Divinity Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition

[Desiderius]

I made it to the next island, but yeah, it was like when the hard level-scaling kicked in on Oblivion.

Remember in DOS I getting to what was supposed to be halfway through the game and realizing I’d never be getting another new skill and ghat was that.

 

[Roguey]

I remember the moment I dropped DOS2 well: I was at some mines or oil fields and something and I had just picked up a blue item one or two levels higher than the uber legendary boss drop I had from a boss moments ago. The blue item was strictly better.

I shut down the game and didn’t look back.

Not feeling the Item Fever, huh?

 

[Desiderius]

I remember the moment I dropped DOS2 well: I was at some mines or oil fields and something and I had just picked up a blue item one or two levels higher than the uber legendary boss drop I had from a boss moments ago. The blue item was strictly better.

I shut down the game and didn’t look back.

Not feeling the Item Fever, huh?

Obsoleting Unique items with mundane ones one level "higher" is no fever, it's braindead.

 

[Grunker]

I remember the moment I dropped DOS2 well: I was at some mines or oil fields and something and I had just picked up a blue item one or two levels higher than the uber legendary boss drop I had from a boss moments ago. The blue item was strictly better.

I shut down the game and didn’t look back.

Not feeling the Item Fever, huh?

lol

 

[Seethe]

This is possibly the worst turn-based game I ever played, fights take forever (slow ass animations + retarded armor system), and every encounter is a clusterfuck of status/elemental effects. I didn't like 2nd half of first game either, but it's unreal how Larian fucked up every single good thing from first game and fixed none of its flaws.

It's an amazing cocktail of all kinds of garbage. The encounter design is awful ambushes over and over again and the round robin system where initiative doesn't matter is really the cherry on top of the cake. This might be the first RPG in the world that forces you to go all physical or all magical. Anything different is just inefficient. The armor system makes all fights play the same, clicking the same abilities in the same order like it's some sort of MMO rotation.

And don't even get me started with how the items scale with the player level. Once you level up you feel like a weak piece of crap until you find a new item that fits your new level.

 

[kangaxx]

Remember in DOS I getting to what was supposed to be halfway through the game and realizing I’d never be getting another new skill and ghat was that.

The same problem exists in BG3 as well, at the start of Act 3.

The more I look back on DOS 2 the more I'm amazed I finished it. So much to dislike there... the armour system, the initiative system, the scaling loot (maybe my most hated feature in gaming), the "stick to the path or get one shot by invisible enemies" imperative. It does some things quite well, but the fact it took me three attempts to finish it says a lot.

 

[Desiderius]

the armour system, the initiative system, the scaling loot (maybe my most hated feature in gaming), the "stick to the path or get one shot by invisible enemies" imperative

(1) armour system:

One of those things that works well if played as designed instead of trying to break it with one-weird-tricking. Felt like more work than it was worth doing that in any event. Enough magic armor to avoid getting easily controlled, enough physical not to get one-shot was effective.

(2) initiative

Alternating felt like overdone kludge, but stunlocking was still usually doable in spite that. Would have been better to remove abilities that cause turn-skips (and worse) while bypassing armor.

(3) scaling loot

Way overscaled. Systems that aim to make non-unique loot matter for all players are hard and maybe not worth doing.

(4) Stick to path

The path itself was no pushover! Hard games sell. People like challenges and overcoming them, and not just grognards. Off-path should be high risk/high reward.

 

[Darth Roxor]

This is possibly the worst turn-based game I ever played, fights take forever (slow ass animations + retarded armor system), and every encounter is a clusterfuck of status/elemental effects. I didn't like 2nd half of first game either, but it's unreal how Larian fucked up every single good thing from first game and fixed none of its flaws.

It's an amazing cocktail of all kinds of garbage. The encounter design is awful ambushes over and over again and the round robin system where initiative doesn't matter is really the cherry on top of the cake. This might be the first RPG in the world that forces you to go all physical or all magical. Anything different is just inefficient. The armor system makes all fights play the same, clicking the same abilities in the same order like it's some sort of MMO rotation.

And don't even get me started with how the items scale with the player level. Once you level up you feel like a weak piece of crap until you find a new item that fits your new level.

I still do not at all understand the popularity of this game, because to me it's just thoroughly and aggressively shitty.

 

[kangaxx]

(4) Stick to path

The path itself was no pushover! Hard games sell. People like challenges and overcoming them, and not just grognards. Off-path should be high risk/high reward.

I do agree in principle and usually enjoy that, but the scaling/variable loot conundrum ruins it in this game. There are some unique items, but I never felt like I was missing out by "sticking to my lane".

My main gripe with this was the way they execute the random difficulty spikes... often there's no real indication that you're walking into an ambush that you have no hope of winning. It felt like you were being punished for exploring.

 

[Desiderius]

This is possibly the worst turn-based game I ever played, fights take forever (slow ass animations + retarded armor system), and every encounter is a clusterfuck of status/elemental effects. I didn't like 2nd half of first game either, but it's unreal how Larian fucked up every single good thing from first game and fixed none of its flaws.

It's an amazing cocktail of all kinds of garbage. The encounter design is awful ambushes over and over again and the round robin system where initiative doesn't matter is really the cherry on top of the cake. This might be the first RPG in the world that forces you to go all physical or all magical. Anything different is just inefficient. The armor system makes all fights play the same, clicking the same abilities in the same order like it's some sort of MMO rotation.

And don't even get me started with how the items scale with the player level. Once you level up you feel like a weak piece of crap until you find a new item that fits your new level.

I still do not at all understand the popularity of this game, because to me it's just thoroughly and aggressively shitty.

Early level progression is good and needed to get past the gateway fights. Bogs down midgame with items/lack of new skills.

 

[Seethe]

This is possibly the worst turn-based game I ever played, fights take forever (slow ass animations + retarded armor system), and every encounter is a clusterfuck of status/elemental effects. I didn't like 2nd half of first game either, but it's unreal how Larian fucked up every single good thing from first game and fixed none of its flaws.

It's an amazing cocktail of all kinds of garbage. The encounter design is awful ambushes over and over again and the round robin system where initiative doesn't matter is really the cherry on top of the cake. This might be the first RPG in the world that forces you to go all physical or all magical. Anything different is just inefficient. The armor system makes all fights play the same, clicking the same abilities in the same order like it's some sort of MMO rotation.

And don't even get me started with how the items scale with the player level. Once you level up you feel like a weak piece of crap until you find a new item that fits your new level.

I still do not at all understand the popularity of this game, because to me it's just thoroughly and aggressively shitty.

It's the "normie's first CRPG", although arguably DivOS 1 takes that title. There's a reason it keeps getting brought up over and over and over again into discussion by BG 3 fans as well, it's the same audience. Maybe it's the shitty humor that attracted them, and the fact that it's a braindead easy game to comprehend. Maybe it's because it looked the "shiniest" among all CRPGs which is why they now fawn over BG3 being "the best CRPG evar".

 

[Desiderius]

It’s because Voidwoken, Wurm, and shipboard fights are harder than anything else that’s come out in AAA titles for years.

When you’re in a hole stop condescending.