Graven Analysis – Ancient Magic in Modern Times

Graven is one of them FPS set in a medieval dark fantasy world which aims to be the spiritual successor of great classics such as Witches Or Heretic. You understand? Well, the truth is that it’s not entirely the case. But before we burn it with a fire spell, let’s go through it point by point to see exactly what’s wrong.

Betrayal, exile and redemption

Graven is a first-person action, puzzle and exploration game that puts us in the shoes of a virtuous priest of the Orthogonal Order who is judged and condemned to exile by his comrades after claim ing the life of a companion while attempting to sacrifice his daughter in a dark and unholy ritual. By accepting our fate, we will end up wandering in the desert, praying that death will free us from the suffering we carry on our shoulders.

But before we fade away, a mysterious power gives us a second chance, magically transporting us to a mysterious boat that carries us through a gloomy swamp to the town of Riacrucis. In this gloomy place, we will have to face horrible creatures and explore each alley well if we want to discover why we ended up here.

Although the title of Slipgate Ironworks is quite poor in narrative aspectits world building manages to compensate. Scattered around, we will find documents (few in number) that provide a little more information and context about what is happening in each of the countries. three biomes in which the action takes place.

Magic and Crossbows

In order to survive the dangers of Graven, our priest will be well prepared. To begin with, we will have a spell book which at first will only have fire magic, but we can add new enchantments to it. As a ranged weapon, we will also have a hand crossbowquite basic at first, but deadly when you find better models. And as a last resort, we will have on hand a robust cross good oak wood to give hair to monsters.

As usual, as we progress through the game, we will improve our arsenal with new weapons (like swords and scourges) or find more powerful versions of those we already have. In general, the fight seems a little uneven. While ranged weapons are powerful and fun to use, melee weapons are very orthopedic. The impact on enemies seems somewhat random and chaotic. Over time you will get used to it, but when the number of enemies increases you will end up opting for magic and crossbows. Of course, in exchange for spending mana and ammo.

More lost than a priest in a tavern

Graven is a title very focused on exploring levels and immersing itself in its lore.

The people at Slipgate Ironworks have decided do not include maps or directions showing where to go. They leave everything to our attention. On the one hand, this forces us to do backtracking and explore each dungeon in depthcreating our own mind map. But on the other hand, the game is so poor in words that it is even obtuse. Many times we will end up going around in circles, looking for that lucky lever that opens a door or where we need to place that explosive barrel we carry on our back.

In addition, we will also have to solve some logic puzzles. These will mainly require figuring out the combination of hieroglyphs using some clues. They are not particularly complex, but they are fun to solve and provide some variety to the gameplay experience.

Vintage-style graphics

I personally believe that All the charm of Graven lies in its visual section. We are dealing with a title that is directly inspired by the aesthetics of the 90s, you know: pixelated textures, polygons, etc. If we combine this with the power of the Unreal Engine 4 (which offers us, among other things, high-quality lighting), we get a potion with a certain aftertaste of retro FPS like Duke Nukem 3D or Half Life. In fact, some creatures were created by the same Chuck Jones

The frame is also impeccable. The three biomes perfectly capture the essence of dark fantasy.The first shows us a swampy town ravaged by disease, the second is a snowy environment like those of Skyrim and the third shows a less dark setting with a brighter environment. Overall, everything seems very coherent and artistically nothing is out of place. However, Some loading times between areas clash a bit.

Regarding the sound section, we find melodies that denote mysterious tones with sectarian connotations. Although it is good and well implemented in the game, it is not an aspect that stands out too much. It works.

Eventually

Graven is a video game with many virtues that never seems to stop sabotaging itself.. The folks at Slipgate Ironworks manage to dazzle with a memorable dark fantasy setting, a complete sense of immersion, and a superb combination of retro and new. Unfortunately, the uneven combat, lack of direction, obtuse mission system, and fillers end up leaving a bittersweet taste in the mouth. It’s clear that Graven is a risky proposition that needs a little more fine-tuning. Even like that, If you like old-school, challenging exploration games and are willing to forgive their flaws, this is a title to consider..