Raven’s Cry Preview

RPGWatch’s writer “Fluent” has penned a hands-on preview for Reality Pump’s pirate-themed action-RPG Raven’s Cry. Given the game should be coming out next week (barring further delays) and there is barely any coverage for it, the article is well worth a read. Here’s a snippet:

The game’s sprawling cities, movie-like cinematics, side quests and open-seas exploration will keep you coming back to play. It’s a little light on raw exploration, so don’t expect something quite the level of Risen 2 in this regard. Although, one of the side islands I visited was inhabited by some unknown tribe of primitive men who tried to maul me to death. And, they largely succeeded, as this area seemed to be a bit higher level than I was ready for at the time. That island also had some semi-open type exploration.

The ship-to-ship battles can be fun and intense, once you get the hang of them. I can see many people failing at the very first one, but once you learn the ropes a bit, it becomes quite fun and most importantly, rewarding to partake in these battles. You can loot an opposing ship when you win the battle and take all the cargo you can currently carry. The turn-based mini-game when boarding a vessel is a very nice design decision and should be appreciated for those who enjoy such things.

Those wanting to get lost in the wilderness and just explore, like in a game like Risen 2, may find the world a bit lacking in that regard. In one of the cities I visited, going off the beaten path resulted in a whole lot of nothing to find, but perhaps some of these features are indeed missing from the version I’m playing. Other cities seem to have no wilderness to explore at all, however, the cities themselves are vast enough to provide an ample amount of content to keep you playing.

The cinematics and cutscenes are a bit harder to judge without proper voice acting, but I can see myself getting engrossed in them when the voice acting is implemented. This is largely a cinematic experience, which usually is not my forte, but I found myself enjoying it in this game. It is very much a story-driven RPG in that regard.

The preview also includes some footage of the preview version of the game, with a focus on exploration and ship combat. I have to admit, releasing in between the big releases of 2014 and 2015 probably won’t do any favors to Reality Pump’s title.