PorkyThePaladin
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2013
- Messages
- 5,103
Played through most of the EE version before finally uninstalling in frustration today. My interest with Larian games goes way back, and I still fondly remember playing Divine Divinity in early-mid 2000s, back when almost no one even heard about it. Divine Divinity wasn't perfect, but it was a very fun game, in what I would call the 2nd tier (first tier being isometric games like BG saga, Fallout 1/2, PS:T, and so on).
But D:OS just rubbed me the wrong way. The main reason is of course the retarded writing. Although I enjoy well written RPGs (PS:T, Witchers, Arcanum, Betrayal at Krondor), great writing is by no means an essential part of a great RPG. Some of my all time favorites had writing that could at best be described as functional. But at least it took itself seriously. It provided some framework for the world, and some inventive for the player to delve deeper. D:OS's writing works against the game, sapping the player's motivation to play at every turn.
It's a rare combination of terrible overarching plotlines (the void dragon, the guardians, sourcerers) with an insistence to be funny at every step of the way, as if you are at some clown convention. Half the damn quests have to do with cats or imps, ffs, hooking cats up, converting cat-men into cats, and other horrible shit like that.
I actually enjoy watching comedies, but the difference is, good comedies actually have a serious background, against which the humor is contrasted. Here, there is only shallow, childlike humor over and over. And there is a difference between watching a 2 hour movie and playing a 100 hour game, where you are supposed to be on a grand adventure and build up your hero(s), while dealing with this insanity.
Once you get past the writing, there are other issues. The combat system is pretty good overall, but certain builds get royally fucked as the game goes on. What's worse, the game is pretty manageable for those builds for most of it, but then the difficulty ramps up significantly on the last map, and you might be stuck with gimped characters. For me, I went with 2 lone wolf characters, one was a knight and the other a cleric. First two maps were challenging but manageable, but then suddenly the last map turns into a giant deathtrap unless you took the easy way and just had a party of mages.
So many terrible puzzles too. Good puzzles are logical and elegant, terrible puzzles make you scan pixels for some stupid lever or button. I got so annoyed with the latter in D:OS, I just started looking them up online. Sample terribad puzzle: in the temple of death, you find a note in the alchemist room at the end, saying you need to drink a potion of perception to notice a hidden door. Ok. Little problem: the hidden door is almost all the way at the other end of the temple. The potions last a few seconds. So how is this puzzle supposed to be solved exactly? Wouldn't it make more sense to place the note close to the hidden door?
Another issue: in their excitement with the game engine (which is pretty good), they just plopped a crapload of boxes, barrels, and other crap in every single inch. I know a lot of RPGs are guilty of this as well, but I think it's time to move on from this OCD stuff. You can ignore them as a player, of course, but then you feel like you might miss some important stuff.
Another thing, although the overall combat system is good, some things about it royally pissed me off. Turn based doesn't work very well for large groups. In D:OS, most enemy parties have 5-9 members, so waiting for all of them to complete their turns (with the loooooong animations) was just putting me to sleep.
But D:OS just rubbed me the wrong way. The main reason is of course the retarded writing. Although I enjoy well written RPGs (PS:T, Witchers, Arcanum, Betrayal at Krondor), great writing is by no means an essential part of a great RPG. Some of my all time favorites had writing that could at best be described as functional. But at least it took itself seriously. It provided some framework for the world, and some inventive for the player to delve deeper. D:OS's writing works against the game, sapping the player's motivation to play at every turn.
It's a rare combination of terrible overarching plotlines (the void dragon, the guardians, sourcerers) with an insistence to be funny at every step of the way, as if you are at some clown convention. Half the damn quests have to do with cats or imps, ffs, hooking cats up, converting cat-men into cats, and other horrible shit like that.
I actually enjoy watching comedies, but the difference is, good comedies actually have a serious background, against which the humor is contrasted. Here, there is only shallow, childlike humor over and over. And there is a difference between watching a 2 hour movie and playing a 100 hour game, where you are supposed to be on a grand adventure and build up your hero(s), while dealing with this insanity.
Once you get past the writing, there are other issues. The combat system is pretty good overall, but certain builds get royally fucked as the game goes on. What's worse, the game is pretty manageable for those builds for most of it, but then the difficulty ramps up significantly on the last map, and you might be stuck with gimped characters. For me, I went with 2 lone wolf characters, one was a knight and the other a cleric. First two maps were challenging but manageable, but then suddenly the last map turns into a giant deathtrap unless you took the easy way and just had a party of mages.
So many terrible puzzles too. Good puzzles are logical and elegant, terrible puzzles make you scan pixels for some stupid lever or button. I got so annoyed with the latter in D:OS, I just started looking them up online. Sample terribad puzzle: in the temple of death, you find a note in the alchemist room at the end, saying you need to drink a potion of perception to notice a hidden door. Ok. Little problem: the hidden door is almost all the way at the other end of the temple. The potions last a few seconds. So how is this puzzle supposed to be solved exactly? Wouldn't it make more sense to place the note close to the hidden door?
Another issue: in their excitement with the game engine (which is pretty good), they just plopped a crapload of boxes, barrels, and other crap in every single inch. I know a lot of RPGs are guilty of this as well, but I think it's time to move on from this OCD stuff. You can ignore them as a player, of course, but then you feel like you might miss some important stuff.
Another thing, although the overall combat system is good, some things about it royally pissed me off. Turn based doesn't work very well for large groups. In D:OS, most enemy parties have 5-9 members, so waiting for all of them to complete their turns (with the loooooong animations) was just putting me to sleep.