Indie horror games. Very few of those manage to become serious hits due to a handful of constraints tied to small developmental budgets and genre clichés. For the most part, those games have either been walking simulators filled with jumpscares, following the path set by Amnesia, or attempt to evoke the look and feel of titles such as old-school Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Rarely, if ever, do they try to feature pixel art visuals or an even more retro aesthetic, due to the fact you simply don’t get scared with pixels that easily. It’s hard to be truly innovative in this niche, but one small development team from Argentina tried to break the mold with their admittedly unique title, Tenebris Somnia.

Retro visuals during normal gameplay.

In Tenebris Somnia, you play as Julia. You are a normal Argentinean woman who suffers from constant nightmares where your ex-boyfriend, an indie moviemaker named Ivan, is being hunted down by horrible monsters in a red foggy environment. In order to clear your conscience, you decide to pay him a visit, just to see if he’s alright. Upon reaching Ivan’s apartment, you get involved in some truly crazy stuff I really don’t want to spoil. The best part about Tenebris Somnia is unveiling the mysteries surrounding Julia, Ivan, their previous relationship, the environment surrounding you, and the mess that resulted in this psychological mindbomb in front of you.

At its core, this is a standard mixture between a survival horror and an adventure game. You have to explore the mysterious apartment block you’re stuck in, collecting keys, solving puzzles, and getting rid of dangerous obstacles. For the most part, Tenebris Somnia‘s puzzles are comprised of figuring out which item to use on a determined spot, and when. At times, you might need to combine two or more items into one; it’s the standard stuff from an older puzzler. Button combinations, locks, or other more elaborate puzzles are present, sure, but they aren’t that frequent, and aren’t that complicated, either. Julia keeps hold of a notebook where she writes down clues whenever the game deems necessary.

Which contrast with the occasional live action cutscene.

The survival horror side of things is also straightforward. Julia is frail, has few resources at her disposal, and all kinds of bizarre monsters are hell bent on ripping her guts off. Some of the weapons at her disposal include a wrench, an iron pipe, and a few guns. Bullets are very scarce, however, so using them isn’t the best idea, unless you’re really stuck in a specific section, with plenty of foes close to you. The game’s combat is actually very clunky; I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but there is a massive amount of delay between your input and Julia actually attacking a foe. Once you start attacking them, you’re committed to the animation as well. Thankfully, you can avoid combat with a bit of patience, but there are some mandatory boss battles.

Nope nope nope nope.

If Tenebris Somnia is straightforward in terms of its gameplay, then why did I call it innovative? That would be due to its presentation. During gameplay, Tenebris Somnia uses a retro, pixelated aesthetic. Think of Clock Tower, or better yet, for the 90s kids, an art style that reminded me a lot of the Scooby-Doo game for Game Boy Color. Just a lot bloodier, and a lot more mature. Even if it looks retro, the developers were able to put in quite a bit of detail on each area.

But that’s not all: perhaps the game’s biggest selling point is the inclusion of live action cutscenes sprinkled throughout its runtime. It might sound weird at first, but think of it as a nod to games from the Sega CD era of gaming, just with much better visual quality, and vastly superior acting. Nothing about the live action cutscenes is silly: they are all well-shot, well-lit, with the occasional creepy monster showing up in full practical makeup. They are all silent, as all dialogue is conveyed through text boxes during normal gameplay. To top things off, as this is a game about indie moviemakers, you are able to collect pieces of a short-length movie, and watch it in whole.

I’ll give them credit; this abomination was created with practical effects and makeup.

Tenebris Somnia manages to stand out in a sea of samey, repetitive indie horror games thanks to its intriguing premise, solid writing, and genuinely unique presentation. While its gameplay isn’t particularly groundbreaking, it’s far from bad, and I loved the contrast between its 8-bit, Amiga-era visuals and its shockingly well-shot, if occasionally off-putting, live-action cutscenes. It’s an intriguing mystery, one that’s best experienced knowing as little as possible beforehand. Don’t go in expecting your next all-time favorite horror game, but don’t dismiss it as just another forgettable indie horror title, either. It’s an easy recommendation for this year’s Halloween season.

Tenebris Somnia is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC, Switch and Switch 2.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB and Asus ROG Ally.

A copy of Tenebris Somnia was provided by the publisher.