Ravenous Devils Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

I’m channeling my inner Sweeney Todd, with a razor blade in one hand and a suspiciously crunchy meat pie in the other. Morally bankrupt and engulfed in chest hair and blood-stained pittance, it seems that I’m lost in a hellhole of my own creation—a bleak Victorian dreamscape of three-piece suits and bone bread, flesh canals and two-for-one gizzards. Mentally, I’m absent from the gruesomeness of the affair. Yet, financially, I’m thriving. The world needs pies and pastries, and I need the coin to fashion an empire from the skeletal remains of the clientele. It’s dirty work, but who am I to turn a blind eye to blood money and a quick bite to eat? It’s Ravenous Devils, and business is booming.

In case you haven’t guessed it yet, Ravenous Devils is an exaggerated nod to Sweeney Todd. Heck, it is Sweeney Todd. Frankly, the only thing missing from the broth is the barber; it’s a tailor who pulls these strings, weirdly. But other than that, it’s the same deal. Yes, there’s a mischievous duo—a tailor and a baker—and yes, there is a cannibalistic relationship between the pie shop and the deceitful outfitters. You don’t need a degree in the culinary arts to do the math here, to be honest.

The idea is all rather simple: manage two sides of a business, one side being a tailors, where you accept clients and frequently slit their throats to earn meat, and the second side being a kitchen down below, where you essentially transform that meat into pies and other strange delicacies to flip a profit in a peculiar cafeteria. But, here’s the catch: you need both sides of the business to make a paycheck and flesh out your business, so to speak. Case in point, the culinary side cannot operate without meat, and the outfitters cannot operate without clothes from the victims. In other words, you need to juggle both simultaneously in order to progress deeper into the campaign and bulk out your business. A lot easier said than done, mind you.

Here’s another catch: not every client can be killed. Some folks, for example, require a certain objective to be fulfilled before you can advance. Say, if an notable person takes an interest in an outfit, then you must also figure out how to operate whilst tending to other needs on the side. As you progress, however, these minor setbacks begin to take shape as a well-oiled machine. Sweeney Todd eventually comes in to slap you on the back, and that small husk of a double-sided business of yours flourishes into the be all, end all of Victorian hybrid stores. But, more on the fruits of your labor later.

Pies & Lapels

Ravenous Devils is, at least to some extent, a traditional point-and-click business simulator game that follows a typical manner of progression as your usual strategy-based sim. In a similar vein as a lot of bog-standard rags-to-riches endeavors, it tasks you with juggling managerial chores around a store and, through the power of cold blood and coin, elevating its foundations to create a bustling hub for the local townsfolk. The only difference here, though, is that you aren’t providing a genuine product; you’re slaughtering victims in the upstairs quarter of your shop, and then hacking up their body parts to make pies in the downstairs quarter. A bit of a strange one, but stick with us.

The game itself is spread into two sections, with both sections contributing to your business’ evolution. It goes like this: a customer enters your outfitters, and you, being the cloak-and-dagger tailor, make the choice whether or not to spare them or take their life. If their life falls into your hands, then you can remove their attire, dispatch the body via a rather convenient chute, and alternate with your companion—a second hand who has the ability to launder meat and create products for a baked good store. The objective, really, is to create a well-orchestrated model that allows you to create a constant flow of clothes, meats, and food. A simple task on paper, for sure, but one that is surprisingly difficult to master.

Although the act of playing through the motions isn’t all that difficult, learning how to juggle everything at once can be a little daunting. For instance, at the start of each shift you have to ensure that there’s enough products available in both sides of the store, as well as keep tabs on your inventory and space for potential upgrades. And by upgrades I mean, more tiers for your pies, mannequins for your outfits, and more breathing room for your rather sadistic exploits.

Blood Ties & Suspicious Meats

While there isn’t much of a canvas for you to explore here, Ravenous Devils does make a good attempt to add a lot of minor details into its Victorian blueprint, with thematic characters, frequent references, and a good amount of tongue-in-cheek Easter Eggs. What’s more, it takes full advantage of its rather small size with a quality selection of upgrades and a satisfying hook that coerces you through a decent webbing of milestones and perks, challenges and crossroads. With occasional “regulars” and demanding customers to also keep track of, you almost have a constant flow of tasks to accomplish with each passing shift. The cutthroat nature of the work flourishes, and little by little, that inner Sweeney Todd emerges.

For a relatively small game, Ravenous Devils has a lot to offer, with a fairly sizable campaign and a lot of fine touches that lean into those Victorian-esque moments of periodic turbulence and woe, social hierarchies and a constant desire to keep heads above water in a trying time. Granted, it doesn’t delve too deep into a thought-provoking plot, but the elements are certainly there, and they often bleed through specific parts of the gameplay experience and fleeting encounters with the characters themselves.

Thankfully, the game plays as it should, with little to no major technical flaws or audiovisual bugs to sully an otherwise near-perfect experience. It’s still a small game that leaves a fair amount to be desired. But, for what it’s worth, it does accomplish a lot with its scale. With a variety of options and mechanics to keep you gripped, it upholds its value as a well-orchestrated business sim that not only feels good to cut through, but immensely rewarding to complete, too. And that speaks volumes, truly.

Verdict

Ravenous Devils’ nod to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is as thematically on point as it is on par with several of the most gruesomely crafted point-and-click business simulators of all time. It’s a shame, really, that it’s one of the few sleeper hits that hasn’t gone on to receive the same acclaim as a cult culinary sim. Does it have the potential to emerge as a triumphant ode to Victorian culture? Absolutely. But, perhaps that time has long passed.

Of course, if you are itching to take a walk on the wild side of the culinary field, then you ought to take the time to carve through Ravenous Devils’ cutthroat banquet of charred flesh and three-piece suits. It’s weird, gruesome, and above all, a genuinely gripping indie that deserves to share the spotlight with its most beloved adversaries.