Drova: Forsaken Kin (2024)

I really enjoyed a lot about this action RPG that’s seems to be set in a fairy realm out of Dark Ages Central Europe. The combat is difficult enough to challenge me but capable of being overcome, although many times by reloading saves. Only once was I forced to lower the difficulty down from classic to explorer (the spider boss fight) while most of the time I could just flee if the fight was too much.

This game seems to be inspired by Gothic, a game I’ve never played. For my part, what it felt most like was Underrail. It shares a similar art style, a similar society trying to eke out a living in an apocalyptic setting, the same sense of being an almost completely open world but punishing exploration quickly, the same nobody starting character who grows into their power, the same tough, on edge NPCs who have no time for nonsense, the same rewarding of exploration, and the same sense that each fight is potentially deadly but ultimately beatable if you approach you just right.

Underrail is one of my all-time favorite RPGs, so the comparison flatters Drova. And Drova would make my top-tier all-time list if it weren’t for a few shortcomings. Combat is mostly smooth except every so often it seemed as if the PC would get caught in an animation mid-combat that would be brutally punished. The combat is probably easy for most but I had to really pay attention to get it down right. And the world is quite small by the time you explore it. It’s very well laid out to encourage exploration and the size is explained well in the lore but it nevertheless would have been a bit better with a larger map. And the story is a bit railroaded at points when I would have expected my PC to make a different choice in that situation.

Still, the devs did a great job. The story is great. It’s a sort of localized epic tale. Even if I would have made a different choice, I like how it unfolds and nothing feels overly forced. The factions offer different philosophies that actually make sense in the world. I didn’t get the apparent good ending, based on what I saw online but the ending I got isn’t all bad.

I played it on Steam Deck and it worked perfectly. The soundtrack is pretty nice. I would recommend it if you like dark action RPGs.

I watched someone else play a bit and was sure this could be for me. So I decided to make this my Winter Sale buy (yes, I keep it at one game, definitely, for real, O N E, deleted my wishlist... I can do it).

20 Minutes in and I already feel at home at Gothic ~~ I mean Drova. I am absolutely sure they stole some environmental sound bits from Gothic and of course did a rat kill me because I am squishy as hell. Stepping into this game feels like stepping into these old slippers you have worn for 20 years and that it is 2D and has barely any voice acting doesn't matter.

To make this short - I am in love with this game. Sorry Indy and Game Pass ~ you can not compete with this, not even for free (one month came with my PC and I have wasted that now, don't care, ok a little).