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‘The Raven: Remastered’ is an intriguing, albeit flawed, murder-mystery

Image provided by THQ Nordic
Image provided by THQ Nordic

Disclaimer: This playthrough is based on the Switch  version and was played primarily in handheld mode. This copy of the  game was provided by the developer for review purposes.
 

As someone whose experience with the point-and-click adventure genre is rather limited, I didn’t know what to expect going into The Raven: Remastered. The game itself is a remaster of 2013’s The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief,  a game I never played due to not very many people talking about it — a  fair outcome considering it was a niche game released near the end of  the Xbox 360 and PS3’s lifespans. Despite this, The Raven: Remastered  is a surprisingly solid game that should not be overlooked by fans of  point-and-click games. However, players should be aware of a few major  issues before diving in.

Image provided by THQ Nordic

The game takes place in 1964 and follows Constable Zellner, a  Swiss police officer who finds himself wrapped up in a case involving an  infamous thief known as The Raven. Despite The Raven being assumed dead  for five years, there are signs that they are making their comeback and  it is unknown whether the thief is still alive or if there’s a copycat  following in their footsteps. After a murder takes place, it’s up to  Zellner to investigate The Raven’s involvement, root out the culprit,  and uncover the mystery surrounding the infamous thief. 

If you’re a fan of classic murder mysteries, then this game is  right up your alley. Things only start to get interesting about an hour  into the game but once it gets going, it really gets going. The game’s  story really keeps the player on the edge of their seats wondering what  will happen next through the intrigue of its mystery and its various  twists and turns. The game’s cast is incredibly likeable, with Zellner  himself being quite an endearing protagonist. The side characters you  meet on the journey are also really interesting once you start to learn  more about them and piece together parts of their personalities and  motives from your interactions. The only minor gripe I have with the  narrative is that some plot points are a bit predictable, but the ride  itself is so enjoyable that it makes up for it. If you’re in the mood  for a good murder-mystery plot, you should definitely consider giving  this game a shot. I say “consider” because the game itself has quite a  few glaring flaws that hold it back from being an excellent experience  overall, most of which have to do with the actual gameplay.

Image provided by THQ Nordic

The gameplay is more or less your standard point-and-click  fare. You’re going to be spending most of your time interacting with  nearby people or objects by “clicking” on them, using them to either  gather clues for the greater mystery or to solve puzzles, with only  slight variations throughout. It’s one of those games where you’re  encouraged to look in every nook and cranny for objects to interact with  because you never know what’s going to be important later on. If you  aren’t already a fan of the point-and-click genre or  slower games in  general, chances are this game isn’t going to appeal to you. If you do  like this style of game, The Raven: Remastered accomplishes  what it sets out to do. As someone who hasn’t played very many of these  games, I really enjoyed interacting with the various bystanders and  seeing what they had to say about the events unfolding around them, as  well as searching the areas for possible clues. When it comes to the  pointing and clicking, the gameplay is incredibly solid. 

However, what ends up killing the gameplay for me is the way  Zellner himself controls. His movement feels incredibly stiff, moving at  the speed of molasses — overall, he isn’t fun to play as. This isn’t a  huge problem most of the time because most of the areas are small,  enclosed spaces that don’t require a ton of movement. However, when the  game forces you to explore larger areas or you’re required to backtrack  to find an important item, it starts to become monotonous. If it weren’t  for the protagonist’s wonky controls, I wouldn’t have very many  complaints with the gameplay overall, but this is such a huge blemish on  an otherwise solid game that it almost makes it kinda hard to  recommend.

Image provided by THQ Nordic

I don’t know if these issues are present in other versions of  this game or if they’re a problem exclusive to the Switch, but the game  has some minor performance issues that, while not game breaking, are  noticeable and distracting. The most irritating of these being the load  times, which are not only frustratingly long but are also fairly  frequent if you plan on doing a lot of backtracking — something I found  myself doing quite often. If you want a good frame of reference for what  the loading times are like, they’re very reminiscent of something you’d  see out of a PS1 era game, specifically its port of Chrono Trigger.  If you’re in any way familiar with that era of gaming, you can see how  that could be a bit of an issue, especially when paired with the  sluggish controls. Another minor issue that I ran into less frequently  is that the game would sometimes stutter in certain areas. Overall, the  game generally runs at a consistent framerate, but there were a handful  of areas such as the lounge in front of the ship in which the game’s  framerate would start to stutter a little bit.. The game generally runs  fine in handheld mode otherwise, but those two issues are big enough to  end up affecting the overall experience.

Visually, the game looks fine. Even when compared to the other  versions of this remaster, the graphics really aren’t anything to write  home about but they’re completely serviceable. The audio in this game is  excellent, with the voice acting being a real standout. The voice  actors do a great job portraying their characters and breathing life  into them without coming off as too corny like a lot of period pieces  that take place in that era tend to. Although the soundtrack isn’t  something I’d ever listen to on my free time, it does a great job  setting the tone for each scene and creating atmosphere, which is all it  really needed to do.





Images: provided by THQ Nordic

Featured Image: provided by THQ Nordic

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