Boreal Tenebrae | PC Review

Boreal: Of the north or northern regions.

Tenebrae: A church service observed during the final part of Holy Week commemorating the sufferings and death of Christ.

Boreal Tenebrae is an adventure game that takes place in a diseased and dying town. The game, produced and developed by Snot Bubbles Productions, is heavily inspired by PS1 and retro-style adventure games. It was initially called Boreal Tales, but they changed the name to Boreal Tenebrae after a trademark dispute was resolved. 

Lynchian Nightmare

The game immediately drops you in a Lynchian nightmare without any explanation. You are Bree, and you live in this town. There is a bright rectangular object in the middle of town, and several (anthropomorphised) town folks are staring at it. It’s like the object in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but instead of pitch black, this one seems to be made of some sort of static. You think the object has something to do with the disappearance of your sister Sarah, who was really into this mysterious stuff. 

When Weird Is Weird

This is the beginning of the quest, which will lead you along mysterious dreamscapes, through Twin Peaks-esque forests, into static TV sets, mills run by frogs; discovering video tapes and disks everywhere, find and use items to proceed, and wander around as a ghost or something else weird. Because this game is not just weird, it is WEIRD. This might be the weirdest game I have played in the last 20 years. 

Unprepared

I was not prepared for this game. It literally dropped me in the town square, gave me a few notes on how everything works, and sent me on my way to figure out the rest myself. I’m a PC gamer, I only bought a console for gaming a few years ago. For me, it was a bit unusual that I could not use my mouse, and only use the keyboard or a controller. But once I got used to that, I slowly got into it. I did not like the fixed camera angles in this game, though. It made moving around more complicated than it needed to be for me. That and the unannounced character switches and bizarre subplots made for a very disorienting, though very unique experience. Because this game is definitely a unique experience.

Exterminator Needed

What wasn’t a positive experience were the many bugs and crashes I had. My PC is more than equipped to play Boreal Tenebrae, so I was a bit surprised at how often the game crashed. There were still plenty of bugs in the game. One caused me to have to start all over again, but it was luckily fixed in a patch. Unfortunately, I Iost my save games with the reinstall (and there are only two slots?), so I had to restart. I got a lot farther this time, but when the game froze for the umpteenth time, I got fed up with it. 

However

I do recommend this game. Boreal Tenebrae takes a huge swing for the fences, and that is to be applauded. I feel this game is a diamond in the rough, a game that can shine when the rough edges are gone and its bugs resolved. I’m sure I will return to the game in a few months to finish it properly. It has something hauntingly beautiful in its retro style and nightmarish visuals, like a returning scary fun dream. I even gifted it to a friend recently. I’m already looking forward to rediscovering and uncovering the mystery of the static. And if I need to know what to do, I can always ask my dad.

To hear me talk more about Boreal Tenebrae, be sure to listen to Episode 301 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 55:31 times stamp.

This review is based on a PC (Steam) copy of Boreal Tales provided by SuperIndie Games for coverage purposes.