5 Great Video Games Set in Italy

The world of video games, especially in recent years, has tried to broaden its horizons more and more and to set video games even in settings other than those of the United States and Japan. After talking about some video games set in the UK, in this article, therefore, we have decided to tell you about some video games set in Italy that we believe are, some for one reason, some for another, unmissable and that every player should try.

Assassin's Creed 2

We cannot fail to open this list by talking about Assassin's Creed 2. The second chapter of the famous Ubisoft saga that sees assassins and templars collide, had as its main protagonist Ezio Auditore, one of the most loved characters by fans, and was set in Italy, for the exactness mostly between Florence and Venice. The game is set in the middle of the Italian Renaissance and tells us about the deeds of Ezio Auditore, a talented but rebellious young man, often in conflict with a Vieri de' Pazzi, son of another noble family of the time. One day, his father, one of Lorenzo de ‘Medici's advisers, entrusted him with the task of delivering letters to the latter, and from that moment on, the entire story of Assassin's Creed 2 takes off, between the present and past.

In fact, after the arrest of his father and his two brothers, Ezio becomes a murderer and over the next ten years, he hunts down the Templars to try to do justice. During these years he will travel a lot and will meet various influential personalities of the time, such as Leonardo da Vinci, with whom he will form a sort of friendship that will help him in his enterprise of defeating the Templars. After several events and after finding the piece of Eden, Ezio officially joins the assassins and clashes with Rodrigo, who became Pope Alexander VI, to recover another piece of Eden. Ezio manages to defeat him but decides to spare him, thus continuing to open the crypt thanks to the apple and the stick. Here a hologram of Minerva appears explaining how the First Civilization was destroyed and that humans are their creation.

Martha is Dead

Martha is Dead is a psychological thriller set in 1944, in the Tuscan countryside, during the Second World War. We play Giulia, a twenty-one year old girl who one morning, to go and retrieve her cameras positioned the day before on the lake shore, makes a chilling discovery: she finds the body of a young girl floating on the lake. Despite her efforts, however, she fails to save her and quickly realizes that, in reality, that was the body of her twin sister Martha. She, in the throes of exhaustion and shock she faints, and she will be found by her parents.

From here, then, the whole story of Martha is Dead between historical events, folklore, and fantasy. Giulia, in the role of Martha, will try to find clues and discover the truth about the death of her sister. Although the press immediately speaks of a war revenge murder, Giulia does not believe in this hypothesis and therefore begins to investigate herself. Who could have ever committed such a cruel act? As we go deeper into the plot, we will understand more and more clues about the matter that will help us, little by little, to shed light on this terrible event, until we discover the truth.

Remothered: Tormented Fathers

We play Rosemary Reed, a psychiatrist from the Santa Margherita institute, who visited Richard Felton's home in Remothered: Tormented Fathers, a video game set in a fictional Italian hamlet and inspired by Jodie Foster from The Silence of the Lambs. She claims that because it is impossible to diagnose and cure her specific condition, she wants to reexamine the case of the old guy who was dismissed from the clinic. When Rosemary finally has a chance to speak with the man, though, she starts by getting personal and asking him about her daughter Celeste, who has ostensibly ran away from home.

Formerly amiable and friendly, the man loses control and irritably dismisses us with the help of his nurse Gloria, who has since learned that our protagonist is not actually a doctor. We manage to smuggle back into the house, nevertheless, with the intention of questioning Dr. Felton's wife and learning more about Celeste's disappearance because Rosemary's motivations are obviously very crucial. Given the horrors the woman will encounter within the mansion, this decision will turn out to be not very intelligent. Our protagonist will experience a true hell on earth, and she will have to make an effort to survive, thanks to religious cults, strange diseases, parasites, hypnosis sessions, and people with mental instability issues.

The Town of Light

The Town of Light puts us in the role of Reneè, an unfortunate 16-year-old girl, snatched from her childhood to be locked up in the asylum of Volterra in Tuscany. Thus, our trip starts at the asylum's gate, where a larger Reneè struggles to piece together all the memories of that nightmare. As we travel with the girl, we will progressively learn about all the horrors she had to endure—horrors that affected not just her but also all the other patients. So let's go from easy relaxing treatments to continual sexual abuse, forced psychological torture of patients, electroshock discharges, seclusion, attempted suicides, fatalities, and the most horrible thing you can think. Only a small group of frustrated doctors stood by the patients while their lives were entirely tossed into the garbage.

The psychiatric institution is real; the places we will visit are real, and strolling through the abandoned halls of the asylum is extremely upsetting. The story in The Town of Light is true, but probably not the character of Reneè. The player gains a thorough understanding of both the state of modern medicine at the time and the significant advancements that have been made recently after discovering old surgical texts on the tables. The sorrowful tale of Reneè, an innocent girl who is imprisoned in hell with the help of her mother, is thus continued in the gaps between the numerous flashbacks.

The Forgotten City

The Forgotten City began off as a mod for Skyrim, but after seeing tremendous popularity, its creators decided to turn it into a standalone title. The present-day city of Rome serves as the setting for the game. Our alter-ego, who is interested in archaeology, is exploring some ruins on the banks of the Tiber when all of a sudden, the mosaic beneath his feet reveals itself to be a trap door with magical overtones. The floor cracks open, the fall is long, and time stands still just like the main character's falling breath.

He is discovered on the banks of a river, and a mysterious woman comes next to him. She quickly exchanges pleasantries with him before asking him if he can find out what happened to his friend and helper who had snuck into what appeared to be an ancient tomb. Since there isn't much of a choice, the journey starts when you agree. The encounter with the true protagonist of this game brings this alienating experience to a head: the forgotten city is finally in front of us, a spotless prison with no way out, regulated by a single draconian divine law that is about to be broken, but by whom and for what reason?