I dro-va night.

Drova, a throwback action RPG from publisher Deck13, is very much the type of game I would’ve played on my Mac LCII back in the ’90s. My buddies would have, too, and we would’ve spent many evenings discussing it and comparing strategies/experiences. Is that the case in 2024? To a lesser extent, yeah.

Drova is a dark game both visually and thematically. It’s steeped in Celtic mythology, set in a world where things go south from the very start and never really take a significant turn for the better—a hard game set in a harsh world.

From the game’s description in the Nintendo eShop:

A society has discovered the power of a dead empire: to capture the spirits that govern nature and rule over them instead. However, the anger of the remaining spirits divided them. Where will you stand?

You actually do get to choose where you stand, picking between two rival factions—Nemeton and the Remnants—and following their path against each other once you reach the legendary Drova. Each has its own set of ideals driving their goals for Drova. If you’re into old-school RPGs, you’re going to enjoy taking each 40- to 50-hour route.

Whichever way you go, plenty of time is sunk into becoming a part of the group. You’ll need to accept jobs and go on quests in order to build up not only your skillset, but the trust of the community, as well.

The decisions you make throughout will affect how you’re viewed by various groups and what becomes available to you later in the game.

Combat itself is fairly basic—get out your weapons (or magic skills) and use them. The story presents you with a basic one fairly early, but you’ll of course want to upgrade throughout the game. You can choose how you approach combat, and certain weapons work better against certain enemies. You can attempt to avoid enemies, and this is often the wiser choice. Although Drova gives you plenty of easy animals to defeat so you can gain experience, it mixes those in with enemies you have no chance of beating at the start. That’s not uncommon these days, but the game could do a better job of letting you know which is which so you don’t embarrass yourself.

That’s actually likely to happen for the opening hours of the game, as Drova doesn’t do much to guide you early on. You do occasionally get helpful tips, and the UI provides important checkpoints so you’re not left to meander in this brutal landscape (in fact, if you’re warned against meandering at any point, take that warning seriously). But you’re not provided with the money you need to acquire new recipes and items. You’re instead left to make do with what you have, and what you have often isn’t enough to do it. As a result, the game’s opening segments feel like a chore because that’s literally all you’re doing: chores.

But hey, whistle while you work, right? These chores are at least engaging, and the game generally feels like it’s heading somewhere.

It also helps that the story and action are all set in a world that’s fun to explore not only narratively, but also visually. The pixel art environments are nicely detailed and uniquely lit, creating a unique look that feels modern despite the retro trappings. I was less impressed by the character sprites, but they do fit the overall appearance of the game. It did amuse me that there are so many character creation options when many of them are nearly indiscernible when playing, especially in handheld mode. This is definitely a game you want to play docked, as the tiny type, UI, and dark playing field are very hard to see on the small screen.

Unfortunately, Drova is not without some technical issues, too. The occasional graphic anomaly pops up, and the game crashed on me a few times during my playthrough. There were also instances where my character would just quit responding to the environment as if he was no longer part of it. The first time this happened, I actually thought it was part of the game. Drova has since been updated, however, so hopefully this update has addressed these issues.

Those issues aside, Drova provided an engaging experience that fans of old-school RPGs should enjoy. Combat and item management isn’t quite as complex as the D&D-inspired games to which Drova pays homage, but you’re kept busy with the community work that actually feels pretty rewarding. And although the story is grim, it provides more than enough incentive to keep you pushing forward when things otherwise feel hopeless. Sink a few hours in it, talk it over with your gaming buddies, then sink a few more.