Ravenbound Mixes Open-World Action with Roguelike Punishment to Satisfying Effect
With the sea of roguelites at our fingertips today, it’s fairly easy to get lost in the procedural tide. , and of course an open-world action-adventure filled with birds that seems to have found a unique and ambitious take on the genre. What’s the point of turning back into a human at will? Large maps filled with optional random encounters help break up some of the more familiar roguelite elements, such as repeatedly facing bosses and steadily unlocking upgrades with each attempt It’s a gimmick. After hours of running around a huge, Scandinavian fantasy-inspired world and your insatiable curiosity overwhelmed, you’re sure to want to see more.
If you’re into roguelite, most of the notable elements are present and explained. I spent a lot of time being outmaneuvered by enemies who clearly exceeded my current power level. But what sets it apart is the absolutely massive open-world hub you explore as you progress through the campaign. If you’ve played the open-world games developer Avalanche is known for, such as Just Cause and Mad Max, you might also have a pretty good idea of how Ravenbound works. Fight things and improve my character while causing as much chaos as possible.
But beyond that, the developers ditch the usual formula in favor of design elements that support roguelite ambitions. and discovery inspired my ultimate goal of defeating the absolutely nasty world boss that awaited me at the end of everything. You can now access the boss. Now I may have decided to tackle the great evil directly from there, Also I was able to further explore and improve my character by taking the risk of being brain-dead and crippled before shooting the boss. It synergized with the roguelite formula where you have to retrace your steps and take that gamble over and over again. Targeted (and sometimes scary), the combat was at times a bit erratic and decidedly unfinished, but it was fast-paced and rewarding enough. It keeps me hooked even after many runs.
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Ravenbound also tries some interesting things with its loot system. It was a card-based format that required building a hand of cards that could be used to add specific bonuses and abilities to characters to change the way they played. It generated an extra health potion to consume each time I encountered combat, and another card instantly transformed me into my bird form. , used it a lot.
I’ve only seen a fraction of Ravenbound’s massive hub world, but it’s already unlike anything I’ve seen before, and a fresh take on the addictive formula I already know and love. I will certainly be watching this closely as it develops.
