Raji: An Ancient Epic is a hack-and-slash brawler with a bit of light platforming set in the world of Hindu mythology, being developed by India-based studio Nodding Heads Games. It ran a Kickstarter in 2017 that didn't work out, but development continued, it resurfaced a couple of years later, and today the developers announced that it will arrive on Steam on October 15.
Presented in the Pahari art style, Raji tells the tell of a young girl who is chosen by the gods to defend the world from a demonic invasion. The divine blessings also grant her an array of special powers and unique weapons, including the Trishul trident and Sharanga bow, which she'll wield against hordes of demons and bosses in massive forts and palaces. Her ultimate goal: To rescue her little brother, who's been kidnapped by demonic goons for some reason, and a winner-take-all showdown with the demon lord Mahabalasura,
We previewed the game in March and found its exploration of the Hindu fantasy realm to be visually captivating, but it also suffered from significant performance and crash issues. Updates to the game since then appear to have addressed at least some of the problems, as Nodding Head recently released a new demo and it runs quite well on my very middling rig, and it looks and sounds great too.
I haven't played all the way through the demo yet, so I can't make any promises, but the good news is that the demo will be available to one and all until September 20 on Steam, so you can give it a go for yourself. There's also a website you can dive into at rajithegame.com, and you can check out some boss fight action in the video below.
