Every year I reinstall them, play them for 5\6 hours then quit. I can't figure why.
I was able to finish both Pillars, despite their flaws, but it's not cause rtwp, since my favourite franchise of all times is Xcom (and Ja2 was a blast too), both turn based.
On paper, they are what I always wanted, fantasy Rpgs with deep combat, the game i most hyped for atm is Realms Beyond for that reason.
But I can't like those games. When I look around it seems everyone like and praise them, best Crpgs of all time and such.
What's wrong?
Like any game you have to approach them in the right mind set. If I approach the Temple of Elemental Evil with the view I am going on a gripping existential puzzlebox adventure like Planescape: Torment then every part of the experience is going to underwhelm me; the key to enjoying any form of entertainment is to appreciate it on its own terms, which takes patience, an open mind, and a lot of effort, traits that most people and especially most gamers do not cultivate (and also don't have any incentive to cultivate, because there are a lot of games in the world and replaying old favorites is always an option, especially with mods).
In the case of D:OS, you need to approach it as a lol-zy exploration game where you run around clicking on things and see what happens, what you find, or what you can do.
As it happens, the main plot in both games often put you in the role of an investigator (Source Hunters, Godwoken looking for teachers to help you use your powers) that involve running around clicking on things and seeing what happens.
If you are absolutely and fundamentally opposed to a game that is about running around, clicking on things, and discovering lol-zy characters and situations, then it is going to be difficult to appreciate D:OS on its own terms -- the whole point of the game is how reactive the environment is, how comically absurd a setting Rivellon is, and how you can go so far as to kill everyone in sight and still win the game.
Divinity: Original Sin are games that appeal to gamers purely in terms of
what you can do and find in a fantasy world-- sort of like a programmer's idea of a good fantasy RPG (like Tim Cain's notion that it would be fun to turn people into blood sausage with a giant machine gun -- no real storytelling or characterization at work here, but you can do something awesome in an awesome setting). It's about
doing things as a wizard (like finding a teleportation crystal and experimenting with it until you accidentally appear in a woman's bath) rather than
going on a wizard's journey (destroy the Horcruxes and fight Voldemort to win the war).
Hey, it would be cool if Harry could actually become a great wizard, kill Dumbledore, ditch Ron + Hermione, throw the Horcruxes in a lake, and still beat Voldemort at the end. That's Divinity: Original Sin.
