Black
Arcane
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- May 8, 2007
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- 1,873,200
Well baited.
-
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Divinity Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition
- Thread starter Lacrymas
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 14,349
The fights in the last act are bullshit, aren't they? I don't have much of a problem beating them, but they all boil down with the game trying to put you in the middle and let the enemies pummel you. I'm doing the fight in the Black House and I'm just laughing like a crazy person. Act 1-2, I enjoyed a great deal. Act 3 was good with some bad. Act 4 has been bad with some good.
Luckmann
Arcane
There is no Act 4.
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 14,349
Well, the Arx section of the game.
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
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- 14,349
I beat the game earlier today. It is a game that I really enjoyed and had fun with. Yet, it still has several flaws. I can't consider this an all time classic, but I do know that I want to come back and play it in the future. There will probably be enough tweaks, additions and mods to push it to "one of the greats" status. Here are my ramblings.
What I did not like:
The armor system. I knew that I wouldn't like this from the start. It adds an unnecessary time sink for the player and enemy to take down additional health bars. Combat becomes a competition in who can strip each other of armor and then finally use status inflicting moves. I went with a 2H warrior, crossbowman, and two mages; one summoner focused, and one buff and heal focused. I wish they change this somehow. Higher armor could mean less chance to inflict status ailments. I doubt they will get rid of it entirely.
How AP and initiative works is not cool. At first, I put lots of points in wits to get more AP and higher initiative, but the way the game works is not good at all. Wits is more or less useless. If I remember correctly, I utilized wits a lot in the first game. I also dislike how some enemies have way more AP than you. Or when there are summoned enemy units that directly get to attack, instead of getting added last to the combat action queue.
Number bloat. In this case, I honestly don't know how they thought. For each level, numbers go up significantly. Most of the time, this forces the player to explore areas in a certain order. I didn't care and forced my way through some of the higher level areas by cheesing them. This hampers some of the feeling of freedom. It also forces you to buy items often. I'd buy new items every two levels.
Attributes and talents weren't as interesting as in first game. In DOS, attributes feel so much more useful. They do more than just add 5% to a single area, like 5% improved weapon damage. I also miss the defensive abilities like for example, armor specialist. The number talents also seem to be less in number and usefulness. In DOS, I used several different talents depending on what type of characters I used. In DOS2, I had all characters use the same ones.
A mixed bag:
Combat encounters. There were some really fun encounters in DOS2. A certain fight in act 1, Radeka in act 2, and some others that I won't mention in fear of spoilers. Then we have some fights that had me scratch my head. I didn't have a huge problem winning said fights, but they were clearly set up to give the computer an advantage that I feel it shouldn't have. I am all for challenge, but do it better. Then we have fights like the one in the Black Pits. Not challenging at all for me, but oh my word, how long it took me to deal with it. Don't get me started on some of the fights in Arx. Lizard Consulate, I am looking at you. Overall, there were far more encounters I had fun with, than encounters that I disliked.
Companions and writing. I'd put this above the first game, but I do not consider the writing in this game to be masterclass. It's serviceable and a step in the right direction for Larian. There are places where I really enjoyed it and at some points, all I could think to myself was: You don't play Larian games and expect Planescape: Torment. It was interesting to see how things would unfold and companions were mostly decent. I don't have much to say in this area of the game. It works, and it shows that they put some effort into it.
Items. You feel no real joy when you get new items after a certain point. Oh, new item, okay then. Why? Because there is an overabundance of them (especially with Lucky Charm). The numbers bloat also makes it a must to renew your gear. A big shame is that unique items often are worse than random items that you get. There are a few exceptions, but I could probably count them on my fingers. Why is this in the mixed bag section and not in the negatives section? A part of me loves loot, and I must have it.
What I did like:
Exploration. While the game tries to keep you away from certain areas, due to higher level enemies, beating said enemies when you're not supposed to do, is a great feeling. In general, I liked to explore the world and meet NPCs, then help or fight them. The actual game world isn't very believable, and by that I mean that the game world is more of a playground packed with content, than a world that makes sense. There is always something to do or find.
Quests. While the quest journal seemed to be broken beyond all repair, I actually had fun with them. (They probably repaired it, didn't they?) I had persuasion maxed, and managed to avoid combat sometimes. There were straight up "go fight this" quest, "talk to people" quests and investigation quests. Some of the quests you get seems to end up the same way and have no real choice, no matter what you do, but others seem to have very different outcomes. I need to replay the game to confirm.
Skills. I liked the skills the game had to offer. Maybe not as many as the first game, I don't remember, but they were mostly all useful. Warfare and Huntsman, I used all the time. There weren't many skills in the schools I used that I didn't find a good use for in different situations.
Combat system. While I did complain about some encounter designs and AP points, I love the combat system. There aren't many games in recent years that I have had as much fun with that uses a turn-based combat system which uses a party. Only game that really comes close is Blackguards. I like the fact that there is no grid. You can plan how you want to move, you can queue up moves. It is possible to separate your characters and initiate combat with some characters, and then jump in with the others as you see fit. You can position your characters by spilling them up. The only negative is when there are surprise attacks. Not that there should never be any.
Music. I had some fears about this, but I must say that Kirill has a worthy successor. I really enjoyed the soundtrack. Kept some of the Dvinity, yet did its own thing, too. Loved the music in the final battle.
What I did not like:
The armor system. I knew that I wouldn't like this from the start. It adds an unnecessary time sink for the player and enemy to take down additional health bars. Combat becomes a competition in who can strip each other of armor and then finally use status inflicting moves. I went with a 2H warrior, crossbowman, and two mages; one summoner focused, and one buff and heal focused. I wish they change this somehow. Higher armor could mean less chance to inflict status ailments. I doubt they will get rid of it entirely.
How AP and initiative works is not cool. At first, I put lots of points in wits to get more AP and higher initiative, but the way the game works is not good at all. Wits is more or less useless. If I remember correctly, I utilized wits a lot in the first game. I also dislike how some enemies have way more AP than you. Or when there are summoned enemy units that directly get to attack, instead of getting added last to the combat action queue.
Number bloat. In this case, I honestly don't know how they thought. For each level, numbers go up significantly. Most of the time, this forces the player to explore areas in a certain order. I didn't care and forced my way through some of the higher level areas by cheesing them. This hampers some of the feeling of freedom. It also forces you to buy items often. I'd buy new items every two levels.
Attributes and talents weren't as interesting as in first game. In DOS, attributes feel so much more useful. They do more than just add 5% to a single area, like 5% improved weapon damage. I also miss the defensive abilities like for example, armor specialist. The number talents also seem to be less in number and usefulness. In DOS, I used several different talents depending on what type of characters I used. In DOS2, I had all characters use the same ones.
A mixed bag:
Combat encounters. There were some really fun encounters in DOS2. A certain fight in act 1, Radeka in act 2, and some others that I won't mention in fear of spoilers. Then we have some fights that had me scratch my head. I didn't have a huge problem winning said fights, but they were clearly set up to give the computer an advantage that I feel it shouldn't have. I am all for challenge, but do it better. Then we have fights like the one in the Black Pits. Not challenging at all for me, but oh my word, how long it took me to deal with it. Don't get me started on some of the fights in Arx. Lizard Consulate, I am looking at you. Overall, there were far more encounters I had fun with, than encounters that I disliked.
Companions and writing. I'd put this above the first game, but I do not consider the writing in this game to be masterclass. It's serviceable and a step in the right direction for Larian. There are places where I really enjoyed it and at some points, all I could think to myself was: You don't play Larian games and expect Planescape: Torment. It was interesting to see how things would unfold and companions were mostly decent. I don't have much to say in this area of the game. It works, and it shows that they put some effort into it.
Items. You feel no real joy when you get new items after a certain point. Oh, new item, okay then. Why? Because there is an overabundance of them (especially with Lucky Charm). The numbers bloat also makes it a must to renew your gear. A big shame is that unique items often are worse than random items that you get. There are a few exceptions, but I could probably count them on my fingers. Why is this in the mixed bag section and not in the negatives section? A part of me loves loot, and I must have it.
What I did like:
Exploration. While the game tries to keep you away from certain areas, due to higher level enemies, beating said enemies when you're not supposed to do, is a great feeling. In general, I liked to explore the world and meet NPCs, then help or fight them. The actual game world isn't very believable, and by that I mean that the game world is more of a playground packed with content, than a world that makes sense. There is always something to do or find.
Quests. While the quest journal seemed to be broken beyond all repair, I actually had fun with them. (They probably repaired it, didn't they?) I had persuasion maxed, and managed to avoid combat sometimes. There were straight up "go fight this" quest, "talk to people" quests and investigation quests. Some of the quests you get seems to end up the same way and have no real choice, no matter what you do, but others seem to have very different outcomes. I need to replay the game to confirm.
Skills. I liked the skills the game had to offer. Maybe not as many as the first game, I don't remember, but they were mostly all useful. Warfare and Huntsman, I used all the time. There weren't many skills in the schools I used that I didn't find a good use for in different situations.
Combat system. While I did complain about some encounter designs and AP points, I love the combat system. There aren't many games in recent years that I have had as much fun with that uses a turn-based combat system which uses a party. Only game that really comes close is Blackguards. I like the fact that there is no grid. You can plan how you want to move, you can queue up moves. It is possible to separate your characters and initiate combat with some characters, and then jump in with the others as you see fit. You can position your characters by spilling them up. The only negative is when there are surprise attacks. Not that there should never be any.
Music. I had some fears about this, but I must say that Kirill has a worthy successor. I really enjoyed the soundtrack. Kept some of the Dvinity, yet did its own thing, too. Loved the music in the final battle.
Iznaliu
Arbiter
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2016
- Messages
- 3,686
It's always interesting how people talk about "acts" when the actual game shows little trace of them.
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 14,349
I could say area 4, but what the hey.
Sneaky Seal
Aurum Dust
Hey, guys, something I wanted to ask - with the old view that most of the games do intro/begining part poorly - what do you think of the Joy island? I personally liked the many ways you can get out of it.
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- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 14,349
Fort Joy and Reaper's Coast were mt favorite areas of the game.
Payd Shell
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2017
- Messages
- 831
I suppose 'act' is just a generic term to describe the different chunks of content a game has to offer, most prominently separated by the progression of the story and a different theme. For D:OS2 this would be roughly: Escape the prison, master the source, ascend and ascend (for real this time). I would like to know which game made the term popular, though. Maybe Diablo 2?
rado907
Savant
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2015
- Messages
- 249
Acts are from before gaming, theater has had acts since its inception. Typically a narrative has 3-5 acts depending on how you cut it and what the author had in mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_structure
With DOS2 it does feel natural to treat each island as an act and the ship sequence as a prologue. One can also cut the big island into two arbitrary chunks to get to five acts. More than one way to look at things...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_structure
With DOS2 it does feel natural to treat each island as an act and the ship sequence as a prologue. One can also cut the big island into two arbitrary chunks to get to five acts. More than one way to look at things...
LESS T_T
Arcane
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2012
- Messages
- 13,582
Another marketing talk at another Russian conference in November: http://devgamm.com/minsk2017/speakers/
Krzysiek
Learned
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2017
- Messages
- 97
Its look like journo form Polygon finished D:OS II before review:
https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/15/16316126/divinity-original-sin-2-review
KevinV12000
Arcane
I've avoided reading reviews and this thread so as to not spoiler anything, but I just have to say....
SPOILER AHEAD
Wow, this fight I just had the end of the Fort Joy area was the best turn-based battle I've enjoyed since Jagged Edge or Pool of Radiance. I still can't believe I won the battle. Finished with one party member alive at about 1/3 hp. I know you all are tactical geniuses who probably found this battle easy on nightmare difficulty, but for me it was plenty hard enough, and I think I was actually panting at the end. What a great, great game.
SPOILER AHEAD
Wow, this fight I just had the end of the Fort Joy area was the best turn-based battle I've enjoyed since Jagged Edge or Pool of Radiance. I still can't believe I won the battle. Finished with one party member alive at about 1/3 hp. I know you all are tactical geniuses who probably found this battle easy on nightmare difficulty, but for me it was plenty hard enough, and I think I was actually panting at the end. What a great, great game.
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- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 14,349
It's one of the tougher fights in the game. At least for me. I had everyone survive, but that had nothing to do with tactical genius. I sent in my incarnate to do the tanking, ma two handed warrior was to the left of the fight, luring enemies, and then my three ranged people wrecked stuff with long ranged attacks and spells. I can without any shame say that I died on my first attempt.
KevinV12000
Arcane
Yeah, I think I may have spoken too soon. The next big fight is kicking my ass all over the damn place. Sigh.
I'm just not good at tactics. I played Squad Leader with a guy down the street when I was growing up, and I'd make the same damn mistakes over and over. The number of Red Guards who were mowed down is perhaps greater than in real life.
I'm just not good at tactics. I played Squad Leader with a guy down the street when I was growing up, and I'd make the same damn mistakes over and over. The number of Red Guards who were mowed down is perhaps greater than in real life.
Jinn
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2007
- Messages
- 5,530
Don't worry, man. I got my ass handed to me a number of times too. I was surprised I made it through that last fight on Joy without having to reload though.
Murk
Arcane
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2008
- Messages
- 13,459
I went through the various 'ending options' as Fane and it's kind of... lack luster. I had finished it with what I assume is the intended/good ending, then reloaded the last fight and went through all the others.
I took power for myself and was expecting a MOTB style ending but the final slides were just kind of... thrown around, didn't have anywhere near the same punch. Pretty dope that I enslaved the world though necromancy though, I can get behind that.
Israfael
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2012
- Messages
- 3,869
Ausdoerrt
Augur
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2006
- Messages
- 217
Nameless Isle was f*cking great. Plot twist kinda meh, but the area itself was fun. Also, I wonder what happens if
I'd also say it's Red Prince who's the "brah", but I'm playing Beast as PC, so I dunno what he's like on his own.
you agree to "feed" your god at the end of the section"
She's sexy though. Sebille, on the other hand, is just edgy/dumb.
I'd also say it's Red Prince who's the "brah", but I'm playing Beast as PC, so I dunno what he's like on his own.
Sallow Man attacks you
How to prepare for the Linder Kemm fight:
Seriously, though, that fight is... strange. Guy appears in round one, casts meteor shower which does so much damage that it offs at least one of your characters for sure - and besides him there are 4 others as well.
The fog gets rid of those, at least, so you might have a chance.
Really, I don't get what you are supposed to do here other than cheese with death fog. I tried the fight 4 times on fair terms, but the very first thing Kemm does is cast meteor shower - which killed 3/4 character on my first try, then I learned to separate them before freeing the prisoner. After that it was killing only one, but 3 characters just isn't enough against that 16k armor monster and 4 of his minions.
And reviving a character costs 1 turn - only so that revived character can immediately be killed by whatever enemy acts next. You just don't do that early on in a fight when nobody can be CCd yet.
Seriously, though, that fight is... strange. Guy appears in round one, casts meteor shower which does so much damage that it offs at least one of your characters for sure - and besides him there are 4 others as well.
The fog gets rid of those, at least, so you might have a chance.
Really, I don't get what you are supposed to do here other than cheese with death fog. I tried the fight 4 times on fair terms, but the very first thing Kemm does is cast meteor shower - which killed 3/4 character on my first try, then I learned to separate them before freeing the prisoner. After that it was killing only one, but 3 characters just isn't enough against that 16k armor monster and 4 of his minions.
And reviving a character costs 1 turn - only so that revived character can immediately be killed by whatever enemy acts next. You just don't do that early on in a fight when nobody can be CCd yet.
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Citation needed. Where in W8 lizards/dracons have tits ? They are only playable characters and those afaik you can only see in inventory screen (plus the talking heads of curse but those are irrelevant for the subject of tits). I just checked W8 to refresh my memory.How many games even have playable reptilefolk?And how many games did?Also, credit where credit is due - I now know TWO games where developers have been lucid enough to not put mammaries on female reptilefolk.
Wiz 8 had bewbed lizard and dragon people.
So did all TES games other than Morrowind.
So far I can only list DoS2 and Morrowind on the "lizards without bewbs" list.
Female Dracon = no tits at all.
Female Lizardman = it's not completely clear, there are somewhat tit-like bulges on the upper chest but not very tit-like shaped and of curse no nipples.
Overall i'd say Wizardry 8 didn't do that bad as you implied.
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