The Raven Legacy of a Master Thief Review
The Raven Legacy of a Master Thief
Publisher: The Adventure Company
Developer: KING Art
Genre:
PEGI: 6+
Comments:
The Raven Legacy of a Master Thief – Ancestry of Lies Review
The Story Continues…
After playing through chapter one of The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief, I walked away with mixed feelings. The puzzles were a mess, and the story was a downright bore until Constable Zellner hopped aboard a ship headed to Cairo to continue his search for The Raven, who is hell bent on stealing the second Eye of the Sphinx. It was during this final act, with the murder on the ship, the detective work that followed, and the cliffhanger ending, where the game finally piqued my interest in the next episode, Chapter II: Ancestry of Lies.
An Interesting Turn of Events
The strong writing at the end of chapter one wasn’t a fluke. This second outing is intriguing from start to finish. It begins with Zellner drugged, strapped to a wheelchair, held captive by the murderer on the boat. After setting himself free, and the perpetrator making an escape in the process, Zellner gets quizzed by Inspector Legrand and the others, and the boat finally arrives in Cairo, where The Eye will be taken to the museum for its star-studded debut.
Things slow down at the museum, with Zellner tying up loose ends with some of the other characters, and seeing how they’re recovering after the crazy events on the ship. However, since Legrand has agreed to let Zellner continue his freelance gumshoe work for the rest of the day, he gets to case the joint by inspecting The Eye’s display case, the room and its security cameras. He also gets to browbeat the museum’s director, asking him about how the security system works, and if there are any hidden chambers or entrances.
Of course, all of this is building up to another appearance from The Raven, who does indeed make a grand entrance, putting the museum into lockdown and cutting the power to the security system in the process. Here, the narrative really picks up, and after two plot twists that caught me by surprise, the story shifts back to the Orient Express segment at the beginning of chapter one, this time the events unfolding from the perspective of another character.
This change of pace was quite refreshing, since by this point I had started to grow tired of Zellner’s dry personality. This new character is much more compelling, and being able to see the events from their eyes really makes some of the more curious happenings on the train and ship make a lot more sense.
No, Not This Again…
While the writing is certainly better here, the gameplay is, sadly, more of the same. The best I can say about it is that KING Art’s brand of point-and-clicking is accessible with its useful hint system, not to mention the fact that only things of importance can be interacted with. Also, for those not interested in “cheating” with the hint feature, Zellner’s journal where he jots down notes comes in very handy, especially during a puzzle in the museum that requires him to turn images on a dial in the proper order.
The same glitches that plagued the first chapter are still present, too. The cursor can still be pretty finicky with certain objects, only deciding to change to “examine” or “take” if it’s placed just right, even if that means a good inch or two away from the object in question.
There are also puzzles that should be solvable with the items on hand, but for whatever reason can’t. For example, I tried using a Swiss Army Knife to unscrew a vent, but instead was told to find a screwdriver. So I did, and it worked, but then later when all I had was the knife, I was able to use its screwdriver to pick apart a locking mechanism for another puzzle. Confusing? I’d say so.
Hoping for the Best
It’s unfortunate that The Raven continues to be held back by uninteresting, glitchy puzzles. The plot has thickened a lot in the second episode, which ends with yet another twist that caught me off guard. Perhaps the developers have saved the best puzzles for the conclusion. Something tells me they haven’t, but hopefully the writing will continue being engaging, and The Raven will end on a high-note.
Positives
- The writing has picked up a lot
- Solid art design
- Accessible gameplay
Negatives
- Puzzles still hit and miss
- Glitchy