Developed by Cococucumber, ‘Ravenlok’ is an action-adventure RPG set in a world plagued by the darkness of a tyrannical queen. Upon being pulled through a mystical mirror, the young girl, Ravenlok, discovers she is destined to help this whimsical world. A foretold legend mentions a girl with raven-coloured hair; the one that can save this world from this darkness and take down the evil Caterpillar Queen. Take forth on this unforgettable and heartfelt adventure.

Take on the role of Ravenlok, a girl that has just moved and is trying to adjust to the new lifestyle thrusted upon her. Not long after, you get taken on an adventure, where she makes new friends and finds out more about herself. In this world, you learn to fight and overcome the evils of the Mushroom Forest. The story here is short and sweet, only taking a few hours to complete, which I don’t often find a bad thing. All the while, taking a decent amount of inspiration from the classic fairytale ‘Alice in Wonderland’, offering a good variety of NPCs and formidable foes making the world feel alive.

Starting out with no weapons in hand, you are tasked with finding a sword and shield to defend yourself. This seems pretty straightforward however, you don’t really get told where to look and your only option is to start exploring. Here, you’ll begin to engage with quite a few of the locals and receive quests left, right, and centre.

Now we all love quests in RPGs but this quickly became overwhelming when, suddenly, there were about seven jobs to do so early on in the game, and I had only just found my sword. Where is your shield? At first thought, plenty of sidequests, that’s pretty cool.

Surprisingly though, all the quests led along the line of the main quest and are kind of a guide to let you know what you might need to do next. An interesting way of doing things, and quite confusing at first.

Working out how my questing works, let’s get into combat. Fun and simple is how I would put it. Smashing your attack button for your main attack, blocking with your shield, and combining it with some special abilities you learn along the way is how you progress through enemies. The first special you’ll learn is a multi-orb magic attack, great for attacking multiple foes at once or dealing mass damage to one enemy, given there are no other targets for it to auto-track to.

To top it off, you have a quick select bar that will pause the game temporarily and give you access to health and bombs, a neat way of giving you time to choose a target. In order to acquire these kinds of items you can buy them from shops. You must obtain coins first though. Smashing pots and defeating enemies are your main ways to achieve such riches. There are also collectibles to find that might net you some neat rewards.

The art style is rather interesting, a mix of 3D pixel art and sharp smooth models. This gave a very unique feel painting a picture that I was in a completely different world, a world inspired by fairytale fantasies of classics from long ago. Bringing back some Wonderland-like childhood memories and creating some new ones. All are accompanied by a plethora of unique character models for your friends and foes, some more dastardly than others, and a bunch of small fascinating areas to explore.

The world seems to be a full 3D render, but the camera is locked to a small rotation angle. I would have liked a full free third-person experience and feel Ravenlok would have benefited from it greatly, especially in some combat situations. For example, I tried throwing a grenade at an enemy but was unable to lock on to the target because they were low down on my screen, leading me to have to reposition myself lower than the enemy leaving me open for attack.

Almost every area you come across has a unique backing track that plays peacefully or quite ominously in the background depending on the situation. Whether you’re in a dark scary area or a peaceful garden the music is very ambient. Smacking through your foes with the satisfying clank of your sword and a variety of attack sounds as you use your abilities all adds to the overall experience. There is minimal voice acting, however, only including small character noises for some interactions. This requires you to read all the dialogue instead. As a whole though the sound design is done very well and is quite fulfilling.

Ravenlok has a great world, from such a great inspirational ‘Alice’ theme, while still feeling quite unique and true to its own story. A great experience if you want a short story and can come to terms with a slightly abnormal questing system, and limited camera motion. Rounded out by some fun and simple combat makes it great for audiences of all ages.

Written by: MrVibeAU