Let's find out together, in this detailed review, if it is worth buying Ravenous Devils, born from the very Spanish hands of Bad Vices Games, which will take us into the darkest meanders of London in the Victorian era.
Enriqueta Martì, Albert Fish, Leonarda Cianciulli, Jeffrey Dahmer. Fans of criminology, detective stories or heinous crimes, in obtaining more or less accurate information about it, will surely have stumbled upon "cannibalism" or "intraspecific predation". The act, that is, of eating organisms belonging to one's own species. If we are talking about human beings, the specific term is "anthropophagy" e the names we have listed at the beginning are just four of the most famous "cannibals" gone down in history for their ... questionable vice. However, anthropophagy has not always been just a mental deviation, but in times of famine and economic difficulties that nowadays seem absurd (even though we complain about expensive gasoline) it was also functional to the survival of entire families. However, it remains a somewhat questionable vice.
In the wake of products such as Overcooked (here our review of the All You Can Eat! Version), therefore dedicated to the management of restaurants or the like, is Ravenous Devils, a project born from the hands of the very Spanish Bad Vice Games, with the collaboration of Troglobytes Games , Spanish production company. The title recently arrived on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and Nintendo Switch, proposing a rather interesting combination. On the one hand we find a dark and disturbing atmosphere, which at times referred us to the masterpiece that was Sweeney Todd, on the other hand, a kitchen and tailoring management software that to define particular is an understatement. Welcome to our Ravenous Devils review.
Sweet sweet London
London, Victorian era, Hildred and Parcival are a young married couple. She is a wizard in the kitchen, capable of overcoming all the difficulties that the management of a diner puts before. He is the god of tailoring, capable of giving life to both male and female clothes of exquisite workmanship and renowned throughout the city. Two hardworking, frenetic, attentive and terribly good at what they do. The key word in all of this is "terrible". Yes, because the fulcrum of their success is connected to that "somewhat questionable vice" we were talking about at the beginning.
The meat that makes up the delicious dishes that Hildred puts on her customers' plates in fact it is not of animal origin, but human. Parcival attracts the unfortunate poor to his tailor shop, kills them with a blow of his beloved scissors, strips them of their clothes (which he then reuses to create his masterpieces) and through an ingenious system of hatches sends the corpse to Hildred, in the cellar. , where the woman will know what to do with it. Sausages? Steaks? Or simple ground beef? The alternatives are tasty and varied, it all depends on the machinery that we will have available during our macabre adventure and on the requests of the customers.
Tender couple | Ravenous Devils review
A simple and effective dualism, which guarantees excellent deals for the newlywed couple (who, paradoxically, do not have to worry about raw materials in any way). From these premises a disturbing story unfolds, albeit far too short (we completely finished Ravenous Devils in less than 7 hours), when the two are delivered a letter from a "fan" interested in their subterfuges. The paths of Hildred and Parcival will cross several times with some secondary characters who, unlike the protagonists, will not be developed at all and will remain simple extras in the background. A real shame, considering how fascinating it was to actually live the story of the two, but at the base we want to "blame" the aforementioned longevity too short, to make it all fit.
Hildred and Parcival's inn is spread over four floors. The first two from the bottom, the cellar and the diner are managed by Hildred, while the tailoring and the “greenhouse” will fall under the skilled hands of Parcival. As we said at the beginning of this review, Ravenous Devils is mainly a management software in which we will have to follow both spouses in their fields. Initially, things will be quite simple: we will have only one type of meat and only one seasoning, wheat, for the creation of fantastic pies with which we will have to replenish the tray placed on the diner top.
Delicious cupcakes | Ravenous Devils review
As the days progress and the savings accumulate, we can make Hildred's cellar a real slaughterhouse, with two other machines capable of giving different cuts of meat, numerous ovens, trays and a very nice cat capable of obtaining mouse meat, very useful in the most advanced stages to replenish the trays. Tables will also be added to the diner, where customers can sit and order specific dishes, a barrel of gin and a young boy who will help us with the supply and sorting of orders, allowing Hildred to always remain in her cellar to chop and chop human flesh.
What amazed us in Ravenous Devils is the difficulty curve which, although never unfair and always well balanced, points incessantly upwards, making the days inside the diner increasingly chaotic and tight with the times. In the final stages of the game, the dead times we have between one day and the next will become fundamental, which will allow us to prepare the meat and replenish the seasonings, as well as to send that delicious cat on the hunt.
The master of fabrics | Ravenous Devils review
As for Parcival, however, the man will have to independently manage his tailoring, the greenhouse in the attic and the most stimulating part from an intellectual point of view, at least from what his psychopathic mind perceives: the murder. The times in this case expand more, for Parcival it will be enough to always keep a dress on the mannequins and kill the unfortunates as soon as they enter the room, so as to be able to supply raw materials to Hildred and new fabrics to the sewing machine. The addition of the greenhouse slightly complicates things, even if the management of the corpses will necessarily have to become more prudent. In this place it will be possible to create fertilizer (with the usual raw material, by now we understand) and use it to grow all the condiments that Hildred will need, from tomatoes to eggs, from onions to potatoes.
All in all, the gameplay of Ravenous Devils is somewhat stimulating and, while it may seem creepy to say it, addictive. Its basic simplicity drags in a gradually increasing and varied rhythm, the power ups are all quite useful and the addition of the ingredients (and therefore of the recipes) increases the difficulty just enough so as not to bore each day of our newlyweds. A pity that everything lasts so short, we have already said it twice, we know.
Touching devils | Recensione Ravenous Devils
Let's move on to what, unquestionably, is the weakest side of the production of Bad Vice Games, namely the technical one. Our test, for this review of Ravenous Devils, took place on Nintendo Switch, the decidedly less performing machine among those available, but which we chose for a reason that we will talk about later. The game performed fairly well, and we didn't experience any significant technical flaws, apart from a few rare jerks to the frame rate in the fast passages between floors. The only real flaw is the low quality of textures and animations in general, which clash with a truly evocative and well-recreated setting, thanks to a soundtrack, suitable for both the topics covered and the theatrical tone that the guys from Bad Vice Games have given to the title.
The reason we wanted to try it on Nintendo Switch is only one: touch controls. Obviously, it is assumed that to play Ravenous Devils at its best, the platform of choice is always the PC, where you can use a mouse and keyboard which, those who are passionate about management know it, is a godsend in these cases. Let's admit that even with the controller in hand (and at the same time, with the Joy-Con) we didn't have major general management problems, but everything went away even faster using the portable console and the touch controls. Excellent combination.
Eye
To conclude this disturbing review, we want to recommend to everyone the purchase of Ravenous Devils. On the one hand, fans of the genre will find themselves in front of a markedly theatrical and deliberately disturbing setting, "seasoned" (haha!) With simple and exciting gameplay and will deeply regret the too short duration of the experience. On the other hand, novices will be able to get used to a game that, although it presents a difficulty curve (as it should be), accompanies gradually in the various phases and does not require an immediate increase in the general difficulty of the game. In short, recommended to everyone ... just don't get strange ideas.
Ravenous Devils is currently available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and Nintendo Switch. Let us know if you have tried the title below in the comments, we will continue to keep you updated with all the news, guides and reviews on videogame and tech! And if you are interested in game keys at affordable prices, we recommend that you take a look at the InstantGaming catalog!
7.5 Disturbing and addictivePoints in favor
- Simple and addictive gameplay
- Well balanced difficulty curve
- Incredibly well-finished setting
Points against
- Too much, too short
- Graphically insufficient
