Have you ever wondered what would happen if Diablo and a book of classic fairytales got in a fight one night? I can’t say it was on my bingo card, but Lyon-based developers Passtech Games have nonetheless ticked that box. Ravenswatch is a top-down roguelike that has been out on the PC for about a year now, but has finally made the jump to the consoles.
Tales Twisted
You pick from an interesting cast of fable-inspired heroes to banish evil. Each brings a unique twist and individual gameplay elements to the table. Little Red Riding Hood, Sun Wukong the fallen monkey king, the Snow Queen and a host of other familiar characters who are let their darker side out for a bit.
Oddly, for a game being so heavily inspired by classic tales, there isn’t much of a main tale here beyond hack and slash everything. However, you will find lost some diaries as you level up each character, and this does help build a bit of a tale and add some lore.
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Though, for a lot of the game you’ll have no real idea why the world is being attacked by ‘The Nightmare’, who have invaded the world of dreams and are corrupting everything in its wake. Or, why the Ravenswatch are the ones tasked with fighting to restore the fragile balance. Or, how and why this pervasive evil has started to corrupt the Ravenswatch.
Roguelike Remixed
Gameplay is heavily based in roguelike systems. Systems where things get better the more you play. Where the more successful runs you have, the better the kit, and the more moves and characters you can add to your arsenal.
Plus, you can team up with a few mates and attack the whole thing in co-op. Sadly, this option is only online, not offline. However, Ravenswatch does support cross-play, which is nice.
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You start by picking your hero, then you are thrust into a randomly generated world. No two runs will ever be the same. Though, this is a more about the layout of the area than the enemies you’ll battle.
Your foes will run a set course that you’ll spot with each run. In addition, your key quests being the same with only the locations being moved around.
Diablo’s in the Details
Combat is based around the Diablo mode. Attacks are mapped to each button, A does one attack, B does a bit stronger attack. As you play, you’ll unlock new attacks that will give you more skills which have varying rarities.
Ravenswatch features a fairly deep levelling system once you dig into it. You can grow your health and earn more attacks. There is a bit of thinking needed around how you want to set up and tailor your hero for each run.
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Ravenswatch also features a nice life system. While it may, at first, seem a bit random for a roguelike, as long as you have raven’s feathers, you’ll be able to get back into the fight meaning. Death isn’t quite like death in the standard roguelike way.
More than the Sum of its Parts
Visually, Ravenswatch looks like a comic book with its cel-shaded art style that suits tone and feel of the game perfectly. The grim world and its larger-than-life characters are brought to life by the audio. There are some excellent voice performances to be found across the game’s diary entries.
Ravenswatch is a fast-paced roguelike with a rich lore based on fable and folklore. The game delivers the type of high-stakes combat for genre fans live for. But, it can become a little repetitive after your 50th run. It must be said that is more of a roguelike genre issue than something specific to Ravenswatch.
If you are looking for something a bit different, Ravenswatch is worth considering. Ravenswatch takes the roguelike genre and twists it through an unusual lens, and is worth a look or if you’re a Diablo fan looking for a bit of a busman’s holiday.