Ravenswatch Nightmares Unleashed Update
The first major update for Ravenswatch is now live!
Ravenswatch, Credit: Passtech Games / Nacon
I recently started playing Ravenswatch, the latest from Curse of the Dead Gods developer Passtech Games. Ravenswatch was in Early Access for over a year before its 1.0 release this past September and was released on PS5 and Xbox in late November before arriving on Nintendo Switch last week.
Ravenswatch is a top-down roguelike action game with a fairy tale theme. It features nine unique playable characters—all creative takes on classic heroes like Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, and Beowulf—that offer vastly different playstyles to master, along with a vast number of combinations of talents and items that make the game highly replayable. Online 4-player co-op is the cherry on top.
Ravenswatch, Credit: Passtech Games / Nacon
Combat is real-time and feels like combining a brawler with Diablo-style combat about juggling cooldown timers on the various moves you can do. I’m mixed on the exclusion of a dodge move with invulnerability despite characters having a defensive move. Games like Hades, which Ravenswatch draws from, generally include dash dodging moves, and perhaps I’ve grown too accustomed to that gameplay rhythm.
The new update is focused on adding more options and challenges, according to the press release:
New activities make their appearance: Sacrificial Idols increase damage at the expense of heroes' health, Astral Shrines allow you to modify your build during a run, and The Refugees offer potentially fruitful exchanges. To reward exploration, closed chests are available in the various levels. But before opening them, you'll need to obtain keys scattered around the map or during Blood Rituals, by defeating a fearsome new enemy: the Cultist Summoner.
Two even more powerful enemies have been added: Abu Al Jaan, the ancestor of all Jinns, and Melion, once King Arthur's servant knight, now corrupted and transformed into a giant wolf. These Mini-bosses add a new dimension to the game experience, alternating with existing ones. Finally, the Master Nightmares now feature alternative attack patterns, which may surprise even the most seasoned players!
I’m looking forward to future updates that will include additional heroes. In the meantime, because of the many characters already included, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of Ravenswatch, so I have plenty more to do. The game plays great on the PS5.
Ravenswatch is available on PC (Steam), PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One / Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
