I’m beginning to think that the Switch is my new favorite home for adventure titles. Even though I’ve been mainly playing them on PC and other consoles as well for years, my Switch has been getting some serious attention as of late. I’ve made it known in years past that I love adventure titles and no I don’t mean hidden object games masquerading as one. Titles like Myst, The Longest Journey, Gabriel Knight and Syberia are just a few of the classic point and click experiences that left their mark on me.
I can happily add another great title to that experience roster with the release of The Raven Remastered for the Nintendo Switch. I sadly missed out on this episodic title when it originally released on PC in 2013, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check it out on the Switch in its complete form. Sometimes this is for the best though, as the developers can work out any issues with the original and make some improvements usually in the area of graphics.
What drew me to The Raven Remastered nearly right away is that it is a mystery adventure. Growing up I fell in love with authors such as Doyle and Christie and with them grew a personal fascination of heist media in its many forms. The Raven Remastered follows the story of Swiss Constable Anton Jakob Zellner following the events of the robbery of an ancient ruby in the British Museum in London. The robbery itself is thought to be the work of the titular character, the master thief The Raven, who was thought to be dead.
You will spend a great deal of time playing as the middle aged Zellner, whose twirled mustache is only rivalled by a certain Belgian detective. But that’s part of the charm of The Raven really for me as you assume the role of a man trying to prove himself in the eyes of the likes of a much younger and rather famed inspector. Inspector Nicholas Legrand of course isn’t too thrilled to be confronted with the thought of the return of a man that he killed four years prior.
The Raven Remastered is a proper point and click adventure title that works pretty well on the Switch for the most part. Character movement is a little sluggish at times though mostly when moving Zellner around tight areas with the left analog stick. Item interaction though is pretty solid and fluid even when you have multiple items in a small location. Using the right stick in these areas lets you quickly select between them. To round things off you have quick access to your inventory and log at the press of a few buttons. There isn’t any functionality designed around the touchscreen for this adventure but while it’s a missed opportunity it wasn’t really a big loss for me personally.
As far as adventure titles go the execution of interacting with the world and its inhabitants is done quite well here. The Raven is the type of game that largely stays true to its genre roots but with an interesting twist that sets itself apart across its three chapters. There are plenty of puzzles to figure out and in true form there are a few that defy some logic to figure out but, on the whole, don’t make for a frustrating experience. 
At one point though several hours in, the game pulls an Ocean’s style twist to the formula. The parts where you play as Zellner play out in traditional fashion where you investigate and gather clues that will help you along the way all the while solving a bunch of other puzzles to forward your progression.
But it was at the point when the game did a 180 turn where I had to use all the clues that I uncovered as Zellner to actually solve the thief’s puzzles that really enamored me to The Raven. The fact that you actually get to commit the crimes instead of just watching it playout in a reveal like in the Oceans films was just wonderful and well crafted. It helps that there is a great range of quirky yet fully voiced characters to flush out and build a rapport that feels largely natural to this mystery.
Though in any adventure title worth its salt, the characters are only as believable as the world in which they inhabit. Luckily the three main areas: a luxury train, a cruise ship and the Cairo Museum all are beautifully created as are the cutscenes that revolve around each place. As this is a remastered version, lighting, animations and hair are said to have been improved but since I never experienced the original, I have no real basis on the actual quality of those improvements.
That said though, The Raven Remastered definitely looks sharp when playing it in handheld or tabletop mode. When docked the visuals did take a bit of a hit in their sharpness but that’s been a running theme for me regardless as 4K sets don’t seem to play well with the double up conversions. This may not be an issue for folks depending on their TV sets so again this is purely on a case-by-case basis. Despite this the game sounds great with its score and atmosphere. It’s got this really great caper vibe that really pulled me in. 
As I said I’m big fan of media like Ocean’s 11 and the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express so I was rather bummed out that I didn’t check out this this adventure the first time around having played it now. But on the other hand, having to have waited to play the other two parts thanks to cliffhangers would have driven me crazy, so in a way I’m glad I did have the opportunity to play this version. So, at the end of this sleuthing adventure, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it that I actually played it a few times through. So, if you love a good mystery with an awesome gameplay twist then you have to check out The Raven Remastered for the Nintendo Switch.
