Ever wondered what might happen if Skyrim had a roguelite mode? Well, wonder no longer. Fans of the open-world genre who just so happen to enjoy a hefty dose of Scandinavian folklore will be delighted to learn more about Ravenbound. The game, which is currently in development at Systemic Reaction, has shared an extended look at its gameplay for the first time and it looks pretty impressive.
First revealed earlier this year during Gamescom, Ravenbound is an open-world roguelite adventure that’s packed with worldbuilding inspired by Swedish folklore. In the new trailer for the title, courtesy of IGN, viewers are treated to a look at the gorgeous fantasy world itself. Interestingly, this can be explored either on foot or from an aerial perspective as a raven. Alongside the beauty of the open-world environment comes the challenge of a roguelite gameplay system, which includes permanent death, deckbuilding elements and randomly generated items and areas in each run-through.
The new gameplay trailer is outlined by Ravenbound‘s creative director and lead designer and showcases the unique combat skills of the player character known as the Vessel. In a similar vibe to that of the Dragonborn, the Vessel carries an ancient power within them but must use all their skills with steel and blade to survive and carry out their heroic mission. Looks and sounds pretty epic, but you can check it out for yourself right here to get a flavour of the lore-rich adventures heading to PC in Ravenbound.
While there’s no specific release window as of yet for Ravenbound, it’s certainly looking in pretty good shape as things stand. The release of some gameplay footage may mean that news of a launch date is just around the corner, but we’ll have to wait and see. It seems as though the popularity of the roguelite genre is showing no signs of slowing down, with Ravenbound set to join titles such as Steelrising, Thymesia and of course, Elden Ring in the current trend. Every death in Ravenbound only serves to make your character stronger, so it’s not all doom and gloom. Incidentally, Ravenbound looks set to be a lot less grim and heavy on the themes and setting than some of its fellow roguelite and roguelike companions, which is a change some will probably appreciate more than others.
Systemic Reaction is a studio under the umbrella of Avalanche Studios, whose previous work includes titles such as Generation Zero and Second Extinction. Ravenbound does seem to be a bit of a new direction for the developers, but from what we’ve seen so far in the latest gameplay clip, it seems as though they’re potentially onto a winning formula.
Ravenbound is currently in development for PC for an eventual release on Steam. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for further updates on this exciting-looking fantasy game, as well as keeping an eye out for a future release date. Hopefully, eager players won’t have too much longer to wait to get their newest fix of interactive Scandinavian mythology.
