Divine Divinity review
Divine Divinity review
Review - posted by Vault Dweller on Wed 19 October 2005, 00:33:49
Tags: Divine Divinity; Larian StudiosYeah, I know, it's an old game, but it wasn't an overly popular game and some people may have missed it, so here is your chance to learn something about it. RPGDX has posted a link to this article about Divine Divinity, so take a look:
- The Alchemy skill. By learning this skill, your character can combine certain plants with empty bottles (the size of potion bottle you can use depends on your skill level) to create potions. It is also possible to combine potions. I really like these kinds of skills because they allow for a new avenue of gameplay and interaction with the gameworld. I love the idea of going looking for herbs - it gives me such a feeling of reality, of interaction. DD, unfortunately, doesn't get this quite right. The options one has are far too limited, and don't create much of an atmosphere. There's no *detail*, just plants of different colours that create potions of the corresponding colour (red = health, blue = mana, etc.). Even the distribution of the plants in the world has no particular logic. In Might & Magic 7, where a similar system existed, not all plants were equally easy to find, and there were areas where certain species were more common. This made the gathering process more challenging and more interesting. An old game called Shadows over Riva, however, beats both of these games in terms of detail: there each plant or herb had a name, certain places where it grew, and finding it required skill; furthermore, the making of potions was far more complicated, usually requiring several ingredients. Gods, that was fun! DD is oriented towards a simpler kind of gameplay, and has no such complexities. Which is a real shame.I feel the urge to replay one of the Realms of Arkania games.
- The Alchemy skill. By learning this skill, your character can combine certain plants with empty bottles (the size of potion bottle you can use depends on your skill level) to create potions. It is also possible to combine potions. I really like these kinds of skills because they allow for a new avenue of gameplay and interaction with the gameworld. I love the idea of going looking for herbs - it gives me such a feeling of reality, of interaction. DD, unfortunately, doesn't get this quite right. The options one has are far too limited, and don't create much of an atmosphere. There's no *detail*, just plants of different colours that create potions of the corresponding colour (red = health, blue = mana, etc.). Even the distribution of the plants in the world has no particular logic. In Might & Magic 7, where a similar system existed, not all plants were equally easy to find, and there were areas where certain species were more common. This made the gathering process more challenging and more interesting. An old game called Shadows over Riva, however, beats both of these games in terms of detail: there each plant or herb had a name, certain places where it grew, and finding it required skill; furthermore, the making of potions was far more complicated, usually requiring several ingredients. Gods, that was fun! DD is oriented towards a simpler kind of gameplay, and has no such complexities. Which is a real shame.
