Saraab: Beyond the Veil Review – True Meaning Of Finding Yourself

The road to self-discovery is often painful and uncomfortable. It involves facing truths and sometimes performing actions well outside your comfort zone. Saraab: Beyond the Veil is a visual novel that teaches some good lessons about discovering yourself in the midst of a supernatural adventure. Developed and published by Rooted Elevation, you learn the importance of reflection and being true to yourself. Just because a decision makes you uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s the wrong answer.

You are Elham, a young woman who feels bitter about her family treasuring her younger brother Adam. Everything changes when Adam is mysteriously abducted during the daytime and the family struggles to cope. Complicating matters is the supernatural presence that may be involved with Adam’s disappearance. Two spirits, Ayla and Shadow, appear to assist Elham in finding Adam. But will Elham find Adam or more importantly, want to find him?

Saraab is filled with powerful emotional moments that simply must be experienced as words don’t do it justice. There were many times I could empathize with Elham’s complicated emotions because I had been there myself. The story’s ability to draw you in and empathize with her is the game’s strongest aspect. Complicated feelings are difficult to express and that duality is something that is masterfully done.

Ayla and Shadow guide Elham in finding Adam, but also help her discover who she truly is. Based on their color schemes, Ayla looks like an angel while Shadow appears like a devil. However, assuming that Ayla is purely good and Shadow is purely evil is incorrect. Ayla helps Elham grapple with her feelings and discover herself, but she also advocates keeping the peace. Shadow wants Elham to let her negative emotions out, but she’s not wrong about Elham’s true feelings.

The story takes different paths depending on which spirit you listen to and what I liked was that there is no wrong answers. While there are certainly benefits to Ayla’s words, is Elham just repressing how she feels? Shadow may be encouraging Elham’s darker side, but it’s also hard to deny that she has good points. Grappling with the real possibility that both spirits are correct is a struggle, and this immersed me into the story because I wanted to see what happens on both paths.

While the supernatural adventure never leaves the narrative, Elham’s inner reflections were far more intriguing to me. She’s a young girl trying to find her place in the world and is understandably affected by her past. Her search for Adam and the answers she finds along the way made it difficult for me to stop reading. Your choices matter and seeing the actual consequences keeps you glued to the story.

Elham’s struggles are engaging enough that the Arabian folklore doesn’t get much of a chance to shine. While it has a strong presence with beings like djinns in the story, I felt that it only existed to justify the supernatural aspects. That’s fine, as Elham’s journey ends up being the bigger draw regardless of the path she takes.

Saraab: Beyond the Veil succeeds in telling a story exploring the duality of your feelings. The emotional moments hit hard and there are no wrong answers, just different paths. Elham’s feelings are relatable and you can’t help but want to see how she deals with her struggles. Unfortunately, Arabian folklore doesn’t get as much of a chance to shine. But this is not a story you can afford to miss if you truly want to be honest about self-development.

Victor reviewed Saraab: Beyond the Veil on PC with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.