Software:Ravenous Devils

From HandWiki
Short description: 2022 horror cooking simulation game
Ravenous Devils
Developer(s)Bad Vices Games
Publisher(s)
  • Bad Vices Games
  • Troglobytes Games
Designer(s)
  • Cristian Gambadori
  • Eleonora Vecchi
Artist(s)
  • Mirco Pierfederici
  • Matteo Parente
Composer(s)Federico Manuppella
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: April 29, 2022
Genre(s)Horror, cooking simulator
Mode(s)Single player

Ravenous Devils is a horror cooking simulation game developed and published by Bad Vices Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on April 29, 2022. The console versions of the game were ported and published by Troglobytes Games.[1]

The game takes place in 19th century Victorian London, and centers around Percival and Hildred, who run a tailor shop and pub, respectively. Percival provides the ingredients for Hildred's meat-based recipes by murdering his clients and throwing the bodies down a trap door that leads to her kitchen. Hildred then cooks the bodies into meals, to serve them to her customers upstairs.

The game draws heavy inspiration from Sweeney Todd both in terms of style and story. It's even implied that he was the previous owner of the building Hildred and Percival move into in the intro cinematic, where Percival remarks that it used to belong to "a well-known barber in the town."

Gameplay

The player controls both Hildred and Percival, though the characters are not able to interact directly with each other during the portions of the game where they're player-controlled. The player determines which character they're controlling by vertical side-scrolling, with Percival being able to navigate through the top floors of the building, and Hildred the ground floor and basement.

The gameplay is broken up into days, which each last between 10 and 12 minutes. During this time Percival is tasked with selling clothes to customers who are looking to buy new clothes in the front of the shop, and killing the customers who enter the back of his shop to have their measurements taken. After this he steals his victims' clothes and disposes of the body by throwing it down a trap door that leads directly to the basement, where Hildred's kitchen is located. The clothes get patched and put up for sale, and after Percival cleans up the blood he is able to accept new customers in the back of his shop. Later in the game Percival is also tasked with tending to the greenhouse, which is located on the top floor. Occasionally a body has to be dragged upstairs to be used for composting for the vegetables, rather than have them all thrown down the hatch.

Meanwhile Hildred has to serve meals to her customers in the pub. The bodies are provided by Percival and turned into raw ingredients by Hildred, who starts off only owning a meat grinder but is later able to turn the bodies into sausages and steaks as well. After this the meat gets cooked and served. Each of these actions take up time, and the animations for meat preparation can't be interrupted, which puts pressure on the player.[2]

The moment a customer enters and is unable to buy anything, a timer starts to run that determines the customer's satisfaction. The sooner the customer is served, the higher the reputation gain is for Hildred and Percival, but if the timer runs out completely, they lose reputation as well as a sale.

At the end of each day the player's losses and gains in reputation are calculated, as well as the amount of money made. This money can be spent on upgrades (such as new or better equipment, new ingredients, or new recipes, among other things) or new outfits. Sometimes the player receives a letter by a threatening, pseudonymous figure who identifies himself as "J", or a different event happens that serves to move the plot forward. Before starting a new day the player is able to make preparations without a timer running.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic75/100[3]
Review score
PublicationScore
Game Informer7.5/10[2]

Ravenous Devils received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic,[3] where the game has an average score of 7.5. On Steam the game was well-received, with 93% of the reviews being positive.[4]

Brad Gallaway from GameCritics.com praised the game for its controls and its compact, focused design, but criticized its lack of narrative depth and shortness.[5] Michelangelo Casto from Everyeye.it similarly was disappointed that the story was wrapping up just when the game was hitting its stride.[6] Simone Tagliaferri from Multiplayer.it remarked that despite its grim subject matter, he found the gameplay to be relaxing thanks to its constant progression and a lack of punishing mechanics for failing, but he did mention that the gameplay starts to feel repetitive after a few hours. Besides the gameplay he praised the game for its art direction and the animations.[7] Andrew Reiner from Game Informer positively remarked on the upgrade system, which not only adds depth to the gameplay, but increases both the difficulty and potential reward.[2] Philip Watson from CGMagazine praised the game for being a well-executed and original twist on the horror and cooking simulator genres, with an excellent art style and musical score, but criticized the repetitive gameplay and issues with controls when playing on the Xbox.[8]

Multiple reviewers mentioned finding the "steak chopping" animation particularly gruesome.[5][7]

References

  1. ↑ "Ravenous Devils on IndieDB - Press kit". IndieDB. 29 April 2022. https://www.indiedb.com/games/ravenous-devils/presskit. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Andrew Reiner (May 12, 2022). "Ravenous Devils Review: Disturbing, Dark, And Different". Game Informer. https://www.gameinformer.com/review/ravenous-devils/disturbing-dark-and-different. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Ravenous Devils for Xbox Series X Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/ravenous-devils/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox-series-x. 
  4. ↑ "Ravenous Devils on Steam". https://store.steampowered.com/app/1615290/Ravenous_Devils/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Brad Gallaway (May 11, 2022). "The Sweetest Meat Is Closest To The Bone". GameCritics.com. https://gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/ravenous-devils-review/. 
  6. ↑ Michelangelo Casto (April 29, 2022). "Ravenous Devils Recensione: Orrore Italiano In Stile Sweeney Todd" (in it). Everyeye.it. https://www.everyeye.it/articoli/recensione-ravenous-devils-orrore-italiano-stile-sweeney-todd-57236.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Simone Tagliaferri (April 29, 2022). "Ravenous Devils, la recensione di un gestionale in cui si tritano e servono esseri umani" (in it). Multiplayer.it. https://multiplayer.it/recensioni/ravenous-devils-recensione.html. 
  8. ↑ Philip Watson (April 29, 2022). "Ravenous Devils (Xbox Series X) Review - Man Devouring Man". CGMagazine. https://www.cgmagonline.com/review/game/ravenous-devils-xbox-series-x-review/. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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