Ravensword: Shadowlands

I went in expecting a charming little underdog and got something more complicated: a game that genuinely wants to be an adventure, strains hard to get there, and lands somewhere in the awkward middle distance between nostalgia and frustration. Ravensword: Shadowlands started life on iOS and Android before finding its way to Steam via Greenlight, and that lineage is visible in nearly every seam of the PC version. The stiffness in the controls, the sparse world geometry, the UI that feels like it was designed for thumbs not a mouse - none of it is hidden. You are, whether you like it or not, playing a mobile port. What the game does have going for it is a surprisingly complete RPG skeleton. Combat offers three distinct paths - melee with swords, axes, or hammers; ranged with bows and crossbows; and magic through runes you collect across the world. A use-based skill progression system means every sword swing nudges your swordplay stat upward, every hit absorbed inches your defense along. You can slot up to four items onto a quick hotbar, imbue weapons with stat-boosting gems, pick locks, pickpocket NPCs, go stealth, or even fight from horseback or a flying mount. On paper that is a respectable feature list. In practice, the combat feels inconsistent: one-on-one encounters are manageable, but crowd-control collapses into chaos, and the enemy AI is happy to let you cheese it against a rock. The dodge and jump share enough input ambiguity to occasionally betray you at the worst moments. The world itself is semi-open, chopped into separate areas by loading screens. Most zones feel thin - low-resolution textures, copy-pasted layouts, and a bestiary that recycles models more than it should. There is one genuinely lovely sequence where you ride a flying mount through a dramatic ravine, and for a moment the game earns its ambitions. The main quest asks you to hunt down three Ravenstones before the legendary sword becomes available, which is as paint-by-numbers as it sounds. Side quests range from the forgettable (kill eight bears, retrieve the thing) to the occasionally charming - there is a quest where you free a wizard from a bottle that has a certain folk-tale warmth to it. The reputation and jail system adds a thin social layer: steal in view of a guard and you will be locked up, which at least gives the world a small sense of consequence. The runtime sits somewhere between three and seven hours depending on how deep you graze in the side content. For this kind of game, that is not a flaw - it knows its scope. The soundtrack by composer Sean Beeson is one of the cleanest parts of the whole package, and there are moments wandering the Tanglewood Marsh or the Citadel of Ror-Dan where the atmosphere pulls ahead of the visuals. If you have ever had affection for early 2000s open-world RPGs - the kind that tried hard with limited tools - Ravensword: Shadowlands will register somewhere familiar. Just do not arrive hoping for the depth of its obvious Elder Scrolls inspirations. This is a snack, not a meal, and it tastes best if you treat it accordingly.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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