Review Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga Review

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Divinity 2; Larian Studios

<p>Another review of Larian Studio's latest offering <strong>Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga</strong> surfaced, this time Made 2 Game <a href="http://www.made2game.com/2010/11/12/m2g-review-divinity-2-the-dragon-knight-saga/" target="_blank">hands out a score</a> of 8.5/10.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Not having played the original I can&rsquo;t compare what this redworking has improved on but the game does look good, offering some huge lands to explore and a large variety of trolls, ogres, goblins and skeletons to fight against. Since the game is presented in a third person view it can at times be hard to control the cursor, especially when looking for loot on the floor, attacking large amounts of enemies and judging distances on some of the platform jumping sections. The main problem however is the quest selection, you are able to see what quests are open but there are no map hints or mini map markers to point you in the right direction, this may be great for some players who relish adventuring but others will find aimlessly wandering around a mite stressful, meaning the mini map in the top of the screen is just an enemy radar that shows the tiniest of red dots, pretty useless. Whilst on bad points, the save system is atrocious, there is an auto save but it is very sporadic and only happens on occasion, and when it does occur game will pause with an ugly grey autosave dialog box. Manual saving is not much better with you having to pause the action and select save from the menu, however it is a necessity as you will die a lot if you wander into the wrong area ill-equipped or too low a level to take on enemies. Why not have an autosave built into the very long load screen when you go through a door is beyond me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I pressed F5 or something to quicksave which was instantaneous, but whatever.</p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/100408-divinity-ii-the-dragon-knight-saga-review.html">GB</a></p>

 

[Sceptic]

I pressed F5 or something to quicksave which was instantaneous, but whatever.

Why the fuck are game reviewers just OBSESSED with embarrassing themselves? Read the fucking manual, or at least check the in-game controls assignment. This reminds me of the guy who couldn't figure out how to get into the inventory in Risen.

 

[Ruprekt]

During conversations the screen splits with an ugly text window giving you choices on what to ask

 

[CraigCWB]

Sorry, but somebody who never even managed to find the "quick save" and "quick load" option despite the fact the game shows tips recommending people use them frequently should not be doing game reviews.

Also he rated it much too high. I'm replaying it again now and it's very difficult for me to muster up the motivation to load it up. That's not a good sign at all. It's hard for me to point out exactly what's lacking, but something definitely is.

PS:

...offering some huge lands to explore...

It's pretty sad that new gamers find titles like Divinty II to be "huge". Most indoor encounter areas are a couple hallways and a couple rooms. That's it. Not only is that not "huge" - it's effing tiny. Where are my epic multilevel dungeon crawls?

 

[sparrowtm]

auto save but it is very sporadic and only happens on occasion, and when it does occur game will pause with an ugly grey autosave dialog box.

Fuck those ugly grey autosave dialogue boxes. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?

 

[Metro]

During conversations the screen splits with an ugly text window giving you choices on what to ask

CHOICES?!?!?! In an RPG!?!? What is this madness?!?!

 

[treave]

During conversations the screen splits with an ugly text window giving you choices on what to ask

CHOICES?!?!?! In an RPG!?!? What is this madness?!?!

He was probably expecting a pretty, circular menu with stances/keywords.

 

[godsend1989]

During conversations the screen splits with an ugly text window giving you choices on what to ask

CHOICES?!?!?! In an RPG!?!? What is this madness?!?!

Madness ?!?!...... THIS IS SPARTA !!!

 

[Shannow]

...offering some huge lands to explore...

It's pretty sad that new gamers find titles like Divinty II to be "huge". Most indoor encounter areas are a couple hallways and a couple rooms. That's it. Not only is that not "huge" - it's effing tiny. Where are my epic multilevel dungeon crawls?

"huge lands", not dungeons. And from what I remember it was quite far ranging. Perhaps not "huge" but definitely not "fucking tiny".

 

[MicoSelva]

During conversations the screen splits with an ugly text window giving you choices on what to ask

Text-windows are so last gen!

 

[CraigCWB]

huge lands", not dungeons..

Whatever.

And from what I remember it was quite far ranging.

Compared to what? Risen?

Perhaps not "huge" but definitely not "fucking tiny".

When it takes me less than 30 seconds to cross a map side to side and less than a minute to cross a map top to bottom that's "fucking tiny" according to my definition. I have no idea why they even bothered with teleporters in this game. Nothing respawns and you can get to where you want to go faster if you just run directly there than you can running to and from the teleporters.

Anyway, I think I've figured out why I find this game lacking...

1) The dialog, while done very well (it's funny and the voice acting is good) is in very short supply. None of the NPCs you meet have much to say. You don't get any background material at all. They don't even bother briefly explaining what your connection to Rhode or any of the other Dragon Slayers might be. I don't like games that just spew a bunch of crap at me I don't need to know, either, but the brevity and lack of detail in this game's dialog makes it all but impossible to feel any kind of connection to the game world.

2) The MMO style trash mobs - this combined with the fact the new version of the game makes this trash mobs ridiculously easy to kill is a serious problem. The combat is neither fun nor challenging, and in an "action" RPG, the action kinda matters.

3) The fixed camera angle... I could live with it if they'd chosen a better viewpoint, but it almost seems like they commissioned a study to find out what the worst possible viewpoint could be and used that. It's too far away from the player-character to be able to see what's going on right in front of you, but it's not zoomed out far enough to get a proper "big picture" overhead type view. I think they probably chose this viewpoint to maximize the player's ability to look at the scenery or something equally silly.

4) It's fucking tiny! Sorry, wasn't intending to include that but I couldn't resist. Actually I'm having trouble even getting through what there is of it due to boredom so it's just as well that it isn't larger. At this rate I'm never even going to see the expansion content, which is the only reason I bought the DKS version.

Maybe they were shooting for the "Gothic" demographic, which isn't really me despite the fact I bought them.

 

[godsend1989]

huge lands", not dungeons..

Whatever.

And from what I remember it was quite far ranging.

Compared to what? Risen?

Perhaps not "huge" but definitely not "fucking tiny".

When it takes me less than 30 seconds to cross a map side to side and less than a minute to cross a map top to bottom that's "fucking tiny" according to my definition. I have no idea why they even bothered with teleporters in this game. Nothing respawns and you can get to where you want to go faster if you just run directly there than you can running to and from the teleporters.

Anyway, I think I've figured out why I find this game lacking...

1) The dialog, while done very well (it's funny and the voice acting is good) is in very short supply. None of the NPCs you meet have much to say. You don't get any background material at all. They don't even bother briefly explaining what your connection to Rhode or any of the other Dragon Slayers might be. I don't like games that just spew a bunch of crap at me I don't need to know, either, but the brevity and lack of detail in this game's dialog makes it all but impossible to feel any kind of connection to the game world.

2) The MMO style trash mobs - this combined with the fact the new version of the game makes this trash mobs ridiculously easy to kill is a serious problem. The combat is neither fun nor challenging, and in an "action" RPG, the action kinda matters.

3) The fixed camera angle... I could live with it if they'd chosen a better viewpoint, but it almost seems like they commissioned a study to find out what the worst possible viewpoint could be and used that. It's too far away from the player-character to be able to see what's going on right in front of you, but it's not zoomed out far enough to get a proper "big picture" overhead type view. I think they probably chose this viewpoint to maximize the player's ability to look at the scenery or something equally silly.

4) It's fucking tiny! Sorry, wasn't intending to include that but I couldn't resist. Actually I'm having trouble even getting through what there is of it due to boredom so it's just as well that it isn't larger. At this rate I'm never even going to see the expansion content, which is the only reason I bought the DKS version.

Maybe they were shooting for the "Gothic" demographic, which isn't really me despite the fact I bought them.

fuck off bro.. you played it and liked it, stop complaining now, you make yourself look like a douch

 

[Roguey]

He uses words like "d-pad" "face buttons" and "right stick" when describing the controls so he's playing it on the 360. Dunno if they have quick save/load buttons on a controller.

 

[DalekFlay]

He uses words like "d-pad" "face buttons" and "right stick" when describing the controls so he's playing it on the 360. Dunno if they have quick save/load buttons on a controller.

Good point.

I dismiss console version reviews of European RPGs instantly, they are all pointless.

 

[MetalCraze]

Div2 is ok for a single playthrough.
Due to the lack of dumbing down (apart from the enemy radar and occasional map markers - which aren't really dumbing down though) it held me until the end.
Got burned out in the addon though due to it being nearly 1.5 weeks since I've started playing - will continue later.

1) The dialog, while done very well (it's funny and the voice acting is good) is in very short supply. None of the NPCs you meet have much to say. You don't get any background material at all. They don't even bother briefly explaining what your connection to Rhode or any of the other Dragon Slayers might be. I don't like games that just spew a bunch of crap at me I don't need to know, either, but the brevity and lack of detail in this game's dialog makes it all but impossible to feel any kind of connection to the game world.

Who the fuck cares? Not every game is a LARP sim.
What's with this retarded need for tiresome filler talkie talkie as of late?
Fallout and Arcanum had even less text and BG is on the same level too (not mentioning earlier, more gameplay-oriented RPGs).

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

So did you play DKS or ED+FoV skyway? Because so far it seemed that DKS improvements were mainly just dumbing down and I need confirmation.

 

[MetalCraze]

DKS.

Not sure about dumbing down except as I take it there are no generators in flying fortresses anymore - but is it a bad thing? As I take it there were like 20+ of them per map and that would've added more boredom to the already not so good dragon-form gameplay.

I was playing with a battlemage build and had my ass handled to me quite frequently in the first half of the game when spells were still weak. It became easy though by the end at 30+ lvls.
I don't know about armour sets either as I didn't have a chance to compare how it was in the original but I've checked the map for archmage set and in vanilla it was just in Stone's fortress while in DKS I was finding parts of it in other places. Was never able to gather it though. Only gathered the Uthgar set which was on bosses at flying fortresses.

Can't really comment on dumbing down past that. The game required me to dodge fireballs and especially arrows all the time, never felt myself like a dreadnought, except in the end.

 

[MasPingon]

1) The dialog, while done very well (it's funny and the voice acting is good) is in very short supply. None of the NPCs you meet have much to say. You don't get any background material at all. They don't even bother briefly explaining what your connection to Rhode or any of the other Dragon Slayers might be. I don't like games that just spew a bunch of crap at me I don't need to know, either, but the brevity and lack of detail in this game's dialog makes it all but impossible to feel any kind of connection to the game world.

Who the fuck cares? Not every game is a LARP sim.
What's with this retarded need for tiresome filler talkie talkie as of late?
Fallout and Arcanum had even less text and BG is on the same level too (not mentioning earlier, more gameplay-oriented RPGs).

So a game with good background for characters and places is now a LARP sim? Wtf are you talking about? It's not about a portion of text on the screen, it's about how believable the gameworld is. And those exemples of yours had a lot of it

DD2 makes a promise in first 2 hours, then turns into pile of goo. There is no such thing as lack of dumbing down in this game - combat is popamole, character creation is inconsistent and after 10 h it transforms into action adventure game. DD2 is somewhere between Two Worlds and Gothic, closer to TW. You got a strange standards if it comes to crpg games skyway

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Div2 is ok for a single playthrough.
Due to the lack of dumbing down (apart from the enemy radar and occasional map markers - which aren't really dumbing down though) it held me until the end.
Got burned out in the addon though due to it being nearly 1.5 weeks since I've started playing - will continue later.

1) The dialog, while done very well (it's funny and the voice acting is good) is in very short supply. None of the NPCs you meet have much to say. You don't get any background material at all. They don't even bother briefly explaining what your connection to Rhode or any of the other Dragon Slayers might be. I don't like games that just spew a bunch of crap at me I don't need to know, either, but the brevity and lack of detail in this game's dialog makes it all but impossible to feel any kind of connection to the game world.

Who the fuck cares? Not every game is a LARP sim.
What's with this retarded need for tiresome filler talkie talkie as of late?
Fallout and Arcanum had even less text and BG is on the same level too (not mentioning earlier, more gameplay-oriented RPGs).

What the fuck's going on here. Skyway you drunk? Doctor changed your medication? Got some happy pills?

You actually arguing in favor of a new game? I'm not disagreeing with you - just a bit confused.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

What's the addon like, is it still combat heavy or did they try something a little more ambitious?

 

[CraigCWB]

fuck off bro.. you played it and liked it, stop complaining now, you make yourself look like a douch

The original game got too tedious for me to continue a little past the halfway point. I was hoping the expansion fixed that but it seems at least for me it's become tedious even sooner.

As a result: I paid full price for it twice, and haven't managed to finish it even once.

If I'm not allowed to criticize this game, who is?

 

[roll-a-die]

This be a decent game, and is holding my attention fairly well. Kicking my ass in places. Only flaw is the propensity of it to throw random platforming sections at you. Those parts killed me more than any boss I've come across so far. I'm only to defeating Barnabus so I doubt I've had anywhere near my fill.

As far as the no generators go, are you talking about the mook makers that spawn things in, in which case from what I've seen those are still there. or are you talking about honest to ged power creating things, in which case I can't comment, as I didn't actually play Leggo my Eggo Draconis.

 

[Angthoron]

Stupid review, decent enough grade though, so, not a complete waste.


I bought the game last week, possibly driven by spite more than actual hope it will be a good game (after reading the statement by Larian about how they were treated in the previews), but I'm actually very surprised with how solid the game is. And it's on freaking Gamebryo! Why doesn't it look like a bunch of horrors out of Lovecraft's imagination of degenerate mankind? What the hell, some NPCs even look remotely attractive for inhabitants of Uncanny Valley.

The combat is solid for the genre, having lots of fun as a melee-heavy build, very dynamic stuff; some of the mechanics are nice, there are relatively few bugs (only seen two so far?), design is decent, music is decent, and even the story doesn't make me shout obscenities - it actually tries to make sense! Environmental puzzles are also a big plus.

My big complaint for the game is - where the hell are my nights? There's no night-time! Why not? I want darkness.

 

[Metro]

Only flaw is the propensity of it to throw random platforming sections at you.

Oh God... not as bad as Ultima 8, is it?

 

[Angthoron]

Only flaw is the propensity of it to throw random platforming sections at you.

Oh God... not as bad as Ultima 8, is it?

I'm actually enjoying these. Granted, I'm still in Broken Valley/Sentinel Island, but so far, I rather liked the platformer parts, they're not too hard up to this moment, and they kinda add more things to do than just explore/talk/kill. Maybe it gets worse later though.

 

[made]

Nah, there's one timed platform puzzle in the fjord that took me a while to get through, but I generally suck at those.

I remember there were many complaints about the flying fortresses round here so it's probably for the better that they were nerfed. In DKS you can pretty much skip most of them and fly straight to the boss areas, unless for some reason you want to grind xp.