Starting Tenebris Pictura will have you scratching your head early on. Upon entering the painting world, you learn that you can jump into paintings and walk around them. Your spirit and body are separate parts of the game. As you continue, you will face various puzzles and combat sections that rely on you weaponizing your spirit while protecting your body as it sits idly by.
In terms of puzzles, they’re not too bad. Often, there’s pink goo, mist, or other obstacles that your body cannot cross, but your spirit can. As a result, you get to control light beams that destroy walls to get your body through, as well as lights that reveal how your house was once a beautiful place. Despite some outlandish solutions, we had a good time solving them.
During combat, you encounter demon monsters nearly every turn, which only your spirit can attack. In these situations, you must leave your body in a safe location, section off some enemies to give yourself a better chance, and defeat them individually. Also, lowering the enemy’s health won’t eliminate them. Then lead them to a painting where they get trapped. Our experience of the combat was generally awful every time we engaged with it, even with some special abilities unlocked as you progressed through the game.
Tenebris Pictura never establishes itself as a game you must complete. Its world and puzzles may intrigue you, but the combat continues to make us want to walk away.
Pros:
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Puzzles to solve.
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Victorian darkness.
Cons:
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No fun in combat.
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Solutions in abstract.
Five out of ten for this game.