TL;DR: I like Trove, but your mileage may vary.

Trove is a game about progress.

Progress in the form of styles, dragons, gear, gems, unlocks, building, socializing, and much more. Spending time refining your account and reaching the pinnacle of power. Over the years I have experienced most of what Trove has to offer, save a few events here and there, and it is my opinion that Trove has the potential to be one of the greatest social and gameplay experiences on Steam. Whether it has reached that standard seems to be a point of contention amongst the community, and there are some fair arguments for both sides.

Let's get the bad out of the way:

Microtransactions.

Real money. The big bad. Pay-to-win as some say, while others call it pay-to-progress. Regardless, we all know what we're referring to no matter how it's phrased: The ability to spend real-world currency to enhance your account.

Conceptually it doesn't have to be predatory, but it would be dishonest of me to say that it does not come off that way (for me at least, if not most). The deeply-integrated system of time-gated content rewards spending money to skip ahead, and the developers have shown no signs of a changing their model. The very real advantages that players can reap by spending money, whether it's five dollars here and there, or hundreds, if not thousands, over the course of your Trove career.

Some people (rightfully, but most of the time disingenuously) say that you don't have to spend money on the game. This is true, but let's be real: We're human. It's not the end of the world to patronize the things we enjoy. We can recognize when there is something to gain, and when that something is potent enough to create such a large gap in potential as the developers have done with the in-game store, most see it as a requirement; a cost of doing business for many players, and a barrier to entry for those that cannot afford it.

I have spent over a thousand dollars on Trove.

Did I feel more powerful for doing so? Well, of course... I literally paid to become so. Do I regret my purchases? It's complicated. While I had gained access to a whole new set of activities and had fun experiences that i would never have had before, it came at the obvious cost as described. At the time I couldn't recognize the enjoyability of my bite-sized progress each week, always getting caught up in what I could be missing out on, so I paid for more and found a new feedback loop that gave me what I wanted. Since then I have made a new account, with the goal of never spending another cent on the game. This experiment has helped me realize the simple joy of creating my own personal goals and moving at my own pace, and that I can find satisfaction in my own ability.

To summarize, the infeasible goals the developers add in the form of expensive recipes, endless grinds for materials, and tacking on endgame content, while they cannot force the player to spend their hard-earned money, they surely do their best to coerce it.

That's enough about microtransactions. Honestly I didn't have to say much, everybody knows about them, but not many people really think about the influence they have on not just the game, but the players themselves. Speaking of the players, that brings me to my next point:

The community, or lack thereof, at large.

I have mostly played solo, never really getting into club Discords or communities like that, but sometimes I have had my close friends join me on my adventures. It's not like there aren't decently-sized groups of people that love to play with each other, but that honestly just isn't for me.

While playing in a small group I have had plenty of fun. That's not to say you can't enjoy playing in larger groups, which admittedly make some of the hardest content easier to manage, but that there genuinely aren't many things that you straight up can't tackle as a small party, or even solo. For those moments, however, the in-game chat has been sufficient for matchmaking if you wanted to team up.

Now admittedly with my playstyle this hasn't been the most present issue, but I have seen a lot of the "Trove is a dead game" sentiment thrown around in various forms. Now, while I dislike the doomsaying, looking at the stats, there's a grain of truth to it, and that doesn't sit well with me (being an avid fan of the game). The playerbase for Trove has historically always (barring immediately following large updates) been shrinking. I had always worried that the game would go belly up, and that fear had been compounded by the acquiring of Trion by Gamigo, whom I believed more likely to kill off the game if the profitability were to fall too low.

Whether my fears will come true remains to be seen, and there is nothing any individual can do but introduce new players to the game. However, an aggressive recruitment campaign is the last thing the game needs if it wants to appear warm and welcoming to said new players, so all we can do is have faith in the developers to create a healthy game environment that attracts players on its own merit. (I'm looking at you, Sunrise Update!)

The lag.

The lag. The rubberbanding. The ping larger than your PR.

In the very beginning, it wasn't bad. But then it got bad. And then it got worse. And then it was unplayable.

These days, the lag is not as gamebreaking as it used to be on shadow tower mondays, but there were moments where I'd wondered if people's purchases were going toward Gamigo's pockets, rather than new servers and server software optimization. I don't believe I should ever have to ponder that question. The gameplay experience is the most important thing to the player, so for a while the seeming lack of care toward the latency issues was a sign that maybe the developers (or the higher-ups, whomever was responsible for not prioritizing said issues) did not care about the long-term health of the game.

When delves were introduced as a replacement for shadow towers, the players could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The lag issue had not been on the backburner, it was being chipped away at behind the scenes. And while some might say all's well that ends well, it was the players that had to suffer in the meantime, and there very well may have been many that put the game on the shelf indefinitely because of it.

Phew. With my three main grievances out of the way, it's about time I mention some of the good:

Collections.

This is a personal pick, but it is single-handedly the best part of the game for me.

I love collecting things. Always have, always will, and Trove absolutely delivers in its collections system.

Traveling across the lands collecting hats, faces, and weapons to customize my fashion, allies to provide benefits and sit pretty next to my character, mounts to ride and dragons to become stronger, classes for playstyles, auras for that extra pizazz, I could go on forever. Trove has checked every single box for me in this department, with almost everything imaginable on the horizon for you to acquire and add to your collection.

Yes, it can be overwhelming in its scale and frustrating in its time-intensiveness, but the satisfaction from picking up something new (that may have even been designed by a fellow player!) is something that I have not found in any other game before this barring World of Warcraft of all things, and to a much lesser extent at that.

I wish I could detail the rest of my favorite aspects of the game, but I'm almost at the character limit, and I believe it to have been important to mention the aspects of the game that need improving rather than the aspects I simply find enjoyable.

The rest of this review is a non-exhaustive list of the things that make playing Trove worth it (to me):

• Satisfying combat.
  
• Delve runs.
  
• Building bases.
  
• Loot pinatas.
  
• Composing music.
  
• Leveling new classes.
  
• Perfecting gems.

TL;DR: I like Trove, but your mileage may vary. Trove is a game about progress. Progress in the form of styles, dragons, gear, gems, unlocks, building, socializing, and much more. Spending time refining your account and reaching the pinnacle of power. Over the years I have experienced most of what Trove has to offer, save a few events here and there, and it is my opinion that Trove has the potential to be one of the greatest social and gameplay experiences on Steam. Whether it has reached that standard seems to be a point of contention amongst the community, and there are some fair arguments for both sides. Let's get the [i]bad[/i] out of the way: [b]Microtransactions.[/b] Real money. The big bad. Pay-to-win as some say, while others call it pay-to-progress. Regardless, we all know what we're referring to no matter how it's phrased: The ability to spend real-world currency to enhance your account. Conceptually it doesn't [i]have[/i] to be predatory, but it would be dishonest of me to say that it does not come off that way (for me at least, if not most). The deeply-integrated system of time-gated content rewards spending money to skip ahead, and the developers have shown no signs of a changing their model. The [i]very real[/i] advantages that players can reap by spending money, whether it's five dollars here and there, or hundreds, if not thousands, over the course of your Trove career. Some people (rightfully, but most of the time disingenuously) say that you don't have to spend money on the game. This is true, but let's be real: We're human. It's not the end of the world to patronize the things we enjoy. We can recognize when there is something to gain, and when that something is potent enough to create such a large gap in potential as the developers have done with the in-game store, most see it as a requirement; a cost of doing business for many players, and a barrier to entry for those that cannot afford it. I have spent over a thousand dollars on Trove. Did I feel more powerful for doing so? Well, of course... I literally paid to become so. Do I regret my purchases? It's complicated. While I had gained access to a whole new set of activities and had fun experiences that i would never have had before, it came at the obvious cost as described. At the time I couldn't recognize the enjoyability of my bite-sized progress each week, always getting caught up in what I could be missing out on, so I paid for more and found a new feedback loop that gave me what I wanted. Since then I have made a new account, with the goal of never spending another cent on the game. This experiment has helped me realize the simple joy of creating my own personal goals and moving at my own pace, and that I can find satisfaction in my own ability. To summarize, the infeasible goals the developers add in the form of expensive recipes, endless grinds for materials, and tacking on endgame content, while they cannot [i]force[/i] the player to spend their hard-earned money, they surely do their best to coerce it. That's enough about microtransactions. Honestly I didn't have to say much, everybody knows about them, but not many people really think about the influence they have on not just the game, but the players themselves. Speaking of the players, that brings me to my next point: [b]The community, or lack thereof, at large.[/b] I have mostly played solo, never really getting into club Discords or communities like that, but sometimes I have had my close friends join me on my adventures. It's not like there aren't decently-sized groups of people that love to play with each other, but that honestly just isn't for me. While playing in a small group I have had plenty of fun. That's not to say you can't enjoy playing in larger groups, which admittedly make some of the hardest content easier to manage, but that there genuinely aren't [i]many[/i] things that you straight up [i]can't[/i] tackle as a small party, or even solo. For those moments, however, the in-game chat has been sufficient for matchmaking if you wanted to team up. Now admittedly with my playstyle this hasn't been the most present issue, but I have seen a lot of the "Trove is a dead game" sentiment thrown around in various forms. Now, while I dislike the doomsaying, looking at the stats, there's a grain of truth to it, and that doesn't sit well with me (being an avid fan of the game). The playerbase for Trove has historically always (barring immediately following large updates) been shrinking. I had always worried that the game would go belly up, and that fear had been compounded by the acquiring of Trion by Gamigo, whom I believed more likely to kill off the game if the profitability were to fall too low. Whether my fears will come true remains to be seen, and there is nothing any individual can do but introduce new players to the game. However, an aggressive recruitment campaign is the last thing the game needs if it wants to appear warm and welcoming to said new players, so all we can do is have faith in the developers to create a healthy game environment that attracts players on its own merit. (I'm looking at you, Sunrise Update!) [b]The lag.[/b] The lag. The rubberbanding. The ping larger than your PR. In the very beginning, it wasn't bad. But then it got [i]bad[/i]. And then it got worse. And then it was unplayable. These days, the lag is not as gamebreaking as it used to be on shadow tower mondays, but there were moments where I'd wondered if people's purchases were going toward Gamigo's pockets, rather than new servers and server software optimization. I don't believe I should ever have to ponder that question. The gameplay experience is the most important thing to the player, so for a while the seeming lack of care toward the latency issues was a sign that maybe the developers (or the higher-ups, whomever was responsible for not prioritizing said issues) did not care about the long-term health of the game. When delves were introduced as a replacement for shadow towers, the players could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The lag issue had not been on the backburner, it was being chipped away at behind the scenes. And while some might say all's well that ends well, it was the players that had to suffer in the meantime, and there very well may have been many that put the game on the shelf indefinitely because of it. Phew. With my three main grievances out of the way, it's about time I mention some of the [i]good[/i]: [b]Collections.[/b] This is a personal pick, but it is single-handedly the best part of the game for me. I love collecting things. Always have, always will, and Trove absolutely delivers in its collections system. Traveling across the lands collecting hats, faces, and weapons to customize my fashion, allies to provide benefits and sit pretty next to my character, mounts to ride and dragons to become stronger, classes for playstyles, auras for that extra pizazz, I could go on forever. Trove has checked every single box for me in this department, with almost everything imaginable on the horizon for you to acquire and add to your collection. Yes, it can be overwhelming in its scale and frustrating in its time-intensiveness, but the satisfaction from picking up something new (that may have even been designed by a fellow player!) is something that I have not found in any other game before this barring World of Warcraft of all things, and to a much lesser extent at that. I wish I could detail the rest of my favorite aspects of the game, but I'm almost at the character limit, and I believe it to have been important to mention the aspects of the game that need improving rather than the aspects I simply find enjoyable. The rest of this review is a non-exhaustive list of the things that make playing Trove worth it (to me): [list] [*] Satisfying combat. [*] Delve runs. [*] Building bases. [*] Loot pinatas. [*] Composing music. [*] Leveling new classes. [*] Perfecting gems. [/list]