Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, & PC)

“Never Grave” has an almost ‘win big or die trying’ attitude about it. The fact that it has roguelike elements only drives the sentiment home. Well, roguelike, action-platforming Metroidvania, and base-building, if you can believe it. Seemingly a lot going on that can potentially make or break your experience. Happy to report, however, that the former is truer than initially perceived. Just something about the gameplay elements’ smooth balance of action versus reward, whether through exploration or craftsmanship. 

With the influx of Metroidvanias, though, in the indie sector more prominently, you might step into yet another new experience with a cautious heart and mind. And the reluctance to accept anything new as innovative or revolutionary has its respectable merits. But there is something special here to enjoy, maybe even remember long post the credits roll, something worth diving into for the attractive price of $16.99. As always, our Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse review explores everything you need to know before buying yourself a copy, if need be. 

World Turned Upside Down

The moment that everything changed for our “young girl” protagonist is so effectively dramatic. Her superior, maybe, casts a spell on her and throws her into the abyss of a cursed kingdom. Dusting herself off, the young girl swears to climb back up the vertical kingdom, rebuilding its ruins as she goes, until she reclaims her status among the rulership. Or at least that’s what I could infer from the sparse premise.  

Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse’s narrative isn’t its strongest suit, with a silent protagonist and NPCs who do little to break down the lore. It feels like scrambling for what little information you can get to piece together what’s happening. Yet strangely, it’s an effort that comes easily, a genuine desire to want to know what the hell is going on with “The Witch and the Curse” put on them. 

It’s so easy to fall in love with the story, despite its shortcomings, because of the clever ideas you stumble onto. The biggest of them all is the protagonist’s hat having a mind of its own. It’s the item that controls your movement and attacks. But even more surprising is that you can dispatch the hat onto a fallen enemy and control them instead. “Possession” outrightly of another beastly creature, and inheriting their movement and attacks as a result. 

A Witch’s Hat

Plenty of the fun and satisfying ideas seem more present and felt in the combat sections. And it’s mostly thanks to the hat mechanic, which feels like the most audacious idea, indeed. Perhaps other games have tried similar concepts of possession, but never in this exact way. The way the hat moves graciously on top of your head, pulling the protagonist in the direction it chooses. The way it leaps onto fallen enemies and begins controlling them just as flawlessly. 

That’s another aspect that Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse nails down. Its control system feels stupid fast and fluid, with actions relaying quickly and responsively. Combined with fluid animations, you truly enjoy a most frictionless hopping about the kingdom. Well, running, double jumping, and air dashing, which are unlocked the more you play, that combined result in seamless traversal. 

Possessing fallen enemies also expands your movesets, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible areas and solve some pretty nifty environmental puzzles. You’re often stumbling onto exciting secrets hidden in plain sight, rewarding you with plenty of goodies to enhance your journey. However, run into trouble, and if your skill level and upgrades aren’t quite there yet to take on stronger enemies, you’ll likely die and have to redo the run.

Surprises in Store

Here’s where roguelike features come in. You’re sent back to the starting point, which is a church with nuns. Any resources gained during your previous run help enhance your next one, whether that’s unlocking new items and equipment using in-game currency or upgrading your stats and skills. You’ll unlock a skill tree that needs constant watering to bear fruit, and the only way how is to brace yourself for another run, and another, and another until you beat the boss at the end of the level. 

To help with growing familiarity, Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse randomizes its runs, using procedurally generated levels to keep things refreshing. It’s pretty handy, given that the enemy encounters and rewards are almost always, never the same. And the variety, too, is helpful, from the enemy designs and attack patterns to the potential loot and rewards. Yet, even then, the familiarity of the level designs soon grows on you, especially when you’re several hours in. Thankfully, not persistently enough to become boring.

While imperfect, the levels inspire genuine excitement during exploration. Puzzles, combined with tucked-away secrets and tough enemies, help keep your journey interesting. But it’s the Metroidvania structure that’s also engaging, when you unlock new abilities that allow you to explore previously inaccessible areas. The map is ever-growing and evolving, revealing new pathways and challenges to get through. There are still far more exciting maps out there, though, with more surprises and content. 

Country Roads

Comparing Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse to other Metroidvanias reveals more rough roads to travel. And I know, reviewing a new game should have no business comparing it to another. Games deserve independent criticism. But the combat here in specific could definitely have been deeper and more strategic. Because at present, it’s an easily mashable three-hit melee combo. 

Or weapon attacks, from your sword to dagger, imbued with elemental status effects. These are limited and seldom change throughout your playthrough. And being a witch, magic spells are a definite must. They’re the more exciting combat counterpart, adding extra flair and visual effects to your encounters. On the one hand, you have a smooth and responsive combat system. On the other hand, your toolsets feel limited and hardly varied enough.

It’s great that enemies still put up a worthy challenge, and thus keep you interested in wanting to beat them. Battles are fast-paced, too, keeping the speed and momentum at a brisk pace. While newcomers may struggle a bit, battles are pretty challenging to sweat out the most notorious Metroidvania players. Particularly, having to go through a run with at least three levels, then finally a boss battle that will most likely take you out on the first, and maybe even the second try. 

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

But no need to worry, when you have three friends you can bring in to the four-player co-op mode. Sharing resources, covering more ground, and coordinating attacks eventually make playthroughs that much more rewarding. It’s a smooth ride having friends join in, even during chaotic moments of gameplay. And that’s saying a lot, given that the possibilities of enemies crowding all around you and the towering end-to-end screen bosses. 

The technical side of things is generally something Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse has locked in. Nothing has been left to chance, from the performance to the presentation. It’s stunning, with a beautiful balance of bleak versus sparkle. A most fluid animation of beautiful sprite work and atmospheric music backing it all up. 

I’d break down what the base-building is about, but it’s nothing as complex as dedicated city-building games. You’re restoring the kingdom, one structure at a time. Unlockable blueprints inform your placements, and there are a variety of structures serving different purposes. Crafting stations, for one, come in handy in metaprogression, as do recipe stalls. While not complex, it’s still awesome that a Metroidvania includes base-building as part of its gameplay.

Verdict 

Most of Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse’s story and gameplay is to love. And if there are any debacles, they are hardly frustrating or tedious. It’s a genuinely fun time traversing the 2D side-scrolling world Frontside 180, and Pocketpair Publishing has created. Most especially the hat mechanic, which controls your character, and can hop on over to fallen enemies, and control them, instead. 

It’s a possession gameplay feature that really helps make something memorable of your experience. And even encourages redoing runs over and over, just so you can discover all the creatures you’re able to possess, and how differently they move and control. It’s a shame that the combat itself and level design don’t quite share the same caliber of surprise or innovation. 

I’ll say base-building, no matter how straightforward, does help change the pace of gameplay to a satisfying degree. Even when you die and are sent back to the hub to upgrade, you enjoy the gameplay loop based on the little things Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse does to make it feel creative, surprising, and maybe even unique.