It’s been a while since I have played an adventure game, much less one that was as enjoyable as The Raven: Legacy Of A Master Thief. Episodic games are becoming more and more viable, a business model Telltale Games pioneered for the mainstream. While it is still tricky to pull off, The Adventure Company and King Art Games have done so successfully.
Set in the early 60s, initially players start out as Swiss Police Constable Zellner, assigned to a train as it goes through the country which is carrying some precious cargo, one half of a pair of jewels. The other jewel was stolen in the first episode’s prologue.
The game plays out like a classic mystery novel and doesn’t seem to mind that it explicitly references Agatha Christie. There’s even an elderly woman on the train that is a famous mystery novelist. That’s the thrust of the narrative, really, and if you don’t like mysteries, then avoid this game as it is all about the mystery.
Puzzles in each of the three chapters are fairly logical. While the cliché of clicking on everything imaginable and putting it in your inventory still holds true, actually solving the puzzles isn’t nearly as random as with many other games in the genre. There are times when finding the right item can be a bit tricky, either because the camera angle isn’t optimal or perhaps even not enough “pixels” given to register something as examinable.
What The Raven lacks in action it more than makes up for my atmosphere and dialogue and character development and plot. Besides, this isn’t a game that was designed to feature much action in the first place. This game is about exploration, examination and using your brain.
Coming in three episodes, each with their own sort of beginning, middle and end, they are definitely each chapters in an overall narrative. The Raven is definitely an example of episodic gaming done right. And the voice acting is very well done, and I’ve seen a lot of adventure games, and just games in general where the voice acting was adequate at best and it killed the atmosphere. Here there are some stilted deliveries, but nothing that detracts from the overall enjoyment.
The Raven: Legacy Of A Master Thief comes in three episodes, with the third recently delivered. Players really do need each of the chapters, and in sequence. About halfway through the whole of the adventure perspective shifts away from Constable Zellner and we get a very different narrative. This is a great twist on the mystery genre.
Now for the bad. The pacing seems a bit slow at times, particularly in the middle. The graphics are average and at times if feels like a few technical bugs (like my computer suddenly shutting down for no reason) were more prevalent than should have been allowed.
Despite these issues, however, The Raven: Legacy Of A Master Thief is still very much well worth purchasing. The problems that it has are small when compared to the amount of enjoyment the game has to offer.