This bloody medieval carve-'em-up has me praying the devs deliver a holy gaming experience

This bloody medieval carve-‘em-up has me praying the devs deliver a holy gaming experience | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these RPG ‘We lost things such as physics in games:’ The dev behind my most anticipated RPG thinks players are craving more interactive games, not just ‘moving around in a static 3D environment’ Action Styx: Blades of Greed review: Engaging, challenging stealth in dizzyingly vertical puzzle boxes RPG The new game from Disco Elysium’s studio feels like the first Christmas after your parents’ divorce RPG The dev behind my top upcoming RPG is a Hungarian chef who thought ‘if not now, then when?’ and learned coding from scratch to make his dream ‘eurojank’ masterpiece FPS Hellscreen, the FPS with a rear-view mirror, has left Steam early access two episodes short of its original plan: ‘This is a bittersweet experience for me’ MMO Project: Gorgon has recaptured the old-school MMO magic I thought was dead and gone by letting me ask a pig about its mother so hard it dies RPG The best King’s Field-likes on PC Horror Reanimal review: Astonishingly bleak and oblique survival horror Card Game The Killing Stone combines occult contract law with card-battling in an isolated 17th century mansion RPG Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy might just have everything I want from a CRPG FPS Highguard review Action Nioh 3 review: This samurai soulslike epic is a serious contender to Elden Ring Strategy Terra Invicta review Games PC Gamer’s Game of the Year Awards 2025 Adventure Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!Arc RaidersBest PC gearFalloutGame Quizzes Games Action This bloody medieval carve-‘em-up has me praying the devs deliver a holy gaming experience News By Robert Jones published 23 February 2026 Vengeance will be mine When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. 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From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter As soon as I saw the key art for 1348 Ex Voto, I knew I had to play some. A female warrior knight with authentically awesome (so, totally crap) bowl cut hairdo, wielding a huge longsword, and bedecked in suitably religious ornamentation and vibes, is definitely my jam. And after playing the new free demo of 1348 Ex Voto, despite some concerns, I’m now praying that developer Sedleo can follow through and deliver a great full game.You play as Aeta, a young female knight errant in Medieval Italy. You’ve been trained by your noble father and, as the prologue to Ex Voto begins, you love nothing more than practicing with the sword to do your knightly duty. The only thing you may love more is your closest companion, Bianca, who, of course, is voiced by Jennifer English (yes, you simply can’t escape her melodic tones these days). (Image credit: Future)Burn baby burnThen disaster strikes. Your hometown is attacked and, after you’ve run through a very standard “this is how to move and run” tutorial, you’re thrust into the medieval fray. Sword drawn, camera pulled in closely behind you and to the right, you’re then invited to hack-and-slash through a series of brutal bandits who are killing local civilians, pillaging their belongings, and burning down their homes. Related articles I’ve already put 10 hours into this upcoming RPG’s demo because it has the best combat I’ve seen outside a FromSoft game Hell is Us review: a gorgeous adventure that gets in its own way a little too often Code Vein 2 review: a breezy hack-and-slash in soulslike clothing In the demo, you have two stances available (one-handed and two-handed), as well as your typical light and heavy attacks. Naturally you can also block and dodge. I never got the chance to do any timed perfect parrying, but I’ll eat my chaperon if the full game doesn’t have a learned perfect counter mechanic. After all, there is a timed true strike mechanic whereby pressing the attack button again at the time of an attack’s impact helps chain moves together. (Image credit: Future)The bandits come swinging at Aeta with a variety of weapons, and you respond by showing them the error of their ways by slicing and dicing with your longsword. The movements of Aeta and her enemies have been motion captured by Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) experts meaning that, just like Aeta’s terrible hairdo, the combat is