character development in the game is described as somewhat limited yet interesting, with a cartoony euro-comic style that enhances the character design. While the voice acting is decent, the overall narrative and dialogue suffer from significant flaws, overshadowing the potential for deeper character exploration.
- “The character design has a cartoony euro-comic style to it which works better than anything realistic would with the budget, and the voice acting is pretty decent.”
- “+ individual character development”
- “Character development is somewhat limited but still interesting enough.”
- “Character development somewhat limited but still interesting enough, same with the goods.”
- “Seriously though, the character designs other than Scarlett herself (she kind of reminds me of the Lara Croft in the Angel of Darkness model) all the minor characters look straight out of Amalur with their big noses and pointy cheekbones.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
20%
40%
Venetica - Gold Edition is praised for its immersive atmosphere, drawing comparisons to the original Fable with its engaging aesthetics, gameplay mechanics, and a sense of exploration. While the game successfully creates a captivating world, some players note that it could benefit from further refinement. Overall, the audio and ambiance contribute significantly to the game's appeal, earning high marks from users.
- “Atmosphere: this is something I do enjoy more than in most games.”
- “The game closely resembles the original Fable for the original Xbox - intentional or not - because of the aesthetics, gameplay mechanics, atmosphere, the British humor/writing/voice acting, along with a general aroma of being brought back to the world of Avion despite Venetica being an entirely new game.”
- “The game closely resembles the original Fable for the original Xbox - intentional or not - because of the aesthetics, gameplay mechanics, atmosphere, the British humor/writing/voice acting, along with a general aura of being brought back to the world of Avion despite Venetica being an entirely new game.”
- “As mentioned earlier, I get vibes from the original Fable, and this is because of the feel of exploration and the atmosphere the game retains throughout.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The game offers high replayability due to its branching paths and multiple endings, encouraging players to explore different choices and outcomes. Users find it engaging and enjoyable, further enhancing its replay value.
- “Has great replay value as there are multiple endings available to the story.”
- “Very fun to play, engaging, great story, and has great replay value.”
- “The path branches several times into parallel decisions, enhancing replayability.”
- “Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to go back and play again.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices makes replaying the game feel pointless.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its great, touching story that resonates with players, evoking feelings of familiarity, warmth, and nostalgia.
- “Great story... touching story.”
- “It's familiar, heartwarming, and nostalgic.”