This Gothic-inspired RPG indie is shaping up to be my favourite hidden gem of 2024

I know I'm not alone in feeling a bit adrift post-Baldur’s Gate 3. No RPG since has offered the rewarding exploration of Larian’s modern classic, nor the satisfaction of developing a character from mangy loser into unstoppable powerhouse. So I approached Drova with unfair scepticism. This modest looking pixel art RPG released last month and has flown under the mainstream radar, though it's already amassed a strong cult following and a very busy subreddit. I’m not saying it’s the next Baldur’s Gate 3—far from it—but it rewards exploration and novel approaches to problem solving, which is more than can be said for any blockbuster RPG I've played this year.

It takes a while to see why Drova has won the adoration of hardcore genre devotees. For me, it took about four hours into this reportedly 40-hour game. The playable character is a nobody adrift in a miserable hand-to-mouth world that by all evidence is slowly finding its feet after the collapse of a mostly forgotten and seemingly well-advanced civilization. The people of Drova forage for berries and rodent meat when they’re not performing gruelling menial labour for the self-designated authorities of this bleak world...
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