DROS (Nintendo Switch) Review

DROS is a fun, bite-sized puzzle-platformer that’s a great fit for the Nintendo Switch. It’s best when played in short bursts, as well the expanding mechanics and increasing level complexity will keep you engaged, longer sessions highlight the repetitive structure and formulaic progression.

That said, DROS is still a short and compact game by modern standards, especially when you consider the speed challenge times for its 40+ levels rarely exceed 10 minutes. However, if you’re someone who enjoys collectible challenges and secret-hunting in classic 3D isometric platformers, it can grow tiring over time. The repetitive stage challenges have little bearing on how the story plays out, but those with a completionist streak will quickly discover you need to tackle each stage at least twice. Personally, I just ignored the time-based challenge and focussed on the collectible challenges, as DROS’ charming, diorama-style levels, accompanied by a solid soundtrack, are begging to be fully explored – even if they have that familiar, chunky, “made-in-Unity” indie look.

A knight and his trusty slimeball

Starting with the good, I found the overall narrative and weird characters interesting enough to keep me pushing forward – even if the storytelling methods and writing can feel basic. The prologue introduces a massive tower controlled by a flute-wielding alchemist, and the “Dros” that serve him – think sentient black slime with a fondness for unconventional hats. Just as “Little Dros” is escaping from a laboratory on the hunt for a “shell”, a heavily armoured, bounty hunter, the “Captain”, enters the tower in search of the alchemist’s flute – seemingly the source of his power. He’s quickly overwhelmed in battle and falls into the depths, but is saved when Little Dros claims his battered body as a living shell.

Thus begins an unexpectedly compelling quest that sees the pair ascend the tower floor-by-floor; meet dozens of mysterious and humorous secondary characters; and defeat four massive guardian Dros that bar their way – albeit more through puzzling than epic battle. Despite the simple, talking-head dialogue and comic-style panels – all without voice acting – I was legitimately curious about the origins of the Dros, the backstory of the evasive knight, the true intentions of the alchemist and his former master that still stalks the halls, the history of the tower and the “bloodstone” extracted beneath it, the fate of the Dros resistance fighting back against the alchemist, and the schemes of a Dros abomination trying to raise their own army. Almost every stage includes a meaningful encounter to keep you engaged with the ongoing narrative.

Explore, puzzle, collect, combat, repeat

When it comes to the gameplay loop, DROS is undeniably janky – but mostly in a good way. It feels a lot like early 3D isometric platformers, with sometimes dubious precision and awkward combat, but also plenty of opportunities to exploit level geometry and object collision to forge your own path forward and potentially bypass intended routes. Another “classic” design is how simple the objectives are. Each stage tasks you with making it to an alchemist’s gate – think magical elevator – to ascend to the next level of the tower. Of course, that means solving puzzles, avoiding or battling mind-controlled Dros, several side quests for a handful of NPCs, and hundreds of collectibles tucked away in the corners. It’s a formulaic structure that works best when tackled in short bursts.

Complexity instead comes from managing a pair of protagonists with contrasting strengths and weaknesses. When paired up, the Captain can block damage, slash the shells off hostile Dros to send them fleeing, push or pull large objects, activate heavy switches, and open crates. What he can’t do is jump or swim, seriously limiting his path through increasingly convoluted and vertical stages. In contrast, Little Dros can abandon her ungrateful human shell to double-jump about, squeeze through pipes and crawl spaces, activate machinery, and hoover up collectibles like prima – an alchemical substance that heals and enhances the Captain – along with bloodrock fragments and the scattered parts of mysterious automatons. She has to sneak about to avoid combat, but can teleport back to the Captain from any point – or automatically when close to death – which forms an essential part of exploration and puzzle-solving.

In practice, this means most stages follow a similar routine: you explore as a pair until you hit a roadblock, then ditch the Captain to bypass hazards or barriers with Little Dros until you can find a way to open a path forward for both of them. This starts off with simple switch hunts, but you’ll soon be dealing with moving platforms, sentry towers, conveyor belts, block puzzles, magma channels, pools of water, and more. Each level of the tower has one or two puzzle gimmicks that evolves over 10 stages and, at set intervals, the Captain gains prima-infused abilities like sprinting, an AoE slash, deflecting projectiles, and breathing underwater. By far the least exciting element is combat, which can feel unresponsive and boils down to blocking attacks and striking back when there’s an opening. Thankfully, it’s rarely too difficult as accumulated prima can revive the Captain several times before you’re forced to restart the level.

Bite-sized gameplay best for short sessions

Assigning a score to DROS is difficult as how well it plays depends on how you play it. If you enjoy classic 3D isometric platformers and you want a game in which you can complete 2-3 stages in a half hour, DROS is a good pick – especially in handheld mode, even if the framerate can sometimes dip in larger stages. On the other hand, if you prefer bingeing games for several hours at a time, its formulaic structure and limited evolution between stages become more apparent and the experience can start to drag.

DROS was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC.