XBOX REVIEW | Graven

Welcome to a world you didn’t know you needed until now! Graven is an extremely interesting wee game, mixing the aesthetics of Elder Scrolls with the simplicity of Doom and wrapping it up in a bag with Amnesia the Dark Descent before sprinkling in just a hint of Souls Like difficulty. The story is pretty bare bones but with enough of an intro to make you a little intrigued, however to be honest you will be too busy blasting monsters with spells and solving puzzles to really give too much of a hoot about it. In saying all that though you will have to pay attention to some of the NPC’s you meet along your journey as it can be easy to miss a little piece of a puzzle (trust me back tracking can get annoying) so talk to everyone. Look I have to be honest, When I said blasting monsters with spells I may have led you to believe that magic would be your main weapon, in fact magic doesn’t really help you against the numerous creatures as much as smacking them with blunt objects and shooting them with projectiles does, actually the magic in this game really only helps to solve puzzles and open doors… yes you can use it against the enemies, but sometimes all you need is a good solid bit of wood to solve most of your monster problems. Graven is a game I would have loved to play years back when things like Clive Barker’s Undying and King Pin Life of Crime were at their peak, but as a game for todays audience? Well I don’t know so much. Let’s get into what I liked and what missed the mark for me.

Things I liked!

• Simplicity | I use the word simplicity as loosely as I dare. In this case I mean that there is no convoluted lengthy story to make you feel like you need to invest much emotion at all into the main character. He’s angry, he lost a family member and the demons are going to pay. If you want more substance to your games then there are plenty out there that will give you your fill of lore, but this game just harkens back to when you just really wanted to vent your frustrations out on some demonic entities.

• Difficulty | Yes I know, two conflicting statements in the Like section. Ok, so what I mean is that a lot of games out there today hold your hand way too much, you get arrows pointing to quests, markers telling you what you should do next etc, etc. Graven doesn’t hold your hand, in fact it actively pushes you off the boat and into danger from the get go. This isn’t a bad thing, you soon get used to tracking down puzzle pieces, weapons and … Well I don’t want to spoil too much of the game, just know that you are not in for an easy ride but it will be worth it when you get the hang of it.

Mixed & disliked!

• Backtracking | Backtracking is a pet hate of mine in any game, but with a game like Graven it really disrupts the flow of the game, If you are patient then you should be ok, but just let me say that your patience will be tested to their limits on occasion. My advice is to talk to every NPC and pay attention to what they say, keep a pen and paper handy just in case too. Also be aware that sometimes destroying all of the breakables you find is not a good idea, you might need them to progress later on.

• Magic | There is Magic to be used in this game, spells and tomes look amazing, but they are extremely weak. Fire is used to destroy wooden items and doors, lightning can stun enemies for a brief second or two… I’m not even kidding. Magic looks cool in the game but it’s as effective as swatting the enemies with a feather duster. I really wanted to utilize magic a lot more in the game but found myself just smacking the bad guys about with my staff instead. If you are looking to be a spell caster in a game, go for Skyrim instead.

How long did I play the review before publishing? 20 hours
How long to beat the story? 12 hours
How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 22
How long to achieve 1000G | Varies
You’ll love this game if you like these | Clive Barker’s Undying, American McGee’s Alice

CONCLUSION

Score:70 /100 – If you are looking for something to scratch a nostalgic itch for early 00’s first person games grab Graven. I would warn you though the game is not without it’s flaws and you might find yourself raging at it more than once. Graven is a decent enough game that just falls short of the mark for me. Look into some gameplay vids before you make a full decision about buying the game and if you like what you see, go for it.