The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief (PC) Review

Point and click

I have never really considered point and click adventure games to really be real “games”. They lack any of the actual characteristics we come to expect from games. These titles come across as interactive movies where you might somewhat alter what happens in the end and that’s about it. If anything I think they would find themselves more at home on touch devices seeing as you don’t require mouse to play them, but apparently it seems as though I am mistaken and I will now tell you why.

The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief is one of those few games where you can actually claim that the story was better than the overall mechanics. This makes sense to a degree, seeing as it was made by Kings Art. This is a developer who fortunately focuses on its ‘point and clicks’. They are the creator of The Book of Unwritten Tales, which received great acclaim a fair while back and now they have released the first chapter in their planned Raven Trilogy.

Of course the most important part of this game is the story, which will not let you down, that is only when you have an interest in mid-20^th century detective novels. The main plot surrounds a Swiss policeman who wants to pursue “The Raven” a notorious crook who has stolen a precious gem from a British museum. Of course you must travel throughout Europe following the breadcrumbs until unearthing some discoveries. I don’t want to ruin the story as this is pretty much the best part of the game, so that’s pretty much all I’ll say about that.

You might solve a few obvious puzzles, but the main meat of the title is spent talking to the other characters who you meet on your travels. They definitely run the gamut and their quirky personalities really help you understand their motives and ideals. Walking around the environment is much less intuitive that the conversing though, as you tend to bump into objects in the fixed camera angle. Fortunately, you will spend more time in dialogue sequences then actually moving around.

That being said, at least the game looks pretty… not that you wouldn’t expect that from such a narrative focused experience. The sun soaks the world in its bright rays and everything has a definite shadow, making this a very beautiful adventure. The 50’s theme also adds a sense of feeling and connection to this long lost time. An orchestral soundtrack adds enough flair to keep the game from getting silent, but never interferes with the dialogue.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a book like experience, without the paper cut hazard, this is as close as you will get.

Set in a definitive universe, it will keep you glued to your seat for its entirety and is a great addition to any adventurer’s digital library. If you like running and gunning I suggest you don’t even look at this game, seeing as you will find no redeeming factor inside The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief. For those who like a deeper story and don’t mind a lack of interactivity though, this is one thief that you might want to get to know.