In the world of Saturnalia, Nothing is as it seems. The Italian village of Gravoi may seem strange and unassuming at first glance, but it holds many secrets. Likewise, there is more to the four co-protagonists of Saturnalia than it appears at first glance. Although they are all outsiders for different reasons, they all share a common goal: to eradicate the darkness that haunts Gravoi, even if that means bringing their own demons to light.
The first of these is Anita Giannini, geologist extraordinaire and late 80s businesswoman image. Unlike her fellow protagonists, she had no attachment to Gravoi prior to her arrival a year before the events of the game. In fact, her original purpose in the village was to conduct explorations of the area on behalf of corporate mining interests eager to exploit the surrounding natural resources. A woman of her self-assurance and confidence is not easily deterred, both in professional and personal matters – so perhaps it was inevitable that she would become involved in an illicit affair with none other than Damiano, the married sexton of the town. At the beginning of Saturnaliashe has discovered she is pregnant, and despite the controversy that is sure to arise if her affair is made public, she is determined to keep the baby.
Gravoi’s conservative values are at odds with Anita’s imperturbable nature, but there are other dark forces at work that even she can’t ignore.
Paul Izem, on the other hand, is a child of Gravoi, even though he didn’t know it for most of his life. After his biological parents died under mysterious circumstances while he was still a baby, Paul was soon adopted by a family in Iglesias, a town in southern Sardinia. Only after discovering a letter urging his adoptive parents never to let him return to Gravoi does he defy that same request and embark on a personal mission to uncover the truth about what happened to his mother and father. To arouse the suspicion of a city already suspicious of outsiders, Paul uses his profession as a photojournalist to shield his true motive and claims he is working on an article for a tourist magazine while quietly searching for clues about his past. Little does he know that his camera will be instrumental in documenting the horror lurking in Gravoi…
Quick to put on a brave face, Paul hides his insecurity just as he hides his real motivation to come to the village. But the other protagonists of Saturnalia don’t really share his self-awareness.
Sergio Aulas was born and raised in Gravoi, but left for Manchester when he was 16. At the time, his departure seemed like something to celebrate: a chance to study abroad, paid for by the generosity of Bruno Bissani, the lord and owner of the castle in Gravoi. But in reality, this was not an opportunity, but an exile: discovered in bed with Bisssani by the lord’s own wife, Sergio was sent to England to hide the scandal, at the insistence of his father. Thirty years later, he has become a successful computer programmer and returns to Gravoi to care for his iron, lung-bound father alone. Aloof and analytical, Sergio is inherently antagonized by the traditionalist norms of his hometown, especially as a gay man no longer forced to hide his sexuality. But motivated by his obligation to his ailing father, as well as his lingering curiosity about the fate of his former lover – who has since disappeared – Sergio has no choice but to put himself back into the community and mystery of Gravoi.
But Sergio is also secretly battling a morphine addiction, which he treats by stealing his father’s medicine. If he wants to find the answers he’s looking for, he needs the one thing he’s most dissatisfied with: the help of others.
Claudia Mirai would rather suffer in silence than ask for help. More than anyone in Saturnalia, she despises Gravoi: As a sixteen-year-old punk, she knows she was made for more than just running her father’s bar, and the antiquated culture of her remote hometown suffocates her. But it’s not just youthful rebellion that shapes her worldview. As a child she came across a horrific scene: her aunt, dressed in her wedding dress and hanging from the ancient olive tree in the old nuragic area just outside the village. The sight left Claudia with a painful trauma that she can never be freed from, just like the omerta (the southern Italian code of silence) that followed, when her father and the other townspeople refused to acknowledge death as suicide. Since then, she has vehemently opposed any institution in her community, be it patriarchal values or religious instruction. She is rebellious and only joins those she sees as opposed to the system, but in reality her cynicism is a coping mechanism for her painful memories and her bitter relationship with her father. Her wish is to leave Gravoi and start a new life somewhere far away from everything she has ever known.
In order for that wish to come true, however, she must survive the night of the winter solstice.
Alone, each of these characters can only do so much. Together they stand a chance to unravel the mystery of Gravoi and escape from Saturnalia.
The team here in Santa Ragione is putting the finishing touches to the game and we can’t wait for you to play it. Saturnalia launches for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on October 27, 2022.
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