Ricochet Raven Early Access Review
Kaosrio’s Ricochet Raven turns projectile parries into the core of a fast-moving roguelike with a promising but thin Early Access foundation.
Ricochet Raven. Credit: Kaosrio
Ricochet Raven from Kaosrio is a roguelike built entirely out of the satisfaction of a parry mechanic. The core idea is solid. The current Early Access release just feels very thin.
From Steam:
“Make your way through levels against enemies by ONLY parrying their attacks! Upgrade your deflection abilities by acquiring upgrade feathers and create chaotic combos in Ricochet Raven!”
You never attack directly in Ricochet Raven. You parry and deflect projectiles back at whatever fired them. Successful parries trigger a freeze-frame and impact burst that help give the action some weight. If I’m repeating the same action constantly, it needs to feel good. Kaosrio mostly gets that part right, though the parries still don’t quite have the tactile snap and visual punch needed to make every deflection satisfying. The game’s emphasis on aerial movement reminds me of Mio: Memories in Orbit, where successful midair hits also refresh your jump and air dash.
Ricochet Raven. Credit: Kaosrio
There’s no metaprogression at all, making this a roguelike instead of a roguelite. End a run, and you’re back to zero. Feather upgrades can augment abilities or create effects like poison clouds, though runs still blur together because there simply is not enough variety yet. One environment, a handful of enemy types, and limited upgrades make the game feel closer to a proof of concept than a full Early Access release. Even by Early Access standards, though, this feels paper-thin.
The limited color palette makes combat readable. Green is good and pink is bad, so hectic fights stay easy to parse. I appreciated the visible parry radius around the raven too, even if it looks too plain and static; it should be a more vibrant UI element that reacts to your actions. The grey-and-black environments barely have any detail, the visual effects look plain, and the pink goo enemy designs are generic and forgettable. Even with the solid-color smoke effects and projectiles filling the screen, the game still feels static. The game is an eyesore, but the raven is cute.
Right now, Ricochet Raven feels more like a prototype than a fully realized Early Access release. In the Early Access FAQ, Kaosrio says this “is technically a finished product.” To me, this doesn’t have the polish a vertical slice should have. Kaosrio is planning more content, but I think this also needs a better spit-shine. It’s not 100% there yet, but the parry has promise. There’s something to build on here.
Ricochet Raven
Ricochet Raven shows flashes of promise as a parry-focused roguelike, though this Early Access release feels too close to a prototype.
