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Cococucumber – the folks behind the beautifully odd Echo Generation – are ready to release their next voxel adventure, the fairytale slasher Ravenlok coming to PC, Game Pass, and Xbox consoles on May 4th. It’s clearly riffing on Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland as our protagonist, the titular Ravenlok, moves to a new inherited house, gets sucked through a magical mirror and steps into a trippy, mushroom-filled land. From there, she needs to fight this realm’s off-brand Queen Of Hearts and save the remaining, slightly weird, storybook denizens.
Cococucumber’s director Vanessa Chia elaborated on the game’s influences. “Growing up in Malaysia,” Chia explains, “classics by J.R.R Tolkien, C.S Lewis, and Studio Ghibli allowed me to open a portal into another world, into a realm of imagination and possibilities.” She adds, “through this fable about the fight for a creative life, we hope that the adventures of Ravenlok can bring a sense of escapism and joy to all.”
That’s quite an insightful look into the game’s potential philosophy, as thus far, we’ve only seen quick-cut trailers of the game’s combat. Not that I’m complaining – Ravenlok’s hack-and-slashing has looked delightful. The newest trailer above teases us with magical abilities, massive boss fights, and a variety of funky hats. There’s also a hint of Zelda in here too, thanks to the game’s barrel-bashing and environmental puzzling.
Those environmental puzzles, that wonderful art style, and a couple deadpan eyes were all enjoyable parts of Cococucumber’s previous game, the turn-based Echo Generation. Kim Armstrong’s review was less impressed by that game’s RPG elements and tired retro tropes, but like me, they found some areas to be “an outright breathtaking collage of voxel foreground backed by pixel skies.”
Anyway, who doesn’t love a fish out of water (into a psychedelic fantasy land) story? I’ll be eagerly waiting the day when Ravenlok drops onto Game Pass, the Microsoft Store, and The Epic Games Store. Also, Cococucumber is undoubtedly the best game studio name, right?