Drova: Forsaken Kin Nintendo Switch Review 9.5/10 "One of the RPGs of the Year" 🐻⚔️ @J2D_Interactive #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieGameDev

I’ll open by saying that, whilst Drova: Forsaken Kin ended up being one of my games of the year, during the review period there was a shaky few days where V1.0 of the game had some issues that made me think that this was going to be another case of Wasteland 3, Wartales, or Shadows of Doubt, whereby a gripping and fantastic adventure seemingly genetically designed for my tastes would be scuppered by myriad technical issues, breaking my heart into a thousand pieces and casting them into the ocean.

Luckily, patch 1.1 was released and completely annihilated all the issues that I was having with the game, transforming it into a title that will be with me for a long time. In fact, I don’t even really need to cover this game as my handsome, suave editor Rich is already covering it on PC (I can feel a pay rise coming on – ed), but I want to talk about it so much that I’m writing this review anyway, purely to spread the word and share my love of it. So yes, I liked it a lot.

Drova: Forsaken Kin begins with your (created) character following some of your tribe elders into a mysterious fog, into which they’ve traipsed with an even more mysterious stone. As you follow – quite literally – in their footsteps, you get transported to the world of Drova, with your fellow travellers being unfortunately killed during the teleportation event, it’s up to your lowly self to take ownership of the stone and get it in the hand of some druids to work out quite frankly what the heck is going on.

An isometric RPG adventure, Drova: Forsaken Kin is very much up my strasse with its pixel art, suitably grimy visuals, and incredibly evocative minimalistic use of music. It’s a game in which you travel around a well-crafted world, meeting distinct groups of people all the while making fleeting alliances, discovering treasure, solving mysteries, generally having fun, fighting, and of course – going out on the nick.

There’s a sense in the game that this is very much a world for you to dive into and explore as you see fit, with each blast of combat, item of equipment, and newly acquired skill feeling vital and exciting. Heavily text-based in terms of dialogue, with some incidental grunts, laugh, and phlegmy spitting – natch – the characters are brought to life through the writing and world design. You’ll find yourself doing everything from defending an encampment against a towering rock monster through to digging through sheep dung to look for a swallowed silver ring, and loving each aspect of the quests as they unfold.

Whilst there are dozens of hours of game time here, the over world map doesn’t feel overwhelming or sprawling, everything feels well-placed and hand-crafted, meaning that there probably will be some hidden loot off the beaten path, or that it will be worth coming back to clear out a monster nest once you’ve upgraded your weapons and armour a little…heck, maybe you can lure the monsters to the nearby camp and hope that the guards will sort them out for you! Ok, you’ll lose the experience points from not killing them…but their claws and pelts can get you some coins at the market, if you’ve learned that hunting skill first, of course…

I found myself getting completely entranced in the world of Drova, genuinely wanting some of the characters to achieve their dreams and get out of the ruts they were in – make no mistake, whilst the game isn’t filled with swearwords and explicit scenes, the swampy landscape and desperate situation that the denizens of this world are in reeks through wonderfully in all aspects of the game. This isn’t a bright and chirpy fairytale adventure, but one built on shifting alliances, politics, backstabbing, and abuse of power. Yes, there’s magic spells etc. but the beating heart of the game is very grounded, and very human.

I have to high five the composer at developer Just2D, as the decision to reel in the bombasticism in terms of the audio was absolutely on the money, as each piece of music enriches the atmosphere, from the keening, rolling music that drifts across the more ambling moments of your adventure through to the subtle build when combat begins.

Every time the music hits and rises, it feels a treat, boosting your experience as opposed to drowning it. Kudos also goes to the developer for the very Witcher-esque investigation mode, which adds depth to the sections in the game where you must follow footsteps, or discover hidden areas and items, it’s a simple mechanic that’s extremely well-implemented and gives the player agency, making you feel like you are discovering secrets all on your own, without hand-holding - these moments were some of the most satisfying in the game for me and added to that sense of it all being a self-created adventure.

SUMMARY

Drova: Forsaken Kin is one of the best games of 2024, the balance of scope combined with the sense of personality, individuality and craft is trouser-removingly saucy, and the fact that is around twenty quid on Switch at the moment means that you simply HAVE to play this game, if you don’t? Well..may the Deathfog take you!