[Review] Reventure – Nintendo Switch

Reventure

Developed and Published By: Pixelatto
Category: Action-Adventure / Platformer
Release Date: 10.08.2019

Reventure is an action-adventure / platformer in which you are attempting to discover the 100 different ways in which the protagonist can meet his untimely end. Games of this style are extremely creative, as it makes you think about the opposite of the norm. Instead of avoiding enemies and obstacles, maybe they can kill you in a cool new way? This title is a short experience, but it packs in quite a punch with tons of fun in these bite-sized journeys. This is a mix between Minit and Dumb Ways To Die in a combination that has a ton of charm, humor, and entertaining moments.

You start your journey as Tim (or whatever you’d like to name him) and you wake up in your home outside the castle. You have been summoned by the king to rescue his daughter. You journey to the mountain cave to the west to gather the sword of legend, which is guarded by an old wise man shouting, “It’s dangerous to go alone!”. After grasping the sword and pulling it from its resting place, you strike down the old man accidentally as you test which button controls the sword swing…wait, what? Maybe that happened, or maybe it didn’t, it is 100% up to you. Ignore the king and explore, kill the king and take his throne, or venture towards riches unknown; no matter what, this is going to be a bumpy ride. With 100 different endings you have a ton of story to discover, from the miniscule and quick to puzzle-solving and major combat phases that have you fighting for the proper death. Even though you won’t find much of an actual narrative, and as your initial character passes on and the quest is taken up by random family members, this game still has plenty to offer.

There is simply a ton to discover, and as you find more and more things begin to change. From the main character’s appearance and animation too much, much more. This is one you will definitely want to try to work towards the end on.

A major part of the charm is its pop culture references and secrets that are available to discover. There are nods to other games and movies and you will spend a lot of time finding these as you search out the different deaths available to you. You will definitely be caught off guard at times, and the death cycle mixed with these secrets really take the place of any sort of actual story. Witty and clever throughout!

Items can be discovered to aid you in your quest and allow you to get to and through locations you couldn’t otherwise. Bombs for blasting through rocks, sword and shield for those few fights, and a hookshot to allow you to shoot yourself up to the highest of heights, as well as many more. These not only allow for traversal, but the more you gather you also suck more at jumping! The hindrance to gathering all these gadgets is a loss to your jump, and with each item you can jump one block lower, so there is a touch of strategy in using items and then sacrificing them in order to get your long jump function back. This makes sense realistically but is a pain in practice. Although it isn’t a huge deal to trash items once you discover the sacrificial alter, it’s a bummer when you do that and then discover you needed that item later down the road. Luckily, the short in-and-out quest structure makes it more palatable to find a death and start anew.

Platforming, combat, puzzles — none of it is really well flushed out. This game is kind of a mixed bag, and I think that is on purpose. You aren’t here playing for these mechanics and features as they are just tools to be used to get to an end. A gruesome and horrifying end. So, if you are looking for anything but quirky fun you will have to search for that elsewhere.

With super basic pixel graphics and a Minecraft block style to its platforms you have a game that isn’t going to impress you or win any art awards. Its simplistic, but gets the job done. As is a common thread in a lot of this game, you aren’t here to find a game that excels in any category. You are looking for a game that has you twisting your mind and thinking outside the box while having some fun along the way.

The soundtrack is well done but is fairly boisterous. I found myself definitely wanting to lower the volume as I continued on. It isn’t to say that the soundtrack is bad, just a little much for this setting and theme. I would say that the game needed something to make up for those down times racing to new ends of the map as you see a ton you have already seen, but the soundtrack falls a bit short on being that solace.

Overall, Reventure is a master class in taking an idea, keeping it simple, and just having fun with it. As I mentioned, the game doesn’t excel as a platformer, an action title, or in its puzzles, but offers something completely unique instead. If the basic idea of finding deaths with some patched in humor doesn’t sound like something you would have fun putting time into, then I have to say you won’t find something else unexpected to keep your interest. That is all this game is, and that is all it needs to be. I enjoyed my time with it, regardless of the monotony and lacking mechanics.