I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, pixel art visuals will never go out of style. While Hyper Light Drifter used vibrance to flesh out the world, others like Octopath Traveller and Sea of Stars push how far modern tech and ideas can take the style. Upcoming RPG Drova – Forsaken Kin sits somewhere firmly between all these games, with a bit of classic Baldur’s Gate seemingly thrown in for good measure, and you can sign up for a Steam playtest right now.
Inspired by grimdark RPGs with isometric combat similar to Dark Souls, Drova blends its oppressive pixel art style with Celtic mythology to create a truly stunning world. Society has discovered a way to capture the spirits of nature and use them for its own ends, but all of the beings that still remain are restless, and want to take action.
In typical RPG fashion, you start as a nobody and need to complete quests, trade, craft equipment, and loot what you can to become as powerful as possible. While presented from a more classic Baldur’s Gate isometric perspective, the methodical combat clearly takes inspiration from the work of FromSoftware; you need to dodge, time hits, use magic, and watch your stamina bar at all times to survive. Fights are flow-based, so you’ll want to understand the rhythm of combat to stand the best chance of success.
You’ll join one of two factions in Drova, each of which has its own values and goals. Whichever you choose influences the outcome of the story, with plenty of specific characters to meet and tasks to complete depending on which side you pick. Some will help you and others might betray you depending on allegiances, so always be careful how you choose your words.
Drova – Forsaken Kin is aiming for a 2024 release on Steam, with requests to join the new playtest available right here – keep in mind that developer Just2D is trying to maintain a steady number of players, so you might be waiting a for little bit.
If you’re looking for more in the meantime, we’ve got all the best open-world games you can play today, alongside some incredible single-player games to keep you busy.
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