Be it Alice in Wonderland or Ni No Kuni, a sprung into a fantasy world is a dream and a thought that every child can relate to. Ravenlok as the finale to Cococucumber’s Voxel Trilogy does its best to deliver on this unfathomable dream.
Ravenlok is an indie RPG developed and published by Canadian studio Cococucumber and released for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on May 4, 2023. The game follows a young girl named Kira, who finds herself pulled away from reality and into a fantasy land cursed by an evil Caterpillar Queen.
The Destined Child
The game follows Kira, a young girl who falls through a mirror into Dunia, a land cursed by the evil Caterpillar Queen. There, she becomes Ravenlok, the chosen one who can break the curse and restore peace. Along the way, she meets various characters inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, such as a white rabbit, a Queen of Hearts, and a pair of robotic twins. She also faces enemies and bosses that challenge her skills and courage.
Overall it is a captivating story executed with a childlike whimsicality. The reimagining of Alice in Wonderland is spot on. The usage of quirky sounds instead of having full voice-overs helps the game a lot in establishing an eerie atmosphere that seems fitting for its plot. However, a large of campaign quests still remain repetitive that rely heavily on backtracking and numerous fetch quests. Overall, the game may feel like overstaying its welcome despite the short length of its campaign that can be finished in under 10 hours.
Same Old, Same Old
If you have played Zelda or Fable, then you are pretty much familiar with everything that Ravenlok has to offer in terms of gameplay. Its mechanics are largely based on a sword and shield combo that allows you to slash, block, and parry your enemies. You can also level up your skills and find new weapons and items to enhance your abilities. The game features arena-based boss fights that test your skills and strategy, as well as quests that reveal more about the world and its inhabitants.
Despite its fun and engaging combat system that allows you to slash, block, and parry your enemies, the experience of it starts to wear off eventually. The game largely remains grounded in a comfort zone of its own. On top of that, its repetitiveness in quest design makes matters even worse. Thankfully the game does feature a diverse set of environmental enemies and a decent leveling system that make this snore-fest somewhat bearable.
Pixel Perfect
Despite its tedious repetitiveness and uninventive gameplay, Ravenlok manages to strike gold in its visual presentation. The visuals are stunning, with a 3D pixel art style that creates a vibrant and detailed world. The game uses voxel tech to create dynamic and destructible environments. The game runs smoothly at 60fps on PC and can manage to output 4K resolution even on entry-level RTX cards. The game’s soundtrack is also impressive, with catchy tunes and atmospheric sounds that match the mood of each scene.
Overall, aside from a few visual glitches, I have absolutely zero complaints in terms of graphics and sound design. It is easily one of the best-looking indie titles I have ever played since 2021’s Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Introducing mod-supported content creation seems highly feasible for Ravenlok if it is included in its future roadmap.
Real Talk
Ravenlok delivers a stunning visual presentation and a promising plot which is bogged down by an unsurmountable amount of repetitive fetch quests and uninventive gameplay. But the fact that it is on Game Pass and is one of the best PC ports of this year, makes it an easy recommendation for all the newcomers out there.