Hopefully we’ll get more spiritual successors to Raven Software’s games from before Activision reduced them to being an COD Support developer

@J-_-

4 ай бұрын

I always loved CyClones. I grew up with it and still have the big box complete. It might have been a bit more boring than Doom or Heretic or Hexen, but it had its own style. (I also think it was the first or one of the first FPS's to have mouselook.) I especially love the soundtrack, even though there aren't a lot of tracks and they repeat. I know that'll never get a remake but it would be interesting, to me at least, to see a spiritual successor.

Hexen is still a great co-op game, joining with your friends so that you can be confused together is a great experience. It looks like Graven also has co-op!

@tychosis

3 ай бұрын

"so that you can be confused together" lol, yeah I feel this. Might be one of the first games that ever had me looking up walkthroughs.

Ngl… that bubbling stove was really soothing

If you really want something like Heretic or Hexen, give Hands of Necromancy a try.

@SxSxG666

4 ай бұрын

...and a lot better than this cryptic pos.

@KittyMeow1984

4 ай бұрын

Seconded. Also, Hands of Necromancy is only 5 bucks and it has a demo available.

1:23 Hexen had a really good medieval atmosphere. I didn't like all the puzzles, since they prevented me from progressing, but the atmosphere was closer to medieval historical fantasy than most other such games at the time.

@Choralone422

4 ай бұрын

I have to agree with this. I absolutely loved Heretic back in the day, Hexen quite a bit less so. To me the puzzles and back tracking at the time slowed things down too much. For my 3D FPSs I wanted balls to the wall action like I had been experiencing in Doom, Doom 2, RoTT, Heretic, Quake and so on.

I played Hexen once or twice back in the 90s, but never really spent time with it. I only recently tried it again -- loading it up on an old 486 -- and it's actually a pretty decent game! I think I was just kind of "over it" when it came out. 3D shooters were _everywhere_ for a while.

Loved this game back in the day. Bought Hexen as well.

I find myself enjoying these type games much more than AAA titles over the past few years. Amid Evil, Dusk, Ion Fury, all gems to me!

Hexen was my teenage years, Doom was me at 12, and when i was a wee babby i played Hunt the Wumpus

@fensoxx

4 ай бұрын

Hunt the Wumpus was great. Think I played on a TI99/4a.

You had my attention at the first mention of Heretic! It's uncommon for me to actually finish a game, even when it's a game that I love, but I've completed every game and expansion in the Heretic/Hexen series with the exception of Heretic 2, and I keep the old computer I have it installed on available specifically because I still intend to finish it. Graven really looks like a spiritual successor to Hexen, and that's high praise. I especially love that they have a 3DFX-style mode! I'll have to give it a spin.

i always like these games where you just talk to NPCs with your weapons out and at the ready. "hey bro you maybe wanna point that somewhere else?"

Looks like the perfect type of gaming for a rainy day on a handheld.

Graven has tons of atmosphere. Got me immersed.

AmidEvil VR is amazing on Quest and so is Quake 1 VR

Graven, Boltgun, Ion Fury. Thank devs for these. I would say though, that magic in Graven could be reworked.

i agree that the art style is really interesting. It loos like an older early 3d game, played on newer hardware with the resolution turned right up. The colours are much more colourful that most modern fps games that have a gloomy "realistic" feel to the graphics

Awesome, I've had my eye on this game.

Haha! The guy in the boat sounded just like Moped in Adventure Is Nigh (Second Wind)! :D

Awesome video, very nice review!

So glad to finally find this video whilst having Hexen in my N64

Man, this is so magical.

I played Graven on early access, I might give it another go now that it's on final release.

Seems like a game that could be greatly improved with just a few quality of life patches.

@Arivia1

4 ай бұрын

The problem is that Embracer Group fired everyone (or close to it) at the publisher (3DRealms) just before release, so it’s unlikely it will ever get those quality of life patches. I’m sad about it, I loved the demo and was greatly looking forward to the full game.

@user-ow1wi4ny4w

3 ай бұрын

Indeed. Why bother copying something that didn't work is beyond me. To not even include a map... That is just plain silly. Hard pass.

Thanks!

I'm not super into shooters, but I do like me a good sp old school one. looks cool

I still own my physical copies of both Hexen and Heretic and love them. For some reason my Mum wouldn't let me play Doom or Quake because they were too violent but fantasy fps was fine?!

Sold. Once my buddy and I finish BG3 this looks great for or next coop romp.

Hexen was my bread and butter after school every day. Love that game

I hopefully that one day i can see some game like doom 2016 but in heretic/hexen decorations with rpg elements.

i would add Ziggurat as another similar vibe, even tho it's Roguelike.

Starts with a ride you can't get off? -Talking to character who give you useless information? - Ladders are terrible? - Detailed interactive environment? - Never sure if you're exploring to make progress or not? This is to Half-Life what Heretic is to DooM!

I hesitate when reviews tell me that the game doesn't tell you where to go. I feel like we've been spoiled by modern games that have minimaps and quest trackers that draw a line directly to where the object is. The first time I got deep into Doom, it took me a long time to find my way around the maze map that has no lighting. This is how games used to be. They didn't hold your hand constantly. Then again, there is a point where it just becomes obtuse and frustrating. It must be very hard to find that balance of creating a challenging puzzle without giving the answers or being obnoxious. I rather like Star Wars Jedi Survivor's approach where BD-1 will offer a hint if you wander around for a while. But if this game is trying to be a Hexen/Heretic revival, then it shouldn't help you at all. But it also can't be so ridiculously hard that it becomes un-fun. Even Doom had a map you could bring up but it didn't give away where all the secrets were. I'll definitely give this game a try. I loved the Heretic and Hexen games when they came out. Thanks for the awesome review video.

I really enjoyed the demo I played years ago, mostly due to it's style. But have heard the final version introduces questionable additions. Though most of this video seems to cover the demo area, so I'm not so sure now. Seems like the stamina is actually more forgiving now. I'm torn overall.

Loved playing heritic on lan with friends and turning them into a chicken

Foul heretical sects is exactly what I'm into. But sounds like the game needs some kind of objective marker to guide you

Atmosphere reminds me Mordheim

Lots of little gripes that make you question why they exist you say ? We may need to get this for zombiworkshop :D

13:18 Why is that the case? Don't know about the devs, but things like level design and pacing can be blamed on devs having their first shot at game design/making a game.

I had a PS1 demo of Hexen back in the day and I wanted the game sooooo badly. Sadly I was in college and didn't have enough money to buy it. With that said, I don't regret my decision to stick my nose in books for 4 years.

Lovely review sir.

@anthonymaddaford8474

3 ай бұрын

Are you one of the ppl leaving fake reviews on google for barcadia? Thought I recognised you. If not fake shall we agree on very very simpy biased?

Actually looks fun….playing Rogue Trader right now though.

No Wraithverge? Forget it!

Did you forget Heretic II (1998) in the original Heretic/Hexen line-up?

@Jammet

4 ай бұрын

Everybody does for some reason. Maybe because it wasn't a first person shooter.

@KittyMeow1984

4 ай бұрын

@@Jammet Or, more likely, because it was a very mid experience.

@Grogeous_Maximus

4 ай бұрын

@@KittyMeow1984 Yup. Hexen II was painfully 'meh'.

@user-ow1wi4ny4w

Ай бұрын

@@Grogeous_Maximus Huh? Hexen 2 was by far the best game when it comes to Hexen.

@VM-hl8ms

2 күн бұрын

@@user-ow1wi4ny4w it had most 3d graphics out of all of them, so it's the best, right?

I never played more than the demo of hexen or heretic, obviously I need to just do that...

I completely agree with your stance on stamina systems. It's a video game, and it's an annoying anti-feature that never should've become popular.

Reminds me of “pain killer “ 2004!

Nobody ever talks about Heretic 2. And I’m not about to start.

I have a strong dislike for things like fast travel and super fast sprinting in atmospheric games, guess i'm also that crazy person staring at a boiling pot for minutes.

I haven't heard of these games in decades.

The game has been getting a lot of stick but I've been having a lot of fun with it. It does seem like the latest patch has introduced frequent crashes, at least for me, and I spend way too long going round in circles (my kingdom for a fucking map). Still, the atmosphere is A+ and really the kind of game I wanted it to be, with a few caveats here and there.

@VM-hl8ms

2 күн бұрын

so the devs are not planning to add maps?

Graphically it looks like Dishonoured meets Kingdom of Amalur….

I tried this in summer '22 and I wanted to like it but I just couldn't. Seemed like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a Hexen-like or a Thief-like, but the combat was too clunky to be the former and there weren't enough option for avoiding direct fights for the latter. The hub and checkpoint save system also really turned me off. Have there been major changes?

The title on the thumbnail reads "GRAUEN" to me, which means horror in German. 😂

Dark missiah of might and magic 👍

I've completed Hexen - properly - and it took me over 15 years to do. I'm never going back, ever. Shonky puzzles, game breaking bugs, and all the rest of it can f-off back in the time warp and die in the 90s.

had no idea about this game! great to see it in action - on the wishlist for sure!

I owned Hexen about 25 years ago and actually preferred it over Doom.

What the Heck! 3Drealms still exist!?! I thought they went out of business decades ago.

@Jammet

4 ай бұрын

They're fine.

@IDHLEB

4 ай бұрын

3D Realms brand exist, but it's a very different eurojank company from Denmark that barely releases anything from early access state.

@The_Keeper

4 ай бұрын

@@IDHLEB Its Swedish, not Danish. Its owned by "Embracer Group AB" which consists of Amplifier Game Invest, Asmodee, CDE Entertainment, Coffee Stain Studios, Dark Horse Comics, DECA Games, Middle-earth Enterprises, Gearbox Software, Plaion, Saber Interactive, and THQ Nordic. Thats hardly "Eurojank" my dude.

Raven Software isn’t Raven Software anymore sadly. Activision reduced Raven Software to exclusively being an support developer

@rutgerb

4 ай бұрын

And 3drealms?

@Boogie_the_cat

4 ай бұрын

Boo hoo. Boo hoo hoo. Raven Activision is the closest existing thing to Raven Software. Quit splitting hairs. None of the good studios are what they used to be, like ID Software and Bioware and etc.... There's no point pushing your glasses up on your nose, hitching up your suspenders, pointing a booger-covered finger in the air and saying "well, AKshually" Don't be that guy.

@TrollDecker

4 ай бұрын

@@Boogie_the_cat Like you are?

Aimless wandering around the hub and fruitless searching for what you are supposed to do next? That is very much Hexen!😂

Sponsored by 3D Realms 😭

oh it is finally out of early access??

@RuSosan

4 ай бұрын

Yes.

See, when your *PR material* says crap like "plagues and seasons undermining the land", that tells me that you couldn't hire a competent writer. Which means the plotting and dialogue of the game itself are pretty much guaranteed to be even more shoddy.

Ooo 😮

Great that the title of the game isn't in the video title.

Amid Evil is a much better sequel to Hexen than your sponsored suggestion of Graven.

@tsartomato

2 ай бұрын

they all are bad

Looks like it uses Unreal Engine 4 so can use UEVR!!

Hexen ❤ Hexen II❤❤❤ Graven 🤔😆

The art direction in this game looks like a mess. Need to pick a texel density and stick to it.

Orthogonal to what?

Yoooo!!!!

A game in 2024 can't get ladders right? WTF?. Hexen 2 had ladders and they work well enough so just copy what it did. Really going up ladders was a solved thing in the 90s

Omg I think this game would really annoy me

Sry but the Low Bitrate of your Microphone really bothers me, the Digital Artifacts are really annoying, Could you please check your Microphone Recording settings and change the Bitrate to at least 256 Kbit/s? For me it sounds like 48 kbit/s or lower. I would really appreciate this because i had to stop half through because it's impossible for me to listen to, Thanks.

I've got to admit that calling a doom like hexen game a boomer shooter really boils my piss. My father of nearly 80 years is a boomer. These are Generation X Shooters. Fux sake, my father can hardly turn a computer on, nevermind what to do with it. Looks like a great Gen X shooter. Generation X the coolest generation ever born.

@geofftottenperthcoys9944

4 ай бұрын

I agree as a Gen X!

@TrollDecker

4 ай бұрын

I blame Civvie

@cjh0751

4 ай бұрын

@@TrollDecker yeah 👍 Civvies doesn't know what he's talking about.

@kathrynradonich3982

4 ай бұрын

I mean my grandpa got me into hexen and heretic and he was silent generation so I could see boomers being into the games 🤷🏻‍♀️

@whateverdope

4 ай бұрын

Okay, boomer I'm sorry, it had to be done

I don't like games that force you to return to some hub between levels. It ruins progression, I think. Graven felt to me like too much backtracking, and the full 3D and the guns weren't very satisfying. Maybe some people like 'em, I don't know, but to me, it just felt kind of disjointed.

god i hope they eventually release it in vr

Is it just me or are others also put off by the inconsistent implementation of the retro look? I actually love low-poly and low-res textures, but this only works well when combined with other constraints, like a uniform pixel-density, and evenly scale textures with square pixels, and no bi-linear texture filtering. I just can't overlook when these constraints are not met.

Would totally play that on my android handheld. My gaming pc is way too overpowered for it.

What a bs. Shameless ad. If it needs a 30 min to explain - there's no gameplay

So much wasted potential. Great graphics and atmosphere ruined by shit combat.

civvie hates this game

@tsartomato

2 ай бұрын

because it sucks

@user-ow1wi4ny4w

Ай бұрын

@@tsartomato Indeed. 10min of playing, it's enough. What a POS.

Was not a big fan of Hexen 2.

Aweful game were you never know were to go next. If you like running around like an i***t the game is for you. This kind if game design without a map is just stupid.

I got excited! I clicked on the link... crap... it's steam... ...

@georgeoldsterd8994

4 ай бұрын

It's available on GOG as well.

Do you really upload one vid every two months and still have the gall to have a monthly patreon? Don’t worry. It’s a rhetorical question.