Ravenswatch

A stable, honest coordinate

Put the scores side by side and Ravenswatch's standing is clear: 84 on Metacritic, around 79 from OpenCritic's top critics (a "Strong" rating, inside the top 25%, with 76% of 29 reviews recommending it), and a 79% positive mark across more than 15,000 Steam reviews. Across three different channels — critics and players, each judging it in their own way — the scores land remarkably close together, and that alone suggests its reputation is stable. There is no split where critics rave and players walk away, and no post-hype backlash either. Everyone roughly agrees, which is rarer than it sounds in a genre where hype and disappointment so often diverge.

This is a case of clear strengths and equally clear weaknesses: hard to call it bad, and just as hard to call it flawless. Its hardest-to-copy strength is its sheer breadth: nine fairy-tale and mythological heroes, each split into day/night or yin/yang forms, all set within a cel-shaded dark-fairy-tale aesthetic that stays consistent throughout. The value is not in any one element pushed to an extreme; it is in the scarcity of the combination itself, and combinations are far harder to clone than features.

Who should buy in

That conclusion fits the picture, and the key is being honest about what kind of player you are. If you love tinkering with character builds, thrive on grouping up with friends, and respond to its singular dark-fairy-tale atmosphere, Ravenswatch offers a kind of fun that is genuinely hard to find anywhere else. The nine-hero roster alone is dozens of hours of experimentation, and co-op turns its messiest fights into its best stories.

It also goes on sale for worthwhile discounts on Steam fairly often, so if you are not in a rush, waiting for one and giving a few more updates time to arrive will only make the package feel more complete. This is a game that has been getting steadily better since launch, and there is no penalty — quite the opposite — for letting it cook a little longer before you commit. Patient buyers are rewarded here more than they are with most games, both because the price drops and because the content and balance keep improving while you wait. It is one of the few cases where "I'll get it later" is actively the smart call rather than a missed window.

Who should walk past

But if what you want from a roguelike is escalating level design and maps that feel fresh every single run — or if you play mostly solo and have a low tolerance for hardcore difficulty and damage-sponge bosses — the structural shortfalls that dogged its launch will probably wear you down once the novelty burns off. The three-biome ceiling is not something a patch is going to lift, so go in knowing the shape of what you are buying.

Its most direct rival, Hades, wins on exactly that kind of depth, with one escalating act after another; Ravenswatch answers with a nine-hero ensemble, four-player co-op, and a day-night rhythm, carving out its own lane through the breadth of its cast. These were never the same game, and pitting them head to head misses the point of what Ravenswatch is trying to be. All you really have to do is ask yourself one honest question: do you want the breadth of the characters, or the depth of the levels? Answer that, and the score on this page more or less sorts itself out for you.