Venti Mesi

The second World War is still being talked about even today, mainly because so many things happened in those six years. Millions of people were involved, and a lot of them lost their lives in the process. However, each country had a different experience during that time, whether because of their role in the war, or because people were not really aware of what was going on behind the scenes.

Venti Mesi is an interactive story game which aims to present Italy’s struggle between September 1943 and April 1945, when the country was trying to liberate itself from under the Fascist regime. Multiple points of view are presented, because each character reacts in a different way to the events that unfold, and you get to choose one option or the other sometimes.

Given the fact that the story spreads over twenty months, there are twenty stories included as well, each one of which has a different main character. As the developers put it, the stories are based on actual events that transpired around the Milan metropolitan area, so there should be some truth to what is being said in the game. Granted, it’s still up to you to choose how the characters react.

As a matter of fact, the game can be considered a documentary of sorts, although you shouldn’t expect total realism either. The stories may be inspired by real events, but they feel pretty forced in some cases as well, depending on how you choose to handle the situations. On top of it all, the experience is not necessarily very replayable, because the story is not very flexible as a whole.

The graphics are undoubtedly gorgeous, on the other hand, and they make the experience feel a lot more surreal. The style may disorient some players, but the symbolism is quite powerful, and it doesn’t really matter how everything looks if you understand the message. The soundtrack is great as well.

Even if Venti Mesi is not that imposing from a gameplay point of view, the story, the graphics and the music are wonderful, and they blend with each other really well. Hence, if you are in the mood for a history lesson and a one-of-a-kind experience, this is definitely the way to go.