DROS | Switch Review

If you are an avid listener of the podcast, you probably have heard both Scott and Zack talk about how they prefer a much shorter game than the vast open worlds, especially as their time for games has decreased as they have gotten older. While I still love a good open world experience, I have noticed that I have started to play more shorter experiences, so I have the satisfaction of finishing a game without the burden of having to play for many hours to complete. And for some reason, I have gravitated to more puzzle games in the past year, despite that not being a genre I played often. Last year, I reviewed System of Souls for The Gaming Outsider and I most recently played Cocoon, which I highly recommend. And while those games were exclusively puzzle games, DROS by emergeWorlds is a top-down style puzzle platformer intermixed with combat. While not the most challenging game, its relatively quick levels and goofy humor made for a fun experience.

The Alchemist’s Flute 

The Alchemist has taken over the tower and is turning DROS (a species of gooey creatures) into his minions by controlling their minds. Captain, a bounty hunter dressed like a knight, is trying to find the Alchemist’s flute, his prized possession that is worth a lot of gold. However, Captain is overwhelmed by mind-controlled DROS and sent down to the sewers, where he is lifeless. That is until Little DROS comes along after escaping from the Alchemist’s lab and uses Captain as his “shell.” Now Captain and Little DROS are bonded, and must use each other to get to the top of the tower and stop the Alchemist.

DROS is a relatively simple story, with not a lot of depth. Now, that is not a knock on the game, as it clearly does not try to be this epic, captivating story. Instead, it just tries to tell a simple tale of these two making their way up the tower, something I think a younger audience can easily follow. You meet some interesting characters along the way, such as Enki, another alchemist who is helping you try to stop the Alchemist. The humor is geared towards younger audiences, but it was charming, and I did have a few moments that I found myself smiling. Although not a “compelling” story, I was not interested in this game for its story, but really its combat and platforming.

Captain 

Captain and Little DROS have unique skill sets that make them geared towards different gameplay styles. Captain is heavy and can only walk/run throughout the level. But in order for both characters to get past enemies, he is useful for combat. Combat is simple with initial abilities only including a slashing attack, a spinning attack (by holding the attack button), and a block. As the game progresses, Captain gains more abilities, but Ifound that the ability to send back projectiles was the most useful throughout the game.

There is a small subset of enemies that you face against in DROS. There are a couple enemy types that attack by leaping at you and a couple that fire projectiles. There was little variance in my strategy for these enemy types. For melee-attacking enemies, I attacked, dodged, and repeated, with most enemies defeated in about three swings. For projectiles, I would avoid the projectiles, get close and then attack. When I was able to return projectiles, I often would fire back, and the enemy would be defeated immediately.

I have two main gripes with the combat. The first is as mentioned above, with the little variance of strategies. And second, the new abilities you earn take too long to power-up prior to being able to use. These abilities use Prima, which serves essentially as both mana and health regeneration. So, to use these abilities, you need enough Prima to use. When you try to use an ability, a gauge must fill while you are pressing the command for this ability. The problem is not waiting to fill the gauge, but you must release and press the command again. It is just not as seamless as I would hope. 

Slimeball

While the combat in DROS leaves a little more to be desired, the puzzles and platforming are the best aspects. Little DROS can separate from Captain (who cannot move without Little Dros) and can now freely move about the level. Since he is small and light, he can travel through pipes and jump to get to different areas to solve puzzles. Puzzles are usually simple and serve to get Captain through to the end of the level. 

There are four main regions as you ascend the tower, and each region has ten levels. Each of these regions are unique and the puzzles are typically well-crafted for the specific region. You might have to navigate through fire in the furnace or need to shift platforms to get Captain across in the more magical area. Although puzzles are simple, there is enough variety to make them feel fresh.

The Final Verdict

DROS is a fun, roughly seven-to-eight-hour puzzle platformer. While the combat is simple and can feel repetitive, the puzzles have enough variety in the different areas to make them feel fresh throughout. While not captivating, the story is charming with a good amount of humor that will especially appeal to younger audiences. And without spoiling, it does seem how much you do as far as collectibles might affect at least an aspect of the game. Luckily, there are not a lot of collectibles and it feels like it would not take much longer to get 100% completion. I will likely be going back to DROS to see how the end might change by doing more collecting.

To hear me talk more about DROS, be sure to listen to the July 17th episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:30:10 time stamp.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of DROS provided by Evolve PR for coverage purposes. It is also available on Steam.