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

[kryminator]

you can access hippie leader learning mind in chapter 1 (at least I could in 1.1.5 version of game iirc)

Doesn't he demand you join the faction before he can teach mind? I can't remember.
That's still a pretty hard place to get to, and I will admit I assumed it had plot rocks in front of it in chapter1...

I cant prove that, nor I am 100% sure, but I think he can teach you mind. Although, I have to say that I played the game only once and I have never encountered chapter 2 in it. When I went to Nameton druids to join them there was one dialog after which it jumped from chapter 1 straight to chapter 3 (probably because I had a spark, but I was like level 24-26 then as I play gothic-like games by doing/killing everything I can before starting next chapter).

 

[Jaedar]

you can access hippie leader learning mind in chapter 1 (at least I could in 1.1.5 version of game iirc)

Doesn't he demand you join the faction before he can teach mind? I can't remember.
That's still a pretty hard place to get to, and I will admit I assumed it had plot rocks in front of it in chapter1...

I cant prove that, nor I am 100% sure, but I think he can teach you mind. Although, I have to say that I played the game only once and I have never encountered chapter 2 in it. When I went to Nameton druids to join them there was one dialog after which it jumped from chapter 1 straight to chapter 3 (probably because I had a spark, but I was like level 24-26 then as I play gothic-like games by doing/killing everything I can before starting next chapter).

chapter 2 is about getting the spark essentially, so I guess the devs left this one plot relevant thing open instead of plotrocks. Weird.

 

[Jarmaro]

Finished Drova after neat 30 hours. Definitely one of the best Gothic clones to ever be released, to the point it's uncomfortable. Maybe it's because I played each Gothic several times, but almost everything in terms of story, vibe, music, sketches and world-building is heavily inspired by Gothic series. It's a personal thing to be weirded out by a game following in the footsteps 20+ years old, but it does weird me out.

Anyway, it's a great game whose main strengths are exploration, combat and climatic world. The story is simple and uncomplicated, nothing noteworthy aside of being shockingly servicable as the author was not a writter himself. I read much worse from 'popular' writers. The amount of mechanics in the game and their interweaving with the world and exploration is amazing, inspection mode is great for a game like this.

Exploration is perfectly balanced (even we consider almost everything being accessible in chapter 1 acceptable design), each time I saw something interesting my curiosity was satisfied either by money, rare items, learning points or secrets. 10/10 in terms of exploration and its design, without any irony.

At first I had doubts for Drova due to the pixel art - not a fan of this artstyle. However, the game is beautiful. They took izometric pixel-art and used it more than competently. For people who supposedly learned pixel-art due to it being cost-efficient they did amazing.

In terms of flaws, factions being lackluster and uninteresting was a big one. The camps are distinct in style and vibe, but not in terms of story or meaningful choices. The game allows for many, many choices in terms of finishing quests, but the main quests are railroaded and leave the player little agency.

One weird thing I noticed after finishing the game...the people are surprisingly nice. There are bandits and what-not, but people in general aren't nuanced, or more like they are eager to be your friend (despite some being straight-up assholes). The game pushes the relation player has with their faction 'companions' in a noticable way, but I didn't care much for them. Conflict in the game in general is given a priori, not experienced directly by the player. Again, servicable writing, not bad, not great.

Finally, the game is polished. very much so. I've experienced next to none bugs. The artstyle works. Environment design, exploration, progression and thoughtful design complete each other in a neat, pleasant way. In short - this is a quality game.

I rate it 8/10 8.5/10 due to how great it is and how well everything works together. The game industry had 25 years of history to learn from between the release of Drova and Gothic 1 so it's not exactly a fair comparison, but as a gothic fan if if I had to judge which game works better and is more memorable as a finished product, then Drova wins.

The foundations for this type of game are solid and built with care. If they improve upon them in the same way Gothic 2 did over Gothic 1, then we may yet see one of the best Gothic-like games ever created.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

but as a gothic fan if if I had to judge which game works better and is more memorable as a finished product, then Drova wins.

Explain to me how a Gothic-lite is more memorable & works better. Lack of verticality, worse atmosphere (due to graphics), less freedom, etc. It's a good Gothic-like, that's it.

 

[GloomFrost]

Drova is a fine little game (although a bit too woke) but saying its better then Gothic is just silly.

 

[Nikanuur]

Drova is a fine little game (although a bit too woke) but saying its better then Gothic is just silly.

There is zero wokeness factor in Drova. It's as old-school game as it can get. Saying anything else in the former regard means you should probably stop abusing substances or something.

 

[Tyranicon]

Gothic is better in every way: better writing, better combat, better world design, etc.

This seems to be a great love letter to the OG, but imo it doesn't surpass it.

 

[GloomFrost]

Drova is a fine little game (although a bit too woke) but saying its better then Gothic is just silly.

There is zero wokeness factor in Drova. It's as old-school game as it can get. Saying anything else in the former regard means you should probably stop abusing substances or something.

Strong independent wymen everywhere, weak stupid males, body type 1,2. Of course its not the same level as BG3 or veilguard but nonetheless "the progressive message" is in the game. Oh and I absolutely WILL NOT stop abusing substances.

 

[Parabalus]

Gothic is better in every way: better writing, better combat, better world design, etc.

This seems to be a great love letter to the OG, but imo it doesn't surpass it.

Combat in Drova is not really comparable to Gothic, too different mechanically.

 

[Nikanuur]

Strong independent wymen everywhere, weak stupid males, body type 1,2. Of course its not the same level as BG3 or veilguard but nonetheless "the progressive message" is in the game. Oh and I absolutely WILL NOT stop abusing substances.

Nah, you are just full of it.

 

[Jarmaro]

Explain to me how a Gothic-lite is more memorable & works better. Lack of verticality, worse atmosphere (due to graphics), less freedom, etc. It's a good Gothic-like, that's it.

Because Drova has much bigger range in terms of writing, visual style, environments and choices. I don't get lack of 'verticality', not only it's a non-sensical accusation as verticality is just a choice but also inaccurate as there are multiple regions in the game where verticality matters, it's not a flat environment. Lack of verticality in an izometric game of all things? A game that still has vertical elements? That's not even retarded, it's just plain silly.
Do not confuse your personal preference for a good design.

Don't mistake me, I vastly prefer third-person 3D gameplay of Gothic over Drova. However, to claim that Drova's pixel graphics give it worse atmosphere is straight up lunacy.
Drova has range of environments and locations that Gothic 1 cries for. Gothic 1 for all its strengths was monotone and boring in terms of environment. Meanwhile Drova has lush forests, different types of swamps, vast colorful fields, rocky mountains, dark enchanted forests...Even Gothic 2 with The Night of the Raven may lose this contest.

Also, more freedom in Gothic than in Drova? Could you elaborate? I believe Drova has more or less as much freedom as Gothic, whether in terms of progression or quest choices. I'm not sure if it allows for killing downed opponents as I never needed it in my playthrough or other small choices like that, but at the same time it offers much more flexibility in engaging with the world and completing most of the map at any moment.

Keep in mind we are talking almost solely in comparison between Drova and Gothic 1, not the entire series of Gothic. Gothic 2 with the addon is still overall a better game.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Because Drova has much bigger range in terms of writing, visual style, environments and choices. I don't get lack of 'verticality', not only it's a non-sensical accusation as verticality is just a choice but also inaccurate as there are multiple regions in the game where verticality matters, it's not a flat environment. Lack of verticality in an izometric game of all things? A game that still has vertical elements? That's not even retarded, it's just plain silly.
Do not confuse your personal preference for a good design.

Don't mistake me, I vastly prefer third-person 3D gameplay of Gothic over Drova. However, to claim that Drova's pixel graphics give it worse atmosphere is straight up lunacy.
Drova has range of environments and locations that Gothic 1 cries for. Gothic 1 for all its strengths was monotone and boring in terms of environment. Meanwhile Drova has lush forests, different types of swamps, vast colorful fields, rocky mountains, dark enchanted forests...Even Gothic 2 with The Night of the Raven may lose this contest.

Also, more freedom in Gothic than in Drova? Could you elaborate? I believe Drova has more or less as much freedom as Gothic, whether in terms of progression or quest choices. I'm not sure if it allows for killing downed opponents as I never needed it in my playthrough or other small choices like that, but at the same time it offers much more flexibility in engaging with the world and completing most of the map at any moment.

Keep in mind we are talking almost solely in comparison between Drova and Gothic 1, not the entire series of Gothic. Gothic 2 with the addon is still overall a better game.

Lack of verticality is huge in a game with exploration (and being able to jump down, not up, in a few locations doesn't discredit what I said), it's not personal preference.

Yes, Gothic has better atmosphere and 2D is a big reason for that. Having different biomes doesn't change the fact. Drova doesn't feel as lived in as Gothic does, and that's much more important. In many ways, from the schedules & NPC interactions having much more in them, to a more consistent and logical world.

Freedom? Yes. You can't even kill the vast majority of characters in Drova. As for "more flexibility" in Drova, I don't know why you're lying flat out.

Gothic is a vastly superior game. It's simple logic, Drova is a Gothic-like which does the majority of things worse than Gothic. Really good game because the Gothic formula is top tier, but doesn't make it better than Gothic (which in terms of story & setting is better than Gothic 2, which just said is better than Drova).

 

[ShiningSoldier]

Ok, I spent 20 hours in Drova and became so bored I couldn't deal with it anymore.
I can't understand why people say that it feels like Gothic. I mean, Drova tries to imitate Gothic, but it works even worse than in Risen.
In Gothic almost every named NPC had distinct personality and manner of speaking. In Drova, it's almost impossible to distinguish one NPC from another - they're absolutely bland and generic.
In Gothic, NPCs act like they're alive - they talk to each other, wash in the river or some kind of a barrel, piss over corners of their houses, etc. Nothing like this in Drova.
Quests in Drova are absolutely awful. Farmer guy asked me to collect 6 pieces of iron in the field. These pieces were literally just lying in the field around him. I spent 1 minute on this quest. Why couldn't this fucker do it by himself? And almost every quest is like this.
But the worst thing is the complete lack of the atmosphere. The colony in Gothic was a dark and scary place. Drova is a theme park where every NPC is a bit fan of the main character.
At first I liked exploration. But it doesn't work at all in Drova, because I can't even climb on a small rock, can't swim over the smallest river. The locations are actually absolutely linear - you're going exactly the way the developers created for you, with zero deviations.

 

[Vulpes]

Gothic is better in every way: better writing, better combat, better world design, etc.

The combat in Gothic is basic as fuck and not even good for it's time (just look at Blade of Darkness), so Drova is easily better in this department both in terms of difficulty and fun. I know that people are still butthurt about the brownoid women and overblowing the issue, but to say that Drova is inferior in every way is as disingenuous as it gets.

 

[ShiningSoldier]

Gothic is better in every way: better writing, better combat, better world design, etc.

The combat in Gothic is basic as fuck and not even good for it's time (just look at Blade of Darkness), so Drova is easily better in this department both in terms of difficulty and fun. I know that people are still butthurt about the brownoid women and overblowing the issue, but to say that Drova is inferior in every way is as disingenuous as it gets.

Gothic has absolutely amazing battle system, where each enemy has it's own tactics, and if you know this tactics, you can beat every enemy on level 1 using the basic branch of wood.
Drova tries to imitate this, but it fails because of the lack of enemy's variety - it's the same boring wolves almost all the time.
And it's funny how you mentioned Blade of Darkness. Yes, Blade of Darkness has the superior combat system to Gothic. But BoD is superior in terms of combat to almost every game ever made on this planet.

 

[Vulpes]

That's a completely delusional take and it shows that you haven't actually played either games. Those Gothic videos you see of people beating enemies with a branch of wood require zero tactics, just that you're fast enough with your attacks to stunlock your opponent. Drova's fog creatures alone show more advanced tactics that any of the foes in Gothic. Even in the early game, you'll encounter enemies like the spriggans that can root you in place with their ranged attacks (something that's unheard of in Gothic). Meanwhile the vast majority of Gothic's enemies are just beasts with basic melee attacks (wolves, scavangers, molerats, shadowbeasts, orc dogs, lurkers, lizards, snappers, etc). It's not like any of them can charge/jump at you from a distance (like in Drova) or hide in the environment to ambush you (again, like in Drova).

 

[harhar!]

Finished the game. Overall it's a bretty good 8/10. Probably my GOTY 2024 for lack of contenders.

+ Good & rewarding exploration, nice feeling of progression
+ Fighting system is fun
+ Multiple endings if you explore well enough
+ Different weapons + skill progression
+ No quest compass, limitless fast travel, etc.
+ Reasonably difficult, optional strong enemies in early areas

- Half the fighters and miners are women. Most women speak like men. Lots of dark-skinned people in small, separated communities.
- Most NPCs are boring and you don't remember them.
- Everyone is basically forced to play as a melee character for most of the game. Range is weak, only useful as support. Magic can be used as the primary weapon only very late in the game. Overall, there is less variety and replayability compared to Gothic.
- The different camps are pretty lame and exchangeable.
- A lot of fetch quests
- Can't kill downed NPCs

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Finished the game. Overall it's a bretty good 8/10. Probably my GOTY 2024 for lack of contenders.

Geneforge 2 is better, RPG of the year.

And I'm sure many will argue SKALD is better as well.

 

[GrainWetski]

Drova is a fine little game (although a bit too woke) but saying its better then Gothic is just silly.

There is zero wokeness factor in Drova. It's as old-school game as it can get. Saying anything else in the former regard means you should probably stop abusing substances or something.

The game starts with "bodytypes", you pathetic excuse for a Bodytype 1.

 

[GloomFrost]

Finished the game. Overall it's a bretty good 8/10. Probably my GOTY 2024 for lack of contenders.

Geneforge 2 is better, RPG of the year.

And I'm sure many will argue SKALD is better as well.

Yep, Skald IS a better game then Drova.

 

[Infinitron]

00:00 Intro
00:41 At the beginning of Drova, what resources were available to us?
02:07 What was our approach to raise money?
03:12 How did we estimate the required capital for Drova?
05:41 How do we repay our publisher for the investment and work?
08:45 What would we do differently, if we had to do it all over again?
10:07 Chris Question: Why do you need so much money for pixel piss?

 

[Drakortha]

I just picked this up for Nintendo Switch. I was curious to try it out for myself.

Watched some reviews for it first and had to facepalm when the reviewer said "The combat is great, but not as refined as something like Baldur's Gate 3"

WTF does BG3 have to do with a game like this? BG3 is a damn cancer I swear to God. I can't even indulge in a classic style RPG without having to be reminded of that steaming turd.

Also, apparently Drova has a world map and day and night cycles and NPC schedules, so it's definitely more 'refined' than that slop.

 

[Nikanuur]

I'm saddened by how some people view things. If it were about a shallow piece of crap like Forspoken or Failguard I wouldn’t mind. But when someone trashes a maybe not perfect, but surely heartfelt indie project, it feels like an affront to basic fairness, to be honest. I know I probably won't change the minds of those concerned otherwise, but I felt the need to speak up anyway.

So, now seeing a group of women wielding swords or daggers, and others leading a band of adventurers, automatically makes something a woke piece of entertainment? Really? God forbid there’s several men who happen to be weasels, crooks, or assholes—that must be crossing some line or whatnot. And if there’s a matriarchal society on top of it, like Nemeton—rooted in nature and all, as we know from irl and some historically-proven Earth's societies—well, that’s absolutely haram, I suppose.

That’s some convoluted shit, man.

I mean, take Aliens, for example: Ripley, the protagonist, is a woman. Vasquez and Ferro—a badass marine and a cool pilot—also women (and you wouldn’t dare mess with Vasquez unless you enjoy being *mistaken for a man*, lol). Gorman and Burke? A weasel and a crook. Drows in 3e —ruled by women, where men are constantly belittled but still expected to excel at everything they do. Then there are the all-time-high female cultural references to things like Amazons, mighty sorceresses, nimble fighters, or crafty engineers. Yennefer, Ciri, Lara Croft, Jesse Faden, Alyx Vance, etc. whatehaveya. Did anyone scream "woke" at these iconic characters back in the day? Does breaking stereotypes and succeeding at it suddenly become "woke" just because the character is a woman and we live in superficial age or whatever, really?

Sure, wokeness lurks behind every corner nowadays, and you never know what is whose agenda—no denying that—but does that mean we should stop differentiating entirely?

Bottomline: I get it—some people feel the need to project a strong male persona. Heck, I frequent the gym and even practice my strong stares on public transportation just to get some EXPs to level up a nice passive bonus to coincidental Intimidation checks, lol, so I truly do understand. But seriously, I’d urge anyone to think more critically. Now, more than ever. Assuming a camel stable stinks just because you see bees, flies, and butterflies around isn’t helping anyone.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Started playing Drova 2 days ago, so far 3,5 hours and 5 levels in.

Just got totally wasted with a dude in a tavern in the Remnants camp and went hunting together at night. Barely seeing anything due to intoxication we killed a bunch of raptors (he did most of the killing, I was quite underleveled for these enemies, but somehow managed to score some hits), then got even more drunk.

Woke up on the other end of the camp with all my inventory gone. Got randomly beaten by another drunk, managed to crawl back to the tavern and regain my stuff. A friendly innkeeper kept it for me, because previously I aided him with some rodent extermination.

Great times. This really is a spiritual successor to Gothic.

Fortunately there are some ladies around the camp, so its not a total saussage fest all the goddamn time.

Enjoying it quite a lot. Devs were lucky to release Drova in 2024, quite a weak year for RPGs. This gives them not only decent sales, but also a shot for RPG Codex GOTY award, which would otherwise be beyond their reach.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

This thread made me realize that over time, the Codex average IQ is dropping like a bird turd over a finely coiffured dandy.

Drova is a great game out of nowhere from indie developers, a true spiritual successor to the good Piranha Bytes games, and instead, there are multiple retards in this thread shitting on it, for the dumbest reasons possible. Oh it has women guards, or it has no 3D dimension, or it's not as good as Gothic 1.

I was so incensed by such utmost retardation that I had to look up the recent posting history of some of these retards. One guy, named something like BotanicalSuljukCuck has recently posted 5,000 times in the Mass Effect thread, and has spent the rest of his time here surfing the Jew thread in GD. Another, loosely named SoldierBoyShiner, has joined since Crispy took his last dump, and spent most of his time perfusing BG3 anti-woke mods thread and threads pondering whether anyone likes halflings. I mean, need I say more? We must do better, 'Codex.