GRAVEN Review

I like to consider myself something of a fantasy aficionado, especially when it comes to gaming. I’ve explored the caves of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and climbed my way through the Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, hell I’ve even finished GreedFall As such when it came time to review Slipgate Ironworks' latest game, GRAVEN, I just had to leap at the chance to see if this tale of a convicted priest was worth a look, or if it had some things to reveal in the confessional. 

There is one important thing to note: this game was published by 3D Realms. Now, if that name sounds familiar, you’ll know why I feel I have to mention it. If you don’t, then let me inform you: 3D Realms was one of the bigger developers of the last Duke Nukem game. They weren’t the sole reason for that game failure, but they certainly had a hand in it, and that might influence some people's choice of purchasing GRAVEN. However, in this review, I will ignore the publishers' chequered past and instead look at the game on its own merits. So, with that all said, let us begin.

GRAVEN is a fantasy-based action-puzzle game where players control a disgraced priest of the Orthogonal order. You have been exiled for the crime of killing another and left to drift on a small boat as it comes into possibly the most depressing village in history. There are plagues, mysteries, and a threat to the world's very reality. The plot builds itself at a good pace, and it hits the right peaks when it needs to. However, it becomes quite easy to feel distanced from the narrative. Honestly, it sometimes feels like the plot is happening in the background and doesn’t have a lot of impact on the player.

This might not be an accident, however, as GRAVEN has been designed to be a marriage of modern development tools with the 90s style of gameplay and visual aesthetic. If you’ve ever played a 90s classic, you’ll know the plot is really more for giving the player a reason to be where they are and little more. The developers and writers have tried to add a bit of depth, and it is appreciated, if not successful. 

Gameplay is more of a mixed bag, and I wasn’t kidding when I said it was a puzzle game. The levels and the quests usually charge you to collect certain items or keys and use them to progress. For instance, at the start of the game, you’ll need to find the means to light a lighthouse to draw the zombies away from the path you need to take. The puzzles are frankly a bit of hit-and-miss and are often more down to what spells and weapons you have over actually thinking things through. However, there were a few interesting ones, and the more complex ones often hid interesting items.

 GRAVEN’s combat is reminiscent of old 90’s games with health and ammo pickups scattered around, but it really takes a while to get going. The basis of the combat is very Elder Scrolls, you click to swing the weapon or shoot the crossbow. There are a mix of weapons and the fights do get more interesting as you unlock more gear. However, the close combat weapons are much less exciting than the ranged weapons. The issue is that you take a lot of damage without armour and will die quickly; the respawn mechanic is relatively fair, but it does take gold. Once I got the bow and a sword that could block when needed, I found the combat much more interesting. 

There are spells in the game, but they are more for the puzzles than the combat. Saying that, they can have a purpose, and they have their uses, but the limited mana pool means you won’t use them as much as the actual weapons. 

The enemies themselves are something of a puzzle as well. They have weak points that require the right weapon to defeat them faster, this includes using the right magic as well if it calls for it. Outside of the puzzle to beat them faster, there is a fair amount of variety in terms of who you fight. Not all the enemies are fun, and frankly, the combat does get dull and tedious against hordes of enemies, hence why the ranged options are better. It should also be noted that this GRAVEN has some of the most annoying flying enemies who shoot poison that I have ever come across. I hate them with a passion, and if you run out of crossbow ammo, there is nothing you can do about it. 

Also, I want to complain about something that may not bother other people. This game is sparse in terms of direction. There’s a map that fills out while you explore, but it has no markers, and there is very little information in the journal about where things are. It also doesn’t help that you can’t talk to quest-givers to get the information repeated a second time, so it can be aggravating if you get lost. If you like this design, then more power to you, but I hate it when there’s no option to add quest markers when I need them. 

Visually, GRAVEN looks like the games it means to ape. It’s got a kind of retro design that brings to mind Morrowind and Daikatana (but much better than that game) this includes the character models. However, the lack of voice acting does take something away from the experience. Thankfully, the animation is fluid, and the world design is suitably creepy and grim.

Honestly, GRAVEN is an interesting game, even with it being an Early Access title. I won’t get into the issues I have with Early Access, but if it is a dealbreaker for you, then I get it. However, if you are feeling that itch for an adventure and some skeleton killing, then this might be the perfect game, but there are some caveats to be aware of.