There are probably a hundred games that have already been described as, “the nextHades.” But none deserve that title more than Ravenswatch, an indieroguelikefrom Curse of the Dead Gods developer Passtech Games. Ravenswatch feels like Hades in countless ways, from its art style and presentation, to its version of boons, to its launch into early access this week. And it might just have what it takes to replicateSupergiant’ssuccess.
Similarities between Ravenswatch and Hades are immediately apparent. Much like Passtech’s previous roguelike, the art style instantly evokes Hades’ sexy illustrations, although Ravenswatch forgoes the seduction for extra lashings of fairytale spookiness (more on that later). Then you’ve got the boons, which you get to choose from every time you level up, that grant bonuses to your various attacks. If you’ve played Hades, which I think everyone on the planet and a few people on Mars did, you’ll understand the importance of finding a build and committing to it, and the boons are key to perfecting your playstyle.
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The differences, however, start with the world you’re exploring. Where Hades, and countless other roguelikes, pit you in procedurally generated dungeons, Ravenswatch drops you into an open world that you’re free to explore. You’ve got three days and three nights before you must fight the boss, and you’re advised to spend that time beating up the ghosts and ghouls that populate the map to level up. There are castles to conquer for rewards, vital pools of health-restoring potions, and other challenges to overcome, all of which shift and refresh as time passes. This is an interesting play on the roguelike formula, and one I can get behind. Forging a mazy path through the world at your own pace feels rewarding, and being able to hotfoot it out of a challenging area before you die, Elden Ring style, gives you a tactical retreat option not present in many genre rivals.
There’s also the option for co-op play with up to four players, which I’m sure will make the game even more fun and give repeat runs that extra jeopardy as you try to reign in that one friend who w-keys into every throng of ghost assassins or sentient trees in their eyeline. This is helped by Ravenswatch’s characters, all ripped from fairytales or legends of yore, and who have very different playstyles. Scarlet, a play on Red Riding Hood, is afflicted with lycanthropy and turns into a werewolf each night. She therefore has two completely different playstyles based on the time of day, and is great fun to play as. There’s also Franz, the Pied Piper by any other name, who sounds like a German Matt Berry and can sic his horde of rats on any who stand in his way (hands off if you’re co-oping with me). Beowulf brings his wyrm to the fight, Nyss is an icy assassin based on the Snow Queen, Aladdin is your classic rogue, and Melusine the siren is a great ranged attacker to round out the present roster.
The characters are how Ravenswatch really sets itself apart from its competition, Hades included. Each has a completely unique feel, and you’ll want to target different boons depending on who you’re playing. Scarlet works well with life draining abilities, for instance, and you may want to purposefully tackle the boss early so you’re in werewolf form. Just a tip.
The open world and range of characters give Ravenswatch enough of a USP to differentiate it from the competition, and plenty of room for replayability. Curse of the Dead Gods was a competent, underrated roguelike held back by its sluggish progression, something which Passtech already seems to have improved upon in its successor. It’s not perfect – the default difficulty seems too easy, for starters – but this is a game in early access, and it’s already done enough to hook me in. I’ll be following this one’s progress with great interest, and I’m looking forward to more updates, characters, bosses, and hopefully more clever iterations on the roguelike genre like those we’ve already seen.
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