Princess of India

It seems like I find these kids of action-oriented platformers show up occasionally, and while they are always solid, they never stand out from each other. That’s not to say they are bad by any means, they are usually fun, a little short in some instances, and throw in a few interesting mechanics here and there. Maybe I’ve just played a lot of them. Either way, Raji is another one of those action platformers that adds some new things as well as feels very much like the rest.

Players are Raji, a street performer with some rather impressive acrobatic skills. When her brother is kidnapped by demonic forces of darkness, she is determined to fight her way through the hoards of enemies to get her beloved brother back with the help of the two Hindu gods, Durga and Vishnu, who grant her powers and weapons to fight against the darkness.

MSRP: $24.99
Price I’d pay: $15

Having an isometric view, Raji is a familiar feeling game that harkens back to titles like Prince of Persia. Raji herself has multiple dodge and acrobatic abilities that even change up her attacks depending on the button pressed and the weapon equipped. With the bow and arrow, she can bounce off a cart or wall and fire multiple arrows down, while with the staff she can slam down on the ground for a nice AOE attack. Combat has the feeling of combo attacks with precise dodging and strikes that set up for a “stick and move” style of gameplay.

The platforming sections have Raji jumping, grappling, and wall running just like the Persian Prince would. While none of it was overly challenging, the way certain areas were mapped out, I would sometimes miss a jump or not see where I needed to go at times. Falling to my doom meant having to go through a loading screen which was just long enough to get under my skin, so having to repeat platforming sections got tedious in some instances. On top of that, enemies would begin to overwhelm me in some battles, and having to start over sections due to getting bombarded tinged me a little as well.

Raji can also allot upgrades to her weapons and abilities like chain attacks or stun potential. These helped out significantly during combat, and the great thing was that no skill points were locked. Once I earned them, I could put them wherever I wanted and move them to wherever I pleased. It was a nice mechanic that allowed me to experiment.

There is a lot of story to be told here, as well the game is narrated by the two aiding gods and there is a ton of Hindu mythos, much of which I was never familiar with. It was refreshing to see this new mythology that I knew nothing about explained, and in this context, it was told very well.

Raji was a decent experience. While it never stood out from the combat focused platformer crowd, it never buried itself in the crowd either. It’s fine game that I think fans of this style of game will enjoy even with the issues I had. If only the loading screen wasn’t so long, I wouldn’t have had as many issues with failing at my jumps and at the combat with several enemies. In the end, this is a different take on a familiar style of game that is just fine, but doesn’t stand out.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.