Divinity Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[nikolokolus]

After finally finishing the EE (and having never completed the game in its original form) I'm left thinking what a shame it was that Larian couldn't sustain a certain level of difficulty nor restrain themselves from doing a "save the universe" story. If they had somehow maintained a late game difficulty curve and only kept it focused on a murder mystery and on the twin sisters instead of all that tat with Astarte, The Guardians and the Void, it might have been one the best CRPGs I've ever played. Oh well, still pretty damn good - better luck next time.

 

[Grimnir]

I just finished the EE on tactician and the difficulty was laughable. I abandoned the original around level 15, because it got too easy. After the first few fights in Cyseal I barely noticed a difference between tactician and normal. It actually got easier faster than before as I ended up 2-3 levels higher than everything, until I reached the endgame. I had to stop using scrolls, summons, and master skills for fights to last longer. The final boss died after I used 2 master scrolls on it. Seriously, wtf? I had to restart the fight to see what it could do which..wasn't much. Why is it so weak?

The story was awful. I ignored the generic plot the 1st time around. I heard the story was revamped, but it's even worse now. All they did was over explain everything. The EE is still better than the original. The performance is greatly improved and I liked most of the skills/combat tweaks. I just wished the difficulty didn't drop off after the 1st map.

 

[Jools]

Finished installing the EE. I guess I'm gonna be busy this weekend.

 

[Jools]

Finished installing the EE. I guess I'm gonna be busy this weekend.

I officially started my playthrough last night. I went for "classic" difficulty, feels easier than when I played it first (no-EE back then, though). I think I'll restart in "tactician" mode, especially seen as a few of you mentioned it's been nerfed.

 

[Roguey]

What did I say

Replaying the original would likely be even easier than EE's tactician mode.

Unless it has the randomization of a roguelike, a game will always be easier the second time around because of your familiarity with both systems and content.

 

[Jools]

What did I say

Replaying the original would likely be even easier than EE's tactician mode.

Unless it has the randomization of a roguelike, a game will always be easier the second time around because of your familiarity with both systems and content.

Sorry, I had mis-read that. You're likely to be quite right, even if my first attempt at the game was stopped short because "of reasons" (and TBH I haven't read up anything about classes, skills, abilities and builds so I'm kinda going in blind again...).

 

[Aenra]

I'm afraid Roguey is only half-right.. meta is always meta, granted, but the EE really is easier. There are new weapon types added that make (most of) the old ones pale in comparison*, along with various slight changes in ingame mechanics that allow for plenty of cheesing through everything even if you come to it fresh
* worse still that the way they function makes them favourable for both melee and caster builds

Personally speaking (lately it seems i need emphasise the obvious..), picking the EE is a no-brainer. But in case you're wondering:

+ adequately..ish re-worked loot tables. Hand picked in many instances of note, though you still get RNG, never mind the advertising
+ sounds/musical scores are finally fixed, you can enjoy your DTS or equivalent sound output minus the deafening echo bug persistent in the vanilla throughout. No, am not exaggerating. Was that bad
+ most important of all, continuation of bug fixing and polishing. Major difference, and it's still ongoing i think
+ the new editor (imminent in the Larian sense of the word) may allow for some more freedom in editing/removing previous hardcoded restrictions

- story progress/dialogue is (did i say personally speaking) even worse than the original. Plenty of editing to fool you into thinking it's been improved, but actually? Extra, overly long explaining of the obvious/served with more sauce, gating when before there was none, main story remaining with as many plot holes as it did in the original
- noticeably more streamlined in select locations/progression chokepoints. The lamp really is held for you now. Ludicrous if above the equivalent of a snail's IQ
- introduction of ..elements.. we usually see in other genres, and should have been happy to leave them just so. I mentioned weapon types wands above, along with other more subtle types

= pacing is almost as bad as it was. Minimal improvement that fails to alter the big picture. Past Cyseal remains .. past Cyseal

 

[Roguey]

gating when before there was none

what really

It was a good thing that if you hit a boss you couldn't beat, you could just go elsewhere until you were leveled enough to brute-force it.

 

[Aenra]

Please don't tell me you've yet to play the game, but feel free to comment regardless, lol.. it's becoming a bad trend if so..

Anyway; selectively and smartly done (ie nothing major / done is such a way so that, had you not played the original, you wouldn't have guessed) but yeah

 

[Roguey]

Please don't tell me you've yet to play the game, but feel free to comment regardless, lol.. it's becoming a bad trend if so..

I completed D:OS earlier last year. Why would I want to play the EE so soon if at all?

 

[Zeriel]

Please don't tell me you've yet to play the game, but feel free to comment regardless, lol.. it's becoming a bad trend if so..

I completed D:OS earlier last year. Why would I want to play the EE so soon if at all?

No one takes you seriously anyway, but if you had some idea that your commentary on it should be paid attention to, it is probably a good idea to play something you're criticizing first.

 

[Roguey]

No one takes you seriously anyway,

This isn't true.

but if you had some idea that your commentary on it should be paid attention to, it is probably a good idea to play something you're criticizing first.

What did I criticize?

 

[Bubbles]

but if you had some idea that your commentary on it should be paid attention to, it is probably a good idea to play something you're criticizing first.

What did I criticize?

Too bad they made the endgame worse and didn't fix any of the ease-of-use things PC players care about.

 

[Aenra]

Ok, my apologies then Roguey. Partly your question (evident from chapter I), partly that it wouldn't have been the first time this happened ..

Anyway, speaking of dialogue/story. I am currently giving DivII: DC my biennial playthrough. The saucy, innuendo-ridden, tongue in cheek, slightly irreverent tone found in the conversations you get to have/books you get to read is a good reminder of what Larian could do with less money, less time and a hell of a lot more pressure (they had people to answer to back then). I know not what went wrong with D:OS, though alas i can fathom: Broader audience, broader responsibilities, stricter a censorship, but perhaps lar_q could use its own previous games as a reminder. You guys worry too damn much about the two things that fuck the fuck up of any RPG:

- perceived difficulty, ergo you mainstream/gate/patch it out.
You did this in Div2 (locking doors so we couldn't enter because high level mobs [as if dying once is such a big deal ffs], magically 'unlocking' them later on, etc) and you did it again in D:OS EE (starting right in Cyseal, with the pyramids, but definitely not stopping there). Tell me you find D:OS as is today hard Swen, really.

- cultural/political sensitivites, ergo you 'tone' things down.
Takes the heart of the game out, leaves only the working pieces. Any monkey can get the working pieces right. The heart though..why take it out when you already got the skillset for it. Mind you, am not saying anything was 'perfect', am saying a skillset evident from the studio's previous titles appears as if left out. Loss.

Look back a bit. Forward is good, back however is essential

 

[Aenra]

By the way,

Any way to remove quest markers?

http://www.nexusmods.com/divinityoriginalsin/mods/73/?

 

[Lacrymas]

The more this game festers into my brain the more I start to dislike it. It's mostly the writing (and RNG loot) to be honest, but that infects and infests everything else. The closest word I can think of to describe it is "meaningless". The writing is so amateurish as to fail to convey any kind of meaningful interaction with the world we are trying to inhabit. It also feels like a string of ideas sewn one after another rather than a coherent, logical whole. The world itself is kinda bland and boring after Cyseal, with nothing truly interesting to see and discover, while Cyseal is pushing the limit of what can be considered interesting. There is some kind of underlying flaw in the whole thing that I can't properly articulate or formulate. The combat is fine, but in the context of everything else I feel that it is wasted. I truly dread thinking about what D:OS 2 will become.

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

The more this game festers into my brain the more I start to dislike it. It's mostly the writing (and RNG loot) to be honest, but that infects and infests everything else. The closest word I can think of to describe it is "meaningless". The writing is so amateurish as to fail to convey any kind of meaningful interaction with the world we are trying to inhabit. It also feels like a string of ideas sewn one after another rather than a coherent, logical whole. The world itself is kinda bland and boring after Cyseal, with nothing truly interesting to see and discover, while Cyseal is pushing the limit of what can be considered interesting. There is some kind of underlying flaw in the whole thing that I can't properly articulate or formulate. The combat is fine, but in the context of everything else I feel that it is wasted. I truly dread thinking about what D:OS 2 will become.

Well, D:OS2 has a bigger budget, better people on staff, more writers on staff, probably isn't going to have the story completely changed half-way though, probably won't have such shit RNG loot, etc. I'd probably stop dreading because it has a lot more going for it than the 1st time around.

 

[Lacrymas]

Well, D:OS2 has a bigger budget, better people on staff, more writers on staff, probably isn't going to have the story completely changed half-way though, probably won't have such shit RNG loot, etc. I'd probably stop dreading because it has a lot more going for it than the 1st time around.

They certainly have more people on the team, but that doesn't mean anything unless they are talented, intelligent and creative. They do have Avellone to hold the reins (if they have any modicum of self-awareness that's what they are going to let him do) and that makes me hopeful. Hope is a cruel mistress though, so we'll see :p

 

[Volrath]

Storyfags, storyfags never change.

 

[Zeriel]

I bet he liked Pillars of Eternity.

 

[Jools]

Well, D:OS2 has a bigger budget, better people on staff, more writers on staff, probably isn't going to have the story completely changed half-way though, probably won't have such shit RNG loot, etc. I'd probably stop dreading because it has a lot more going for it than the 1st time around.

They certainly have more people on the team, but that doesn't mean anything unless they are talented, intelligent and creative. They do have Avellone to hold the reins (if they have any modicum of self-awareness that's what they are going to let him do) and that makes me hopeful. Hope is a cruel mistress though, so we'll see :p

For the sake of all that is holy and sacred, I really hope not. I hope the limited budget allocated to having him on-board will only allow him to write one or two characters and a questline or two, all of which I'll be free to ignore.

Hell, I'm a storyfag and I prefer Larian's cheesy and amateurish attempts at humorous writing than the pseudo-deep and pseudo-meaningful, wannabe-eschatological tryhard pompous drivel that Avellone has been delivering recently. Sorry guys, I am full aware of the legions of fanboys we got on this very board, but Avellone has lost his shine, and anyway, he had at best been a "decent game writer", which is still a fairly sub-par kind of writer, when compared to "actual" writers.

 

[J_C]

Ban Jools!

 

[Jools]

Ban Jools!

Ban every fanboy from the MCA Appreciation Station thread, or at least force them to read a real book (not by Avellone/Gaider/Karpyshyn, I mean an actual goddam book).

PS - Sorry, J_C, nothing personal, just business.

 

[Lacrymas]

It depends on what you mean by "book". I wouldn't consider GRRM's scribblings as a good example. Avellone isn't on the level of serious literature of course, but he's still the best we've got in this industry.