Ravenbound

How many times has anybody thought that some video game genres could never mix? I, for one, did so quite a few times and have been repeatedly proven wrong. If there's one truly limitless thing, it is human creativity and ingenuity, which has made it possible to create compelling gaming experiences by mixing together genres that, on paper, could never blend.

Are you a roguelite fan that has always wanted to shapeshift into a bird? Ravenbound by Systemic Reaction is an action-packed roguelite game that catapults players into a world inspired by the rich tapestry of Scandinavian folklore and mythology. This third-person, action RPG game offers fast-paced combat, a permadeath system, and a mesmerizing fantasy open-world that will make you want to send a thank you note to the gods of gaming. However, be warned – its steep difficulty curve and occas...

Ravenbound is a great looking open-world Roguelite game with a fantastic base and some unique mechanics. Unfortunately, it being a little harder to run and online-only makes it a bit of a compromise to play on the Steam Deck.

Ravenbound spreads its roguelite ambitions across an island too big for its own good.

The open world is fully explorable on foot since a grappling hook allows you to scale buildings and mountains with ease. Specific points allow you to turn into a raven and conveniently fly anywhere on the map. And since there’s no map, flying is the best way to get a sense of the landscape. Unfortunately, the world is mostly empty and lifeless. Enemies sit in marked camps waiting for you to disturb them and won’t chase you. Structures, ruins, caves, and other places that seem like points of interest look nice but are usually empty, defeating the purpose of exploring since there’s often no rewa...

Ravenbound is a striking Scandinavian fantasy, and one that’s often a delight to experience. However, this particular open world can often feel too empty and lifeless, relying on a player's thorough involvement in its collection of gameplay ideas to stay engaged.

Ravenbound is a highly ambiguous game that fully allows players to explore its vast ever-changing landscape. Despite its ambition, the game lacks refinement and makes the game feel underbaked and not fully developed.

There isn’t much for me to recommend in Ravenbound — its beautiful landscapes and somewhat fun combat won’t be worth the hours of fighting RNG, a lack of deck-building mechanics, and basically non-existent healing options.

Ravenbound takes the entire concept of a roguelike/lite experience and branches it out into an epically large open world. Clearly, this is in an attempt to make the open-world and rogue genres much more compelling. Especially since the vast variety of them blending together at times. That’s not to say they are all bad. Can combining these two genres work?

Ravenbound is an open-world, deckbuilder roguelike developed by Systemic Reaction, the same team behind the dinosaur killing team-shooter, Second Extinction. In contrast, Ravenbound is a single-player experience that drops players into the fantasy world of Ávalt, a land inspired by Norse folklore (but not Norse mythology). It was once protected by six gods, called the "Ellri," until one of them, aptly named "The Betrayer," became corrupted. Prior to being sealed by the Betrayer, the remaining Ellri created the Raven to find a vessel strong enough to defeat the Betrayer and cleanse the land of ...