Drova: Forsaken Kin

Drova: Forsaken Kin was provided by Deck13 for review. Thank you!

This review was created using an LCD Steam Deck. OLED testing will be carried out at a later date.

Drova: Forsaken Kin might be my most surprising game of 2024. Before diving into a dark, gothic-inspired RPG with little hand-holding and a love letter to classic RPGs, I didn't know what to expect. That always makes me nervous, as games like this often have many challenges to overcome. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, after all, and that comes with expectations that can be impossible to manage.

However, you can breathe easily tonight because Drova: Forsaken Kin is brilliant. It might be my Game of the Year. If that is not tempting enough, Drova is a great experience on the Steam Deck. Developers Just2D have put massive effort into their game, and their passion shows in every corner.

Drova: Forsaken Kin is an experimental RPG, and it can take a little while to get used to it. You start with nothing in a large, dangerous world, and everything will kill you if you aren’t prepared. Set in a world heavily inspired by Celtic mythology, Drova reminds me most of the Gothic and Risen series but without many of my annoyances with those games. It feels like a modern version of these games that are challenging for their core game design rather than frustrating controls. When all those pieces come together, the result is something spectacular.

This does not mean that Drova lacks frustrating moments. Sure, I got killed more times than I can count, but most of my deaths were my fault. Rushing into a swamp filled with frog demons with nothing but a stick is a terrible idea. While the combat is not the best, the progression feels great. The ‘zero to hero’ philosophy is in full effect here, and turning my broken, weak figure into a growing menace to nature that commands respect is engaging.

The story premise is pretty cool. Upon entering a new realm, and after my companion dies to crazy spirits, it is my job to uncover the answers behind this mysterious, dangerous world. Society has discovered the power of a dead empire, allowing them to capture the spirits that control nature. However, the anger of the remaining spirits has divided mankind into two warring factions.

Everyone you meet has ambitions and a reason for existing. They don’t just let you into their favorite club because you smell of ‘Main Character Syndrome.’ Respect has to be earned. They don’t know who you are, so until you prove yourself, you aren’t worth much to them.

Drova: Forsaken Kin’s world design might be the best I’ve seen, especially with exploration. You don't know anyone in this world, and characters are not named unless they decide you are worthy of their name. There is no fast travel, and locations/places of interest can be marked with ink, which you must buy from vendors.

Cartographers will sell you their professional maps if needed, and navigating the world always feels rewarding. The map is not particularly large, but it doesn't need to be. Too many open worlds mistake width over depth, but Drova bucks this trend. People will follow their routines as taverns come to life. You can also pet cats and dogs, so the best part of life is present.

I appreciate how much thought they have put into making the challenge organic rather than shoving health sponge enemies down my throat. People might get nervous seeing the ‘Soulslike’ tag on the Steam page, but that is only to emphasize timing and picking your fights carefully. Most of the time, you can muscle through fights without being punished. This isn’t Dark Souls, don’t worry! Some enemies are powerful, but the open-ended world gives you the freedom to return to it later.

Even the leveling system is immersive. Rather than picking perks and abilities in a skill tree, Drova engages the player in seeking out mentors to learn their tricks of the trade. Some mentors will do it for free, and some require hard-earned gold. When I learned to extract important materials from dead animals, the game gave me great dialogue as my mentor taught me how, which is wonderful for world-building.

One of my favorite moments in Drova was getting drunk with a random lass in a tavern. There she was, being all flirty and promising a great night. Because my character is lonely, he was happy to go along. The twist was coming a mile away, but it made me laugh as she led me into the nearby woods. To my lack of surprise and amusement, I was knocked out by goons and dragged to a huge, underground labor camp! What followed was a few hours of great storytelling, and that is just part of why I’m so drawn in.

It’s a mark of a good game when I’m racking my brain for things I’m not fond of. I can imagine that some players might not love the lack of handholding the game provides, and while I enjoy the combat, it is a little clunky at times. More than once, I lost a fight because I dodged an attack too late, though that is my fault more than an issue with the game. You can change several difficulty settings at any time, so if you’re dying too quickly or want to focus on the story and world, you can adjust the challenge whenever you wish.

I have tried to keep this as spoiler-free as possible because I believe Drova: Forsaken Kin is one of those games that you’re better off experiencing blind. Above everything, the developer oozes competence and a love for creating great games. A roadmap of additional features was announced recently, adding even more to the game, all for no extra cost. Drova: Forsaken Kin is gaining more attention across the industry for good reason. It is a captivating and refreshing RPG with a great world to explore. For $24.99, you will struggle to find a game as good as this for the price.

Drova: Forsaken Kin - Steam Deck Performance

According to Valve, Drova: Forsaken Kin has an Unknown status rating and a Native rating through ProtonDB. While the visuals and environmental effects pack a surprising punch, the performance on the Steam Deck is great all around. However, I have made some interesting observations over the past few weeks.

Drova has come out of the gates swinging, bringing an almost complete experience out of the box. It works very well without any adjustments to TDP, refresh rate, or locking frames. Despite the somewhat dated visuals, it looks gorgeous with the diverse biomes and character animations, and I found it a solid 60FPS across the board. While there is much text to read, I had no problems making it out on the Steam Deck’s screen. The game is blessed with accessibility options, including a font scaler. It should automatically be set to Large font size; if not, it is an easy click away.

The default control scheme works great, although I saw a small bug when using investigation mode. This feature allows players to study interesting locations or uncover footprints like Witcher 3’s senses. It is an awesome mechanic, but I found that I was unable to move the cursor around and investigate properly with the controller. While the mode functioned, it was stuck vertically to where my character was. It is a bizarre issue, but control rebinds are in the game thanks to a recent patch, so it is an easy fix.

There aren’t many graphical settings you can tweak in Drova: Forsaken Kin, but this is a well-optimized experience. I recommend turning off the autosave function or setting it every 30 minutes. The game will stutter and freeze for a few seconds while saving, which is most noticeable when it autosaves. For a smoother experience, I left the toggle off. It has plenty of manual save slots, including quick saving, so turning the autosave off should not be a problem.

Recommended Settings

The Steam Deck can handle Drova: Forsaken Kin and chews through even the most demanding scenes on stock settings (Unlocked TDP, 60hz Refresh Rate, 60FPS lock). We are limited in how much we can change within the settings. Apart from a few minor drops during a loading screen and the aforementioned saving freeze, this is smooth sailing. The only graphical options of note are toggling dust particles and the screen resolution, neither of which made much difference to the framerate or battery. I turned off dust particles while keeping the resolution native, but leaving it on makes little difference if you like the former.

The power drain has been like a rollercoaster ride. Between the different updates, I have experienced a bizarre range of power draws that are nearly impossible to put down. Ultimately, we must stick to the newest update that most people are on, 3.6.19, which drained at around 10 - 14 Watts. This translates into about three and a half hours of gameplay on the LCD Steam Deck. This is still a decent time and comes with no significant drawbacks. For those who want to get as much battery juice out of their Steam Deck, Drova: Forsaken Kin is still fairly playable at low TDPs.

Battery Life Settings

Before the 3.6.19 update, Drova: Forsaken Kin scaled well, even at a 3-watt TDP. While the frame dips were more common during intense fighting scenes, it maintained a fairly stable 30FPS with half rate shader turned off, the frame rate capped to 30 in-game, and the refresh rate locked to 40hz. With the new updates, that is no longer an option, as it dropped to 15FPS on average. While this was irritating, turning the TDP to 4 brought the performance back up to what it was previously. However, the power draw stabilizes between 8 and 9 watts on average.

This brings the average battery life to around 5 hours on a single charge, which is a moderate bump in longevity while sacrificing some stability.

Accessibility

Drova: Forsaken Kin is available in English, French, and German. It has impressive accessibility features, although it lacks colorblind support.

For gameplay, players can change the difficulty, toggle tutorials, deactivate minigames with mechanics such as fishing and mining, change the text display speed, auto-assign items to the quick bar, equip ammunition automatically, and draw their weapon automatically. For the interface, players can freely turn off HUD elements on the screen and toggle character notifications when they act, such as picking up an item or gaining a level.

Conclusion

Organic and honest is how I would describe Drova: Forsaken Kin. It combines the best parts of what made me fall in love with RPGs into a brilliant package. Great worldbuilding and lore, challenging combat without feeling like it's mocking the player for trying, and surprisingly gorgeous visuals blend in wonderfully.

This is an absolute bargain for the quality, even at full price.

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!