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

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth


https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1585180/view/539966570464542763

The Insane Patch 1.2 is here!
A new difficulty and many more things await!
bacc23e35eaf1c1592e300096cfb4231f96f83f2.png

Greetings, travellers of the Otherworld!​

The year is coming to an end, and looking back it definitely was the best year for our studio since its foundation. Drova's release was a great experience and the following months after were a huge source of joy. It's been extremely motivating for us to read all of your feedback and thoughts about Drova and we're looking forward to a future of developing games together with you, our community.
But now it's finally time! We've been hard at work for the past two weeks to be able to now present to you our second major Content Patch.
We proudly present to you Version 1.2, the "Insane Patch". We're very excited (and slightly nervous) to see your reactions to the additions and changes!

As usual, we've prepared an Update Video for you as well. The spoken language is German (as usual) but English subs are available.

youtube_16x9_placeholder.gif




The Insane patch​

This Update is mainly about our new difficulty, "Insane", and the new Save mode, "Hardcore".
Both are completely new additions to the game that will offer new possibilities to experience the world of Drova.

8603b4a511ce82a222968febae406fbd292ca147.png


The "Insane" difficulty is for those players who feel like they've already mastered what Drova had to offer on "Classic" and are yearning for a more difficult challenge. It's been important to us to not just skew around some numbers to increase enemy HP. We also integrated new behaviors and attacks for known enemies that were not in the game previously.

The Save mode "Hardcore" is an iteration of the mode "Iron". It's a special challenge mode in which your character is not allowed to die - once you do anyway, your save will get changed to the "Iron" mode automatically. This will be applicable to both classic and insane difficulties.

To be able to play any of these new modes you'll have to start a new game- In the character creator you'll now have the choice between the difficulties Explorer, Classic and Insane. It is not possible to change your difficulty from a lower one to Insane nor from Insane to a lower during the game.


56a8a9766df8f8e869e9d6a71fe8f255830909f3.gif


When starting the game, you'll be asked for your save mode of choice. Next to "Classic" and "Iron" you'll now also be able to choose "Hardcore".

51b0132af3a508dd8d2dccc405d2ed9bf9717f92.gif



Challenges​

To properly celebrate the occasion, we came up with something special:
Starting from today, there'll be two special challenges running. The first players able to master them will receive a special role in our discord and will be put into the game itself in the form of a statue in the Remnant's camp.

43cb717629b52eb8329e48004c5e0adeda542830.png


Challenge 1 - No Hit Run
Whoever manages to beat the game first without their character being hit one singular time will be the proud bearer of the title "The Invulnerable". But be aware! Just a single scratch, and you're out!
You'll have to choose either Classic or Insane difficulty for this, Explorers may not enter the fray. Save mode doesn't matter. No reloading previous saves!

Challenge 2 - Insane Hardcore
Whoever first triumphs over death and insanity will be known forthwell as "The Invincible". Everyone can have a go at it, but only the fiercest warriors in all of Drova will have a lick of a chance.
This challenge asks to be the first player to beat Drova on Insane difficulty and Hardcore save mode.


Both of these challenges come with some stipulations, naturally:
  • The entire run will need to be given to us in video form.
  • The game timer must be visible for the entirety of the run. We've added one in the options, in the “interface” subsection. When active, the time will be visible in the top right of your screen.
  • The use of mods that change the game experience is disallowed, especially the cheat console, excluding translation mods. If you’re still having any uncertainties or doubts concerning mods you are using, feel free to ask us directly.
  • After finishing the game having beaten a challenge, you'll have to send us your corresponding save files. This can be done, on PC, using the Bug-Report feature on the F2 key.

Apart from these handful of things, feel free to use all your knowledge and skills gained in your adventures through Drova to be able to master the challenges at hand.

We're looking forward to seeing your attempts and are excited to see how long it'll take until the winners emerge!


Insane Difficulty​

The Insane difficulty will prove to be a challenge even to those that have already explored every nook and cranny of Drova, putting to test their mastery of skill. Behaviors of most enemies have been reworked to create new challenges.
From the getgo, your character receives 30% and gives out 20% less damage. You will, however, also be offered settings to further modify these values to customize the game further to your liking.


New Enemy Attacks​

In the new difficulty a bunch of enemies have learned a few new tricks to surprise you with.
This will of course mix up the battle and cause some new situations to occur.

f89e94fa61606333461750a0741264d634fb4fa5.gif


The Stone crusher follows the player while continuously hitting the ground- you should better keep a safe distance away!


d321fb6b5ad085320f34c054c90ffc75490adf70.gif


The magically changed spiders are now able to channel their energy to buff themselves- making them doubly as dangerous in impending attacks!


034148c68dbea254bc0c167b96a99be8ab7e19f4.gif


The red Froglings will try to get as close to you as possible to catch you in the explosive force of their own bodies. Better keep away to not also be torn apart!


These were just a few examples for the new attacks enemies will use, but there are plenty more. Have fun discovering them!


General Changes​

We've received plenty of feedback from you, our players, on a multitude of platforms over the past few weeks. Taking your wishes and ideas to heart, we've decided to implement a few more general changes that'll influence all difficulties. Here are some we'd like to put to your attention:

New Snaptor variants​

To make the riverbed Snaptors more exciting and interesting to fight we've decided to add some more variants to their flock.

2d70b789cda294c34ac28cdc1bb644e3901af749.gif


The blue Snaptor is a new edition to both normal and insane difficulty, while his green sibling only appears in Insane. Both of these variants have unique attacks that discern them from their kin.

Rework of the Bandit camp​

72d3535d19b23a384d16b5fd105e0e16ca8ff103.png


The bandit camp in the north west of Drova has been expanding by adding another cave that's got good use as storage space for, well, whatever a bandit's heart may desire.

New Armor​

a57916229cd7c2c30e9df2cdba0b86d2efa9f364.png


Since most players seem to spend most of their time in Chapter 1, we've thought about how to improve the armor progression after the long ebb following the leather armor.
We've decided to add the new, stronger Heavy Leather Armor to remedy this.

Food Buff Rework​

9654dd64133045107940c8382339ac69bd29e805.png


Since food loses its potency in the late game, we've been thinking about ways to make it more useful in the long run. Food will now heal 1-3 life every 4 seconds while losing 1-3 charges depending on the dish.
This should make the healing effect significantly more noticeable even at higher levels.


________________________

Changelog​

Finally, here's a list of other bug fixes, balancing changes and the like that we've done in the context of this update:

Tweaks/Changes
  • Added two new achievements for Hardcore and Insane
  • Added blue Snaptor variant
  • Added an additional harder fight with Bady after teaching the player
  • Added a new armor that bridges the gap between leather armor and first faction armor
  • Added new options to disable fog and rain
  • Added new option to display playtime in the corner
  • Changed behaviour when enemies are leaving the combat
  • Added a screen effect when being hit by the dirt throw of Digpig
  • Added a new cave at the bandits camp in the north-west
  • Added new rooms to the ruin on the Knoll in the Floodplain Forest
  • Added stagger animation to the young waterrat
  • Added new environmental hazard to the moor
  • Added prevention to autosaving in the challenge cave with the two golems
  • Added aiming indicators to some range attacks of enemies
  • Removed damage reduction from Blackflames when wearing the Gladiator armor
  • Bloodfly no longer trigger traps on the floor
  • Added autosave area before the traps in the bandit mine
  • Reduced audio clutter in moor areas when frogs and Bloodfly are fighting each other
  • Removed some mud zones from the Riverbed
  • Moved pickaxe in the Deep Mines to make it easier to find
  • Gras weapon is no longer lootable from below the cliffs
Balancing
  • Changed damage calculations to always deal at least 1 damage
  • Stamina cost of Unarmed Kick increased from 20 to 33
  • Critical damage multiplier of Unarmed Strikes decreased by 50%
  • Strength scaling of Unarmed Strikes decreased by 15-30%
  • Green Frogling Mortar attack spread increased
  • Magic Vision duration increased from 120 to 300 seconds
  • Placement of ambush enemies iterated
  • Ring of Blood healing reduced by 25%
  • Expanded the ruins basement on the knoll of the floodplain forest
  • Expanded the bandit camp in the mountains to the north
  • Root trap poise damage reduced from 50 to 5 per tick
  • Tinker's Revenge bonus damage reduced from 100% to 50%
  • Crow's Feet bleeding damage reduced by ~50%
  • Changed needed materials and prices for Acid Bombs, Bear Trap, Crows' Feet, Cluster Trap and Cluster Bomb
  • Reduced duration of hitbox with axe attacks
  • Reduced duration of hitbox of Charge
Fixes
  • Fixed a bug where the weapon set indicator wasn't updating in the HUD
  • Fixed some teleporter positions when using trap doors
  • Fixed a bug where traps disappeared from the world
  • Fixed Leyna going throught the void
  • Fixed a dialog option with Ede (was selectable twice)
  • Fixed that you can fight the bodyguard of Fawini if you kill Fawini and keep him alive
  • Fixed missing Baltus position in the journal
  • Fixed an edge case where the bandits on the road to the Pit don't want money from you
  • Fixed a state where you couldn't start a fight with some bandits
  • Fixed some situations where Owain triggered a cutscene from the wrong position
  • Fixed a bug where sheeps started to attack enemies
  • Fixed some equipment was not lootable from NPCs
  • "Treasure: Floodplain Forest" can be maked as garbage now
  • Fixed buff icon of Shadow Fragment
  • Fixed some shadows of room fading in the mine in the Riverbed
  • Fixed a bug that caused the water to be red in the world
  • Fixed movement speed of strong bear
  • Fixed a bug where the ring at the end of the quest "Sticky Fingers" was not removed
  • Fixed lots of collider issues in the world
  • Fixed lots of small graphical issues in the world
  • Fixed lots of typos
 

Jaedar

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How tight are the LPs if you want to do magic? Should you skip all strength and agility increases?
You can do magic with 0 LP investment. Getting mind will increase your damage, and your base focus, which makes it possible to cast spells without warming up with other attacks first.

The problem with a pure mind build is that the first mind trainer is halfway through chapter2. So I would recommend getting a few points in str or dex so you can get better weapons.
 
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I really don't like these new difficulty options, if I have to be perfectly honest, but it is what it is.

For a start, I don't want for games to ask me to be its designer and "rebalance sliders" to find MY ideal sweet spot.
In general I don't even like to have difficulty options in games, I like when the difficulty is a standard for everyone (well, two in this case, but I went with the assumption that "Classic" was the intended default and never even bothered with the other).

I guess I won't have the game "platinumed" at 100% achievements anymore, either, because I'm not going going back to it only to embark in some masochistic "f you die once you throw away your entire playthrough".
It's one thing to be prevented from taking your decisions back in a one-single-savefile mode, and another entirely to have to start over the game because you get distracted by a phone call or whatever and you die 20+ hours into your game.
Sweaty-only.
 

Jaedar

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Finished the game.
I gotta say, making the final fight be against someone you've literally never seen before is a pretty brave decision. Also stupid.
 

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth

00:00 Intro
00:33 Why do you need a Publisher?
01:18 How did we find a Publisher?
05:43 How was the first contact to the publisher?
08:50 What does the publisher do, what do we still do ourselves?
10:31 What should you watch out for regarding Publisher collaboration?
12:09 What would you improve regarding the collaboration with Deck13?
12:38 Outro
 

Parabalus

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Thoughts after finishing the game with the "secret" ending:
  • Best part is exploration, almost nothing is locked down in Act 1 (and some obstacles even shift according to the plot). After the plot urges you somewhere, most of the time the reaction is "Ah, why didn't I find this myself?", since it exists from the beginning.
  • Lots of hidden goodies to find
  • Combat is fluid and responsive, every time you die you quite transparently messed up
  • Made by extreme Gothic fanboys
  • Enough new stuff in each Act to keep things interesting, but the game doesn't overstay its welcome

The problem with a pure mind build is that the first mind trainer is halfway through chapter2. So I would recommend getting a few points in str or dex so you can get better weapons.
I'm pretty sure you can get a mind trainer in Act 1 as well. (Had enough mcguffins, didn't find her until Act 4 myself because I didn't do the quest before)

Finished the game.
I gotta say, making the final fight be against someone you've literally never seen before is a pretty brave decision. Also stupid.
They get talked about the entire game, it's foreshadowed pretty hard. Would have been worse if they never showed them.

I really don't like these new difficulty options, if I have to be perfectly honest, but it is what it is.

For a start, I don't want for games to ask me to be its designer and "rebalance sliders" to find MY ideal sweet spot.
In general I don't even like to have difficulty options in games, I like when the difficulty is a standard for everyone (well, two in this case, but I went with the assumption that "Classic" was the intended default and never even bothered with the other).

I guess I won't have the game "platinumed" at 100% achievements anymore, either, because I'm not going going back to it only to embark in some masochistic "f you die once you throw away your entire playthrough".
It's one thing to be prevented from taking your decisions back in a one-single-savefile mode, and another entirely to have to start over the game because you get distracted by a phone call or whatever and you die 20+ hours into your game.
Sweaty-only.
Doesn't seem that bad, if you replay just go with Insane instead of Classic.

  • Moved pickaxe in the Deep Mines to make it easier to find
I hate when I play the game and kind of like it and then the devs make a patch that's dumbing down shiet.
All plot items (horns, harps, spears, pickaxes) always have conveniently placed copies.

The deep mine one is funny, since you will probably have 10 pickaxes there (you were mining silver after all), but if you don't have one you would be stuck since you need to tear down a wall to leave.
 
Last edited:

Jaedar

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I'm pretty sure you can get a mind trainer in Act 1 as well. (Had enough mcguffins, didn't find her until Act 4 myself because I didn't do the quest before)
I have no idea who you are talking about. Only mind trainers I found were hippie leader in chapter 2 forest(pretty sure you can't get him to teach you until main quest) and druids in nemeton, which won't teach you until you have unlocked magic in chapter3
 

Parabalus

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I'm pretty sure you can get a mind trainer in Act 1 as well. (Had enough mcguffins, didn't find her until Act 4 myself because I didn't do the quest before)
I have no idea who you are talking about. Only mind trainers I found were hippie leader in chapter 2 forest(pretty sure you can't get him to teach you until main quest) and druids in nemeton, which won't teach you until you have unlocked magic in chapter3
Cave behind Olaf, the ruin raider who leads you through the library teaches dagger and mind. You have to do the "Missing" quest (or can you lockpick the tavern door?), and deliver 6/7 mcguffings.
Also Bady by the waterfall might be accessible in Act 1, but you have to defeat him first.
 

Jaedar

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I'm pretty sure you can get a mind trainer in Act 1 as well. (Had enough mcguffins, didn't find her until Act 4 myself because I didn't do the quest before)
I have no idea who you are talking about. Only mind trainers I found were hippie leader in chapter 2 forest(pretty sure you can't get him to teach you until main quest) and druids in nemeton, which won't teach you until you have unlocked magic in chapter3
Cave behind Olaf, the ruin raider who leads you through the library teaches dagger and mind. You have to do the "Missing" quest (or can you lockpick the tavern door?), and deliver 6/7 mcguffings.
Also Bady by the waterfall might be accessible in Act 1, but you have to defeat him first.
I guess those are indeed technically available in chapter1, but I'm not sure they are realistic, especially if you are not spending your LPs.
 

ShiningSoldier

Educated
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Messages
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I spent an hour playing Drova, and I'll play it more, but it's not Gothic at all. Pity.
  • Game world is just a theme park where everybody is your friend. Every NPC I talk to is ready to tell me the story of his life, explain about his grandma and give a bunch of quests. They have no idea who I am! In Gothic half of the NPC wanted to steal your money, another half - beat the shit of you and take your money from your corpse. Or at least call you some bad words. Here they're all my best friends! It just doesn't feels right for me.
  • No jumping or climbing! In Gothic it's possible to climb on (almost) every stone, but here even a small fence becomes an impassable barrier. So the world feels like it's "open" at first, but it's actually pretty closed with all these barriers. I don't think it's a good thing for a game based on exploration.
 
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Messages
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Location
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I really don't like these new difficulty options, if I have to be perfectly honest, but it is what it is.

For a start, I don't want for games to ask me to be its designer and "rebalance sliders" to find MY ideal sweet spot.
In general I don't even like to have difficulty options in games, I like when the difficulty is a standard for everyone (well, two in this case, but I went with the assumption that "Classic" was the intended default and never even bothered with the other).

I guess I won't have the game "platinumed" at 100% achievements anymore, either, because I'm not going going back to it only to embark in some masochistic "f you die once you throw away your entire playthrough".
It's one thing to be prevented from taking your decisions back in a one-single-savefile mode, and another entirely to have to start over the game because you get distracted by a phone call or whatever and you die 20+ hours into your game.
Sweaty-only.
I'll quote myself just because this is a direct follow-up/addendum to the previous post.

What's above was just my opinion in abstract. Today I ACTUALLY tried the new "Insane" mode and my opinion of it got suddenly a lot worse.

I get that it's designed for people who at this point "know the game like the back of their hand" and want an additional challenge, but I'm not sure it's achieving it in an interesting way. More specifically, I think the basic tuning here is simply OFF.
It's not even a matter of difficulty (and yes, by it is more difficult, of course), it simply became NOT ENJOYABLE to play. It doesn't feel like an adventure anymore, it feels like some overtuned metagaming to prove a point ("Do you guys want a challenge? We'll give you a challenge").

Going by the trailer I thought they were simply going to add special encounters with the occasional uber-enemies here and there, but that's not it... A lot of basic values have been altered too.
Right now, since level 1, even the weakest critters are way more "spongy" with a lot more HP (or your damage is nerfed to the point that this is what it feels like, at least), they do a lot more damage, they aggro way more easily and in group (which, sure, adds some challenge, but also completely kills any vague credibility of "wildlife behavior")

I already finished the game at Classic three times at this point (two of them "Iron", too), so it's not like I'm not aware of how to play and how to progress efficiently... And yet I found myself simply NOT ENJOYING a single bit my first attempt to play this "INSANE" mode.

To be clear I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm sure I COULD complete it if I tried hard enough. I simply see no reason too, because it doesn't feel entertaining.
It feels like something that tries to be challenging for the sake of it, in a fairly annoying way.

And for what is worth, I don't think that just because something is "optional" it means it's necessarily a good addition to a game.
 

Alpharius

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Messages
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I'm pretty sure you can get a mind trainer in Act 1 as well. (Had enough mcguffins, didn't find her until Act 4 myself because I didn't do the quest before)
I have no idea who you are talking about. Only mind trainers I found were hippie leader in chapter 2 forest(pretty sure you can't get him to teach you until main quest) and druids in nemeton, which won't teach you until you have unlocked magic in chapter3
I think the herbalist guy in nemeton trains mind after you do his quest in act 1? Or is it act 2? Only up to 20 or something though.
 

Jaedar

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I'm pretty sure you can get a mind trainer in Act 1 as well. (Had enough mcguffins, didn't find her until Act 4 myself because I didn't do the quest before)
I have no idea who you are talking about. Only mind trainers I found were hippie leader in chapter 2 forest(pretty sure you can't get him to teach you until main quest) and druids in nemeton, which won't teach you until you have unlocked magic in chapter3
I think the herbalist guy in nemeton trains mind after you do his quest in act 1? Or is it act 2? Only up to 20 or something though.
Herbalist in nemeton has a quest? I can't recall him being open to talk except for the kids quest. 20 would still be enough to let you qualify for some better weapons and weapon skills in chapter 1, if he indeed offers the training.
 

Parabalus

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Mar 23, 2015
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I'm pretty sure you can get a mind trainer in Act 1 as well. (Had enough mcguffins, didn't find her until Act 4 myself because I didn't do the quest before)
I have no idea who you are talking about. Only mind trainers I found were hippie leader in chapter 2 forest(pretty sure you can't get him to teach you until main quest) and druids in nemeton, which won't teach you until you have unlocked magic in chapter3
Cave behind Olaf, the ruin raider who leads you through the library teaches dagger and mind. You have to do the "Missing" quest (or can you lockpick the tavern door?), and deliver 6/7 mcguffings.
Also Bady by the waterfall might be accessible in Act 1, but you have to defeat him first.
I guess those are indeed technically available in chapter1, but I'm not sure they are realistic, especially if you are not spending your LPs.
I was quite close on a blind run, if you have meta knowledge of them you can beeline it and get it.
You don't need any LPs since you just run around and pick stuff up.

Going by the trailer I thought they were simply going to add special encounters with the occasional uber-enemies here and there, but that's not it... A lot of basic values have been altered too.
Right now, since level 1, even the weakest critters are way more "spongy" with a lot more HP (or your damage is nerfed to the point that this is what it feels like, at least), they do a lot more damage, they aggro way more easily and in group (which, sure, adds some challenge, but also completely kills any vague credibility of "wildlife behavior")

I already finished the game at Classic three times at this point (two of them "Iron", too), so it's not like I'm not aware of how to play and how to progress efficiently... And yet I found myself simply NOT ENJOYING a single bit my first attempt to play this "INSANE" mode.

To be clear I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm sure I COULD complete it if I tried hard enough. I simply see no reason too, because it doesn't feel entertaining.
It feels like something that tries to be challenging for the sake of it, in a fairly annoying way.

And for what is worth, I don't think that just because something is "optional" it means it's necessarily a good addition to a game.
I'm guessing it's for the crowd who never really got hit in the Classic mode.

No jumping or climbing! In Gothic it's possible to climb on (almost) every stone, but here even a small fence becomes an impassable barrier. So the world feels like it's "open" at first, but it's actually pretty closed with all these barriers. I don't think it's a good thing for a game based on exploration.
You get misty step in Act IV.
 

ShiningSoldier

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Jul 21, 2024
Messages
174
I spent an hour playing Drova, and I'll play it more, but it's not Gothic at all. Pity.
It couldn't be more Gothic if it tried.
Sometimes I almost forgot we weren't in the Colony.

Game world is just a theme park where everybody is your friend.
Uh, no?
This is complete bollocks.
Example: in Gothic first person you meet in the Colony punches you in the face. Then you come to the Old Camp where you're nobody and you have to pay for protection. Even Diego, who acts friendly, does that only because it's his job to lure new people to the Old Camp, to work for Gomez.
In Gothic 2 it's even cooler: first person you meet on the road to Khorinis is a bandit who wants to kill you. Then you're trying to enter the city, but guards absolutely don't care.
Now, in Drova, it's completely different. I came to the woodcutter's camp, and everybody here somehow... like me? First 2 NPCs near the entrance acted like they're going to punch my character, but suddenly all their bravado transformed into a... tutorial. They even gave me the weapon, lol. The leader of the woodcutters chats to me like I'm his old friend and trusts me with the problems of the camp. Every trader speaks to my like I'm his long forgotten grandson. And when the innkeeper from the next camp gave me the quest about killing rats in his basement... At first I thought it would be some kind of a joke, like in the Bard's Tale ARPG. But no - it was just the absolutely boring simple quest about killing critters! Gothic had such quests too, but they were saved by cool writing. For example, when you kill meatbugs in the Brutus' house. Simple quest, but feels way, way better because of the writing.
I mean, Drova is a nice game. But it's really far away from Gothic.
 

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