Ravenlok – Review

With the constant release of adventure games, many of these titles end up looking quite similar to one another, and this makes it hard to find one that truly stands out. While many of these games are often okay in terms of gameplay, they tend to be rather basic and there is not that much to lure players in. In comes Ravenlok, a fairytale-like experience that immediately piqued our interest. We were able to try it before release, and we fell in love with the loveable characters of the Kingdom of Dunia. However, that didn’t mean the game didn’t have any flaws.

Story

Ravenlok takes place in the Kingdom of Dunia where a young girl is teleported to after finding an odd-looking mirror in the normal world. She is immediately greeted by a host of colorful creatures that inhabit the kingdom and she is told that she is the legendary ‘Ravenlok’ who will help them defeat the evil queen. The story is quite simple, but it does have a lot of charm.

While we enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland-esque plot, we did find that the second half of the game didn’t get as much love as the first half. We found there was less story value once we reached a certain point, and things seemingly needed to get wrapped up quickly. While we felt the number of small quests at the beginning was a bit overwhelming at first, we did very much enjoy the amount of work that was put into some of these small dialogues. Nonetheless, the story had a lot of charm, and it was fun to see how everything played out.

Graphics

Ravenlok is truly a beautiful game. True, it does still have a few rough edges here and there, but the overall visual design is amazing. We loved exploring the different biomes, which were often a mix between voxel-based assets and more realistic-looking environments. There was more than enough variety in the small Kingdom of Dunia, and we appreciated that every biome had its own set of enemies. As a whole, Ravenlok emitted a lot of fairytale vibes, which also made the game a lot more accessible for all types of gamers. The overall animations were extremely smooth, and we didn’t encounter any frame drops or stutters during more intense battles.

Sound

The game’s sound design was not too bad. We were treated to a very adventurous and cinematic soundtrack, and the SFX also packed a proper punch. Some of the songs were perhaps looped a bit too quickly, but you’ll never spend so much time in one single area that it becomes truly bothersome. We do regret that the game does not have any voice acting, as the fairytale-like setting would have been elevated to the next level with some high-quality voice acting.

Gameplay

Ravenlok is a fairly straightforward adventure game with a few hack-and-slash combat elements thrown in the mix. You’ll explore the Kingdom of Dunia as you go from one region and landmark to another. You’ll gain experience as you defeat more foes, and you’ll find a few collectibles on the way. The game’s mechanics are quite simple to learn and master, and this makes for a very accessible experience. You’ll find yourself going from one boss battle to the next, while also completing quests that are given to you by the colorful cast of critters that reside in the kingdom.

The controls are quite fluid. You’ll be able to dash around easily, and the main battle mechanics are also easy to work with. We were easily able to dispose of grunts, as well as bigger boss enemies. We would have perhaps loved a slightly more complex gear system, as there is only a leveling system in place to increase your base stats. Other than that, you have access to potions and bombs, which add a tiny bit of item management to the mix.

While Ravenlok has all the elements to become an absolutely amazing experience for many gamers, it sadly also has a few issues that detract from the overall experience. For example, we beat the game in a measly four hours, and we only didn’t find all the collectible figurines. In this short time, we actually unlocked 49 out of 50 achievements. Other than that, the combat feels extremely basic, and we often just ended up spamming our basic attack button while just mashing our dodge button in-between button-mashing segments. The dash is unlimited here, and this also become our basic mode of transportation, because running is actually a lot slower. We reckon this is also the reason we shaved off some time of the normal timespan of the game. Of the two consumable types in the game, we only used potions and never actually had to use any bombs. We only used our bombs for an achievement (and one quest), because their damage output is so low. Your basic attack, dash, and your burst skill are basically all you need to beat the game.

Conclusion

Ravenlok was a simple adventure game, but a really fun one. We were disappointed the game was over so quickly, as we wanted to explore the Kingdom of Dunia further. While some of the game’s mechanics were a bit barebones, the fairytale-like charm made up for a lot, and we simply adored many of the world’s inhabitants. We do hope the game does get a lot of extra content or a possible sequel where some of the kinks are ironed out. That being said, if you’re looking for an entertaining and charming adventure title, we suggest checking Ravenlok out.

Ibuki

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Aspiring ninja.