Trove Review Summary

A nostalgic, content-rich adventure that's great with friends, but repetitive grinding and frequent crashes can wear down even the most patient players.

Game is highly praised: Players consistently describe the game as amazing, fun, and excellent, with many calling it one of the best games they have played. This strong positive sentiment is widespread across multiple clusters.

Nostalgic past enjoyment: Several players fondly remember enjoying the game in the past, describing it as fun and rewarding during its earlier days. This nostalgia suggests a decline in current satisfaction but highlights its historical appeal.

Enjoyable grinding: Grinding is seen as fun and rewarding, with players finding the process enjoyable rather than tedious. This is a positive for those who like to invest time in progression.

Great with friends: The game is particularly enjoyable when played with friends or even strangers, offering a fun multiplayer experience. This social aspect is a key reason players keep coming back.

Lots of content: Players appreciate the vast amount of content, including diverse quests, activities, and achievements, which keeps the game engaging and full of surprises. The large scale of things to do is a major positive.

Repetitive and monotonous gameplay: Many players find the game repetitive and boring over time, with endgame and delves becoming monotonous. This is a common complaint about long-term engagement.

Excessive grinding required: The game is very grindy, especially in the endgame, with an extremely long grind to progress. This makes it monotonous and time-consuming.

Invasive and ineffective anti-cheat: The anti-cheat is described as invasive, never leaving the system, and ineffective against cheaters. Some players say it does more harm than good.

Game often broken and buggy: The game is unreliable, with many bugs and errors. It is often broken and buggy, leading to a poor experience.

Trading disabled due to duplication: Marketplace and trading have been disabled for months due to duplication glitches, with cheaters exploiting items. Players are frustrated that trading is removed instead of fixing the bug.

Grinding is core progression: Players consistently report that the game is heavily grind-focused, requiring extensive farming and repetitive tasks to progress. This is a dominant theme across multiple clusters.

Player marketplace and trading: There is a player-driven marketplace and trading system, allowing players to sell items to each other. However, trading is currently disabled due to hacker and duplicator issues.

Dungeon crawling and loot: The game is described as a dungeon crawler with collectathon elements, emphasizing dungeon exploration and loot collection. This gameplay loop is a key part of the experience.

Shadow Tower dungeon system: The game features a unique dungeon system called Shadow Tower, involving big block towers and radiant gems. This is a notable endgame or special content element.

Solo and co-op play: The game can be played alone or with friends, supporting both solo and co-op modes. This flexibility is appreciated by players.

Frequent crashes and instability: Players report frequent crashes, including at startup, during play, and on specific platforms like Steam and PS5. The game is described as unstable with errors and freezes occurring regularly.

Server instability and disconnections: Players frequently experience server crashes, disconnections, and unstable connections. The servers are described as laggy, with issues like rubberbanding and teleporting, making online play frustrating.

Persistent performance and optimization issues: Many reviews highlight long-standing performance problems such as poor optimization, stuttering, frame drops, and lag that have not been fixed for years. The game is criticized for lacking meaningful performance improvements over time.

Severe lag and rubberbanding: The game suffers from severe lag, including rubberbanding, teleporting, and high ping, especially in hubs and during gameplay. This makes the game unplayable at times and causes attacks to miss.

FPS drops during gameplay: Players experience FPS drops to around 40 during intense farming and other activities, with stuttering and frame drops. The game is also noted to be extremely CPU dependent and can max out the GPU.

Not worth playing: Reviewers frequently mention the game is not worth the time or effort, advising players not to engage with it. This sentiment is echoed across multiple clusters.

Recommended for casual players: A subset of reviewers recommend the game for casual play without commitment, noting it can be enjoyable for those not seeking a hardcore experience. They highlight its suitability for relaxed gaming sessions.

Not for new players: Several reviewers advise against new players starting the game, citing a steep learning curve and potential frustration. They suggest it may not be welcoming to beginners.

Good for grind lovers: Reviewers recommend the game for players who enjoy intensive farming, long-term progression, and grinding. They highlight its appeal to those who like persistent effort and rewards.

Free to try: Some reviewers note the game is free, making it worth trying out without financial risk. They recommend checking it out for free to see if it suits personal preferences.

Community fair range: $0.00 - $0.00.

Session length: 1.0h.

Trove offers immediate fun through exploration and social play, but enjoyment declines as players encounter mid-game grind walls and repetitive progression.

Friction: confusing tutorial; overwhelming systems; leveling pain; unfriendly veterans; pay-to-win advantage.

Unlock drivers: getting help from the internet; playing with friends; joining a club.

Disillusioned Veteran: Formerly dedicated, now critical; may attempt returning but are put off by current state. Motivation: Nostalgia and a desire to see the game return to its former glory, but ultimately frustrated by monetization and neglect. Stance: no buy.

Casual Builder/Explorer: Casual, building, exploring, fishing, decorating, playing at own pace, not focusing on endgame. Motivation: Relaxation, creativity, exploration, and social fun without pressure. Stance: buy.

Grind-Enthusiast: Grinding, farming, optimizing, spending long hours, focusing on progression and endgame. Motivation: The satisfaction of progression, grinding, and time investment. Stance: buy.

All three hardware cohorts report predominantly negative performance, with frequent crashes, server lag, and stability issues dominating the feedback.

Windows <8GB VRAM: negative. Most users report severe performance problems, including FPS drops, lag spikes, and crashes, even on systems with 8GB VRAM.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. All sampled reviews are negative, citing random crashes, server downtime, and refresh rate locks that hinder playability.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. Users consistently report persistent server lag, rubber-banding, and long-standing performance issues that make the game unenjoyable.

Steam Deck: The game is effectively broken on Steam Deck due to the addition of XIGNCODE3 anti-cheat, which is incompatible with Linux and prevents the game from launching. Users also report frequent crashes and stability issues, as well as a forced third-party launcher and UI glitches. The combination of these factors makes the game unplayable on Steam Deck without significant tinkering or workarounds.

Linux and Proton: The Linux-specific feedback indicates that the game's kernel-level anti-cheat (XignCode3) makes it impossible to run on Linux, and that Linux support was effectively dropped due to this addition. Generic anti-cheat complaints were excluded as they lack Linux context. The consensus among Linux-specific reviews is that the game is non-functional on Linux.

Monetization: The overwhelming majority of user reviews describe Trove as a pay-to-win game with aggressive monetization: a Patron subscription that boosts progression, a $5 paywall for trading, numerous loot boxes, overpriced packs, and direct level boosts. While a few players find the monetization acceptable or cosmetic-only, the evidence clearly shows real-money purchases provide significant gameplay advantages and the game design pushes players toward spending.

External guides: The user feedback reveals a significant dependency on external wikis and tutorials to understand game progression, leveling, and mechanics. Players report that the game becomes confusing, especially in later stages, and that they spend more time reading guides than playing. This indicates a lack of in-game instructional clarity, placing the primary complaint in the 'Student' category.

Decline after Gamigo acquisition: The game has been on a downhill trajectory since being acquired by Gamigo from Trion Worlds. This acquisition is frequently cited as a turning point for the worse.

Aggressive monetization and pay-to-win: The game is heavily criticized for its microtransactions, cash shop, and pay-to-win or pay-to-progress mechanics. This is the most frequently mentioned issue, indicating it significantly impacts player experience.

Frequently compared to Minecraft: Many reviewers compare the game to Minecraft, noting it as a larger, more open version with building and sandbox elements. Some also mention Roblox and MapleStory as points of comparison.

Free-to-play model praised: The game is noted as free to play, with some reviewers stating that the majority of content is enjoyable without spending money. This is a positive point amidst monetization concerns.

Chinese server shut down: The Chinese server was closed, and the game is no longer available in China. This is a significant loss for players in that region.