Made in India

Raji: An Ancient Epic – Enhanced Edition is an action-adventure video game, made by an Indian dev team. Namely Nodding heads studios- which is based in Pune, Maharashtra. Raji is the only Indian game to be nominated for Best Debut at the Game Awards 2020.

The game borrows heavily from Hindu Mythology. And is inspired by the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Graphically the aesthetic leans towards ‘Pahari Paintings’. While the architecture of the game world is reminiscent of medieval Rajasthan. Among its influences, the developers have cited- Bastion, Journey, God of War, Ico, Brothers- A tale of two sons, and finally Dark Souls.

Roadblocks

The team hit some snags though. Developer Shruti Ghosh had to sell off her apartment. Until they could secure a publisher for funds. Most of the originally planned content was cut out of the final game. Mostly owing to budget and time constraints. Fully 3d cutscenes were scrapped in favor of a stylized 2d shadow-puppet style.

2d cutscene screen grab

The game receives moderate praise. Mostly for its soundtrack. But also for its unique portrayal of Indian mythology. While the combat was derided for being derivate.

Updated

While Raji: An Ancient Epic – Enhanced Edition update was released in May on Steam. As previously announced by the publisher, the game was only recently released for Xbox and Playstation. A Nintendo Switch port is on the cards too. Below are the patch notes as seen on the game’s Steam page.

Improvements- Health gain and loss feedback for Raji and enemies. Enemy Execution animations. Hit impact effects, combat VFX, combat pacing, and more responsive heavy attack animations.
Addition. A larger variety of enemy types. New abilities were added for the Chieftain and Mahabalasura bosses. The right analog stick or mouse wheel can be used to zoom in on the camera. A comprehensive main menu. Ability to disable tutorials. New game mode- Campaign, Story, and One Shot One Kill. Ability to revisit previously unlocked(cleared) levels.
A complete SFX overhaul in general. New background music for the Fort and Desert Levels with Hindi Voice-overs.
And lastly, many assorted bugs fixes.

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