While I always tend to be critical of titles coming to Switch that are more visual novel than game, and feel conflicted on how they should ultimately be scored, in the case of Mediterranea Inferno I will absolutely give it credit for swinging for the fences in terms of doing its own thing. Now, whether the typical gamer will dig what it brings to the table is a fair question. 

Mediterranea Inferno is a visually stylish and daring mix of high society drama, debauchery, and a heaping dose of angst and trauma for the Millennial generation. It absolutely feels like a very specific flavor, but having 2 daughters from that generation I can’t say any of it to my Gen X eyes feels anything less than authentic. The result is quite a messed up trip, as you follow the reunion of 3 former “it boys” who now, in the wake of the pandemic and having been ripped out of their spotlight, are trying to rekindle their friendship but spend quite a lot of time exploring any number of twisted and disturbing personal avenues along the way.

Aside from the obvious fact that there are many elements that may not make this an ideal match for many gamers, you’ll also want to be sure what it offers in terms of play is sufficient for you. Yes, there are some decision points that will reveal different avenues and ultimately take you to different ends, so you couldn’t claim there is no player agency along the way. That said, the choices you make and the outcomes you’ll land at are better thought of as well-defined and rigid paths that are pre-defined for you to discover at your whim, and not so much the product of you making numerous decisions of consequence to shape unique ends. So you can choose your path, just understand that there’s a very finite number of them to be uncovered through brute force if you’d like to see them all.

All of this ultimately gives the game a somewhat unique value proposition. If you’re either interested in more meaningful play, or a more traditional story, you’ll likely want to keep looking elsewhere. If, however, none of the above has managed to shake your interest, or indeed has only served to increase it, there’s no question that this is one of the more interesting visual novels out there both in terms of its visuals and the stories it has to tell.