A tale as old as time, Ravenswatch brings Folktale heroes and legendary characters together to stop the nightmare that is rising in the land and restore the balance that was once there. Under the full moon turn into a werewolf as you play as Little Red Riding Hood (Scarlet), Lead your Rat army as the Pied Piper, or redeem yourself as Wukong, the Fallen Monkey King. Will you be able to rescue your fellow heroes and comrades like the Three Little Pigs or Sinbad? Only the Ravenswatch stands between the Nightmare and restoring balance!
I have really enjoyed my time playing Ravenswatch, both solo and with friends. Unlocking the current roster of nine characters and exploring their abilities and unique traits. Every hero plays in their own way and all are fun to level up and explore just how strong you can make them before the Nightmare rises. I’ve particularly enjoyed finding the synergies between the heroes my friends pick and the ones I pick. Nothing feels more satisfying than agroing the whole field of enemies into your teammates, who make them vulnerable, and then slaying everything before you. Although sometimes that’s not the best idea and situations like unintended agro can definitely lead to strategic retreats if you pull too many enemies to handle. There have been many laughs when someone accidentally steps on the sleeping gnoll enemies at night and suddenly a whole pack is chasing you and your friends across the map. Also setting up an audience of friends watching said enemy sleeping on the ground without saying anything as the friend-who-doesn’t-pay-attention is most assuredly going to trample them as they try to catch up to the group after looting a chest or collecting a health fountain puts them a little bit behind. Someone get the popcorn for the show, and not pointing fingers, but it’s always Daxel pulling the entire map. Joking aside I highly recommend having a strategy on tackling your exploration as the Nightmare approaches and time isn’t on your side.
It’s a race against the clock to clear as many areas and enemies as possible in an attempt to grow your skills and trinkets while surviving the onslaught. Even at the lower difficulties, especially just starting (this is a roguelike) the enemies and bosses can be challenging. There are certain enemies we give a WIDE berth to, and when an elite enemy is charging an attack YOU ALWAYS DODGE, because it’s probably curtains for you if you don’t. They do not throw light punches and several times our group has had to rescue a comrade from getting one or two hit from full health. Maybe don’t beeline it straight to the red difficulty areas and first conquer some of the green and yellow areas to upgrade your moves and skills first. Once you get a feel for one of the characters and they start becoming your favorite, I highly encourage investing some time into leveling them up. From my experience every character I have leveled up always feels stronger and stronger, you are unlocking better and better skills as it is, the more you play them and the more comfortable you get with their skills and abilities. What is great about Ravens watch Gameplay is that everyone can find a character they like. I’m rather partial to Carmilla, however, Daxel likes the heavy hitter Beowulf, and another friend really enjoys the Snow Queen or Pied Piper. The options are endless and once you start to find which combinations of skills really catapult you forward (sometimes literally), the game really starts to open up. You find that impossible side quest when you first started is quite manageable. The boss fight that originally made you use all your feathers countless runs is beatable and no sweat at all. That’s when you turn it to the second difficulty level. But seriously, there are four levels of difficulty. Each one expands on the main boss with unique boss encounters after each. There are also custom modifiers, some good (which have negative XP penalties for making it easier) and some bad (which have positive XP bonuses for making it harder). Want to play only at night because you’re a diehard Scarlet player and only want to be a wolf? YOU CAN! Think the game is too easy? MAKE IT HARDER! Like to explore and complete everything on the map before fighting the nightmares? You can! Every single play through is different, whether the map is different because of procedural generation, your hero build is different because of randomized rolls, or you’ve selected a modifier, no run ever feels the same as you explore the dark, corrupted lands.
Speaking of which, the mood and atmosphere of the game are perfect for that doom and gloom, the enemies are winning and you’re the last hope feel to it. There are currently three chapters and each chapter has their specific biome. Chapter One starts off in the ravaged fields of farmland, which progress to the eerie swamplands and then into the Castle Keep when the ultimate nightmare resides. Each map is procedurally generated, with core points incorporated into each, such as the three tiered castle keep. All are being taken over by the nightmare invading the land. Within each level are tons of enemy types, in the farmlands you get monstrous diseased pigmen and ghouls, in the swamp you fight giant crabs and Gnolls, and in the Castle Keep there are wolves and knights, just to name some of my personal favorite enemy designs. All of the character designs, enemy or heroes, are so well done and fit the tone of the game so perfectly. As you walk through the swamp with dead trees everywhere and several of the trees start coming to life, it really pulls you into the experience. Sometimes a giant egg on the ground isn’t a giant bird trying to kill you, but it usually is!
What also brings the tone of the game together is the great soundtrack. You get the fantasy meets folktale meets despair tune as you progress through the levels. Really sets the mood. Of course I have to mention the sound effects of breaking barriers and anything that gets in between you and where you want to walk, as most of the random items scattered around the map are destructible and boy is it always fun to break everything, even if you don’t have too. Those pots never stood a chance, and you better believe I'm squishing all the pumpkins and nightmare eyes I can. The only drawback for audio I have is some of the enemies have some pretty loud audio queues (looking at you witches in the castle), which sometimes can take you out of the immersion. I really only seem to have this complaint on the third chapter map. And I quite like the howl of the wolves on the same map, so maybe I’m a little biased. Another feature of the game I really enjoy is the hero voice line interactions as you run around together. A really nice subtle touch to the game, and there are SO MANY. I also like the character dialog that subtly notifies you of different things within the game, such as low health or the day/night cycle change. Really ties everything together to help unify the immersion.
Ultimately I really enjoy Ravenswatch, and can’t wait to fight the final boss on the hardest difficulty (I’m working on it okay, it’s hard). I’m also really excited to see what new characters they add into the game and the next chapters, where will the adventure take our heroes on the quest to stop the Nightmare? Ravenswatch has done a nice job of having a complete game, yet the ability to expand in the future and continue the story into the next path forward. As someone new to rougelites, it wasn’t the easiest one to start with, but has quickly become a favorite game of mine when I want to forget the grind of competitive games, but still want an engaging challenge with friends.
‘Farewell to All That Is Human’
I like to think that I saw a last glimmer of your human soul as I drove the wooden stake deep into your heart. A thousand moments of joy and happiness passed before me as your light went out. I would soon join you.
Your eternal love, Carmilla
