Developer: Just2D
Publisher: Deck13, Deck13 Spotlight
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Switch
Tested on: PC
DROVA – Forsaken Kin – Review
Our expectations for DROVA – Forsaken Kin were high. With over six years of development behind it, and the seal of approval of publisher Deck13, of Crosscode and Chained Echoes fame, the old school open world ARPG might just be something special. Having spent some time in the mythical land of Drova, we’re more than happy to tell you what the game has to offer, and whether or not it met our expectations.
Story
Things are kept deliberately vague in terms of narrative, as DROVA expects you to craft your own story within its Celtic-inspired fantasy world. The initial premise involves a magical gemstone that is seemingly a key to the mythical land of Drova. According to the druids, Drova is a divine paradise, but as you’ll quickly find out, this couldn’t be further from the truth. After a druidic ritual goes wrong, you find yourself as a lone survivor in Drova, a hellish landscape inhabited by foul beasts, warring factions, and all sorts of malign individuals. What secrets does Drova hold? It’s up to you to find out.
Graphics
Most open-world RPGs, especially ones of similar scale, opt for a fully fleshed-out 3D world; Skyrim, The Witcher 3, and Tears of the Kingdom, to name a few. While DROVA is up there with those behemoths in terms of ambition, the game opts for a completely different visual approach. The world of Drova is lovingly rendered through old-school top-down pixel art. The simplistic visuals are certainly charming, though we can imagine they aren’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea. We quite enjoyed the enemy designs in particular, as they emphasized the gritty, gruesome nature of the cold world of Drova. Their animations were surprisingly fluid too. What wasn’t a surprise was how well DROVA performed visually, thanks to those same simplistic visuals.
Sound
The audio approach is in line with the retro visuals. For the most part, DROVA’s audio is limited to its atmospheric soundtrack, which sets the right mood but isn’t particularly memorable. The ambient sound effects are functional, but not more than that. And there is no real voice acting here, although that is perfectly in line with our expectations. The closest we get is a narrator in the game’s opening but in-game, characters only use grunts and screams where appropriate.
Gameplay
The more time you spend playing DROVA, the better you understand just how much effort went into the development of this open-world action ARPG. Beneath the game’s simplistic pixelated exterior is a complex and layered ARPG with plenty of mechanics for genre enthusiasts to sink their teeth into. DROVA is brutally difficult, especially early on, but as you find your footing, it also becomes rewarding and satisfying to play. It’s clear that this is a passion project crafted by a team of ARPG enthusiasts whose aim was to deliver the kind of game they’d want to play themselves. We can only applaud this approach, although there are two caveats to consider before you pick up DROVA yourself. First of all, the game’s inherent difficulty makes for a game that isn’t very newcomer-friendly. Secondly, while DROVA is an expertly crafted ARPG, you won’t find anything particularly new or unique here in terms of gameplay elements. It’s all going to be familiar fodder for genre aficionados.
Freedom is the keyword here. After creating your character, you immediately have to fend for yourself in a hostile world. In typical open-world fashion, you have the entirety of DROVA’s map available from the get-go, but you need to be aware that enemies are very likely able to kill you in a single hit. Enemy levels don’t scale with yours, and you’ll find that even early-game monsters can be quite a bit tougher than you. DROVA uses this to its advantage, to nudge the player in specific directions. There is no quest system or any guidance on what you need to do or where you need to go apart from what NPCs tell you. Listening to them naturally guides you through the world in a way that high-level enemies don’t kill you instantly. Eventually, you’ll level up, upgrade your equipment, and fight back against tougher enemies. DROVA might not be holding your hand but its pacing and progression make sense.
That doesn’t mean that two runs of DROVA are going to play out the same either. The choices you make alter the direction of the story, and ultimately, the ending you’re going to get. There is more to the choices here than just picking dialogue options too. You’re literally shaping your character through your actions, like deciding whether or not you should steal something, for example. Ultimately, there are no right or wrong choices here, and if you enjoy what the game has to offer, there is a good chance you’ll be playing it more than once to see the different outcomes your choices may have.
It’s not all smooth sailing, though, as there are a handful of design choices that prevent DROVA from reaching perfection. Some of these are hopefully ones that can be patched in the near future. Text legibility is the big one here. On-screen text is small, and it isn’t always clear which choice you’ve selected when confronted with different dialogue options. Another more specific issue involves sheathing and unsheathing weapons. If you walk up to an NPC while you have your weapon drawn, it is considered an act of aggression and any bystanders will react accordingly. So, you’d assume you’re better off sheathing your weapons, but since combat is fought in real-time, you can lose out on precious time while you’re drawing your weapon against an opponent. It’s somewhat realistic and eventually, you get used to this, but it did catch us off-guard more than we would have liked.
Earlier in our review, we mentioned a couple of open-world big hitters, and although DROVA isn’t up there in sheer length, you can still easily get around 40 hours out of a single playthrough. That’s without even getting into the game’s replay value, which makes the $25 price tag seem like an absolute steal. And it is one, provided you are part of the specific niche audience that DROVA aims for. The game’s harsh difficulty curve and slow pacing may make this one a tough sell if you’re not a part of that niche, though. As far as Deck13’s catalog goes, this is one of their less accessible titles by comparison.
Conclusion
Unlike previous titles from Deck13, DROVA might prove to be divisive, because of how niche it is. This is a game players will either absolutely hate or absolutely love. We’re in the latter category, although we can definitely understand that this isn’t a game with a wide stream appeal. If you have the inkling that DROVA just might be up your alley, then trust us: it was made for you. If, after reading our review, you’re still on the fence, then chances are that this game isn’t going to be to your liking.
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