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

[mediocrepoet]

Why in this game do everyone and their dog continuously spit on the ground?

Eastern Europeans are disgusting creatures. I avoid them when I can.

 

[Konjad]

I'm thinking of a replay and joining Remnants but at the same time late game parts were rather shit, so I'd play half of the game and then abandon most likely. If I do, is there anything Remnant-specific (compared to Nemeton) that I would miss?

 

[Lord_Potato]

I'm thinking of a replay and joining Remnants but at the same time late game parts were rather shit, so I'd play half of the game and then abandon most likely. If I do, is there anything Remnant-specific (compared to Nemeton) that I would miss?

I kept a save game from a moment before choosing a faction. If I ever do a remnant playthrough I won't have to replay chapter 1 which seems like half of the game.

 

[TwoEdge]

Just finished this. Overall, I quite liked it, although in the end I find that Drova felt more like a 2D Gothic demake than its own thing. In the positive side we definitely could have more devs inspired by Piranha Bytes' mangum opus, it's such a great framework that I think it should spawn a whole genre. The downside is that it feels like a Gothic-lite, threading much of the same beats. Also, the top-down view is not as conducive to exploration as fully 3D environments, which is key (this was Elex's best quality), neither to combat, which I found too easy after the early game. I also hated the amount of backtracking I had to do, especially in the late game with its endless dead ends. I did like the whole world-building and setup, which made for a compelling mystery to dig into.

I'd recommend it to those who want more Gothic franchise but exhausted its replay value, otherwise just replay your favorite entry. However, I really hope Just2D has learned and earned enough from this that they break the mould and deliver something really unique next time around.

 

[Infinitron]

00:00 Intro
00:25 What even is "porting" in videogames?
01:13 How do you port a game?
01:57 How did porting go with Drova?
02:55 Why was porting to the Switch so tricky?
04:28 Why did we port Drova to (so many) different consoles anyway?
05:51 Was it worth it to release Drova for all plattforms on the same day?
06:55 What is your advice for porting any game to Nintendo Switch?
08:34 Did you change your mindset of "we can always refactor bad code afterwards" after Drova?
09:10 Whad do you think about allocating 100mb RAM at the start of development and keep it to yourself until there are performance issues? :D
10:06 Chris Question: Would you play Drova on the Nintendo Switch yourself?
11:05 Outro

 

[ArchAngel]

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.

Nemeton is not matriarchal society, what are you smoking?! Her father was in charge, then her and brother until brother left. It is standard medieval society where children get the throne.

 

[toro]

Cohh is streaming the game because he likes it. He is bad at it but this will greatly impact the sales.

Atm the game has 5002 reviews for a 96% positive ration (also 93% positive reviews from the last 999 reviews).

Also the steam forum is filled with complains about the difficulty.

This is a success story for a CRPG on a budget.

 

[Smerlus]

I enjoyed the game for what it was. Played great on the Steam Deck and was a decent 2D pixel RPG. I would have liked to have seen more depth in the quests such as more ways to solve them or start/finish them but they did touch on that on occasions.

I'd definitely check out their next game.

 

[Drakortha]

It's too bad this game is woke.

 

[Lord_Potato]

It's too bad this game is woke.

For a hammer everything looks like a nail.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Almost 39 hours in, I'm nearing towards the end.

I've got the best armor (chose the mage version), best sword and shield (funny that you can buy them from a dude, the ones you find by exploring the world are somewhat inferior) my PC is full of stat-increasing potions, I'm late in chapter 4, about to enter the Red Tower.

The game is starting to feel a bit tiresome due to all the backtracking and limited fast travel options, but remains to be fun. I'm still meeting enemies that can kick my butt, which is a plus. The story is somewhat interesting, I'm curious to discover the mystery behind the disappearance of the Bygones.

Drova seems like a GOTY for me, mostly because of how barren this year was, but nevertheless. It's also a proof that a great game can be realized with a governmental grant, so it kind of makes me less irritated by the likes of Dustborn

 

[Gahbreeil]

I've got the best armor, best sword and shield

Can I put this in my signature?

 

[Lord_Potato]

I've got the best armor, best sword and shield

Can I put this in my signature?

sure, go wild

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

 

[Drakortha]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

(It's marketing)

 

[Smerlus]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

There's little unique things such as you pick a faction and that faction kind of encompasses a class guideline of sorts. As you progress in the faction, they often supply you with better gear.

You gain skill points but have to find a trainer to use them. You can't just go to a level up screen.

Combat is usually clunky but skill(ish) based.

Animal AI varies with some being docile, others have a proximity you have to stay in before they become agreesive while others are immediately aggressive when in LoS. Also you start off fairly week so warthogs or bipedal birds can easily kill you in the first few levels.

I'm sure there are more similarities people can think of when it comes to quests and that.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

I see, so some mechanical semblances. Thanks for the info. Did you finish it? Would you recommend it?

 

[ArchAngel]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

There's little unique things such as you pick a faction and that faction kind of encompasses a class guideline of sorts. As you progress in the faction, they often supply you with better gear.

You gain skill points but have to find a trainer to use them. You can't just go to a level up screen.

Combat is usually clunky but skill(ish) based.

Animal AI varies with some being docile, others have a proximity you have to stay in before they become agreesive while others are immediately aggressive when in LoS. Also you start off fairly week so warthogs or bipedal birds can easily kill you in the first few levels.

I'm sure there are more similarities people can think of when it comes to quests and that.

Combat is for sure not clunky in Drova while I could not play Gothic because it was unplayable clunky

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

There's little unique things such as you pick a faction and that faction kind of encompasses a class guideline of sorts. As you progress in the faction, they often supply you with better gear.

You gain skill points but have to find a trainer to use them. You can't just go to a level up screen.

Combat is usually clunky but skill(ish) based.

Animal AI varies with some being docile, others have a proximity you have to stay in before they become agreesive while others are immediately aggressive when in LoS. Also you start off fairly week so warthogs or bipedal birds can easily kill you in the first few levels.

I'm sure there are more similarities people can think of when it comes to quests and that.

Combat is for sure not clunky in Drova while I could not play Gothic because it was unplayable clunky

Wasn't a deal breaker for me. I might even say that I like it.

 

[Litmanen]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

There's little unique things such as you pick a faction and that faction kind of encompasses a class guideline of sorts. As you progress in the faction, they often supply you with better gear.

You gain skill points but have to find a trainer to use them. You can't just go to a level up screen.

Combat is usually clunky but skill(ish) based.

Animal AI varies with some being docile, others have a proximity you have to stay in before they become agreesive while others are immediately aggressive when in LoS. Also you start off fairly week so warthogs or bipedal birds can easily kill you in the first few levels.

I'm sure there are more similarities people can think of when it comes to quests and that.

Combat is for sure not clunky in Drova while I could not play Gothic because it was unplayable clunky

I wouldn’t define it as 'unplayably clunky': given how simple and straightforward it was, it could have been even clunkier and still remained 'playable.'

 

[Parabalus]

I see, so some mechanical semblances. Thanks for the info. Did you finish it? Would you recommend it?

World is open from the beginning, lots of hidden stuff to find and higher-level monsters to kill.

 

[ArchAngel]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

There's little unique things such as you pick a faction and that faction kind of encompasses a class guideline of sorts. As you progress in the faction, they often supply you with better gear.

You gain skill points but have to find a trainer to use them. You can't just go to a level up screen.

Combat is usually clunky but skill(ish) based.

Animal AI varies with some being docile, others have a proximity you have to stay in before they become agreesive while others are immediately aggressive when in LoS. Also you start off fairly week so warthogs or bipedal birds can easily kill you in the first few levels.

I'm sure there are more similarities people can think of when it comes to quests and that.

Combat is for sure not clunky in Drova while I could not play Gothic because it was unplayable clunky

I wouldn’t define it as 'unplayably clunky': given how simple and straightforward it was, it could have been even clunkier and still remained 'playable.'

That was my experience at the time. Maybe I played a non patched version or something. Other games I played at the time were mostly FPS (with some rts and diablo) and this and Morrowind that I also gave up fast seemed super clunky.

 

[Tavar]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

It's heavily inspired by Gothic: no questmarkers, great exploration, very satisfying progressing and similar game structure.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

There's little unique things such as you pick a faction and that faction kind of encompasses a class guideline of sorts. As you progress in the faction, they often supply you with better gear.

You gain skill points but have to find a trainer to use them. You can't just go to a level up screen.

Combat is usually clunky but skill(ish) based.

Animal AI varies with some being docile, others have a proximity you have to stay in before they become agreesive while others are immediately aggressive when in LoS. Also you start off fairly week so warthogs or bipedal birds can easily kill you in the first few levels.

I'm sure there are more similarities people can think of when it comes to quests and that.

Combat is for sure not clunky in Drova while I could not play Gothic because it was unplayable clunky

I wouldn’t define it as 'unplayably clunky': given how simple and straightforward it was, it could have been even clunkier and still remained 'playable.'

That was my experience at the time. Maybe I played a non patched version or something. Other games I played at the time were mostly FPS (with some rts and diablo) and this and Morrowind that I also gave up fast seemed super clunky.

It's not unplayable clunky you're just a retard who plays RPGs on console in modern day

 

[ArchAngel]

What do people mean when they say this game is like Gothic?

There's little unique things such as you pick a faction and that faction kind of encompasses a class guideline of sorts. As you progress in the faction, they often supply you with better gear.

You gain skill points but have to find a trainer to use them. You can't just go to a level up screen.

Combat is usually clunky but skill(ish) based.

Animal AI varies with some being docile, others have a proximity you have to stay in before they become agreesive while others are immediately aggressive when in LoS. Also you start off fairly week so warthogs or bipedal birds can easily kill you in the first few levels.

I'm sure there are more similarities people can think of when it comes to quests and that.

Combat is for sure not clunky in Drova while I could not play Gothic because it was unplayable clunky

I wouldn’t define it as 'unplayably clunky': given how simple and straightforward it was, it could have been even clunkier and still remained 'playable.'

That was my experience at the time. Maybe I played a non patched version or something. Other games I played at the time were mostly FPS (with some rts and diablo) and this and Morrowind that I also gave up fast seemed super clunky.

It's not unplayable clunky you're just a retard who plays RPGs on console in modern day

No, I am pretty sure I play most RPGs on PC. Only RPG I recently played on console was Rogue Trader (terrible Starfield I cannot consider an RPG). Also I do not consider KCD a true RPG.
Also what is wrong with consoles in this modern day of overpriced graphic cards?
I only quit PC because it became too expensive of a hobby but I still have my old PC with 960 card and do not plan to buy a new one any time soon.