Drova - Forsaken Kin

Drova is a nourishing morsel of gaming experience. I recommend this game to you. 40 hours of play puts me at the end of a narrative which evoked emotions, puzzled me, and satisfied a button mashing itch that I've had since Golden Axe III. As I write this I find myself dissappointed that I didn't check if Drova had a spin move to shoot fireballs. The way mechanics are revealed to you is a bit sneaky like that. That feeling of enigma and simply-faceted lore warrant a second playthrough. The map is a quilt of transcended Golden Axe III biomes that you map/chart through warily. Exploring is very rewarding, and I found myself drawn about the world by interests beyond quests. The forests and heath of Drova will stay with me. Like Matataki Village, the Wise Owl Forest, and the Black Forest of Nosgoth. Combat is fun, with archtypal weapons leaving you to find joy in the pacing and rhythm. Spear and Sling combo felt great to play through, I found it gave me an answer for every opponant. Though, it did take me half the game to work out that keeping your off-hand free gives you access to a different weapon maneuvre. Unsure if this should be more obvious, or if I should not be stoned during tutorials. On my next playthrough, I will use sword and shield, I'm excited to get amongst the shield system. Magic system is easy to use, with good offense, defense and utility. I never used defence, I also didn't come back from beyond the red rocks quite a few times. Well written. Dialogue options felt obtruse and railroady at times, but I guess that's life. My frustrations were carried and addressed by a great narrative structure. The characters are memorable and endearing in a 2-dimensional way. The two dimensions have depth though. It's not a boolean thing. Played through on my laptop, bluetoothed to a PS4 controller in Big Picture mode. Auxed into an old JBL xTreme 2 speaker. At times my laptop charged from a usb powerbank while out in the bush. Mobile Drova arcade was very fun inside a rainy swag near the Clarence River. Oh yeah, the animation for spearing a fish was busted for the entire game. Dude would spear the fish, then immediately grab it and go to idle animation- then fish animation starts while you're in idle. Fish slides up out of the water as if on an imaginary stick, then vanishes. Unsure if other people get this, or just a product of my setup. Drova is a fine example of a game. It uses the strong parts of the medium well, while covering the limitations with charm.