Drova transports you to a world steeped in Celtic mythology and puts you in a punishing situation. Lost in a world that’s supposed to be a perfect paradise, you quickly discover it is anything but that. Adapt to the world and join one of two factions to survive, but be aware that adapting takes time. This adventure will have its ups and downs, testing you each step of the way. You choose how the story ends and dictate what happens based on your actions.

Drova – Forsaken Kin shines with its freedom to let you explore the world at your own pace. Your choices and decisions shape the world without forcing you into being good or evil. You have real-time combat that drives home the action better than other CRPGs. Unfortunately, combat does feel unbalanced in the enemy’s favour and the UI is confusing at times. Drova – Forsaken Kin has several strengths with an equal number of flaws, but still delivers a strong RPG experience.

The story begins when druids begin a ritual to investigate the mystical land of Drova. Your character stumbles into the ritual but becomes the only survivor after some events. Stuck in the land of Drova without any way back, you try to learn more about the ritual that brought you here. Drova is unfortunately not a paradise, with several factions fighting each other over what Drova should be. What ultimately happens to Drova and its residents depends entirely on you.

Something Drova does well is that it never forces you into being a saint. While it’s great to be good for its own sake, there aren’t penalties for being evil. You can rob, steal, or open locks without judgment if you aren’t caught. This isn’t because Drova is some lawless area but a reflection of a man thrown into circumstances, not of his own making. You are doing what you feel is right, what you want to do, and what you think helps you survive.

Drova’s world is completely accessible from the beginning. Even though you struggle without a map, you obtain one early one. The only problems holding you back are the powerful enemies and story obstacles. But few places are off-limits and you can explore if you don’t die. That freedom allows you to get a full picture of the places you visit and the people you meet. You don’t have a strict order to follow; you can complete the objectives in any order you like.

On the other hand, the freedom makes it easy to get lost. The world map isn’t great and purchasing new maps is an expensive venture. You can’t easily access smaller maps for regions or settlements, making it annoying to navigate. Navigating across water is also challenging because it’s not easy to see which areas are shallow or deep. Most of your time is spent travelling from one location to another because of navigation difficulties.

The combat is real-time instead of turn-based like other CRPGs. Enemies notice you and attack without dragging you into a combat screen. This means you must be alert and prepared to fight at all times. You can use several weapons to fight depending on your playstyle, even accessing magic to assist you in combat. Each weapon has its strengths and weaknesses, encouraging you to use several combat options when the situation calls for it.

On one hand, the combat variety is fun to explore. You can test several weapons and see the results immediately. It’s not hard to quickly gain weapons and see what fits you best. Melee and ranged options can be put together to cover a variety of situations, but you can specialise if you like. Magic is treated like a rare tool at first but eventually becomes more powerful and accessible later. This breadth of options gives you considerable character customisation.

However, combat runs into its biggest problem: your supposed pacifism. You must draw your weapon before you fight but this is considered an act of aggression. Doing this in settlements or near NPCs alerts them and if you don’t quickly sheathe your weapon, everyone fights you. Unfortunately, the game does not automatically unsheathe your weapon in combat situations; it is always done manually.

This means you are often giving opponents a free turn while you run and draw your weapon. Enemies take advantage of your initial frame freeze to attack since drawing your weapon forces you to stay still. You often start battles at a disadvantage, even against non-human enemies since your presence can attract multiple enemies. Even if you are the aggressor, you don’t draw your weapon shortly after which stands out as odd behaviour.

Combat is also gruelling because the game unintentionally forces resource management onto you. Enemies do not respawn and items don’t regenerate from the environment. However, you must also acquire more money and powerful equipment to keep up with powerful enemies. Without reliable ways to earn money, it’s easy to spend everything you have. Eventually, you need more powerful options but can’t afford it.

It’s true that you can find decent equipment lying around in the world, but that also has some elements of luck. Maybe it’s not a weapon you are specialising in or it might be weaker than expected. This all comes together to make Act 1 difficult and a big time sink. It’s not impossible to overcome and you will enjoy the game after the early stages. However, it definitely feels like you spend more time struggling than enjoying Drova.

Drova has strong moments but also areas that drag the experience down. For a CPRG that shakes up the formula, you will have a fun time. Just remember that the early game can be difficult and navigation isn’t the best. Stick around long enough and the tides swing in your favour, allowing you to see the best of what Drova can offer.