The makers of Curse of the Dead Gods are back with another roguelite called Ravenswatch, and this time you’re not alone – there’s four-player co-op support.
Ravenswatch is a top-down roguelike that combines intense time-based combat with overt gameplay of randomly generated worlds. And after the success of Curse of the Dead Gods, Passtech is back with a new game formula and experience that can be played solo or with players in co-op.
The game takes players to the Dream Realm, under siege by a dark force called Nightmare. And legends from all over folklore come together to save the earth. Although this game is similar to the roguelike Curse of the Dead Gods, the big difference with Ravenswatch is that four players can come together and experience an online adventure. In generating the map, each playthrough will be different from the marker, allowing for all possible manifestations of abilities and traits.
The game’s formula is simple – you appear in the dungeon and start to find and kill all the monsters. The gameplay is divided into five days. The main goal of your multi-day walk is to accumulate enough strength and experience to be in large numbers with the final boss of the events taking place among you and other people—groups to overcome them and move on to the next difficulty or superiority.
Passtech Games uses the same graphic style as Curse of the Dead Gods, but it has been refined to make it feel like the characters are jumping off the comic book page and into the next dimensions. The attention to detail is remarkable, and Ravenswatch lets the art style shine mostly through its manifestations and threats.
What surprised me was the number of heroes and their unique gameplay from which everyone can choose the right one. Also, you can choose from a set of abilities with the addition of new items and buffs, you can also unlock special ultimate attacks that can deal a lot of damage, and each playthrough will be different. Each character has a superpower, such as summoning their pet dragon, a spell with great power, or a magical water ball hitting a large area.
Here are some of them:
- Scarlet: Better known as Little Red Riding Hood, Scarlet was bitten by the Big Bad Wolf and contracted lycanthropy. At night, she will transform into a werewolf and switch to a completely different set of abilities—a mix of killer and tank.
- Pied Piper: Franz, Pied Piper of Hameln. A ranged character assisted by his loyal rat friends. He can play the debilitating notes of his instrument from afar, or command his furry friends to pounce on enemies.
- Beowulf: The Slayer of Grendel is a powerful warrior who carries his massive sword into battle. While he can deal with most enemies on his own, he can also be assisted by a dragon that fights by his side.
- Snow Queen: Can strike enemies from afar with her ice abilities. Her mastery of the elements also allows her to turn the ground to ice and float at faster than normal speeds. Her task is to freeze as many enemies as possible and then break the ice.
Two other characters can be unlocked as you progress through the game, and there are spaces for many more:
- Aladdin: A fast and agile thief, Aladdin can hold his own and use his scimitar. And the main advantage is the power of the genie, capable of fulfilling his desire and turning the tide of battle.
- Melusina: A legendary siren from French folklore. She uses ranged water attacks, some of which can be manually directed at different targets.
As I said, the game has a system to make every session unique and will put players on a procedurally generated map with their layout, bosses, and secrets. There are also small rescue quests, zones overflowing with monsters to get an artifact that leads. A lot of activities are scattered throughout the level. There are raven-like statues that, when activated, act as Assassin’s Creed viewpoints and allow the character to see nearby points of interest on the minimap. Before the final episode, we can go down different paths, we can go to upgrade health upgrades. There are even places to mine currency, allowing the player to get nice upgrades from the merchant standing at the spawn point or for upgrades in special activities. Currency not used during the “run” is used as character experience.
Death at the beginning of the game will not be the problem itself, it all depends on the player’s caution, but here even death is not a problem because the player has extra lives. As characters level up, increase their maximum stats, and unlock various perks, secondary enemies become easier to take down. And what nice bosses and simple enemies are strong, though simple, after understanding the mechanics.
Of all the characters, I liked the Pied Piper and Melweese the mermaid the most. One of them is a shooter with controlled rats. The second is a very technical character since her attacks lock her in place when you use the siren song to attack enemies, and after already controlling the merman, she deals with enemies in a stream. And I really admire many of the smart design and gameplay choices in the current version of the game, and each plays so differently, which is a huge plus.
Ravenswatch, despite its graphical beauty and interesting mechanics, unfortunately, has little to offer at this stage. The game systems, particularly some of the enemy lineups, are highly unbalanced.
This is just the beginning of the development of Passtech Games and Ravenswatch. The team hopes to eventually launch with ten playable characters and prepare the rest of the game’s chapters with various challenges, bosses, and plot twists. This new concept should remain in the public eye for the next year. Expect Ravenswatch to hit Steam Early Access. At the moment, the game works great. It’s fun to explore, it also looks great, and there’s nothing to complain about while playing.
The potential is really big, I’m excited about what else will be done by this studio and this game, so it’s worth keeping an eye on it while it moves. However, I would advise you to wait and see, especially since Diablo IV is coming. But if you’re a roguelike fan and like Hades or Curse of the Dead Gods, Ravenswatch could be a real gem for you.
This review was completed thanks to a Steam code provided by PR.
