Voron: Raven’s Story Review
Take to the air as a raven in Voron and experience the joy of flight.
Voron: Raven's Story . Credit: Merk Games
Voron: Raven's Story is a small, strange gem from Merk Games that casts players as a raven tasked with guiding lost souls to the afterlife. The Norse mythology backdrop—Jormungandr, Odin's world between the living and the dead, and the like—gives the whole thing a moody, melancholy texture that I really liked, but the actual story never quite hits. The soul vignettes you complete feel disconnected, and the lore delivered through stone tablets is easy to miss. The world is more compelling than what happens in it.
What works is the flying, and it works really well. You start as a clumsy fledgling, and the early going is rough. I crashed a lot, particularly during an early mission that tasks you with catching a fish. But once stamina management is introduced after the opening area, the movement system starts to make sense. Stamina gently pushes you to fly smarter instead of faster, and learning how to glide efficiently becomes part of the rhythm. When you unlock the ability to slowly recover stamina while gliding, everything falls into place. Later upgrades add just enough new wrinkles to keep things fresh.
Voron: Raven's Story . Credit: Merk Games
Visually, it's minimalist and painterly, with muted tones and atmospheric landscapes that suit the game well. The raven models have blocky, visible geometry that contrasts awkwardly with the fluid, naturalistic animation. It's a small inconsistency that nagged at me more than it probably should have.
Voron has a forgettable narrative, but features flight mechanics that are a genuine pleasure. If you let yourself be sucked into the flying and exploration, it’s genuinely satisfying. Great movement is harder to get right than players might think, and when a game gets it, it’s worth checking out.
Voron: Raven’s Story is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 7/10
Played on: Steam Deck
