Game: The Raven Remastered
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer/Publisher: KING Art/THQ Nordic
Price: $29.99 | £26.99 | € 29,99
Age Rating: EU 16+| USA Teen
Release Date: 22 January 2019
Also Available On: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox one.
Review code kindly provided by THQ Nordic
London, 1964. An ancient ruby known as the eyes of the Sphinx, is stolen from the British Museum. At the crime scene: a raven feather. Is somebody trying to follow in the footsteps of the Raven, the legendary master thief who disappeared years before? Swiss police constable Anton Jakob Zellner finds himself in the middle of the kind of murder mystery he so far only knew from reading his favourite crime novels. Nothing is what it seems. Everyone has something to hide. And the Raven is always one step ahead.
A great murder mystery to unravel
Originally released on PC in 2013 and then remastered in 2018. The Raven Remastered is now released on the Nintendo Switch. In this point and click murder mystery you take on the role of the middle aged Police Constable Anton Jacob Zellner. He would like nothing better than to be like the great detectives he reads about in his favourite mystery books. With the possible reappearance of the master thief The Raven who was presumed to be shot dead by Inspector Nicolas Legrand four years ago, Legrand is now wondering if he shot the right man. The story in Raven Remastered takes place in numerous places, from foggy London to a train journey, time spent on a ship and in museums.
Dizzy spells in Point and Click controls
If you have played a point and click game before you know the formula, you move Constable Zellner around with the L stick and point/highlight with the R stick and with the A button you can interact with an item, simple enough controls to remember. A click of a button brings up an inventory where Constable Zellner stores the items he picks up.
Raven Remastered controls can be a touch unresponsive at times, it could take a few presses of the button before something happened. Zellners movement is a bit clunky and stiff, especially in corridors. He looks like he is either very drunk or suffers from dizzy spells while moving.
A Poirot-like adventure and nice extras
The story in Raven Remastered is interesting and keeps you wanting to proceed with the game. While playing the game there were a few times I thought I had solved the mystery but there are always some twists and turns that keeps the story flowing well. I don’t want to give away to much of the storyline as I don’t want to spoil it. However, the Raven Remastered reminded this reviewer of Agatha Christie novels or novels from that same era and one of her famous detectives.
It is fully voice acted and for the most part the voices are very good. The music in the game is a full orchestra soundtrack and it is extremely good. In fact there is an Extra Section in the menu of the game that shows all the soundtracks listed. You can listen to them again if you wish, you can also view a 3D model gallery, concept art gallery, artwork gallery and watch a film of the orchestra playing the soundtrack.
The murder mysterie and other puzzles
While Zellner goes about his investigation he collect items to use at a certain point later in the story. Some of those items have to be combined by Zellner before they can be used. This involves a press of the A and B buttons. An example of this is when Zellner needs to make a torch, he uses a piece of curtain and finds a chair which he breaks the leg off, then you are prompted to wrap the piece of curtain around the chair leg to make said torch.
Other puzzles involve using a wire to pick a lock, the wire has to be bent in to shapes to make all the gold locks come together. There’s nothing too hard or frustrating in any of the puzzles.
See the mystery from all angles
The cast of characters in Raven Remastered are well acted and varied with their own personality. They always have something to say to help Constable Zellner along in his enquiries. Naturally the other characters play a big part in the story and Zellner talks to them often throughout the game.
There are three chapters in the game, in chapter three Constable Zellner takes more of a back seat. You get to play as other characters and witness things from their perspective. This explains some of the mystery and ties together loose story ends.
The game looks fine graphically when the camera is panned out showing the surroundings, however when up close the characters faces can look rough and choppy.
Even with the games few faults I did enjoy my play through of this Christie-esque mystery. The story held my interest during the 10 hours or so it took to complete the game.
There isn’t much replay value once you have finished the story and had a look at the extras, so for £26.99 on the Switch I don’t see how they can justify the high price. I like more gameplay for my money. Yes, I recommend playing Raven Remastered if you like the genre but I wouldn’t recommend buying it on the Switch when it can be purchased cheaper on another system.
Overall I do like the Raven Remastered.
