So I Tried… GRAVEN

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went with the newly released console edition of GRAVEN.

What I thought it was

I assumed I knew what I was in for with GRAVEN. Having seen screenshots earlier this year when it was released on Steam, and with 3D Realms as the publisher, my mind instantly put it in the “Duke Nukem” type of first-person shooter. A relatively linear experience with a shallow narrative and big guns and bigger enemies. I also noticed that it has a throwback visual style that harkens back to late ‘90s FPS titles, many of which were developed by 3D Realms. But, would I be in for a shock with something that was a modernised love letter to the classics? Or does GRAVEN feel like a decade's old game that somehow made its way onto modern consoles?

What it actually is

To say my expectations were low for GRAVEN is somewhat of an understatement. As mentioned earlier, when I first came across this title on Steam, reviews were “Mixed”. Checking the recent reviews now shows that… oh dear, they’ve dropped to “Mostly Negative”. Not off to a great start here, are we? Nevertheless, 30 minutes were all I needed to put into GRAVEN before uninstalling it from my PlayStation 5 and forgetting it exists, so with next to no hope of finding this enjoyable, I jumped right in.

And, you know what? I was pleasantly surprised! For starters, it became quickly apparent that GRAVEN wasn’t a retro-inspired FPS (although it is first-person, and you do shoot off various spells). It actually reminded me more of something like a shooter mixed with Gothic, as there’s some slight RPG elements here, although only time will tell if these become more robust. After wandering around the small town you start off in, I ventured into my first dungeon (named “The Lice Slough”, nice…) and engaged in some combat and puzzle solving. Switching from setting enemies ablaze with a fire spell to melee attacks was simple, sure, but it felt intuitive and enjoyable enough, especially considering I was expecting a basic shooter. Wandering around the fairly open dungeon, I came across a few hidden areas full of treasure and hordes of the undead ripe for burning!

Admittedly, I didn’t finish this area within the 30-minute timeframe (perhaps I should’ve spent less time wandering around the town trying to set NPCs on fire) but it certainly kept my interest much longer than I anticipated.

Will I keep playing

Going into GRAVEN, I was adamant that this would not be a game I’d continue playing. But, despite these feelings (and the very low Steam user score), I found my short time with GRAVEN to be quite fun! The mixture of an old-school title with modern quality-of-life additions — I’m forever grateful for the autosave feature! — were a nice touch that definitely eased the pain when a mob overwhelmed me.

So, the long and short of it is, yes, I will keep playing! With zero expectations going into GRAVEN, I had a great time in the opening section and look forward to seeing what new spells I’ll unlock and what other undead horrors I can unleash them on!