Drugar mi je poklonio igricu punu tajni, ali tajna nije da ja druga volim

Igrice su porodica

Rarely do i ever leave a review for a game. But this in genuinely without a doubt a amazing work of art. Seriously. Ive got mad ADHD so i NEVER focus on stories or characters, but I found myself as I was exploring consistently going , so that's where they ended up. To extract emotion like that is one I will never cease to be amazed by. Continue making games you guys, and continue making hours of people dissipate with a enticing adventure with no bounds.

This is the type of game that gives you depression. Not so much through the development of your character and through the story although there are ups and downs that will drag you through that emotional roller coaster, but more in that after you've finished this game, you're not going to find anything else that's going to fill that void. You're going to spin up a couple of games after this and they're just not going to hit. You're not sure why, but you're going to trudge through in the hopes that one day you find a game that is on par with this one.

Fun

A worthy spiritual successor to Gothic. Instantly became one of my favorite games of all time!

Best played blindly. Requires a bit of patience at the start, but later it gets easier

An isometric pixel art action RPG this thoughtfully crafted is always a welcome addition, but what made Drova stand out to me is that it's very clearly carrying on the design ethos of defunct German developer Pirahna Bytes and specifically their Gothic franchise. These titles were known for an emphasis on a slow, gradual accumulation of progression and power where better gear comes slowly and much of your power comes through gaining the cooperation and allegiance of a community or faction. That's not to say that you can't get very powerful, you definitely CAN in Drova - but like in Gothic that won't happen until you're most of the way through your first playthrough of the game. Combat on normal difficulty can be quite challenging, and it's important to recognize that it's ok to go run from most fights and try to find something easier or look for non-combat quests for sources of XP early on. The story is enjoyable but not particularly deep, focusing on factions stuck in a fabled land of legend where the glory of old has turned to ruins and hostile wilderness filled with monsters and ringed by a life-draining fog. You've ended up trapped here with nothing but a strange crystal and the dying instructions from one of your village's druids to find another druid and show them the crystal, as it's the key to everything.

Your survival will hinge on choosing between the communal-minded but authoritarian town of Nemeton who want to use the power of the Divines (powerful nature spirits) to make Drova Great again, and the Freedom-Loving, Individualistic but ruthless and opportunistic Remnant Camp who want to harness the power to leave Drova and return to their home worlds, and damn the consequences. Gaining the trust and cooperation with these groups will be your main source of quests, equipment, and funds, though as you gain power and skill with a simple but rewarding dodge and parry, timing-based combat system you'll be able to tackle progressively tougher encounters and so push further into the wilderness. Exploring Drova is, honestly, more rewarding overall than the story, though the story is decent and well-told with the exception of one moment about half-way through the game where a game that has been good about allowing you choice and reacting to your choices in a respectful way railroads you into an act that is pretty obviously a Very Bad Thing With Very Bad Consequences so that the rest of the plot can happen.

Overall, I'd strongly recommend this for any fans of the Gothic, Risen, or Elex games from PirahnaBytes and for any fans of challenging exploration-driven action RPGs. My fairly completionist first play through took me about 50 hours, and I'd say you can expect to spend 30-40 on a first playthrough if you're less persnickety than I am about doing EVERY sidequest and tracking down EVERY optional bit of content on a first playthrough.

TL;DR at the bottom.

When Steam asks me "Do you recommend this game?" when writing reviews, I assume this recommendation is applied to most people reading reviews wanting to see if they should buy it.

I can't recommend Drova to most people.
However, if you like any of the following:

• Gothic games (any, especially G2: Night of the Raven or Archolos) - Drova is heavily influenced by them which is evidenced by the message showing up if "bmarvinb" is typed as well as other aspects of the game.
  
• Souls-like games
  
• Witcher games (especially on harder difficulties) - I think Drova is influenced by Witcher games too but I can't name any particular indicators except perhaps corpse inspection.
  
• Elder scrolls games (especially on harder difficulties)

you will probably like Drova.

Where Drova shines:

• Graphics - for a 2D game it's quite beautiful
  
• Quality of life - there are enough save files, auto saving works well, you can savealmost anywhere. skills are not difficult to understand. Progression is understandable. There is even fast travel, but you have to pay (like Skyrim carriage fast travel).
  
• Animations
  
• Magic is integrated into combat quite well

Main issues of Drova in my opinion:

• Combat
  
• Story (mostly Act/Chapter 3)

I played on classic difficulty, which is supposed to be intended difficulty to play. I have to say, it was rough. At one point, I had to choose to either cheese a fight (the bear fight in the Forest Primeval to learn a virtue of the Bonded) or quit the game because I was getting tired of it. One might say skill issue, I'd say the fights should be more interesting.

In general, the combat in Drova is a tiresome slog that you have to power through gritting your teeth. But, I've played all games in the Gothic trilogy, including G2:NotR and Archolos, as well as The Witcher 3 on death match, so it wasn't new to me.

Unless you're used to difficult combat, especially in souls-likes, you probably won't like Drova.

At around half-way point of the story, something happens that made me feel, let's say, bad. Nothing I did mattered and I had to go along the rails. I understand why it was written like that and it reminds me of the 1st Gothic game (although nothing bad like that happens there), but it didn't have to be that awful. I winced but continued playing.

I appreciate not making the story sunshine and roses but at least there should have been an option to prevent that from happening.

• Women look like men. there are little or no differences in body models/sprites. Only differences are in armor where it's supposed to be topless on a male model (female models get extra cover on the chest) and in dialogue portraits. In general it felt like the game was meant to be played with a male main character but it's evidenced by rare instances (like referring to a female main character as a "guy" - but I saw it just once).
  
• Resources are finite, so using them requires planning and careful spending. I tried not to make any expendable items (traps for example). This matters most in early game though.

If you are not turned off by harder than normal combat and questionable story decisions, you may like Drova. Otherwise, you probably won't.

P.S. It should be noted that a bug I encountered got fixed a few weeks after reporting it among other things in that patch so the communication with developers is there at least.

I bought two RPGs last year, and I was convinced that Metaphor: Re Fantazio would be the one to blow my mind.
But in reality, Drova feels so much better for me. It's a good RPG with good exploration and mid story that it drew me in—I couldn't resist.
Yes, it has its ups and downs, but for the price, there's a ton of fun, challenges, and quests to explore.
In some areas, it’s genuinely better than any other triple-A game with ten times the budget.

Justice for our boy Jared - Having only one ending (with a second slightly different one) in RPG game is sad. - 10 points
Overall rating 6.5/10

Just not what i expected based on highly praising comments