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Ritual of Raven – Review

What’s in a name? When we first heard of Ritual of Raven, our mind’s eye conjured up images of a dark, gothic horror game. Never in a million years would we have guessed that behind this occult-sounding title we’d find a cozy farming sim. When we actually got to grips with the game, we quickly found that the title wasn’t the only aspect of Ritual of Raven that subverted our expectations. What makes this game so different, you ask? Well, put on your robe and wizard hat, and jump into the nearest portal to Leynia to join us for an in-depth look at Ritual of Raven. Story Most farming sim stories begin with the protagonist inheriting a derelict farm from a recently deceased relative. Ritual of Raven is decidedly different in this regard, which should be your first clue that this is an atypical farming sim. Your self-created character is whisked away to the world of Leynia by means of a magical portal. Upon meeting the friendly witch Sage, you learn that Leynia is in disarray. Unstable portals like the one you just came through are sucking in all sorts of creatures from other worlds. The cause of the chaos are the Portal Keepers, a group of four magicians who opened them irresponsibly. Sage decides to take you on as an apprentice, but shortly after teaching you the basics of using magic for farming, she disappears through a portal herself. It’s now up to you and your familiar -the titular Raven- to restore balance to Leynia. Harkening back to the title, it’s probably worth mentioning that the actual role of the Raven is limited. It doesn’t play a role in the gameplay, and instead acts as a narrative companion, always ready to voice commentary, light humor, and world-building context. Graphics The world of Leynia is brought to life through charming 2D pixel art. Both Ritual of Raven’s character designs and environments are Ghibli-esque in design, resulting in a game that has a storybook-like feel to it. The game’s different locations, in particular, are a highlight, being not just varied in design, but densely filled with visual details as well. Despite this, the game wasn’t too taxing on our hardware. Performance wasn’t perfect, as we did run into the occasional frame drop while exploring Leynia, but overall, the visuals were more than charming enough to overlook the occasional hiccup. Sound When it comes to audio, Ritual of Raven relies mostly on sound effects like the rustling of leaves or the bubbling of potions to create an immersive atmosphere. For the most part, the game’s music comprises gentle, ambient melodies that enhance the game’s cozy mood without becoming intrusive. There are occasional exceptions to this, like when the lore for the Portal Keepers is delivered in the form of the “Welcome Wagon Orientation Sensation” song, but moments like these are used sparsely and tie more into the game’s storytelling than into the overall soundscape it wants to construct. Ritual of Raven also eschews voice acting, and instead, the cast “speaks” in Animal Crossing-like gibberish. Gameplay At its core, Ritual of Raven is a farming sim, but the game is quite different from the likes of Story of Seasons or Stardew Valley. While the familiar farming sim elements are definitely present, Ritual of Raven adds in new mechanics of its own and ties everything to its overarching narrative. The result is a unique take on the genre that feels familiar yet somehow avoids feeling stale or repetitive. You’ll be planting crops and harvesting resources, but farming feeds directly into the game’s quest and crafting systems. Unlike most farming sims, Ritual of Raven isn’t about an open-ended sandbox or min-max economy system, nor is there a seasonal calendar, crop marketplace, or extensive crop variety. Instead, the game’s main goal is to restore balance to Leynia. This is done by taking on a variety of quests that drive the story forward. Quests are also how you unlock new areas, abilities, and characters. These typically involve relatively simple tasks like growing specific crops, finding items, and participating in the ubiquitous fishing minigame. Signposting for these quests is a mixed bag. There are different types of quests present, including side stories. Ritual of Raven does provide you with a to-do list, but overlapping quests make it difficult to know which active tasks need to be prioritised. Farming itself plays out in an unusual manner. You don’t directly tend to your crops yourself, as touching the plants directly would cause them to lose their magical properties. Instead, you use magical machines known as Arcana Constructs to automatically do tedious and repetitive tasks for you. This is done using Tarot-inspired command cards that tell your constructs to perform basic actions like moving, watering plants, or harvesting. It’s essentially visual programming in disguise, as you’re crafting a chain of actions to automate farming across fields. More complex cards are unlocked as you progress, and you can save and reuse card sequences for efficient automation. Environmental puzzles also require constructs and use the same card-based logic system, although to solve these, you rely on spatial logic and observation instead of trying to optimize automation. This approach encourages experimenting with different Tarot cards and leads to new insights, which in turn lets you use your cards more efficiently when automating. While farming sim mechanics sit firmly in the center of Ritual of Raven’s gameplay, the game’s narrative-driven nature does come with a few caveats. For one, the farming mechanics don’t go in depth as much as we’ve come to expect from entries in the genre. There is no seasonal system to keep track of, for example, and the range of different crops that you can grow feels very limited. The absence of a romancing system is also notable for the kind of farming sim that Ritual of Raven aims to be, as the game does have a wide variety of memorable NPCs, and lots of side quest arcs aimed at fleshing out the backstories of these characters. Mind you, we’re not saying that Ritual of Raven is a bad farming sim because of this perceived lack of depth, as the focus of the game is on delivering a cozy, compelling narrative instead. It’s just worth mentioning so that seasoned genre veterans know what to expect. Clocking in at around 20 hours to complete the main story, and another 10-ish hours if you’re looking to complete all of the game’s side quests, Ritual of Raven is a fairly short farming sim. This is reflected in the game’s €14.99 RRP, which feels fair. This isn’t a game that reinvents the genre, nor is it even a game that you’re likely to revisit after completing it. The linear, narrative-focused nature of the game hurts the replay value. However, that single playthrough is definitely worthy of your time and attention, especially if you’re in the market for a cozy game to unwind with. Conclusion We’d label Ritual of Raven as a farming sim for people who don’t like farming sims. While the core elements of the genre are very much present, much of the tedium associated with the genre is removed here. It’s replaced with a quest-based narrative focus and an interesting automation system. Admittedly, the game is lacking in depth, especially when it comes to those core mechanics, but Ritual of Raven purports to be a cozy affair first and foremost, and it excels at this.