Author: SirDekeTheDuck Date: 05-12-2023
| Introduction |
Ravenswatch has joined my list of Roguelikes that I use to explain why the genre (and its sister-genre, Rogue-lites) are one of my favorite gaming experiences out there for multiple reasons. Their replayability is unmatched, they often represent deeper themes than what is seen at the surface (I’m looking at your Binding of Isaac), and they typically cater towards a large set of skill levels, making it a welcoming genre to those seeking a casual experience, as well as the hyper-fast, energy-drink consuming, speedrunning enthusiast. On top of all of this, there is never a stale day in the Rougelike and Rogue-lite development world. It often feels like they are the most abundant and sought-after genre from an indie development perspective, matched only with another of our favorites, Farming-Sims. This promotes excellent “competition”, leading to the ever-growing quality of the genre. This has helped spawn some exciting games in the recent past like Hades, Cult of the Lamb, and now, Ravenswatch, which is a co-op, Rogulike adventure that lets you step into the shoes of original Grimm Fairy Tale characters (or Fallen Heroes) to fight off evil.
Game Trailer
*Source: IGN
If you have ever seen the TV show Grimm, then I want to first state that you have excellent taste in television, secondly, you are aware of the complete misrepresentation that Fairytale heroes have to deal with from Disney, the Big Bad Wolf. The show (Grimm) follows a crime-buddy detective plot that portrays the raw and grotesque nature of Fairy Tale characters by referencing stories and folklore from the 1800s publication of Grimm’s Tales for the Young and Old. The original stories were dark, morbid, and would make most people shield their kid’s eyes. For example, you know Cinderella’s Step Sisters? Originally, they had their eyes plucked out by doves. Rapunzel? Sorry, no cute Pascal the Chameleon, and Flynn Rider (or Eugene) is left blinded by the evil stepmother after he and Rapunzel are expecting a child. What about Hansel and Gretel? Actually… their story is pretty much the same now as it was in the 1800s… The show does its own adaptations of these stories to keep people surprised at twists, but it is a great representation of what the origin stories were going for. It’s honestly a great show that has excellent roots, exciting moments, and an overall great take on the gritty, morbid, and true essence of the loveable and cute Fairy Tales that we normally see.
So, what does this have to do with Ravenswatch you ask? Well, very little… BUT… it might set some backstory before you begin questioning why you can slice through hordes of demon spawn and danger noodles from the void as Little Red Riding Hood (Scarlet) or her teen-wolf self, The Big Bad Wolf, as you attempt to prevent the Master Nightmare from taking over the world. Again, Ravenswatch’s story is more in line with the original Grimm Fairy Tales, but I’m still holding out for Disney to take a stab at a Suicide Squad counterpart, teaming up Cinderella, Snow White, and many others to fight off some evil dark villain. Let’s make it happen! For now, though, we'll happily settle with Ravenswatch, as it’s a great game that has excellent roots and the potential to grow into something special. With that out of the way… Let’s dive in.
| Character Diversity |
The key components of Ravenswatch revolve around the current cast of 6 Fairy Tale heroes who each have their unique playstyles and abilities, as well as the online co-op mode that allows up to 4 players to battle through Reverie to stop the spreading Nightmare in its tracks. The playable cast actually feels in line with MOBAs or Diablo-esque dungeon crawlers since each character has pre-set abilities that are enhanced during each run. Here is a quick breakdown of these abilities:
Trait | Your hero’s passive (sometimes active) ability. Normally, it’s what makes that hero and their abilities unique from one another.
Attack | Your hero’s auto attack. Does not have a cooldown, the main source of consistent damage.
Power | Your hero’s main damaging ability. Normally, it has AOE effects associated with it and should typically be used on cooldown.
Special | Your hero’s unique ability. It plays to the strengths of your hero’s other abilities.
Defense | Your hero’s defensive ability. Used in a moment of danger to help reposition your attack.
Ultimate | Your hero’s big damage ability. Has a very long cooldown and does a lot of damage.
While each of the 6 heroes follows the structure above, their abilities are vastly different from each other. Let’s take a look at the current cast of playable heroes:
Aladdin | A dual-wielding Assassin that makes use of enchanting his blades to dart in and dish out quick and powerful swipes at enemies. His TRAIT and ULTIMATE grant him and his team 3 wishes, which offer powerful choices that range from dealing massive AOE damage to Reviving/Healing his entire team, or even generating currency and a Magical Object.
Beowulf | A sword and shield Tank that has a trusty dragon for a pet. He empowers his POWER, SPECIAL, or DEFENSE to deal unique effects. His DEFENSE is quite effective at protecting his team.
Melusine | A Siren who is able to control a wisp in her surrounding area, but doing so renders her immobilized. She has effective support and utility abilities as well as powerful enhancements.
Scarlet | By day, a Cutthroat Assassin, by night, a Tanky Wolf. In both forms, she is capable of dealing massive amounts of damage, but her human form is much more of a glass cannon approach.
The Pied Piper | A ranged musician that has the unique ability to command exploding rats toward the opposition. He is great at leading enemies to their death with the use of his SPECIAL.
The Snow Queen | A high CC Ice Mage that slows her enemies before dishing out a powerful attack with her SPECIAL. Her TRAIT makes her very nimble, allowing her to further outpace any frozen enemies.
Tier List
For a deeper dive into these heroes, check out our Early Access Solo Play Tier List which ranks each hero’s effectiveness in holding their own:
Since Ravenswatch is a game made to be played with 4 people, it allows you to try different combinations of heroes to find which one you and your teammates synergize with best.. On top of this, as you level up during each run, you have the opportunity to choose enhancements that will increase your ability strength in either their power or effect. Some enhancements are raw damage upgrades, while others apply utility effects like shields, armor, or heals. It’s likely you’ll face each run with a different approach based on which upgrades you draw (they are random each run, so if there is a particular upgrade you like, there is no guarantee that you will get it). The last component of all of this is the use of Magical Objects. As you complete quests and objectives around the map, you will be given the choice to add Magical Objects to your inventory, often adding flat bonuses to your damage or survivability. Combine this with the aforementioned enhancements and I’m sure you can see how Ravenswatch creates runs that feel unique every time you boot up the game.
There is one additional detail that we feel is important to your character growing in strength and that is the shopkeeper and his taste for dream shards. You’ll find these dream shards throughout the land in giant glowing yellow rocks. The shopkeeper will then upgrade your ability enhancements, boosting their stats and making you stronger. He also offers a broad set of Magical Objects that boost your character, and targeting specific ability upgrades is very important as sometimes it makes sense to level one to the max if you have the shards for it, other times you’ll want all of your abilities to be evenly leveled. It just depends on the build type you ended up within that particular run.
| Fairytales with Friends |
The feature that pushes Ravenswatch to a higher tier of amazingness is its online co-op mode for up to 4 players. Most Roguelikes/Rogue-lites only offer a single-player experience with a few exceptions, such as Risk of Rain 2. Ravenswatch, at least in my opinion, feels as though it was built to be experienced in a party. I, unfortunately, have not experienced much online play, but I applaud Ravenswatch and their developers, Passtech Games, as they’ve created a welcoming Discord Server that lets you group up with other players if and when you want to join in on the co-op fun. Even though I don’t have as much experience in this element, I can appreciate the depth and detail that sets the tone for adventuring through Reverie with a full party.
My few co-op experiences were some of the most fun I had playing Ravenswatch, even if I was too afraid to hop into a voice chat with my new random teammates. My favorite hero so far is Melusine, as I tend to play the support characters in games. With her, I found myself running alongside a Beowulf that charged head first into the fray, a Pied Piper that was seducing the opposition before sending an army of rats at them with explosive intent, and a Snow Queen who was Olympic skating at top speeds, leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake. Previously, when I mentioned Disney making a Fairy Tale Suicide Squad movie, I was only half joking, but getting to run alongside the darker versions of the beloved and adored heroes, was made all the better when we were saving the world from evil. If you’re on the edge about playing Ravenswatch, I’d suggest chatting with some friends (or making some new ones in their Discord server) to see if anyone will join you on your Fairy Tale adventure. It’s a well-polished co-op experience that will only get better as more content is released.
| Gameplay Mechanics |
Ravenswatch has a few interesting progression elements that further add to the gameplay experience. Your individual heroes have out-of-run levels, which determine the items that you’re able to find during the run. As you win runs with different heroes, you’ll unlock new magical objects for them to find in your future runs. You’re also equipped with the option to change the game’s difficulty, which is referred to as “Nightmare”. The Nightmare difficulties range from 0 to 9, with each increase in level adding a new gameplay component to your run. You’ll find that the bosses are stronger, more “corrupt” (or tougher) enemies appear, etc. To unlock the next difficulty level, you’ll have to complete a run at the previous difficulty level. While the game is definitely fun to play at the easiest difficulty, there’s just that call to try and push your hero to the limit and test your skills in some Nightmare 9 runs.
Perhaps one of the most important gameplay mechanics to understand is the time system, which is a day-and-night system that changes how a few of the heroes operate. Some of these changes include Scarlet transforming into a Wolf at night and The Pied Piper changing his melody from Wiggles yellow to Linkin Park purple. Your goal is to get as strong as possible before you reach the 4th day, as after 24 in-game minutes, you’ll be warped to the final boss of the area, The Master Nightmare. In addition to this, you’re granted “Raven Feathers” that act as respawn tokens, which feel quite generous, especially in Solo Play. In co-op, you share the pool of Raven Feathers, so make sure you aren’t that person… the one dying 3+ times.
| A Roguelike with Quests |
Before You Explore:
Let’s talk about the procedurally generated map that is Reverie, and its key locations that’ll aid you in your rise to power. Before you can truly explore the map and its locations, you’re going to want to find and visit the Raven Statues. What are the Raven Statues? Well, when you begin your runs most of the map will be shrouded in a Fog of War (excuse the league reference), and while there are a few locations given to you at the start, you’ll need to pay tribute to these Raven Statues in order to unveil other key locations on the map. Of course, you could always stumble around in the fog and find your way, but given the strict time limit, the statues will definitely provide a more direct approach to upgrading your hero. Some of the locations you’ll unveil are simple upgrades, like a pool of vitality that heals you to full and raises your max health, while others require bursts of combat, but if successfully completed, will grant you your choice between a few different Magical Objects. These objects vary in their effects but definitely impact your run positively and will make the Master Nightmare Boss feel easier.
Gather Quests:
The House of the Pigs (as I call it) is a very important quest that you’ll want to look to complete in each run. You’ll find one of the 3 little pigs looking to build up their straw, wood, or stone homes in preparation for the enemy assault that’s about to take place. You’re given a time limit to find all the necessary materials in the surrounding area in order to build their home up as strong as possible. Once the timer runs out (or once you’ve provided 20 materials), the waves of enemies will appear and begin attacking the home. I really love this gameplay aspect, because, for the duration of the event, most of the enemies will ignore you in an attempt to snag some bacon. If you successfully defend the home, you’ll be rewarded with a Legendary Magical Object that grants MASSIVE combat benefits. If there’s just one task I make sure to complete in every run, it’s the Pig Quest.
Book Pedestals
One of the other locations that is important to visit are the book arenas. I’m not really sure what these are called “officially”, but what we do know is that activating a book on a pedestal spawns a HUGE wave of enemies. You have a limited time to quickly clear through said enemies and if you do, you’ll have the option of choosing another Magical Object. However, if you take too long, the book will close and you’ll be left with nothing but wasted run time. In my first few runs of Ravenswatch, I thought it was extremely important to rush to these books as quickly as possible to snag a Magical Object, but as I increased in difficulty, these fights became noticeably harder. On Nightmare 8+, it’s crucial to gain some power before attempting these pedestals, otherwise, you’ll likely struggle to clear the enemies before the book’s timer runs out. I’ve learned now that it’s better to come back once you’re confident you can secure the Magical Object with relative ease, rather than attempt to push your limits and waste time.
Mini-Bosses
On your journeys around the land, you will also encounter some “mini-bosses” that should be dealt with once you have obtained some additional power. If you are strong enough, they can be dealt with quite quickly and are a great last-minute opportunity before visiting the Master Nightmare to acquire some extra Magical Objects. They are, however, gated behind a “key” that you will find around the arenas the bosses are located in. Normally I’ll be lucky enough to stumble across the keys relatively quickly, but I have found myself wasting upwards of 5 minutes searching for them, leaving me at more of a disadvantage than anything.
Rift Arenas
There are a few additional locations that offer some benefits, but the last location I want to focus on is the rift arenas that reduce the Master Nightmare's health before the final fight. I will admit that I normally avoid these sections as I feel they are harder than the actual final boss and I would rather use that time looking for other ability enhancements, but they’re worth mentioning here at the very least. If you choose to pursue them, you’ll enter these areas and fight 3 waves of enemies with increasing difficulty. From giant spiders to dangerous void noodles, it’s a tough fight that, if you win, the Master Nightmare will lose 20% of his health. Now, this is a notable amount, but I normally find myself losing 100% of my health in these fights, so, I’ll take my time elsewhere thank you very much.
| State of the Game |
Currently, Ravenswatch is in Early Access, but the development team already has a roadmap that highlights their plans for Ravenswatch throughout the next year. During your runs, there is a max level of 5 due to there only being 1 zone, however, the developer's overall vision is for each run to consist of 3 separate zones, raising the max level to 15.). This is something that we’re really looking forward to as the single zone restricts your hero from getting too overpowered (You know, what we all truly want in Roguelikes). This is a point that can absolutely be forgiven considering the game is in Early Access. I have full confidence that Passtech Games will provide excellent content to match the foundation and framework that they have already laid out. We’ve also seen that they’re planning on adding new characters, ultimate abilities, Magical Objects, and we’re almost positive there are other things we have yet to even see. It will definitely be a title that I continue to revisit over the next year and keep you updated on.
| Conclusion |
Ravenswatch has been one of the better Early Access releases as of late, especially for a co-op game. There’s a ton of potential that I’m sure the game will grow into with time. Ravenswatch is such an interesting take on the Roguelike genre and it delivers. If you have any interest in Roguelikes/Rogue-lites or are just looking for an enjoyable co-op experience to play with friends, you should consider picking up Ravenswatch. There’s already more content in development for us to look forward to, but the game in its current state feels worth its price tag. If you’re still a bit unsure, you can always wait for the next Steam sale.
Feel free to share your own thoughts about Ravenswatch and your experience with the game down below in the comments.
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| Disclaimer |
Please note that we have not been paid or promoted for this review and are not affiliated with Ravenswatch or its Passtech officially in any way. All thoughts are based on our own genuine experience of the Early Access release. All footage is based on the Game in its current state as of 05/12/2023 and is subject to change and is subject to change or be completely omitted in future patches at the developer's discretion.
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