Punishing: Gray Raven Review – An Awesome Sci-Fi Action RPG

Action RPGs are always fun to play because of the different elements it usually provides. You can expect it to have epic battles, as well as proper strategizing. You can also expect RPGs to provide compelling storylines and awesome characters to collect. This is what makes them popular and the reason why there are many of them available. One such action RPG that you can play is Punishing: Gray Raven.

It’s a sci-fi role-playing game published by Kuro Technology (Hong Kong) Co., Limited. It’s a game that’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans are almost extinct. And the reason for this is the robotic army called the Corrupted. They’re being controlled by a biochemical virus known as The Punishing, which has the objective of eliminating all humans. To fight back, humans created cyborg soldiers known as Constructs.

In this game, you play the role of the leader of Gray Raven, one of the most well-known special forces units. It’s tasked to lead the mission in reclaiming Earth from the Corrupted. From the looks of it, it seems like an awesome sci-fi action RPG that you can play. But is it really? Let’s find out in this Punishing: Gray Raven review.

The Gameplay of Punishing: Gray Raven

Before we discuss what’s good and bad about this game, let’s first discuss its gameplay. One of the things that you’ll notice about this RPG is that its gameplay is a bit unique. It also features text-based gameplay. That’s right, there will be moments in the game where you’ll be given choices or options on how to respond to certain conversations. Your chosen option won’t have an impact on the overall story. But it can affect your relationship with the characters.
 

 
Of course, the main gameplay would be the battle sequence. It’s a hack and slash battle system where you have the freedom to move around during the battle. During the battle, you’ll only have 3 buttons to use—movement, dash, and basic attack. There are skill buttons, but they just appear on the screen during the battle. A battle sequence will usually have 3 fights for you to complete, with the last one being a boss fight or a fight against a strong monster.

You will also form a team of Constructs here, using 3 Constructs at a time. During the battle, you will only use 1 Construct. You can tag in the other two and switch the one you’re using. This will allow you to preserve a Construct that already has low health. You can also switch in a Construct that has an advantage against your opponent. Like with any RPG, it features many different Constructs for you to summon, upgrade, and use in battle. But remember, you can only use 3 Constructs for your team, so assemble it wisely.

Now that you have a basic idea of the gameplay, let’s discuss what’s good and bad with Punishing: Gray Raven.

What’s Great About Punishing: Gray Raven?

There are several great things about Punishing: Gray Raven, which makes it an awesome sci-fi RPG. Let’s discuss several of them here.

Constructs are Well-Balanced

Probably one of the best things about Punishing: Gray Raven is that all the available Constructs are not useless. This is something that you don’t see usually in RPGs, especially among gacha RPGs. Developers are always looking to release more powerful characters, so players will be enticed to try and acquire them. Power creep still exists in this game. Newer characters will still be more powerful than older ones.

But they are not overpowered to the point that older characters become useless. Old characters are still viable options to use in battle. This means that you don’t always have to follow what the meta says when assembling your team. Sure, using powerful characters can help greatly in battle. But they’re not really a must to help you progress and overcome challenging battles. Even with new characters arriving, you can still use your favorite character on your team. You still won’t have issues completing levels.

It’s Fairly Easy to Acquire All Constructs

Another thing that’s great about Punishing: Gray Raven is that acquiring all the constructs is easier. Yes, the gacha system still uses RNG, which means acquiring Constructs are random. But it does have a pity system, which is a system that will award you the character you desire. You’ll get this after spending a lot of in-game currency for summoning and not getting the character you desire. This is a great way to ensure that you’ll get the Constructs that you want in the game.

It’s also easy to farm the resources that you can use for summoning Constructs. The Black Cards, which are the premium currency, can easily be obtained via completing dailies and weekly tasks.
 

The Battle is Based More on Skills than Constructs

The reason why you can still progress in the game even if you use older Constructs is that the game is skill-based. That’s right, the battle sequence is actually a bit challenging, especially as you progress further in the game. This is why even with powerful heroes, you can’t expect to just breeze through your opponents. You need to be able to properly use and control them in battle. This is why you’ll need to properly learn the battle sequence. It will determine your success and progress in this game.

What’s Bad About Punishing: Gray Raven?

Of course, not everything about Punishing: Gray Raven is good. In this section, we’ll discuss what’s bad about the game.

The Game Doesn’t Seem to Be Polished Yet

Probably the only gripe you’ll have with Punishing: Gray Raven is that it doesn’t seem to be polished yet. There are some minor annoyances throughout the game you will likely notice. Grammatical errors are scattered throughout the conversations. And the game’s graphics can be a bit blurry, making it difficult to read some of the texts. They’re not really major issues, but just minor inconveniences that can be annoying to deal with.

Verdict (4.5/5)

Looking at what Punishing: Gray Raven has to offer, it’s easy to see that this is a very fun and exciting action RPG. Sure there are a few annoyances that you’ll deal with. But they’re just minor inconveniences compared to the great things that the game has to offer. And with that assessment, it’s easy to give this action RPG a rating of 4.5 out of 5.