Ravenswatch Reviews

This game is fun to play. But the major problem that I have is that it actively discourages COOP play which is the main reason that I purchased it in the first place. The enemy HP multiplyer is insane for each aditional player. Alone I am easily able to win almost every game without much of an issue. But adding one player, even a skilled player makes the game so much harder that if I do not get a perfect build, we almost always lose every single timed event which is really frustrating and ruins the ENTIRE point that I bought this game for. If the developers decide to rebalance this mechanic to make COOP play more fair then I will re-evaluate. But at this point, do not buy this game if you want to play it with friends.

It is fun but repetitive. The roguelite/like elements are not numerous enough to make the experience much different. I have played it for 220+ hours. Each run is always very similar. The rogue nature of the game is mostly build. You get random talents and random items. But the points of interest don't change much at all. They say it is "high replayability", but they don't know what that means. The developers are SLOW moving with additional content that typically targets isolated pockets of players. Developers also do not take feedback or community responses. The game moved to console recently and now all they care about is console gamers, not supporters.

Multiplayer enemy health scaling is absurd, boring, stupid and unfun. Singleplayer game gets a thumbs up, multiplayer is a stupid slog that wastes your time.

While the atmosphere, area design, character design, and skill design are all cool and inspired, do not go into this game looking for anything less than a sweat-fest. The timer in this game is constantly pushing you forward, demanding that you not waste a single second. The game punishes you for any mistake and the mistakes compound on themselves. The game is pressuring you to play as close to perfect as you can. There is not room for a "casual" or "chill" run. And that's just baseline, as it only gets worse on higher difficulties. To top it all off the above has attracted a very elitist community. A very "get-gud" mentality leaves no room for any valid criticism. Now if all that above sounds like your type of game, go ahead, you'll have a great time. But for me it just raises my blood pressure.

This is my first negative review after about 15 years on Steam. Why? Because this game has so much potential to be a fantastic game, but messes this up terribly, because of strange game-design decisions. But let's start with the positive points first: - It's one of the few high quality rogue-like coop games out there. If you wish for a co-op mode in Hades, you might have fun with this one. - Because of the 9 characters (soon 11+) and the different difficulty levels + the medium-sized pool of items and skills, this game offers a high replay value. - The combat system feels nice Now to the negative points (why I'm giving it a negative review): I have never been as frustrated in any Rogue-like/lite game as I was in this game. Even though I played games like Hades 1&2, Curse of the Dead gods etc. on the highest difficulty levels. One of the main reasons for this is the balance. A catastrophic game design decision is that you get less EXP for killing enemies at higher difficulty levels. Since you have a time limit for each of the 3 chapters/zones in this game, you ALWAYS snowball worse at higher difficulty levels than in easy mode (regardless of how well you play). So if you want to play a run where you have a “god-like” build, you HAVE to play the easy mode, which unfortunately is also easy to clear with a bad build. So instead of 1-shotting enemies, you one-shot them with even more damage and clear the maps with 4–5 minutes left. BUT.... if you play this game on the highest difficulty levels, you have to accept that your build will never feel REALLY awesome. On higher difficulties, your character levels way slower than on easy mode, which makes you weaker at the end of each stage. Since you have a time limit for each chapter, you don't even get the chance to clear most places (and get the loot and buffs), so you miss out on even more power-ups. So you're giving up gameplay fun for higher difficulty, which is (surprise!) NO FUN! Instead, the opponents at the highest difficulty level should be particularly tough, but you should also have the potential to become even stronger than at lower difficulty levels if you are skilled (!) enough. Unfortunately, that is not the case here at all. The next thing is that the 4 difficulty levels don't even feel balanced with each other! At the lowest level, you stomp everything regardless of the build and character, and with each subsequent level, the difficulty feels like it increases exponentially. I had too many runs with my colleagues in the higher two difficulty levels that we had to abandon halfway through because we simply didn't get the right talents and items in the first act. Because you also get weakened by the EXP penalty, we even had too many runs where we didn't have the ults ready for the first boss. But when we lowered the difficulty level by one, we stomped through all the maps and bosses. This might be due to our lack of experience in this game, but I had much more fun and balanced progression in other rogue-likes. The core of this game has a lot of potential to become one of the best co-op rogue-like games out there. But those game design decisions turn an 8-9/10 game into a 4/10 for me.

Love the gameplay, love the characters, love the sound design. What is up with that scaling of enemy HP in multiplayer though? Why does everything take so much longer to kill? The same difficulty level with 4 players is way harder than in single player.

[b]TL;DR:[/b] while this game doesn't reinvent the wheel of the Roguelike genre, it doesn't have to: it's still an incredibly fun experience. The fact it has online co-op vastly increase its replay value. In my honest opinion this game would've been better as an action RPG with constant progression, though. [hr][/hr] [i]Ravenswatch[/i] is a isometric Roguelike with very strong [i]Hades[/i]-like vibes, but rather than drawing inspiration from a single mythology, its characters are from multiple sources of folklore, including fairytales. The art direction is very reminiscent of [b]Darkest Dungeon[/b], with a grimdark cartoon style. The "main" character, for instance, is the Little Red Riding Hood but with a twist that she is also the Big Bad Wolf, being a lycanthrope. [h1]Strengths[/h1] ✅ Characters feel very distinct from each other, with different abilities and playstyles. ✅ Satisfying gameplay loop and character unlocking. Yes, UNLOCKING, like in the old days where you'd get stuff by just playing the game. And all content except for the Skin Packs are 100% free. ✅ Easy to grasp but hard to master. When a character's gameplay click everything flows, especially when you get certain talent and item combinations that enable specific builds. ✅ The biggest selling point is the co-op. You can play with up to 4 players online and it's ridiculously fun. ✅ A lot of modifiers that allow players to tailor their experience. However, there is a catch: beneficial modifiers will add a penalty to the score, while hindering modifiers add a bonus to the score. ✅ The art direction, soundtrack and voice acting are all great: very immersive. [h1]Weaknesses & Feedback[/h1] ❌ The biggest turn-off, [u][b]to me personally[/b][/u] is the time-trial / speed-run aspect. I really wish we could freely explore the map and do all the objectives at our own pace, and then engage against the Nightmare Boss when we felt ready. Getting yanked from the middle of the action when you're desperately trying to get that one last objective done is so incredibly disheartening. I frankly think this is bad design because the game basically wants you to ignore random enemies in favor of bee-lining directly to the objectives to save time, especially at higher difficulties. It's so counter-intuitive, avoiding the game's contents so you can have a more successful run. ✅ There is a custom modifier called "Explorer" that removes the countdown, leaving you to freely roam the map; however, doing so does prevents unlocking new difficulties, achievements and skins. ❌ One of the biggest problem is that this game [u][b]does not pause in multiplayer[/b][/u] when selecting talents. This is particularly bad when you're playing with friends who just picked up the game. I can understand the reason, but it adds so much pressure to all players, especially since the clock is always ticking. ❌ Enemy health scaling is a bit too much on co-op. Even with just two players the elites and bosses become huge damage sponges. ❌ The RNG can be very frustrating, where some runs are pretty much ruined before they even start if you're unlucky with the initial objective placement or bad talent options on level 2. 📝 I wish this game had actual support characters. While there are some few healer-oriented builds, they're very RNG dependent. We have tank-like characters such as Beowulf and Sun Wukong, so it would really be nice to see a new character with a dedicated healer-kit baked in their abilities. [hr][/hr] Overall, despite me listing more negative than positive sides, this a fun Roguelike, whether you're playing alone or online. I hope this title continues to be supported for years to come because it has a lot potential. I'd love to see characters from more obscure mythologies, such as Welsh, Hawaiian or Brazilian. I actually wish this game was a full action RPG akin to something like [i]Darksiders Genesis[/i], with a story-driven narrative. Or at least a Roguelite, where you keep some sort of permanent progress. But this is just me, personally. I personally really wish "Explorer Mode" was the default for this game. Being able to explore the map at your own pace is great, especially considering how good the combat system is. Frankly it's how I think the game was meant to be played.

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑️ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑️ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑️ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑️ Teens ☑️ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑️ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☑️ Old Fashioned ☐ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑️ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☑️ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑️ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☑️ Average ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑️ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☑️ Never heard of ☐ Minor bugs ☐Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑️ 9 ☐ 10

Damn, this one is fun. It's a dream come true for any MOBA player wanting something more co-op oriented. However, there are some issues that I'd love to see solved in the future to appreciate it even more: - Map looks nice but is frustrating. It makes you think there's a path and then you run into a wall that you need to spend a minute circling around. Especially in a game where time is so limited, it's a bit silly that all hills have only one point of entry - Lack of support capabilities. Let me have some talent choices that would make some of the characters capable of shielding/protecting/healing allies more than just with defensive ability. Not all talents need to be solo-play focused - It's frustrating for a new player to not have an easy way to check what talents/items they have when shopping. For my first ~10hrs of playing I just randomly bought upgrades because it was too time-consuming to quit shop, press tab and check them - UI needs fixing. Time until boss should be clearly visible at the top of the screen together with day/night cycle instead of being hidden in the corner of the screen and final and probably most important caveat when it comes to staying power .. as much as I love complexity of characters and attention to detail with enemies and combat, the quests / maps are very stale. There should be some kind of rotation and more randomisation on each run. Even if it's a paid DLC, the game needs it badly. But otherwise awesome game that I hope will continue receiving content updates.

I really want to recommend this game—I think it’s fantastic if you play it solo. But that’s exactly why I can’t fully recommend it yet. What makes this game special is the promise of playing with friends, yet the multiplayer experience feels like a downgrade compared to single-player. Let me be clear—this is a hard game. The difficulty is no joke. Even from the start, it demands a lot from you, and the learning curve can be tough. Ideally, joining a friend's game should make learning the game easier. You should be able to explain mechanics, help them pick level-ups, and coordinate your paths. But in multiplayer, you can’t do any of that—because the game doesn’t pause. In single-player, when you bring up the map, choose an upgrade, or make a strategic decision, the game pauses—allowing you the time to think and optimize. In multiplayer, the only break from the relentless timer is at the start of a new act. And if you haven’t read other reviews, the timer is a core part of the game. Every act gives you limited time to complete as many objectives as possible before facing the boss. Deciding what to prioritize and mapping out your path is crucial. But in multiplayer, every second spent strategizing means losing precious time. What frustrates me the most is how difficult it is to coordinate builds with friends. Since abilities and item choices are randomized, you can’t plan ahead, and the game doesn’t give you time to discuss options. As the difficulty increases, these decisions become even more critical—but in multiplayer, you barely have time to read your choices, let alone think about them. If you’re new to the game or playing a character for the first time, it’s even worse—you don’t have time to learn what your upgrades do before being forced to make a snap decision. At the very least, the game should pause during ability and item selections in multiplayer. That way, players can strategize together and actually feel like a team. I'm sure it's harder to implement than I think it is, but it just seems so obvious that the timer should stop as it already does in single player (so clearly it doesn't break the mechanics or game balance). Until then, while the solo experience is excellent, I can’t recommend the game for multiplayer and to me this is what the selling point of the game is. I'll HAPPILY change my review and honestly being playing this game a ton once this feature is in place/change is implemented. At the very least it should be an option you can select when hosting multiplayer games.