GRAVEN

Something needs to be done about this poor game, the potential is there but the devs got rushed out of office before they were really able to polish it. Chapter 1 rules, and after that it just falls apart. The coop actually works, but again as soon as you get to Chapter 2 the game breaks, and it just gets worse after that. Not to mention the new and worst addition, a 3rd party launcher. Shame on 3DR for crunching this amazing concept and amazing atmosphere right into the garbage can.

I really wanted to like this game. For the first few hours, I was having a pretty good time and honestly wondering why it had a "Mixed" rating on Steam. Sure, the weapons didn't feel great compared to other boomer shooters. The magic system was both ineffective and cumbersome. There were some questionable design decisions, like the game automatically spawning you at the most recent checkpoint when you die, regardless of whether that checkpoint is in a safe area or not. There's no quicksave or quickload either, just this weird semi-persistent world where you're instantly respawned in exchange for losing valuable currency. Overall, it felt a bit unpolished compared to the smooth, fluid gunplay of Amid Evil or the carefully thought-out level design and itemization of Blood West. But there was one thing that kept me going: the atmosphere. Everything you could want from medieval dark fantasy is here. Ancient libraries, endless swamps, a city devastated by a mysterious plague. The game does a surprisingly good job blending interior and exterior areas, making the relatively linear levels feel much more open than they actually are. And once the bolt thrower was introduced (the first weapon that genuinely felt good to use) I really started enjoying myself. Sadly, there was one major issue that eventually became too much to ignore: the game's inability to communicate its own rules and goals to the player. The list is honestly endless. For starters, there's no map, which is a problem when some of Graven's levels are basically mazes. Want to upgrade your weapons or spells? The game tells you vaguely what an upgarde will do but it never gives any actual numbers. And because upgrades are not only expensive but effectively permanent due to the lack of proper save/loading options, there's very little room for experimentation. Some key items are stored in your inventory. Others are physical objects you need to carry. That's a frustrating inconsistency in a game where you can pick up almost everything, constantly leaving you wondering whether the solution is nearby or whether you left the required item behind 15 minutes ago.The same inconsistency also applies to obstacles. Can I burn this barricade down or not? Can I break this window or not, shoot down this box or not? Is this enemy invulnerable or am I missing some sort of gimmick here? I guess I can't really afford to try becasue I can't load and not even mana auto generates in this game. So long story short. I ended up quitting early in Act 2. I have no interest in running around a level 15 times looking for a hidden lever underwater or Googling whether an object simply failed to spawn. I'm generally a patient person, but I'm also someone who avoids guides whenever possible. If you're making me comb through a literal library full of books and parchments because there's no way to tell which ones are interactable and which aren't, then sorry, your game isn't worth my time. And unless you really, really love the atmosphere, it probably shouldn't be worth yours either.

World and art direction are great, the gameplay loop is aggravating and slow. Feels like half the team wanted to make quake, and the other half wanted to make oblivion. Neither are good as it stands. Enemies can attack outside of animation loops so you can't block or dodge properly, half the first major area is swarming with enemies and is in water which halves your base walk speed - it has quake sprint speeds but you have a shared stamina pool with melee which is the majority of combat. Who came up with this stuff?

Well, this thing made a nice impression when having it started, and sure- if the gameplay would not be that screwed-up that much. I could have had my fun with it, it is a nice made medieval atmosphere, old style graphs and all basic setups and content are promising but WTF, the main issue is, dying sucks most of your money, so as after a while, all the damn foes are back. respawn might be some idea but not like that! I go back to town often, spend my bucks before the dead takes it away. You restart, finding yourself back in starter town, march again and all the same scenario goes on again, it does not make fun to battle yourself thru hordes of fast, rather unfair enemies, so as the previous resources are gone and dead is way likely. This could have become a nice clone of 'Dark Messiah of Might and Magic', but the devs took out the fun aka I have done something and I don't want to do this all again, this is unrealistic and disappointing!

LOOK HOW THEY ABANDONNED MY BOY

I don't recommend buying this at full price. And even with a discount, I don't think it's worth it. Graven had potential. However, due to feels like a tiny budget and the lack of a proper dev team, it turned out to be completely unremarkable, with a huge number of bugs (even steam achievements don't work) and terrible optimization. On top of that, game has been abandoned and is no longer recieving any patches.

holy ♥♥♥♥ man this game is soooooo trash

I quite liked Graven - I found the first map a bit confusing because its large, complex, and there isnt a map/easy way to add waypoints etc to help remember where stuff is - its very old school! But when you get ok with playing an old school game again, and engaging neurons which dont fire in modern ganes, you'll find its well made, its fun, it has great combat (lots of varied weapons, and elemental effects), its well balanced etc. Stuff I liked less: walking through water (its slow). But you can shoot water with electricity and shock everything in it, including you, so thats neat. Not realising you can only go through some "doors" after you get items later in the game and travel back to uncover secrets. Losing money on death - and I died a bunch :) I wont play this through again, while its a good game, its not GREAT.

Don't buy this game. Despite the negative reviews and warnings, I went ahead anyway. I loved the look of the game, and thought the immersive qualities would see me through any average gameplay (as has been the case before - Hexen, Heretic, etc., etc.). I don't mind an average game if it transports me somewhere atmospheric. That is not the case here. It's terrible. Amateurish. Boring. Dismal. Don't waste your money (even on sale) - it is MUCH worse than the 'mixed' reviews imply. What a shame.

Opening cutscene struggled to play and crashed the game the first time I watched it. Framerate was all over the place, made me nauseous. Artwork looked cool, game looked interesting, but not enough to put up with bad optimization.