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Preview Lo and behold, choices and consequences in Divinity 2

Monolith

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Tags: Divinity 2; Larian Studios

Gentlemen, ladies and trannies, we might have something to look forward to, and that is <a href="http://www.divinity2.com/">Divinity 2: Ego Draconis</a>. I stumbled upon <a href="http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6211303/divinity-2-impressions">this preview</a> on Gamespot, and, expecting something along the lines of this <a href="http://pc.ign.com/articles/991/991372p1.html">magnificent piece of journalistic excellence</a>, I was quite shocked at choices and consequences being mentioned <b>in a positive light</b></a>.
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I'll just quote the three paragraphs (which are significantly longer than IGN's preview/"summary of what can be gathered in 2 minutes using google").
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<blockquote>To find out information, you'll speak with non-player characters much as you would in other role-playing games. We took a walk around Broken Valley, Divinity 2's first region. The first thing we did was head to a tavern, where we talked to the patrons seated outside. One of them wanted to enter the tavern but couldn't because it was overrun by drunken soldiers. We entered the tavern and had a talk with the intoxicated sods, where we could resolve the quest in one of several ways. In this case, we resolved it peacefully by speaking with the soldiers' lieutenant, which meant patrons who had been avoiding the tavern would now enter, including other quest-givers. Had we fought the soldiers to drive them out, some of these NPCs would not have entered, locking us out of some potential quests. Such choices will drive the game's morality system, affecting potential quests, as well as the items available for purchase from merchants.
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In another similar scenario, we met a local farmer's wife named Dana. Dana asked us to deliver a letter to the blacksmith, but asked us to keep it a secret from her husband. We opened the letter to take a peek and discovered that Dana was having an affair with this blacksmith. From here, there were many options available. We could blackmail Dana and deliver the letter; blackmail the blacksmith instead; or perhaps tell her husband and create all sorts of bad will. Instead, we took the most intriguing option: mind reading. By reading an NPC's mind, you can discover important information: treasure locations, enemy locations, and other secrets that could come in handy. The drawback is that reading minds costs you experience, so if you choose that option, your XP bar will diminish. You have to be careful using this option, because you could spend XP only to find that the subject of your mind reading may offer no information of use.
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In any case, mind-reading Dana led us to a key hidden inside the farmhouse. We used the key to enter the couple's basement, where we discovered the farmer's diary. We read it to discover that Dana was a bad girl; she'd already cheated on her husband in the past! But the juiciest part was that her husband murdered that gentleman. And again, we had more choices to make. The blackmailing choices were endless! In another instance, we could mind-read a quest giver, only to discover that he intended to pay too little for the items he requested. By refusing the request, he would then be found later in the goblin caves fighting them himself. If he were killed by these creatures, you would then be able to take his powerful armor for yourself, a choice you wouldn't get to make if you simply took the quest. Mind reading should make the already open-ended questing even more flexible.</blockquote>
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Ah, and they also introduced an interesting ability, using the magice system for more than just combat.
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If you want to see how the game looks in motion, <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com">GameTrailers</a> scored a video interview with <a href="http://www.larian.com/">dtp's Senior PR manager</a> at the E3 and meshed that with some in game footage. Apparently, you'll start off "hunting down evil, mean, huge dragons", only to get the ability to shapeshift into a dragon later on and equipped with that new power, you keep on hunting down evil, mean, huge dragons until you get to the real baddie and we all know what happens then.
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Darth Roxor

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Monolith said:
<a href="http://pc.ign.com/articles/991/991372p1.html">magnificent piece of journalistic excellence</a>

The word 'dragon' appears here 13 times, although while reading I thought it's repeated 150 times.


Also, this mind-reading thingy sounds intriguing. A shame it eats out XP, but then again, if it's supposed to unravel such useful info, the high penalty is in place.
 

Durwyn

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Despite actiony combat it looks p. good. The dragon air combat doesn't look as bad as I thought. Finally a game to wait for.
 

Castanova

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Those choices and consequences look like a total joke. As if there haven't been a hundred RPGs with delivery quests where you can open the delivery yourself, if you want, and then give the delivery to a few different people. A fedex quest is a fedex quest whether or not you get to break up a virtual marriage between virtual characters.
 

JarlFrank

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First DD was good, this sounds even better. Looking forward to it. And it actually sounds way more innovative than the oh-so-hyped "unique dark fantasy" RPG Dragon Age.
 

Andhaira

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A shame you are FORCED to be a shapehifting dragon. Also, how are they goign to handle flyng??
 

ghostdog

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JarlFrank said:
First DD was good, this sounds even better. Looking forward to it. And it actually sounds way more innovative than the oh-so-hyped "unique dark fantasy" RPG Dragon Age.
 

Relayer71

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Sounds promising... hopefully this isn't just some "bait" example to hook real RPers and the final game doesn't consist of only 2 or 3 such quests.

That's exactly what developers should concentrate on: quests with multiple solutions which can potentially lead to other quests and/or rewards/repercussions.

I'd rather have a game with a compelling main quest and then 5 or so deep, well thought out sidequests that can potentially open up another 15 to 20 high quality quests than 100 meaningless, linear and tedious sidequests.
 

Xi

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If DD was any example, this looks like more of the former with a new graphics. Sounds good ;P
 

Turok

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I like the first games, i accept the fact that is a action rpg like the first one, and i like it how it look soo far.

I hope that they can deliver what they are promising and the game release dont get fucked by bugs.
 

Monolith

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Darth Roxor said:
Monolith said:
<a href="http://pc.ign.com/articles/991/991372p1.html">magnificent piece of journalistic excellence</a>

The word 'dragon' appears here 13 times, although while reading I thought it's repeated 150 times.


Also, this mind-reading thingy sounds intriguing. A shame it eats out XP, but then again, if it's supposed to unravel such useful info, the high penalty is in place.
I'm curious as to how or if they are going to explain this in game. The information you get through mind reading is overwriting your own memories?
 

Thrasher

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Beyond Divinity was just OK. It was a buggy mess and one-way linear.

I thought the original was much better in this regard and had better skill and spell systems.

I hope they fix the mistakes from BD.
 

MetalCraze

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I was quite shocked at choices and consequences being mentioned in a positive light.
Huh? Choices & consequences are always mentioned in a positive light - it's a part of generic hype, considering that...

Those choices and consequences look like a total joke.
Exactly. So do examples of quests.
 

Forest Dweller

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So did the fist game have any C&C, or was it mainly a hack-n-slash?

Castanova said:
Those choices and consequences look like a total joke. As if there haven't been a hundred RPGs with delivery quests where you can open the delivery yourself, if you want, and then give the delivery to a few different people. A fedex quest is a fedex quest whether or not you get to break up a virtual marriage between virtual characters.
A fedex quest stops being a fedex quest when you no longer have to fedex. Savvy?
 

Lesifoere

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The first game has mild c&c, a decently open world, and pretty okay story. Writing is somewhat pathetic and the setting is Fantasia Generica from start to finish, but it's worth playing through once. Yeah, a huge hack-and-slash component, but there's more to it than that. Just don't give up in the first dungeon, which is a piece of shit.

Never, ever touch Beyond Divinity. BD is great only when it happens to someone else.
 

Barrow_Bug

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Sick to death of Mindless Kingdom Snoredom games, and I can't say I want to turn into a dragon. Nice work on the C+C, however turning into dragon is hella gay. And please explain to me why in the trailer the player spends the whole time getting his arse kicked? Weird.
 

Fenril

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Beyond Divinity is certainly more linear than divine divinity, but only when it comes to travelling around ( since the original DD didnt have much true CnC at all, BD actually allows more CnC from what little I remember) but I found it overall a better game. Which is curious since everyone bashes it. I finished them both of course.

BD has more content, combat is deeper ( not deep enough sometimes true) and is more challenging and rewarding in general, the only serious flawed aspect is the repetitive battlefields that are more or less required for grinding for items and skills.
The setting and writing can get somewhat silly true, its a light hearted game but so was the original DD. DD does deserve some praise for more or less sucessfully mixing diablo combat gameplay with a strong classic rpg aspect I guess.
 

JarlFrank

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Clockwork Knight said:
I didn't play the first one because i heard it was hack and slash. Depending on the answer, I may have to put on my peg leg and pirate hat.

It's often compared to Diablo, but that's only the combat. I'd rather compare it something like BG2. Can't remember much C&C but it has an interesting world to explore and the dialogues are quite good, too. Haven't played it for a long time but definitely remember it to be a good game, and definitely not just hack and slash.
 

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