7.4
GRAVEN is a lovely little taste of retro shooters that fall outside what we considered to be the standard of the time. An excellent fusion of melee, magic and puzzle solving.
GRAVEN
Slipgate Ironworks · May 26, 2021
About
A faithful priest of the Orthogonal order, exiled unto death for a crime in defense of another, you live again in a small boat, adrift in a swamp. A stranger ferries you to solid ground and bestows upon you vague instructions, along with a mysterious staff and book. Go forth, pious priest, alleviate suffering, uncover deceptions, and smash the eldritch perversions encroaching upon reality itself. A marriage between modern development tools and techniques with a stark late 90s aesthetic bring the action first person puzzler GRAVEN to life, featuring character designs by Chuck Jones (Duke Nukem 3d, Half-Life) and the voice talent of Stephan Weyte (Blood, Fire Emblem, Dusk) in a dark yet distinct medieval fantasy experience.
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Critic reviews
- 7.0Graven does a lot of good things, it’s a dark fantasy old-school, FPS for starters. Adding in bits of classics like Hexen was a great way to go here. But mixing in elements of RPG’s is what really set Graven apart, the ability to interact with the environment with magic and other things for puzzle solving was a lot of fun. But the puzzles are time consuming and will require a lot of backtracking and searching and then there is the soulslike stuff…ugh. But even with all of that, welding magic, swords and crossbows in this adventure was a solid good time.
- Graven is a console port stricken with a fatal save bug. For anyone wishing to persist, the remaining product is lacking in a few key areas. I love how the levels are designed with clever shortcuts but the encounters can begin to feel stale. The lack of new enemy types and a small selection of weapons really brings the mood down. Magic doesn't really feel special and can often operate like another key, rather than a tool for combat. There's a good atmosphere but the potential this game wants to invoke doesn't really come to fruition.
- 7.0Graven is another slice of the nostalgic pie that Slipgate Ironworks have been dishing out. A fantasy game crafted from the engines of old, it’s functional if you’re craving that old flavour. But its taste may not be alluring enough to new players.
- 7.0The platforming is not the greatest, and there are some strange little bugs, but for the most part GRAVEN reminds of a time when first-person single-player games ruled the roost. There’s no doubt GRAVEN can hold its head high in that company.
- 8.2Graven is an old-school dark fantasy first-person shooter that somehow feels like no other, taking cues not only from classics like Hexen but also throwing in elements of RPG, immersive sim, and more, creating a mix that feels unique and engaging. The game’s lengthy campaign does feature some questionable progression at times, with somewhat needless soulslike elements, time-consuming puzzles, and an uneven balance, but none of these flaws could ruin the game for me. Graven is not just a mechanically fun FPS, it’s also a great journey worth experiencing for yourself – but next to spellbooks, metal swords, and medieval armor, do remember to pack a healthy dose of patience, as its often convoluted design can cause some frustration.
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