Dros Review - Flawed But Fun
Dros is a story driven puzzle platforming game made by Emergeworlds, a Brisbane based studio. If given a chance, its seemingly mismatched gameplay along with its interesting story and characters will soon make people wonder why it had never been tried before. Puzzles have been done to death, but Dros freshens it up by having the playstyle change depending on if the main characters are separated or not. To further distance itself from the competition, Dros adds in a variety of collectables and a speed running mode. This works well with the levels’ shorter and more contained structure, allowing players to go back and play again and again. However, this doesn’t mean Dros is free from frustrations. Like most games, it has its issues but if you can look past them, you will find an amazing game just hiding under the surface.
Captain is a human bounty hunter lured to the tower in search of the Alchemist’s flute. Many hunters have entered the tower seeking the bounty, but none have ever come back out. Little Dros, a sentient slime, wakes up to find herself trapped inside the Alchemist’s tower. Before starting her escape, Little Dros must find a shell first as Dros are vulnerable without one. She comes across a dying Captain who has just lost his arm in a fight. Sensing an opportunity, she claims Captain as her new shell and revives him. Captain is happy to be alive, but less enthused about having Little Dros as a new companion. After some quick discussion they decide to work together to get rid of the Alchemist. Captain’s motives are for money, while Little Dros wants to free all the Dros in the tower. Despite the difference in reasons, the goal is still the same, defeat the Alchemist and destroy the tower.
Dros is a puzzle game where the aim is to guide the duo to the alchemical gate so they can proceed to the next level. Doing this often requires taking advantage of each character’s unique traits. Captain is wearing heavy armor, so he is unable to jump but in exchange that weight can be used to press down weight pads. His other advantages are that he can move large boxes and press large buttons, something Little Dros cannot do. Meanwhile, when Little Dros is separated from Captain, she is agile and can double jump. She does all the platforming that Captain cannot possibly do. In exchange, Little Dros has no combat capabilities and will retreat to her shell if she’s spotted by enemies. Captain takes care of the combat, using his sword to block incoming attacks and projectiles before attacking. Captain has a spin attack comparable to Link’s from Legend of Zelda, one that requires holding down the attack button and takes a moment to charge, temporarily leaving him vulnerable to attacks in the process. It might take players time to realise that when Enki, a character that helps guide the duo through the tower, gives Captain and Little Dros new Prima flavours that it was a permanent upgrade and could be done at any time provided there was available Prima. Prima is a very important component to Dros as it works not only as the fuel for special abilities but as health and a collectable.
The game is split into four sections, each one having its own theme of Earth, Fire, Water and Air and the segments are further split into eight or nine levels. Each level contains not only its main puzzle element, but three collectables. Prima, Blood rock and a Moderat item. On top of that, there’s a speed running mode as well with a timer keeping track of how long it takes to get through the puzzle itself. Luckily, these are all optional and not required.
It will be up to players to decide if they want to go for all the collectables available, but it would come at a cost of blowing out the completion times, sometimes by three or four times. There’s also lore to collect about the characters and world which can be scooped up completely by accident simply through investigation and exploration. It allows people to get out of Dros what they want and tailor it to their playstyle.
It will be up to players to decide if they want to go for all the collectables available, but it would come at a cost of blowing out the completion times, sometimes by three or four times. There’s also lore to collect about the characters and world which can be scooped up completely by accident simply through investigation and exploration. It allows people to get out of Dros what they want and tailor it to their playstyle.
Dros’ weakest aspect is undoubtedly its combat. It is simple enough to access, with a block, a standard strike and the aforementioned spin attack. Issues arise with the blocking mechanic because it only works for one type of attack. After being hit, Captain will put down his sword even if the block button is still being pressed leaving him vulnerable to secondary strikes. Blocking attacks will also push Captain back, which is another problem as his striking range is quite short. Often combat comes down to “Block, move forward, attack, block, move forward, attack”, so it doesn’t help that Captain can only take five hits before needing to revive. This can lead to frustration, especially if there are multiple enemies around you, as one may deactivate the block just in time for another Dros to deal damage. Combat is required to proceed through certain obstacles and while the flaws in the combat design can frustrate, they’re certainly not hampering enough to detract from the overall game.
Another mildly annoying thing is that the platforming doesn’t seem to be as tight as what one would expect from a game in the puzzle platformer genre. I found Little Dros would land where I wanted her, but because I didn’t take my thumb off the stick quickly enough, she would run off the edge – it’s something to be mindful of, especially if you have an aging controller. Players who have a sensitivity to simulator sickness may experience problems and for me it necessitated shorter playing sessions. Luckily, the playstyle of the game suited this, as it was designed to be a series of short stages. EmergeWorlds have confirmed that they plan to add field of view options later, so others may not experience the same symptoms that I did with later builds.
Another positive was that I very much enjoyed the characters and the story. While combat wasn’t the greatest, I kept pushing on because I wanted to know what was going to happen to not just the main cast of characters, but also several side characters that were introduced along the way. I also quite liked the fact that after removing the shells of the Dros you can allow them to escape. Even though combat is often linked directly to progression, the option to let them escape or kill them for extra Prima is a decision for the player to make. This adds an extra morality element, like the little sisters in Bioshock. Do you kill the Dros for a few Prima? Or do you allow them to survive with the satisfaction that they were ultimately innocent?
Despite all its minor flaws, Dros is a game that is ultimately fun to play. It took six levels to realise that I was absolutely immersed in the story and wanted to see it through to completion. Dros does need a few things fixed up, and it seems EmergeWorlds are willing to keep working with Dros to make it the best game it can be. Personally, aside from an FOV inclusion, the game could benefit from added difficultly options for combat so that those who may love the story aren’t put off by the lacking combat. It’s brief, and there are certainly frustrating elements to the game, but it’s a solid experience, with many other elements to enjoy.
Dros was reviewed on PC with a code kindly provided by EmergeWorlds
