GRAVEN

This is a somewhat cautious recommended. Whilst it can be fun and more engaging than the glut of simplistic but oh so flashy indie shooters that seem to be the norm these days, it is a flawed product that can be irritating in places.
Graven is a first-person mixture of melee and ranged combat, with exploration, platforming and some mild puzzle elements. Generally all of those things are done reasonably well, though it tends to stumble in enough little ways that it lessens the experience.
Your weapons can be enjoyable, particularly when the effects are explosive, but you tend to find there isn't much difference between them. I have four weapons that are all essentially the same: something that looks like a crossbow and can be upgraded to fire explosives, an actual crossbow that...fires explosives, and...uh..a different crossbow that fires...um...explosives. Then a final non-crossbow that fires....*can you guess what?* explosives.
The same can said for a melee staff versus using a sword (though that does let you block projectiles, to be fair), or using a flail. Nothing really differentiates them when it comes to bashing a monsters face in, so even though its fun bashing a monsters face in there is still the disappointment that every "new" weapon is rarely exciting to obtain.
And whoever designed this in a way that you have to wait as animations finish when switching weapons and items needs some sense knocking into them. As it can be annoyingly slow changing between them, and even better yet there isn't a weapons wheel when using a controller, so the whole thing is sluggish and fiddly.
Most of the time it isn't too bad, but when the action gets hectic it feels like a poor choice to have made. Which is a shame, as it's quite visceral and enjoyable upto a point. Boss-battles are simplistic sh*te, though there's only three of them, and in all fairness, I can't recall the last game of this type (be it a boomer shooter, or fantasy combat like this) that wasn't utterly crap in this regard.
Its not exactly an endorsement of this title that everyone else produces dog-sh*t when it comes to these supposedly "thrilling" encounters, but as I said: there's not that many of them, so I'll let it slide.
Exploration is nice, as this isn't a linear title and it has pleasant secrets hidden about, or "cute" progression compared to something where its just switch-hunting or finding keys. Like, you know, the bazillions of simplistic boomer shooters that don't even have those two activities, never-mind anything even vaguely more sophisticated.
But then it doesn't give you a map, and any time you save out of an area you don't restart at the same place. Instead you go back to a hub area and have to make your way back. The game isn't exactly short, but the 30 hours I've clocked up so far is a lot of back-tracking, either because I missed something obscure, or because of quitting before a level was finished.
So far this sounds like I have more issues with it than positives, and it's true that you need patience to "enjoy" this, but it is still fun....mostly. Perhaps I'm just sick of dumb shooty-shooty-bang-bang, of which a blind person throwing a dart at titles on steam could hit, I dunno, a thousand of the same mind-numbingly dull DOOM Eternal wannabes with PS1 era graphics (thumbs down: not enough polygonal warbling or pop-in, and it has hi-res textures...disgusting in this day and age!!)
Something about Graven, despite its many issues, makes it more appealing than those kinds of games, but it is just "okay" and should have been better. This isn't Dishonored, Thief or Dark messiah of might and magic, but then again - what is these days? I'd really like to know of any title that comes even vaguely close to those games, because beyond the likes of them conventional shooters just bore me to tears.
This game will probably bore you to tears, or frustrate you, but it may not. I just appreciate that it has somewhat more depth than most, and there's slim pickings to be had in the genre so it will have to suffice. Maybe Avowed won't be too bad and will have fewer rough edges, but I won't hold my breath based on what I've seen of it so far (the game-play could be great, but the graphics are yucky, which is awkward..because they aren't even deliberately making it look crap and outdated)
In the meantime I wouldn't recommend this over Amid Evil (which is better than this in most ways, although the bosses are rubbish there too), or Hands of necromancy (great combat and exploration, but insipid woeful boss-battles...what a shock....), but I did find it more appealing than the likes of Elderborn.
PS: The reviews mentioning soft-locks may have been correct at the time of release, but it was very stable for me so I think that has been fixed. The level design can make it SEEM like it has screwed you over, and I thought that a couple of times, but in the end they always do provide a means for alternate access.
You maybe get to an area by pulling a switch that activates a lift, and then that lever stops working. "The game is broke" you think, but no! The lever only stops working when you have completed that bit, and some other exit has opened up. It would be easy to say its bust, and maybe it was before, but now its just on you as the player for not figuring it out.
I'm in the last area of the game (act 3), so unless there is a massive f**k-up at the end - it's working fine when people are saying they couldn't get past act 1!

This is NOT a boomer shooter, alot of people were expecting a Heretic or Hexen clone but it's not even remotely close to either of those games. It's more of an action/adventure game with a Dark Souls-like hub world that branches out as you progress through the game. You'll be revisiting old areas with new upgrades and spells to uncover more loot and items.
Yes it's pretty janky and development for the last half of the game was clearly rushed but what's here is enjoyable.

I'll give this a positive rating, but I have a few reservations about the game. It's a rough gem riddled with questionable design choices, poor execution and mimicking the wrong parts of the games that inspired it. I'd recommend this game only if you REALLY liked Hexen and Heretic otherwise it's probable this game's flaws will be too much for you to enhoy it - hell, I WANTED so badly to love this game and more than once I thought about just quitting!

Well, if you're still here, let me say I think at least part of the harsh criticism this game got has to deal with too much expectations. If Blood got its Cultic, Hexen doesn't have an heir of the same caliber. The game starts so strong: the aesthetic, the sounds, the writing, the voice acting... everything looks so promising! It doesn't take long for Graven's flaws to dampen its brilliance though.

For starters, no map. Hexen and Herectic were mazes, but they had the decency of giving you a map. It's weird because Graven HAD a map in EA, but lost it, apparently because development was affected by time/money constraints. A simple compass would've helped a lot if a map wasn't possible.

Then you have no save system (quick save/load or manual saves). If you quit your session you start at the hub area. Good luck finding where you left off with no map! Be prepared for a good amount of backtracking. This games wastes so much of the player's time with this and figuring out what the hell I'm supposed to do and where. It kills the pacing and is frustrating.

This is less of a problem in Acts 2 and 3, because they're much shorter and smaller in map size/side quests. Those acts flow much better and keep the momentum (mostly), but at the cost of simpler interconnected maps and less content. Probably because of the troubled development as well.

I could go on, but I'll just say that despite all this, Graven had charm enough to make me put up with its flaws until the conclusion. I have no doubt it's a much better game in a second playthrough, but I doubt most will finish the first. It's one of those games that are hard to recommend, but that can be great for a particular kind of gamer.

This game deserves a much better review score.
A modern day Hexen / Heretic that doesn't hold your hand. The level design is fantastic and the combination of fighting and puzzles is just right in my opinion. The difficulty is tough without being annoying. Death causes you to lose money and sets you back a bit from upgrading your gear, which hurts but doesn't make you want to stop playing. The little bit of jank is reminiscent of original Quake.
More like a fps Diablo than a traditional shooter. The music and atmosphere are fantastic.
I got it on special only because of the negative reviews. Would happily pay full price.
9/10

An amazing game, i really dont understand the hate.
-playing on hardest is perfect hard for old school
-fight system forces you for reall to use all the weapons and combos
-no map or way guide, u really have to memorize the maps, maps are old doom like
-art style is refreshing different
-real secrets to find, well hidden and tricky
-no save/load abuse possible
-spend 10h already and didng even finish the first act of four (with exploring)
-i think this game is just to oldschool and hard for new generations

For me as an old fan of Hexen/Heretic series, Graven turned out to be quite awesome gaming experience.
In fact, I stumbled upon this game by accident when I used "Hexen" as a search keyword in Steam Store.

PROS
Level design is absolutely gorgeous, especially during the first act. Verticality is used to a great extent. And that clocktower looming in the background as seen from many vantage points within the swamp area nicely adds to the atmosphere.
Musical score is awesome.
Very imaginative and varying monsters. Some are just plain weird, in a good way.
Combat is fast-paced and satisfying. Tight close-quarter fight against the weird cultists in the Library basement was especially memorable.
Interesting storyline. You can uncover bits and pieces about the events by reading obscure books and notes scattered throughout the world.

CONS
Due to softlock bugs I managed to lock myself out from progressing a couple of times. Nothing a savegame backup or looking discussion forums for help wouldn't fix.
Graven makes no incremental savegame backups, so have to do that myself.
Random crashes during Act 2 due to "D3D DEVICE LOST" error.
Achievements are not registering in the most current version.

My biggest gripe is that the campaign is quite short and once I finished the game (some 30+ hours), that's all there is to it. There doesn't appear to be level editing support available so we will not be seeing community-made DLCs, either. Shame, because Graven would surely make a great base for some rather interesting fan-made levels and mods.

This game is a real hidden gem. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it though, Graven is definitely not for everyone. It is quite rough around the edges and severely in need of a map and better fast travel system. But DAMN, is this a good crossover of a metroidvania, rpg and boomer shooter. Gives me some serious Dark Messiah of Might and Magic nostalgia vibes, even more so as it allows you to stack boxes and sequence break some parts with a bit of finesse. Oh, and the mighty kick, while at first not quite as powerful as dark messiah's, can easily fling enemies into the shadow realm after you get a specific gem for your staff, which can be acquired fairly early on. While not as open-ended regarding combat options as Dark Messiah, Graven does let you do some im-sim shenanigans with enemies, which are an actual rarity nowadays, such as kicking them into traps, tossing them down chasms and leading them into explosive barrels.
This game has some of the most satisfying old school Hexen-inspired melee combat I've experienced in ages. The maps are vast and filled with secrets and it has some truly inspired architecture and art direction, featuring quite good environmental story telling. There is some good enemy variety and the weapons and spells I've unlocked so far are sufficiently varied and satisfying to use. The spells are a bit underpowered at their base state though, but offer good utility to burn through shields and zap enemies into a stun state and solve environmental puzzles. Not a fan of the major self damage you get if you cast the zap spell in water though, as areas with water are where the spell is actually most effective versus enemies.
HOWEVER, while this game can impecably channel what made games like heretic, hexen and hexen 2 so great, it also falls into some of their pitfalls. Particularly, the convoluted and sometimes obtuse level design of hexen 2 in which finding the way forward or where to use a newly acquired key item can be a frustrating chore. And because Graven has enemy respawns upon revisiting a cleared area, checking that one door you vaguely remember from 1h ago can easily turn into a wild goose chase where you end up clearing an entire area again just to find the damn door. And then you find out the item is actually for another door...
I'm not a big fan of extreme handholding of many modern games that give you an arrow pointing exactly where to go at all times and have yellow paint on every interactable part of the map, but Graven steers way too far into the other direction, with vague objectives and item descriptions and frequent criptic clues for puzzles. If only the game gave you any sort of map, much of this frustration would be alleviated. And fast travel would be much appreciated. In the game's defense, you can frequently unlock shortcuts to alleviate backtracking and going to town to spend your gold, but for how crucial these are, some are far too well hidden and require you to maintain a clear mental map of the area you're in to take advantage of them.
Finally, the stamina system feels like a poorly thought out and unnecessary addition in a game with massive maps that you will want to be running in 90% of the time. Also, the weapons taking up multiple quickslots when you can pause the game at any time to switch out your equipped gear is such a bad idea that adds nothing to the game other than wasting players' time... Fortunantely, there are two mods that fix these issues on Nexus mods which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who wishes to play game and have a good time.
All in all, despite its many shortcomings, I've very much enjoyed my time with Graven so far and I can safely say there is nothing quite like this on the market that I'm aware of. Hope acts 2 and 3 won't disappoint.
PS: The game is a little finnicky and I've read it has a few possible softlocks, so make sure to back up your save files every now and then.
EDIT: Wow, I think the game has wiped my inventory about 8 times by now. Most frequently after I got stuck in some geometry and quit to menu. You ABSOLUTELY MUST keep regular backups of your saves. THIS GAME IS VERY BUGGY, so BE WARNED! Still great otherwise, but man is this annoying
Save data is located in the folder C:\Users\*YourUsername*\AppData\Local\Praest\Saved