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Codex Larian Hate Poll: Has your opinion about Larian Studios changed?

Which one of these statements most accurately describes your opinion of Larian Studios?


  • Total voters
    229

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
I have read critics upon critics of OS2 saying it is worse than OS but I really don't get it,besides the armor systems.
Art style is better and more defined, writing is far better, the story in itself is superior, the level and encounter design is better and the party mechanics are much improved.
I guess I am retorted.

The engine is way more power hungry.
Encounter designed efforts are ruined by the armor system anyway, nice try.
Party mechanism improved ? I barely noticed.

Artstyle, i couldn't care less, did they come back to good 2D artstyle ? No, so it's irrelevant.
Did they change/improve their itemization system ? No
The environmental effects ? No
Their trap bullshittery and moving barrels around with telekinesis ? No

You must be retorted indeed...
 

gurugeorge

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 3, 2019
Messages
7,437
Location
London, UK
Strap Yourselves In
I've always felt the same about Larian: they make some great hits, and some misses, but at least they try (i.e. try to do original things) and I admire them for that. I loved D:OS, hated D:OS2 (the "shields" thing just seemed an unnecessarily fussy addition to already near-perfect gameplay). Going by that, I'll probably love BG3 :)
 
Joined
May 31, 2018
Messages
2,509
Location
The Present
I only took notice of them with D:OS1. Played maybe 2 hours of D:OS2, but kingmaker took backlog priority.

I think BG3 will be a good, maybe even great, game--I'm just skeptical it will be a spiritual successor to the sacred BG Saga. That being said, I'm not among the chorus dumping on it.
 

Drowed

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
1,676
Location
Core City
I quite like them. I liked them before, I still do now. Not in a
incline.png
sense, or anything, but just because I find their games amusing in a mindless-fun way. And I like their sense of humor.
 

Ismaul

Thought Criminal #3333
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech A Beautifully Desolate Campaign My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
I liked Divine Divinity a lot for a Diablo-like. Played a bit their other games in the series but didn't like them enough to finish.

Really liked D:OS, except for the terrible writing and easiness to game the system (high initiative, rain + shock everything before they act). Weather combos were great though.

Surprisingly enjoyed Dragon Commander (with fast combat), despite it lacking depth.

Really enjoyed D:OS2, an overall great improvement on D:OS. Much better writing, dat narrator, better and less cartoony visuals, and less exploitable combat system that requires you to focus characters depending on your damage types and their armor, and prevents the ability of CCing everyone before they act. Their best game yet.

I get the feeling BG3 will be the first BG I'll like, much closer to the rules and adventuring and experimental feeling of tabletop.

Great incline!
incline.png
 

Ismaul

Thought Criminal #3333
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech A Beautifully Desolate Campaign My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
I definitely don't think Larian has the capability to make something that feels anything like D&D though.
D:OS1-2 already felt more like D&D than BG1-2 and PoE1-2 combined, despiste the lack of using the rules, settings and references. To me anyways (and I've DMed every edition since AD&D).

Why? Because they favor player experimentation in-game, much like tabletop. And they have TB combat.
 

Murk

Arcane
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,459
My memories of tabletop D&D were mostly dicking around and very little serious role playing -- so the experience was well replicated in D:OS2 when a friend brought a pool of lava into Driftwood to burn the magisters to death.
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,326
Location
Flowery Land
I thought Larian was good, not amazing, after DOS1 but DOS2 has taken them down to meh. Meh is still better than any other RPG company that isn't tiny right now though.
 

Generic-Giant-Spider

Guest
I don't like the OS games, they just aren't interesting to me enough to stick with to the end. I played some of Divine Divinity and it seems okay.

Larian themselves I'm completely indifferent towards. I don't think they suck donkey dick and I don't think they single handedly revived RPGs. I do wish they had some restraint in their OS games such as constant attempts at humor or overstuffing one act and leaving pacing problems for the next act.

Swen seems like a nice goofy lovable bitch so I kinda like 'em.

However I don't think Larian should have been the choice for BG3. I wouldn't have made a BG3 to begin with but if I had to, they aren't the guys to deliver it.
 

Sunsetspawn

Arcane
Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
1,039
Location
New York
I played The Dragon Knight Saga and Divinity: Original Sin and find them superior to other games of their respective eras. I've had DOS2 for awhile and will eventually get around to it. I'll probably buy BG3 unless DOS2 sucks out loud, though I'm not sure they'll pull off the "tone."
 
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
5,106
Really liked Divine Divinity back in the day, it was a solid 2nd tier iso RPG. Hate both D:OS's so much, I can't even bother to finish them.

The writing in D:OS games is beyond bad. It's actively soul-crushing. Mountains of fucking drivel, sourcerers, void dragon, imps, fucking tons of cat jokes everywhere, never played any other game where the writing made me want to not play it so much.

And then once you get past that, mediocre exploration, and gimmicky combat.
 

Narax

Educated
Joined
Aug 28, 2020
Messages
96
I never liked their Divinity setting, but the games themselves are quite good.

I also like them as a dedicated rpg-making studio, you won't find many of those these days.
 

Cryomancer

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
Messages
14,474
Location
Frostfell
Divine Divinity doesn't have cooldown and wow style itemization, in fact is diablo meets ultima... My favorite larian game
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Messages
1,307
I would like Larian if they cut back on the goofy "humor". I don't think it's very good (yes a matter of taste, but it still affects my opinion of their games).
 

Ismaul

Thought Criminal #3333
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech A Beautifully Desolate Campaign My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
In DOS2, I found their edgy "all-animals-get-the-stitches" with no single happy ending for them quite refreshing actually. Macabre outcomes + black humor is much better than boringly saving the day à la Bioware and many others. Funniest shit is they make you select "Animal Empathy" and then relentlessly put animals in dire situations in which you can't do anything to help. Great trolling!

It was quite an improvement over some of their earlier attempts at humor.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Larian had a decent formula for combat in Original Sin, but their plotlines and character dialog is always extremely weak.
 

d1r

Busin 0 Wizardry Alternative Neo fanatic
Patron
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Messages
3,577
Location
Germany
Larian will rape BG3 in the mouth. Originally Larian was on the true path with Divinity's real time combat. But they abandoned their origins with inferior TB combat comboed with horrible camera controls. So I picked the last option.

As soon as Swen comes home from his wedding with his 15th underaged slave wife, I'll come from under the bed and slice his throat with my barbarian axe. The reaper is coming for you.

Truly spoken like someone who would spend all their points on STR.
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,878,405
Location
Djibouti
If you dislike DOS2 I absolutely cannot fathom why you would like DOS1 in any way. DOS1 had such retarded writing.

The mechanics, encounter design and abilities in DOS1 blow DOS2 completely out of the water.

Who gives a shit about writung when it's abysmal in both.
 

SausageInYourFace

Angelic Reinforcement
Patron
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
3,858
Location
In your face
Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
I always liked Larian.

Divinity 2 is arguably a game that got me back big time into RPGs and ultimately brought me to the Codex. Great atmosphere, great exploration, good action. You can turn into a dragon.

I played DivDiv later and enjoyed it much more than Diablo. I really need to get around to play its sequel, too.

Dragon Commander is a game I greatly enjoyed for being a fun genre mix. The single parts aren't all that deep but the mix just makes it a very enjoyable light playing experience. Also waifus.

DivOS is - as of now - unironically my favorite RPG of all time (together with Ultima 7). I find the criticism of its writing in particularly greatly exaggerated (like a lot of things here are usually greatly exaggerated).

I didn't get around playing the sequel and probably won't get around playing BG3 for quite some time because they will barely run on my toaster.
 

Tacgnol

Shitlord
Patron
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
1,871,734
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Grab the Codex by the pussy RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
If you dislike DOS2 I absolutely cannot fathom why you would like DOS1 in any way. DOS1 had such retarded writing.

The mechanics, encounter design and abilities in DOS1 blow DOS2 completely out of the water.

Who gives a shit about writung when it's abysmal in both.

Yep. Larian stuck to their strengths with the first game, they made a good combat focused RPG.

DOS:2 just felt all over the place. Even worse, the combat was inferior to the first game.
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
In DOS2, I found their edgy "all-animals-get-the-stitches" with no single happy ending for them quite refreshing actually. Macabre outcomes + black humor is much better than boringly saving the day à la Bioware and many others. Funniest shit is they make you select "Animal Empathy" and then relentlessly put animals in dire situations in which you can't do anything to help. Great trolling!

It was quite an improvement over some of their earlier attempts at humor.

I was absolutely furious when a guard shot MY black cat! :argh::argh:
 

Ismaul

Thought Criminal #3333
Patron
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Messages
1,871,807
Location
On Patroll
Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech A Beautifully Desolate Campaign My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
In DOS2, I found their edgy "all-animals-get-the-stitches" with no single happy ending for them quite refreshing actually. Macabre outcomes + black humor is much better than boringly saving the day à la Bioware and many others. Funniest shit is they make you select "Animal Empathy" and then relentlessly put animals in dire situations in which you can't do anything to help. Great trolling!

It was quite an improvement over some of their earlier attempts at humor.

I was absolutely furious when a guard shot MY black cat! :argh::argh:
If you don't want men taking a shot at your pussy, protect it better.
 

Alphons

Cipher
Joined
Nov 20, 2019
Messages
2,557
Divine Divinity was great (though that final dungeon was just a slog, so I just run past all monsters to rush bosses).

Beyond Divinity was a bit eh (getting rid of open world, less quests).

Divinity 2 was pretty good.

Haven't played D:OSs.
 

Wunderbar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
8,809
Larian used to be experimental, but now that DOS is a huge success they are going to milk the formula until it dries.
DOS2 was the first step, BG3 will follow, and then a few games later we'll be playing a turn-based equivalent of popamole with tranny aliens and homosexual elves.
 

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