To finish the month of May, I made a decision to play Ravenlok, the most recent recreation from indie developer Cococucumber, and the conclusion to its Voxel-style trilogy of separate video games. Coming off the ominous vibes of Alan Wake Remastered, I used to be craving a shorter, inventive indie recreation to cleanse my palate and put together me for the sport that can dominate a lot of my June.
Yes, Diablo 4 is lastly right here, and I am unable to wait to lose numerous hours to the darkish and twisted world of Sanctuary. Before then, although, I squeezed in a five-hour bout with Ravenlok, one other stunning and inventive indie recreation that is obtainable now on Xbox, Windows PC, and Xbox and PC Game Pass.
Unbelievable visuals and artwork design
Ravenlok is the third recreation from Cococucumber, following Echo Generation, and the third to make use of the “Voxel” model of artwork design, creating this blocky really feel all through. It’s an evolution of the model for Cococucumber and is an enchancment in most methods… and a subjective step again in others. Overall, although, Ravenlok is among the many most engaging video games I’ve performed in current recollections, so long as you are not obsessive about the pursuit of photorealistic graphics.
Cocucumber has constructed a plausible, detailed fairytale world. Every scene is delivered to life with meticulously crafted environments, from a crowded and shadowy forest dominated by mysterious fungi to an overgrown labyrinth studded with dilapidated ruins worshipping long-forgotten spirits. The character design can also be unbelievable in Ravenlok, with every enemy and boss possessing distinctive attraction whereas completely becoming into the overarching universe. Bosses, specifically, by no means ceased to amaze me, with a multi-headed hydra sprouting from a teacup, an alluring butterfly queen that transforms right into a terrifying demonic caterpillar, and way more difficult the younger heroine you management.
I used to be continuously floored by the visuals in Ravenlok, with unbelievable character design and environments.
I used to be continuously floored by the visuals in Ravenlok and frequently stopped to admire my environment. Whether I used to be trapped in a lavish mansion or scaling a clock-tower-turned-museum, Ravenlok’s artwork design ensured I felt part of this fantasy world. That being mentioned, I do really feel there’s one weak spot specifically in Ravenlok’s mantle of graphical goodness — the principle character. A younger woman whom you identify your self (however is often known as Ravenlok a lot of the recreation) simply feels a bit of… misplaced. It’s not that she is a daily human surrounded by fairytale creatures, however that her precise character design and the way in which she’s rendered do not fairly match the remainder of Ravenlok’s forged.
Outside of that, although, Cococucumber did a superb job making certain the world of Ravenlok helps its narrative, one wherein a younger hero turns into trapped in a fairytale world cursed by its tyrant queen. Someone who has all the time dreamed of adventuring, the woman, dubbed ‘Ravenlok’ by this world’s legends, embarks on a noble quest to help the individuals of this unique world and put an finish to the evil queen. It’s a easy narrative delivered by easy writing, however one I loved, nonetheless.
You can see some extra photos of Ravenlok beneath!
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Simple gameplay and a brief runtime
Ravenlok is positioned as an action-adventure recreation with mild puzzles and even lighter RPG components. You’re outfitted with a sword and protect, you steadily unlock as much as 4 talents, and you’ll stage as much as enhance your stats and change into simpler in fight. The gameplay is easy — Talk to NPCs to simply accept quests, discover the world to seek out helpful objects, battle enemies as they arrive, and determine learn how to progress to new areas of the sport.
It seems like a really toned-down model of a traditional Zelda recreation, full with easy fight. You have a easy assault you may spam, a touch to dodge incoming assaults, a protect to dam and soak up incoming assaults, and 4 talents with distinctive results and cooldown occasions. There’s not a ton of nuance to this fight, however it’s purposeful.
For one, the fundamental assault is very fundamental, and you actually can simply mash it. Other related video games divide the fundamental assault into three or four-hit combos, with every successive hit within the combo probably doing a distinct quantity of harm or having a distinct animation or impact. None of that’s current right here. The sprint can also be lacking one thing in its animation, which feels stiff. Finally, I discovered the block mechanic to be roughly ineffective, with the sprint filling that position with out the compromise of stamina consumption or the danger of harm or gorgeous from highly effective assaults.
Ravenlok’s gameplay is easy, but it surely’s approachable and nonetheless manages to be enjoyable.
The digital camera in Ravenlok additionally is not free, with restricted vary to place it. This is ok for a lot of the recreation however may be annoying in boss fights that are likely to occur in massive areas. If the boss manages to get behind you, then you definitely’re combating nearly blind till you may reposition your self in entrance of it. All that is to say that Ravenlok’s gameplay is not the strongest, however I nonetheless had numerous enjoyable taking part in the sport.
It’s clear that Cococucumber targeted on making certain Ravenlok is approachable to gamers of all ages and that the problem of the gameplay was balanced to the size of the marketing campaign. To that impact, the studio did succeed. While enhancements to the fight and digital camera motion would’ve been welcomed, Ravenlok is an gratifying action-adventure recreation that nearly anybody can instantly decide up and play.
A lovely indie recreation, now on Xbox Game Pass
I’ve already performed fairly a couple of wonderful indie video games this 12 months, and I’ve a lot extra on the checklist nonetheless to come back. Ravenlok is ok firm for video games like Planet of Lana and Strayed Lights, which each paired their very own distinctive (beautiful) visuals with simplistic gameplay. Ravenlok is straightforward to grasp and play, hardly ever discussing highly effective, emotionally heavy matters and themes, however typically that is precisely what you need from a online game.
Ravenlok’s world is breathtaking like Cococucumber really has entry to a secret fairytale world akin to Alice in Wonderland, and the sport is enjoyable sufficient to play that I barely put it down till I used to be completed. There’s sufficient great things right here that I nearly want the sport was longer, so we may’ve seen extra of this world, and the builders may’ve invested a bit of extra time in fleshing out the gameplay. Still, I’m very proud of what we received.
If you desire a pretty indie recreation to occupy a couple of hours of your time, it’s best to add Ravenlok to your checklist. Is it one of many finest Xbox video games of all time? Maybe not, however I by no means wished it to be. It’s a terrific addition to Xbox Game Pass, and I’m glad I discovered the time to play it earlier than Diablo 4. Especially since I’m not sure there even is an ‘after Diablo 4.’
Ravenlok is now obtainable on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. It’s additionally an Xbox Play Anywhere title, so you should purchase it as soon as and play it throughout each Xbox and PC.
