Divine Divinity 2

[Xi]

The voice acting in DD sucks. End of discussion. The rest of the game was enjoyable. In no way was the purchase of DD influenced negatively by the crappy VOs.

VOs weren't as big of an issue as some of you pretend.

If something is bad, it's bad. If 10% of a game sucks compared to the other 90%, then for fucks sake, let me say that 10% sucks. VOs for me doesn't make or break a game. Music does that a lot more then VOs. And from a visual perspective, I'm more interested in graphical-style then polygons.

Your obviously so overwhelmed by the game's charm in other areas, that your blinded to the plain cold hard facts about the VOs. They suck.

I didn't mind the Voice Overs. I thought they were funny and charming. You however demand that Patrick Stewart does the Voice Overs so that you get a hard on when you hear his voice. That's the point.

Stop being a hypocrite.

 

[Red Russian]

So tell me why the hell there are always 2 extreme choices in voice overs: VERY bad or PATRICK STEWART!!!!

If your are going to do voice overs, make it at least good. You found them charming and funny. Funny? Sure, maybe. Charming? For me, far from it. I was anticipating DD greatly when I heard some comparisons with Ultima VII. Interactive world, etc. When I bought it the first thing that hit me like a brick was the bad voice overs. I can't help it, I just find them annoying.

And stop with the OBLIVIOUS comparisons, please. I hated it. It's a fucking abortion of everything that made an RPG.

If you would like to know what I think is good voice overs, then it would be BG2, Bloodlines and Arcanum's voice overs. And that chick from the campaign tutorial in Rome: Total War.

 

[Xi]

So tell me why the hell there are always 2 extreme choices in voice overs: VERY bad or PATRICK STEWART!!!!

I made this comparison because someone said that DD had the worst voice overs ever. The debate started out in the extreme. In fact, I agree with your view. Give us moderate voice over work! In DD I equate the voice overs to graphical style vs quality. So, I can over look something that might be somewhat bad if it makes up for it's low quality with charm, creativity, and comedy. I thought DD achieved this with its low budget, indy development(Was very indy at the time) platform.

I'm willing to recognize that the game was good, and that even though I too didn't like the voice overs in the beginning, I eventually grew to understand their charm and comic relief at times. It worked, for me, for this reason.

 

[Red Russian]

I made this comparison because someone said that DD had the worst voice overs ever.

Fair enough. I also have tendencies to over express myself, but this is the Codex.

So, I can over look something that might be somewhat bad if it makes up for it's low quality with charm, creativity, and comedy.

Which is what I do to games as well. But when a specific point about a game is being addressed, like the aforementioned voice overs, I address it with *only* that in mind. A bit difficult sometimes, especially if I'm somewhat attached to a game and have to force myself to criticise that particular aspect. Like a fanboy, for example.

Regardless, DD is nice game and if they'll stick to the same mechanical formula used in DD, then I'll wager DD2 will be equally good.

 

[dragonfk]

Just curious, what was so bad about Beyond Divinity compared to the first?

Most CRAPPY voiceacting I have EVER heard in a game. EVER!

Enough to say that I could have not played the game because of the voiceacting and I am not one of those who need perfection to be pleased.

You spoiled faggot, you couldn't play the game because you have been modernized by games like Oblivion. Seriously though, I have played and beaten DD and its voice acting was just fine. It grows on you after a while and becomes another charm the game offers.


As for BD, I own it but haven't set aside the time to go through it. I like the mechanic of the game and some of the new ideas, I just don't like being chain to a fucking Death Knight the whole game. That just kills some aspect of it for me. I will endure it some day and beat it. From what I have read BD is a fantastic game if you can get into it as it offers deeper mechanics than the first. Plus, it has better Voice acting and music, go figure!

Wow...Just wow. I thought no one on Codex had problems with reading with understanding. My fault.

So let me tell you that my statement was reserved for Beyond Divinity.

As for VO in DD they were neutral for me, I had no problems with them at all. And how in the Nine Hells have you came to a conclusion that Oblivion had good voice overs? I would expect you to mention VtM Bloodlines, but TES IV??

Have you played Revenant?

As for Revenant I didnt have pleasure to play it and if it had worse VO than BD then I dont think I will have in near future. Or EVAR.

 

[Xi]

Wow...Just wow. I thought no one on Codex had problems with reading with understanding. My fault.

So let me tell you that my statement was reserved for Beyond Divinity.

Yep, you couldn't play the game because of Voice Acting, you're a silly faggot. You represent what is destroying the medium. Thanks! I've played both too, and I still disagree with you.

 

[dragonfk]

I like the mechanic of the game and some of the new ideas, I just don't like being chain to a fucking Death Knight the whole game. From what I have read BD is a fantastic game if you can get into it as it offers deeper mechanics than the first. Plus, it has better Voice acting and music, go figure!

What can I say. You write that the game is supposedly great, gameplay is great, music is great, voice acting is great, only that "fucking" Death Knights is irritating ( surely it has nothing to do with his spectacular voice over).

After this praise you write:

I will endure it some day and beat it.

Since when one has to force himself to play great game or "endure" something pleasurable?

Are you sure feeling alright today?

Yep, you couldn't play the game because of Voice Acting, you're a silly faggot. You represent what is destroying the medium. Thanks! I've played both too, and I still disagree with you.

When I have a choice between no voiceover or disasterous voiceover I would pick with no hesitation the one without VO. So yeah, I am a silly faggot with too high expectations.

 

[cardtrick]

Wow...Just wow. I thought no one on Codex had problems with reading with understanding. My fault.

So let me tell you that my statement was reserved for Beyond Divinity.

Yep, you couldn't play the game because of Voice Acting, you're a silly faggot. You represent what is destroying the medium. Thanks! I've played both too, and I still disagree with you.

Xi, you sound like a rabid dumbfuck in this thread. Any element of a game being absolutely atrocious is enough to bring down the rest of the game. I haven't played Beyond Divinity, but shitty voiceovers are easily enough to ruin a game for me, if they can't be skipped or silenced and replaced by subtitles. It's far, far, far better not to have voice acting than to have awful voice acting.

 

[Lesifoere]

Not to mention that absolutely nothing in BD makes up for the shitty VA work, either. The game is crap in every single imaginable aspect.

 

[Gragt]

Divinity's voice did not annoy me much. Some indeed sounded stupid but others fell in line with the comical/parody tone of the game.

As for BD, once more I really need to reinstall it to refresh my memory (and maybe regret it afterwards). I just remember that I prefered the voice of the Death Knight in the demo than the release.

Oh and while we're at it: who was disapointed that they switched to 3D models in BD instead of keeping the 2D ones?

 

[Xi]

Edit:

Fuck it, I'm tired of trying to convince people. You're just a product of modern marketing and glitz. It's a trap a lot of people have fallen into. The industry churns around it. Bask in your Patrick Stewart voice overs.

 

[ghostdog]

I also don't think voice acting can seriously completely ruin a game. Turn off the voice and just listen to music and read the text, it's not so hard. BD was just worse than DD in all aspects that really matter (gameplay - story).

 

[muds_animal_friend]

I also don't think voice acting can seriously completely ruin a game.

With Beyond Divinity gameplay quality is the least of the player’s worries. Its voice acting is quite capable of inducing epilepsy, psychotic fits, and spontaneous human combustion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzpExK ... re=related

 

[Lesifoere]

Wow. I remember it as being really bad, but wow.

I remember asking on the Larian boards if they just picked random people off the street to do the voices for them.

 

[doctor_kaz]

I liked the twist at the end of Beyond Divinity. It was a cool story tie-in to the first game. The fourth chapter of the game was very good.

Larian should have never tried to implement voice over for every character.

 

[mjorkerina]

My ears are bleeding.

 

[ghostdog]

I also don't think voice acting can seriously completely ruin a game.

With Beyond Divinity gameplay quality is the least of the player’s worries. Its voice acting is quite capable of inducing epilepsy, psychotic fits, and spontaneous human combustion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzpExK ... re=related

Yes, the voice acting is horrible, it's complete crap, one of the worse ever... but IF it's otherwise a good game, there is neat trick you can do :

Turn off the voice and just listen to music and read the text.

 

[Xi]

How did you guys fail to pick up on the comic subtlety of the voice overs? They were implemented like that for a reason. Maybe they took it too far, but that youtube video sounds fine to me. Hardly the worse VOs I've ever heard. You can bet that if they had implemented better voice overs people would have argued that the game lost its charm from the first. The first sound no different.

 

[Gragt]

Maybe it's just because I'm out of a wagnerian orgy and my ears are still buzzing but it doesn't sound *that* bad to me. Again they are a bit overdone but for the most part they have a parody side to them.

As a side-note, I did not know they used some of Pokrovsky's music from his other works. In the video you can hear the song "Magic Crystal" from the Top of the Mountain cd.

Edit: if I finish Arcanum tonight and reinstall BD, maybe I could do a let's play out of it, seems to be the flavour of the month.

 

[DoppelG]

Sadly this looks nothing more then the next Oblivion failure.
Seriously, who prefers these puke Oblivion graphics to the incredible original graphics of Divine Divinity? I will never get it.
Larian can go fuck themselves.

 

[Lesifoere]

Sadly this looks nothing more then the next Oblivion failure.
Seriously, who prefers these puke Oblivion graphics to the incredible original graphics of Divine Divinity? I will never get it.
Larian can go fuck themselves.

Don't be silly. Larian can't afford to hire Patrick Stewart to do VA for them. Hell, judging from the credits of DD and BD, I don't think they can even afford professional, creditable voice-actors to do shit for them.

 

[DoppelG]

Wasn't talking about VA, maybe misquote?

 

[thesheeep]

So you didn't play the Oblivion expansion Shivering Isles? That's a good example of voiceacting gone horribly *horribly* wrong.

mememememememememememe......

 

[ghostdog]

As little faith as I have in Larian, I'm not sure why people are jumping up and down to call it an Oblivion clone based on graphics alone. That's pretty retarded.

yes

 

[Red Russian]

That same brick that hit when I played DD for the first time and noticed the crappy VOs, also struck me when I looked at the screenshots.


teh bluuuuminess of everything.[/quote]