Str8JaktJimRaccoo Venture is a platformer from solo indie developer Diego Ras. Drawing inspiration from 90s 3D platformers, players slide into the shoes of Raccoo, the last heir of the Guardian Power and protector of the Holy Relics. Holy Relics that look suspiciously like chess pieces and squares from a chess board. The game starts with the Tattooed Tatus stealing the Holy Relics with Raccoo in hot pursuit to recover them.
Raccoo Venture: A Promising Start
Starting out Raccoo has one main attack: a ground pound. Most enemies are vulnerable to it but there is the occasional spiked opponent. Usually that means something will be nearby that can be thrown at them instead.
Raccoo Venture has 17 levels across five regions. Each region feels distinct and has its own identity. The levels have two chess pieces to collect. One can be found by solving puzzles and the other is unlocked by collecting the level’s four chess board squares. Each region requires a certain amount of Holy Relics to be found before moving on to the next.
Scattered throughout the levels are other collectibles such as different costumes and dolls. Players can even expand their time underwater by finding orbs that increase their breath-holding ability.
Frustration Over Fascination
Initially I was impressed by Raccoo Venture. There were lots of promising indications. Early on I came across an out-of-reach area with a sign hinting that a certain costume would open the way. I was excited for a reason to come back to these levels to search for more secrets. Sadly, the game fails to capitalise. By the end of my time with the game I had unlocked 20 costumes and only needed two for puzzles.
Combat remains basic. The ground pound is the main method of attack for the entire game with the need to occasionally throw objects. Unfortunately, the quick accuracy needed to hit enemies when they are in a group isn’t quite there. I would have appreciated a punch attack.
Most enemies are easy to deal with in small quantities, but I always dreaded coming across the archers. Their range and accuracy is ridiculous. I could be two whole screens away from them but if they were still being aggressive, they could hit me. It made searching for secrets much harder than it should have been.
How Many Cycles in Raccoo Venture?
The boss fights in Raccoo Venture are repetitive are very cycle based. The cycles themselves wouldn’t be so bad but for how long they take, and they only increased in length the further into a boss fight I progressed. Missed a hit? Now I must wait another cycle for the boss to become vulnerable again.
Searching for secrets is one of the most frustrating parts of the game. Most are fairly obvious to work out. The ones that aren’t are hidden in ridiculous places. Solving those puzzles rarely left me with a feeling of satisfaction. More often I would let out an irritated groan and hope I never had to do that again.
Controller Throwing Irritation
For the most part, the platforming in Raccoo Venture is entertaining enough. Most areas are fun to get through. But there are a significant number of areas where something trivial is turned into a controller-throwing event.
Midway through the game, the power to create a double of Raccoo is unlocked. Picking up a certain crystal and throwing it will create a duplicate that will either copy your controller inputs or do the opposite. None of these sections are fun. They feel like they were designed in a way to artificially create difficulty rather than a well-designed puzzle.
Progression to the next region is locked behind finding a certain number of Holy Relics. But the amount needed is very high. To access the final area of the game I needed to have 21 chess pieces and 42 chess board squares. For perspective, the maximum possible I could have had at that point was 26 chess pieces and 52 board squares. That’s a lot of the annoying secrets that were required to progress.
Raccoo Venture
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a game start as promisingly as Raccoo Venture and fall away so hard. Discovering coyote time and the costume secrets that seemed to encourage exploration had me excited.
That excitement dropped off quickly when I realised how frustrating the bulk of the game is. The level design has its moments but so much of the mid to late game was not enjoyable.
Racco Venture is out now for PC, Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo Switch.
Chris Inglis
