Drova: Forsaken Kin - 2D action RPG inspired by Gothic series

[Lyre Mors]

I mean... how different was investing in Strength to Dexterity in Gothic

Strength and Dexterity were directly tied to the particular weapons you could use, which was a massive part of progression. It's a minor change with the Prowess system, but it's big enough to notice how it detracts from the overall management of LP economy. On that note,

System in Drova is already deeper than the one in Gothic and I'd say it is a step in the right direction.

I don't see how it's any deeper. It's pretty much 1:1, except that training for talents doesn't cost money (from what I've seen) like it did in Gothic. This gives even less weight to your choices. Beyond that, combat abilities are the only thing that add more "depth," and they are a welcome addition, but largely a product of the top-down combat the game offers. I'm not, nor did I ever, sit here and try to portray Gothic's progression system as robust. But it was rewarding in its simplicity, and each choice mattered much more simply because it wasn't being pooled into a total progression pool (IE Prowess). The point I'm making is that they came up with Prowess in Drova so that people didn't feel punished for making certain choices without full knowledge of the game. I'm saying that punishing the player for making ill-informed decisions was something Gothic did well, in that you had to to pivot and compensate if you started putting points into something that didn't benefit your overall build. It gave weight to the few choices you had in how you built your character.

I'm basically saying they took a step backwards with the progression system in Drova, where I feel they should have been taking a step forward. I love the game, and this fact doesn't ruin it for me. It's just a reasonable critique and something I feel they could have handled better.

 

[Tyranicon]

I've been hearing about this game a lot and the comparisons to Gothic means I'll give it a spin at some point.

How's the writing?

Probably not a priority, and judging by the reviews it's at least servicable.

 

[Lyre Mors]

How's the writing?

While it's certainly not the main focus of Drova - the real focus of course being gameplay: exploration, progression, combat, emergent situations - I think they need to give extra attention to the quality of the writing and world-building. Again, the writing in Gothic was never stellar, but it fit the world and was consistent. Drova far too often employs modern-day slang, for example. And the dialogue writing is laughably bad at times in general, to the point where it takes me out of the experience. They need to ditch the *descriptive* texts too. It's just very clear whoever took on the writing role was completely ill-fit for the position and they need to either study up, or hire a real writer. That I'm harping on it is a bad sign, because I usually don't give a shit when the story and writing isn't the focus of a game.

It's not offensive. It's simply mediocre, and too often draws me out of the game world. Something that needs to be improved upon.

 

[ArchAngel]

I mean... how different was investing in Strength to Dexterity in Gothic

Strength and Dexterity were directly tied to the particular weapons you could use, which was a massive part of progression. It's a minor change with the Prowess system, but it's big enough to notice how it detracts from the overall management of LP economy. On that note,

System in Drova is already deeper than the one in Gothic and I'd say it is a step in the right direction.

I don't see how it's any deeper. It's pretty much 1:1, except that training for talents doesn't cost money (from what I've seen) like it did in Gothic. This gives even less weight to your choices. Beyond that, combat abilities are the only thing that add more "depth," and they are a welcome addition, but largely a product of the top-down combat the game offers. I'm not, nor did I ever, sit here and try to portray Gothic's progression system as robust. But it was rewarding in its simplicity, and each choice mattered much more simply because it wasn't being pooled into a total progression pool (IE Prowess). The point I'm making is that they came up with Prowess in Drova so that people didn't feel punished for making certain choices without full knowledge of the game. I'm saying that punishing the player for making ill-informed decisions was something Gothic did well, in that you had to to pivot and compensate if you started putting points into something that didn't benefit your overall build. It gave weight to the few choices you had in how you built your character.

I'm basically saying they took a step backwards with the progression system in Drova, where I feel they should have been taking a step forward. I love the game, and this fact doesn't ruin it for me. It's just a reasonable critique and something I feel they could have handled better.

Training does cost some money. Some teaches will ask you to pay them first.

 

[Gandalf]

How's the writing?

Player can talk to animals and pet them.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Training does cost some money. Some teaches will ask you to pay them first.

Yeah, a flat and generally small fee. It's not the same as it costing a significant amount each time you train. And there's a lot of cases where a trainer will train you without any cost too. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes training less of a serious choice. The economy starts to tip in the player's favor far too soon in Drova.

 

[Marat]

I don't see how it's any deeper.

Well, for starters you need to balance the respective bonuses from strength and dexterity investments against specificity of your chosen weapon - a dagger attacks faster so crit chance bonus is more meaningful than in the case of the axe. But the flat percentage dmg bonus from str will matter more on each strike from higher dmg weapons. Then you gotta factor in the interaction between that and the talisman effects - will you take advantage of a post-dodge +50% dmg or bank on the bleed dmg speed boost. Then you have focus to consider, whether you want to generate more and use more abilities synergistically with your weapon of choice and respective talismans or just go all-in on raw dmg. And then you have potions which you can pick for how you are planning to approach a difficult enemy, what traps to lay out to match their effect with your chosen special abilities.

I'm basically saying they took a step backwards with the progression system in Drova, where I feel they should have been taking a step forward.

I think they clearly didn't. Much like Gothic, Drova is simply reliant more on player actions than character stats and the game is simply not that hard so the above doesn't feel that meaningful.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Well, for starters you need to balance the respective bonuses from strength and dexterity investments against specificity of your chosen weapon - a dagger attacks faster so crit chance bonus is more meaningful than in the case of the axe. But the flat percentage dmg bonus from str will matter more on each strike from higher dmg weapons. Then you gotta factor in the interaction between that and the talisman effects - will you take advantage of a post-dodge +50% dmg or bank on the bleed dmg speed boost. Then you have focus to consider, whether you want to generate more and use more abilities synergistically with your weapon of choice and respective talismans or just go all-in on raw dmg. And then you have potions which you can pick for how you are planning to approach a difficult enemy, what traps to lay out to match their effect with your chosen special abilities.

Yeah, this would all be great if it actually mattered. The game isn't difficult enough to warrant this autism. Also, this is all pretty much in Gothic already.

It's a good game, but it doesn't deserve to be sucked off. Hopefully the devs actually take a look at this thread and take note of the criticisms, and make something that surpasses their inspirations someday. We need more games like this in the world, but they need to be taken further.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

36 hours and I am done. This is a absolute must play. I was faced with quite a few difficulties. Some cool decision making too. I quite enjoyed the progression. I didn't once need to refer to anything outside the game to finish it which is something I feel a lot of games expect people to do. This game needs more attention. It's a real shame to see this get little to no fanfare. I didn't get bored and am good for another playthrough in a year or so. Looking forward to getting caught up on the thread now after having finished it.

It's getting some good fanfare, lots of reviews on Steam, overwhelmingly positive.

What cool decision making and difficulties are you referring to? The game is absolutely void of them

 

[Tyranicon]

Liking the game more than I expected, even after reading some of the good reviews.

It's also not like Gothic at all. I've spent 40 minutes in the game and haven't gotten my ass kicked in yet!

 

[Tyranicon]

It's a 2D pixel-art ARPG with, imo, not a super attractive art style.

The fact that it did so well with the number and quality of reviews is a testament to how well-made it is. And possibly how many people are nostalgic for Gothic.

Even Skald's thread only has 63 pages, and that's a game that appeals to core RPGcodex.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/suspicious-codex-establishment-behavior.151845/

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

The charm of SKALD in general, including graphics, got old really fast. But at least it had me thinking about it, unlike Drova.

 

[Tyranicon]

I feel the 2D looks good, moreso in motion than still screenshots. I never really gave much credence to its looks as being a major detractor. It is a bit disheartening to know that might be a reason to avoid. I figure if a game like Rimworld can succeed with the graphics it has, then any high quality game should be able to do the same.

How do you feel about Skalds art style? I do know that Skald was featured on the front page here numerous times. At this point, the lack of front page news about Drova feels more like a standoff.

Graphics is always 10000% going to be main attractor of a video game, and possibly decide entirely on its own how financially successful a game will be. There are games that look great but play like trash and insult your intelligence, and people will still slurp them down because that's just how it is.

The alternative is to build a seriously unique and extremely high-quality game, and even then it will only make up for a little in your deficient in graphics.

Rimworld is a great game made by probably a genius, in a tier of its own. You need to make games like Stardew Valley and Kenshi (both ugly imo) before you get to the stage where graphics don't matter.

Personally I find Skald's graphics hurtful to my eyes in a very literal sense, but that's not a fault of the art style (just too few pixels). As for why Drova's not mentioned in the news subforum, that's probably a question for the administration.

 

[ArchAngel]

It's getting some good fanfare, lots of reviews on Steam, overwhelmingly positive.

What cool decision making and difficulties are you referring to? The game is absolutely void of them

I figured this thread would be approaching 100 pages by now. No youtube recommends on my RPG account. No chan talk. Although I stayed away from reading this or reviews as I do for any new game I am going to play. Looking at the reviews now, 2300 is not a bad amount. I would imagine the game has sold well enough. I would expect more fanfare here at least. I found out about this game just stumbling across this thread post release.

I was talking about combat and how to approach it. I admit to running into some difficulties. I just honestly wasn't very good at combat until I was able to figure out what worked best for my playstyle.

It is not turn based. And still not nearly as good as Underrail so that is why.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I feel the 2D looks good, moreso in motion than still screenshots. I never really gave much credence to its looks as being a major detractor. It is a bit disheartening to know that might be a reason to avoid. I figure if a game like Rimworld can succeed with the graphics it has, then any high quality game should be able to do the same.

How do you feel about Skalds art style? I do know that Skald was featured on the front page here numerous times. At this point, the lack of front page news about Drova feels more like a standoff.

Graphics is always 10000% going to be main attractor of a video game, and possibly decide entirely on its own how financially successful a game will be. There are games that look great but play like trash and insult your intelligence, and people will still slurp them down because that's just how it is.

The alternative is to build a seriously unique and extremely high-quality game, and even then it will only make up for a little in your deficient in graphics.

Rimworld is a great game made by probably a genius, in a tier of its own. You need to make games like Stardew Valley and Kenshi (both ugly imo) before you get to the stage where graphics don't matter.

Personally I find Skald's graphics hurtful to my eyes in a very literal sense, but that's not a fault of the art style (just too few pixels). As for why Drova's not mentioned in the news subforum, that's probably a question for the administration.

What's wrong with people sense of taste? Drova, Stardew Valley and Rimworld are good looking games.

 

[Gandalf]

Drova, Stardew Valley and Rimworld are good looking games.

Drova reminds me of Caves of Lore and Serpent in the Staglands a bit. I like the style, it doesn't feel too childish like the other ones you've mentioned. I can't stand Rimworld's characters.

 

[Gandalf]

As for why Drova's not mentioned in the news subforum, that's probably a question for the administration.

I just did a 1 second long research and it appears that there actually is a news thread for Drova. Here's the link:
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...xel-art-action-rpg-inspired-by-gothic.151848/

 

[Konjad]

As for why Drova's not mentioned in the news subforum, that's probably a question for the administration.

I just did a 1 second long research and it appears that there actually is a news thread for Drova. Here's the link:
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...xel-art-action-rpg-inspired-by-gothic.151848/

No, it's Infinitron 's trick, he posts news with old date so nobody actually sees the news but he can claim we had one. He already did it multiple times. He posted this one today.

 

[Lord_Potato]

So, does anyone know why Infinitron is particularly hostile to Drova of all games?

I mean the game being made by Germans and all might be a reason. In general nobody likes Krauts and Jews in particular might not be fans.

But still, an understandable enmity towards a nation should not hamper or obstruct the flow of information about a game, especially a good one such as this.

 

[Gandalf]

He posted this one today

I don't know when it showed up, but it's there. Nothing can stop anybody from commenting it now. Anybody who cares about this news can post now. Doesn't matter if it's 4 weeks after the game's release.

 

[Lord_Potato]

He posted this one today

I don't know when it showed up, but it's there. Nothing can stop anybody from commenting it now. Anybody who cares about this news can post now. Doesn't matter if it's 4 weeks after the game's release.

Well if it did not appear on the front page it kind of lost its informative value.

 

[normie]

He posted this one today

I don't know when it showed up, but it's there. Nothing can stop anybody from commenting it now. Anybody who cares about this news can post now. Doesn't matter if it's 4 weeks after the game's release.

it matters, you're necroposting

 

[toro]

Finished my second run on Iron mode. The secret ending it's actually the only proper ending for the game and it's also the good ending.

Spoiler

The game world is jam-packed with secrets. It's incredibile how much stuff I found in the second run.

Spoiler

What this little game manages to achieve is outstanding:

1. It's the first - original - Gothic-like game which actually feels like a Gothic game. I know Archolos is the other champion but Drova brings a new world to the table.
2. It proves that there is a starved market for Gothic-like games. People want to explore living worlds, people want the hero's journey and all that stuff.

This game is a gem. It's not as ground breaking as Underrail but it's pretty close.

 

[toro]

The codex's treatment for this game is simply retarded. pcgamer is fairer in comparison.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/t...ing-up-to-be-my-favourite-hidden-gem-of-2024/

This Gothic-inspired RPG indie is shaping up to be my favourite hidden gem of 2024

Drova is a handcrafted pixel art RPG with more freedom than most of this year's big blockbuster RPGs.