Ravenlok pulls you through a mystical mirror into a beastly storybook kingdom

rockpapershotgun.com:

Fairytale action-adventure Ravenlok was revealed at today’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, hailing from Echo Generation devs Cococucumber. Ravenlok is clearly channelling Alice In Wonderland a fair bit, and Cococucumber do refer to it as a “fairytale reimagining”. It’s due out sometime in 2023. Watch the mushroom-laden trailer below.

There’s a white rabbit, guardsmen decked out with playing cards, and what looks like a robot version of Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee each wielding a giant hammer. Most intimidatingly though, what appears to be a version of the Queen of Hearts has become some kind of many-armed, snake-tongued giant beast whose face has split open like a Demogorgon from Stranger Things.

You play as Ravenlok. Guess she’s the bad-ass cousin of Goldilocks? After falling through a magical mirror, Ravenlok finds she's been prophesised to battle the dodgy Caterpillar Queen so she can save the kingdom, pack up and go home. There’s quite a variety of enemies judging from the trailer, ranging from creepy bouncing jesters to giant glowing fungal monstrosities. Ravenlok can fight them off using the traditional adventurer’s sword and shield combo.

Kim Armstrong thought Cococumber’s earlier game was something of a retro rehash in her Echo Generation review last year, but she also found it adorable. “There are so many itty-bitty pixel animals: you can recruit a hip-hop raccoon and your kitty’s licks heal you through the power of cat love, and they all talk,” she said. “Still, even cute animals can't save Echo Generation from feeling like a bit of a slog.”

Ravenlok will be out on Game Pass for PC from day one, and the Microsoft Store, when it launches in 2023.

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