Who doesn’t love a good mystery novel? The thrill of reading its pages and diving headlong into some rich world filled with intrigue and puzzles to piece together in hopes of finding the answers you seek. The Raven Remastered fuses the enjoyment of a mystery novel and the gameplay of an adventure/point and click title. Explore three chapters of a whodunit and see if you can solve the story before the characters do! Can you stop the mysterious Raven thief before he once more strikes again?

The Raven Remastered is an adventure game with point and click themes. Players will explore various locations as they gather clues, combine items to solve puzzles and talk to characters to come closer to solving a series of thefts by a master thief. Enjoy an amazing cast of potential subjects and colorful characters as you explore this world of intrigue and mystery. The Raven Remastered will be a treat to those who enjoy narrative driven games with minimalistic gameplay that keeps you immersed in the world and its settings. Did you miss the original The Raven which released in 2013? Then now is the time to enjoy The Raven Remastered and see if you can become an expert detective yourself.

The time, 1964, and the setting is London, England. The news is set ablaze with headlines that focus on a master thief known as The Raven who has just recently stolen an ancient ruby from a high-end museum. In order to solve this mystery and to avoid further thefts, London has begun to hire various police forces to stop The Raven before he strikes again. Enter Constable Anton Jakob Zellner who has gone from mystery novel enthusiast to real life detective as he tries to stop The Raven from stealing again. Can Anton alongside his comrades stop The Raven or will London’s priceless treasures be constantly in danger of being stolen?

Here at Honey’s Anime HQ, we love to pick up a good mystery novel or watch a mystery themed movie/TV show. That’s why we also enjoy when video games offer that as well but with an emphasis on gameplay to make us feel like we’re the detectives or crime sleuths. In 2013, The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief by developer King Art Games and publishers The Adventure Company gave just that with their title focused on stopping a master jewel thief and some other rather suspicious foes. It was a solid game with some weak elements here and there that kept it from being perfect but overall it did the job. Now for reasons unknown, publisher THQ Nordic has re-released The Raven alongside developer King Art Games in the form of The Raven Remastered. Does this newer version change up anything and or is it worth your time if you’ve played the original The Raven? Let us deduce that in our review of The Raven Remastered.

The Raven Remastered—assuming you didn’t play the original 2013 release—isn’t hard to explain. Players assume the role of Constable Anton Jakob Zellner—as well as a few others—as they hunt down The Raven and various other shady characters. The Raven Remastered is an adventure game with a heavy emphasis on point and click mechanics. Find a random toothpick? Pick that up, as later you might need it or maybe you’ll need to chat with a specific person to activate the next scene. It’s a tried and true gameplay formula, but there’s a reason why it works so well in The Raven Remastered.

Adventure games rely heavily on the world the player explores and the characters they meet. Add to that solid point and click gameplay and the game itself works ten times better to keep you truly immersed. The Raven Remastered does just that quite well. Just like the original title, it’s a treat to look for context clues, random items and talk with the quirky cast of characters you’ll meet during the three main chapters of The Raven Remastered. Sometimes it can be feel a bit archaic to have to find random items to pick up or because you didn’t talk to one character specifically the story won’t advance but that also in turn keeps The Raven Remastered from ever being too hard to navigate. Talk to everyone, examine everything and try to manipulate every item—as you can combine items together and will need to—and you’ll never find The Raven Remastered to be too tough of a game to win at.

The point and click elements of The Raven Remastered is where the game shines though. Every clue and item have narrative to describe it and a reason for being there. While we won’t spoil anything, just note that in the first chapter, for example, you might see a bowl and think it’s useless. Ultimately though, that bowl might be used later and teaches the player that everything in The Raven Remastered has value of some sort. The same can be said with characters who might seem annoying or uninteresting but might hold a vital clue that you won’t get unless you exhaust their dialogue options. The Raven Remastered lives and breathes off its old school design but it’s what we here at Honey’s Anime enjoyed the most about it and think you will too.

Graphically, The Raven Remastered is okay. In comparison to the 2013 release, The Raven Remastered does look significantly better but it still has some rather weak visuals especially for a PS4 title. The same can be said of the voice acting which we’ve heard people both praise and say it’s okay; we fall into the middle category. The main characters of The Raven Remastered are usually solid but some of the supporting cast are ho hum at best. However, what doesn’t feel ho hum at all is the musical score which makes every set piece and moment of The Raven Remastered truly remarkable. Essentially, graphics are okay, voice acting the same but the music stands out and that makes for an overall solid experience in this venue.

Now with remastered reviews, we here at Honey’s Anime HQ always leave the final part in saying is it worth it. Will you want to reenter the world of The Raven if you played it before? Honestly, we say it’s a 50/50 experience. While we loved The Raven Remastered for its story, it’s the same story as presented 5 years ago and that means going through it again isn’t something everyone might want to do. While the ending of The Raven is truly something to behold—we remember it fondly—does The Raven Remastered warrant going through it all again? We’d say it’s worth it if you never ventured in The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief before and need a solid story to enjoy.

The Raven Remastered doesn’t feel very remastered—though in comparison to the original, it does look better—but it does do an adequate job of presenting a solid mystery story with some interesting plot developments. We loved the narrative feel and equally the old school point and click simplicity but at times disliked the weak visuals, technical glitches and ho hum voice work. The Raven Remastered isn’t going to be enjoyed by everyone and that’s understandable. Don’t go into The Raven Remastered expecting a dark narrative or The Walking Dead levels of interaction with the characters and environment. However, if you love mystery novels and want what feels like a multi part movie, then we think you’ll enjoy The Raven Remastered.

There are times where we wish game developers wouldn’t constantly release remasters—we understand why financially they do—and wish it didn’t continuously happen. However, The Raven Remastered was a solid game several years ago in 2013 and even today, it’s quite enjoy enjoyable. We recommend The Raven Remastered if you didn’t get to play the original and love stories centered on delivering fun mystery narratives. Have you played the original The Raven and or are thinking of picking up The Raven Remastered? Why don’t you tell us using the comments down below? Remember to keep coming back to our hive here at Honey’s Anime for more gaming reviews, news and other gaming articles!