Review: The Raven Remastered

 Goutham Jayaraman

Ravencrow Game Review #19

 

The Raven Remastered

https://store.steampowered.com/app/736810/The_Raven_Remastered/

Genre	Point and Click
Platform	PC
Developer	KING Art
Publisher	THQ Nordic
Playtime	13 hours
Date Completed	6/4/2021
Date Reviewed	27/5/2021
Overall Grade	S+

 

The Raven Remastered is a Point and Click game featuring the tale of a master thief who calls himself the Raven as he tries to get away with the biggest heist of his life whilst trying to fend off the man who dedicated his life to catching him: Inspector Legrand.

As a fan of detective games, daring heists and of course ravens, I was admittedly enamored with the setting of the game, and the Raven Remastered certainly did not disappoint.

The game’s story was surprisingly good, containing multiple plot twists along the way and kept me guessing till the very end, though it was sad that I wasn’t able to figure out who the culprits actually were until the game revealed them to me. Then again, that does make the story stronger.

As far as gameplay goes, it was pretty much the standard Point and Click mechanics with none of the fluff, but it was nice to play as multiple characters throughout the game and see the story unfold from multiple perspectives. The originality and charming nature of its story is what makes this game stand out from other point and click games.

You also do have to appreciate the fact that the Remastered version was given free to everyone who owned the original version of the game, though at $27, the game is still a tad expensive for its playtime.

                                                                                                                                    

What I liked

-          I did really enjoy the story in this game. Not only was the choice of setting very charming and exciting, the story also had many plot twists and strong moments that made it highly memorable and engaging.

-          I think the characters appealed to me as well. They each had solid personalities and I could easily relate to them

-          I liked the environments in the game, though there were only a few of them. It had a train, a ship and a museum, all classic venues for point-and-click action

-          I enjoyed playing as different characters and like the way the game implemented this. Normally you expect to be able to switch freely between them, but in this case the character swaps were part of the story, and as mentioned earlier allowed you to view the events from another perspective.

What I disliked

-          Nothing in particular, but from a gameplay perspective, having to spend points on not just a hint but even revealing all hotspots in the scene is not particularly a pleasant feeling. Of course, the score doesn’t mean anything, but still just subconsciously nourishes a competitive urge in a single player game.

Gameplay 19/20	+ Standard point and click game mechanics + Decent interactivity + Fairly casual feel with some decently challenging puzzles but nothing crazy + Playing as different characters as a part of the story was a refreshing change of pace and explored the story more deeply instead of stretching it out. - Felt some needless tension from having a score displayed and tying hints and hotspots to said score.
Game Design 16/20	+ Simple but logical puzzle design that did not give too much problems + Decent amount of feedback given when trying to solve puzzles the wrong way = Very linear, which may create opportunities for people to get stuck. However, it does increase immersion with the story. - Inclusion of score mechanic - Needing to use points to ask for a hint or even to reveal hotspots, something that is generally expected to avoid needless frustration. On the other hand, it can encourage you to actually think and solve the problems yourself (Assuming you don’t resort to a walkthrough)
Graphics 16/20	+ Good, realistic and commonly appreciated environments + Good character models, animations and cutscenes - Characters can feel stiff at times (not as expressive as the vocals) - Not as many areas as you would expect in such a game
Audio 18/20	+ I think the music was pretty much unassuming most of the time, since I don’t remember much of it + Expressive voice acting
Story 22/20	+ Exceptional storytelling that has you live the story from multiple perspectives + Good mystery value, it is not easy to figure it out + Crazy ending was satisfying, whilst also potentially leaves room for a sequel + Plenty of action, drama and plot twists + Exploring the story from different perspectives made it much deeper and easier to appreciate + You will enjoy playing through the story and feel motivated to finish it
Lore 21/20	+ Good character design. The characters have appreciable personalities and come across as relatable. + Pretty deep connections and interactions between the characters + Locations are interwoven with the story quite well
Value 15/20	+ Good playtime + Technically you get two games with the price + Can be considered as a unique experience - Not much replay value - Fairly expensive compared to playtime
Overall Grade 19/20	S+
Score	91

 

The Raven Remastered’s solid story and character design coupled with its relatively low difficulty (which can be a bad thing to many though), do make it a recommended game in my books, though it does seem to have a higher price tag than similar games in the genre, which means it should be snapped up ideally in a sale.

I would say the biggest flaw with the game would be its linearity that make some adventure games like Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle stand out so well, but again, that would depend on whether you are looking for a challenging experience or a more laid back movie-esque experience that allows for higher story immersion.

If you’re looking for a thriller of a story with a great cast of characters, then you’ll certainly like this game.