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Raji: An Ancient Epic

Raji is a 2020 action-adventure single player game based on Indian mythology that emphasizes puzzle solving and combat. In this review, I play through the first eight hours of the Nintendo Switch release.

Raji: An Ancient Epic is set in several vibrant landscapes and yet still manages to point the player in the direction of progress with some clever camera tracking and consistently highlighted platforms. The camera tracking sometimes presents problems as well as the player often finds their character is out of frame entirely. There are a wide array of skills to learn and the game does not lack in visual aids to help players learn each one. Every tutorial simulates the expected outcome. However, these visual aids would be much more effective with more descriptive instructions, better camera positioning, and an additional way for players to look back on old skills.

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Genre: action RPG
Platform (Played on): Nintendo Switch
Revenue Model: Buy to play
Released: 2020
Developer(s): Nodding Head Studios
Publisher(s): Super Dot Com Ltd

Difficulty Selection

  • The difficulty options contain some overlap and don’t provide specificity

    • Context: 

      • When choosing a difficulty level, the player can choose “story”, “campaign”, or “one shot one kill” providing descriptions of each 

      • “Campaign” is described with subjective terms such as “play the game as intended” with “easy”, “normal”, and “hard” modes 

      • “Story” is described as “eased up combat”

      • Including the three subcategories under "campaign", this makes for a total of 5 difficulty settings

    • Player impact:

      • Players may not be able to identify a mode that reflects their play style

      • Players may not understand the difference between 'easy' in Campaign mode and Story mode

    • Suggestion:

      • I recommend simplifying the difficulties to 4 levels, I kept the hardest difficulty as it was written:

        • Story: focus on the story 

        • Balanced campaign: get a balanced experience of both story and combat

        • Challenging campaign: for those who want more challenging gameplay

        • One shot one kill: kill or get killed in one shot

      • Choosing a difficulty setting does not indicate a player's skill level, it is only meant to help players choose their desired gameplay style

Tutorials

  • Not all players will be able to remember all the button input combinations

    • ​Context: â€‹

      • There is only one practice period in between introductions to new attacks

    • Player Impact:​

      • It can be difficult to remember multiple combos especially if a player hasn’t used a certain skill in some time

      • Players aren't provided reinforcement opportunities to memorize the attack combos and their specific uses before being introduced to a new one

    • Suggestion:​

      • Having a 'combos' list in the ‘controls’ option in the pause screen menu would provide players a reference to return to about the different button combinations and the different environments they are suited for

      • Reinforcing learnings with more opportunities for practice between new skills in between tutorials can help players feel more confident in their skills before learning a new skill

  • Tutorials model what the character should look like when performing a skill

    • Context:

      • In the training sections, a bright silhouette of the character will perform the skill being taught on repeat

    • Player impact:

      • This gives the player landmarks as to where they should stand to aim their skill and perform it as intended

Camera Controls

  • The camera rotates towards the path and helps players move forward

    • Context:

      • The camera rotates on its own and tracks the character as it moves

      • It points the player to the intended direction

    • Player Impact:

      • This indicates to the player how to move forward without an arrow or other icon interrupting the landscape of the game

  • Players are not able to orient themselves because of the automatic camera.

    • Context:

      • When standing at the position indicated by the tutorial silhouette, the buttons and targets are out of frame

      • The player would have to walk up to the target and button to see it

      • the first image shows the position that the player is expected to stand

      • the second image shows the intended target that was only visible if the player knew to walk 10 steps to the right

      • Sometimes the character is out of frame entirely if they are walking under a roof

    • Player Impact:

      • The player will not be able to aim and press the button at the same time when learning a skill for the first time

    • Suggestion:

      • I recommend allowing the player to tilt the camera and zoom out to find the target while staying near the tutorial silhouette 

      • This would let the player view the tutorial, the button, and the target at the same time 

Options

  • The information about autosaving is difficult to spot and players may not assume that their game autosaves if they do not notice this

    • Context: 

      • The screen shown above is only shown during the first loading screen

      • Every 5 minutes or so, the small spinning spear in the bottom right corner appears in order to indicate that the game is autosaving

      • After testing it, the game does indeed autosave at any given point when the player exits the game

    • Player impact:

      • Players may not understand that their progress is always saved if they have to take a break or step away

    • Suggestion: 

      • Including the word “saving…” in addition to the spear icon so they could receive confirmation that their progress was saved would reassure players that they could step away at any time in case they missed this screen

      • Placing the text in the center of the screen may make this information more noticeable 

  • The game does not teach players about their health system, players may not know when a battle will end

    • Context: 

      • Your character and the enemies are surrounded by a ring of prongs

      • Each prong represents a health point and more will disappear the more a character gets hit

      • The game does not explicitly tell the player about this

    • Player Impact

      • Players may not understand as to why an enemy is not yet defeated

      • Players may not understand when they’re about to be defeated

    • Suggestion: 

      • Clearly pointing out where the health is shown during the first battle will establish how to gauge the status of a fight

  • Players are not forced to remember the right buttons for every interaction

    • Context: 

      •  The game always reminds players of the buttons to interact, skip scenes, and solve puzzles

      • Puzzles always give players the option to display controls 

    • Player Impact

      • Players can focus on enjoying the gameplay and combat

  • Players can choose whether to interact with lore

    • Context: 

      • The glowing graphic on the ground is most often used to indicate that the player will receive information about the mythology

      • The player can ignore these with ‘Y’

    • Player Impact

      • A player who already knows this mythology can save time and return to the gameplay

Combat & Weapons

  • Players do not have to guess when they’ll be able to make the next weapons upgrade

    • Context: 

      • Throughout their journey, the player can collect bright white orbs

      • The function of these orbs is made clear when after the third orb, the player is prompted to press the ‘-’ as show in the image above

    • Player Impact

      • The game shows without telling the player both the purpose of the orbs and how to upgrade abilities and weapons

  • Players may not be able to understand how to switch between weapons and abilities options

    • Context: 

      • Over the course of the game, the player can choose between three weapons, three elemental gods, and three abilities on this screen

      • Abilities can be leveled up by assigning orbs found throughout the world

      • ‘Navigate’ is a vague term and does not indicate navigating between which options​​​​​

        • Navigating between abilities requires the left and right D pad buttons

        • Navigating between different elemental gods to bless your weapon requires the up and down D pad buttons

        • Using the left and right buttons for switching between gods or the up and down buttons for switching between abilities will not register

    • Player Impact

      • Players will not be able to remember which buttons yield which results because many buttons have several different functions depending on where the player is resting their selector 

    • Suggestion: 

      • Specifying which options the player is navigating between on the D pad would show players what the main functions of this screen are

      • Having three separate control screens pop up for switching between elemental gods, switching between abilities, and switching between weapons would specify what the player is navigating and how to navigate

      • Example:

        • When the player has their selector on a god, the screen will show that left and right trigger buttons switch between gods

        • When the player has their selector on a weapon, the screen will show that left and right trigger buttons switch between weapons

        • When the player has their selector on an ability, the screen will show that left and right trigger buttons switch between abilities

        • These may clarify where the player’s selector is and what their options are at any given moment

  • Some buttons have multiple conflicting functions which players would have to memorize based on their selector

    • Context: 

      • There are two different buttons dedicated to orb interactions 

        • ‘A’ is for removing orbs 

        • ‘B’ is for assigning orbs

      • There is more than one function assigned to a button

      • In the first image, ‘B’ is for switching weapons

        • ‘B’ is also used for assigning orbs

        • ‘B’ is also used for selecting an item, not specific to orb

    • Player Impact

      • Players may not remember which buttons are for which interactions at any given time

    • Suggestion: 

      • Assigning all orb functions to one dedicated button would reduce the amount of information the player must remember

      • I recommend assigning orb functions to the ‘A’ button because it is currently not connected to any other function

  • Players are not made to aim when they are limited to a top-down view

    • Context: 

      • The player is given one bow with which they attack both at close range and long range

      • When encountering enemies such as the flying creatures shown above, the bow shows which enemy the character is locking on to

    • Player Impact

      • Players are allowed to focus on strategy instead of their fine motor skills on a joystick

Traversal & Path Finding

  • The game signals to players where the path will continue

    • Context: 

      • climbing platforms are a slightly lighter color 

      • Dark areas have a lit path

    • Player Impact

      • Players are rarely confused about where to go next 

  • The character shows with her body language when it is safe to jump

    • Context: 

      • When climbing pole-like structures, the character jumps in the direction her body is turned

      • She will only turn her body to the next pole when she has locked onto the next target as shown in the second image

    • Player Impact

      • The player does not have to guess when it is safe to jump

  • Players may not be able to notice every new traversal method without being introduced

    • Context: 

      • Players can collect the light pink flower buds to throw a platform to help them jump across

      • The flowers pulsate about every 4 seconds but they take up very little space on the screen and do not have enough contrast with the environment

      • The prompt to interact with 'Y' only appears when the character is close enough

    • Player Impact

      • This can blend into the environment when there are other environmental elements that are lit but do not indicate a path forward

      • Examples: 

        • there are many large doors that are meant to stay locked but are framed by bright torches

        • There are large pink lotuses that glow on the water but are not meant to be path markers or interactables, they are only meant to be decorations within the palaces and shrines

    • Suggestion: 

      • Making the flowers larger may make them more noticeable and more obvious that they are interactable

      • Making the glow on environmental decorations duller would help interactables stand out more

  • The player can’t return to explore paths and secrets they intended to save for later

    • Context: 

      • The first image shows a platform that, in other sections, would allow the player to go back

        • This platform does not allow the player to go back in this scene only

        • There was no indication that this was a point of no return

      • In the second image, the character can jump from the right platform to the left but not vice versa. Paths such as these have a fork in the road with light paths using the same lamps on both sides

        • From left to right, the character misses the right platform entirely

      • There is no indication as to which path progresses the story and which path leads to collectibles

    • Player Impact

      • Many players consider themselves completionists

      • Players may miss easter eggs and achievements for the remainder of the run

      • They may also miss opportunities to heal themselves or level up their weapon abilities before a boss battle

    • Suggestion: 

      • Exaggerating the markers for the path of story progress, such as the lights shown above, would make it more obvious to players which path would allow them to backtrack

Conclusion

Raji: An Ancient Epic provides a visually stunning and culturally rich experience, bringing Indian mythology to life through its beautifully designed landscapes and engaging gameplay. While the game's camera tracking occasionally poses challenges, and the instructional aids could benefit from more detailed descriptions and better positioning, the overall experience is rewarding. The clever integration of puzzles and combat, along with a wide array of skills, keeps the gameplay dynamic and interesting. Despite the minor flaws, these do not take away from Raji's immersive adventure that is well worth exploring.

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