Codex Review RPG Codex Review: Divinity: Original Sin 2

[Grampy_Bone]

Rules are rules because of being documented. The formulas of damage multipliers are not rules and player is not supposed to make judgements based on them.

If Roxor finished the game though, he would have found out that pumping only one skill is only good for first half of the game. For some skills many times so - Summoning is a prime example, but if you want mages to do damage and quickly learn all skills, you'd better to increase one magic skill before splitting into another too.

It's closer to end of the game where you can make characters like pyrostaffer with fire, fire buff on staff & warfare, and begin searching for alternative damage options, like choosing between weapon skill and backstab for example. You can play it differently, but why? Physical fighters pump Warfate & 1-3 (or none, if you have rings + skills or something) extra skills for more abilities, and that's that - for most of the game.

And to be honest... after years and years of being and OCD gamer in PC & P&P games and wargames to boot myself - I personally am completely tired of finding those extra 20 damage from whatever to my 600 basic damage, because it's banal and boring. I just want choices in character development and during conbat be interesting and challenging and surprise me. If they fixed the formula so Warfare and other skills would be equal for physical characters, it wouldn't really change anything. Character development in DOS2 would still be an MMO chore and +5%, and that's that.

I think it's more of an issue of reinventing the wheel *and* making the wheel an octagon, because "variety."

Games often (used to) give stats a unique purpose. Strength adds melee damage, dex adds accuracy. Okay. They also made combat styles distinct. Melee received damage bonuses from stats, while spells became harder to resist.

Now DOS2 has "strength weapons" and "dex weapons" and "int weapons." So everything is a damage stat. What is the different between an Int weapon, dex weapon, and str weapon when they all do 1d8+(stat*5%) damage? Not much. It's bland.

Then you have ability skills which add damage, or except in certain cases they add crit damage or high ground damage or free stat points (???). This is unintuitive. If your archer wants to hit hard, boost the warfare skill, even though you're not using warfare abilities. Mages should boost huntsman because they'll often attack from high ground and they lack other damage boosting options. Everyone ends up with cross-class ability points for skills they'll never use or are at odds with the rest of the build.

It's just a very kludgy system.

 

[Eyestabber]

You know, in an RPG system that isn't complete and utter garbage (so, not D:OS) a stat has multiple uses other than "this one raises damage by x%". Having a bunch of stats whose sole function is to make your character "5% moar awesomer" is nothing but false depth. What I said about PoE is even more true with D:OS2: a 5%-15% damage increase per level is bullshit window dressing. The REAL character progression in this game comes from equipping the next level of equipment. The closest the game comes to giving ACTUAL player agency is with higher tier skills and even those are hardlocked inside the story. Want a new spell? Well, you won't find it anywhere here, you'll have to wait until the next town where the magicool vendor knows he is supposed to stock the "book of awesome spells Vol. 2". For instance GURPS has only 4 stats but each stat has 4681463156416513103511631331131654532 effects on your character. I pity that redditard who unironically asked "well, what did you expect from stats!?".

Player CHOICE is not just about "C&C". IMO the best choices in an RPG are related to encounter order and character progression. "Do I have everything I need to take on Firkaag now, or should I wait until later?", "I wonder if I can survive the Glow, joining those dudes in power armor seems like a worthy reward" and "Are we ready for Cydonia yet?". There is no real choice in this game, D:OS2 boils down to "find level appropriate encounters, get XP, level up, ditch old gear for new gear, rinse and repeat". It's a stale formula and sooner or later even dumb players will realize they've been doing the same shit with bigger numbers for the last 3-4 hours.

 

[FreeKaner]

It's essentially a MMO without the MMO part.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

Darth roxor no offense but do you like any game from this existence?

 

[Darth Roxor]

no offence but why are you such a fag

 

[Murk]

Darth Roxor, did you play on multiple difficulty levels for any decent length of time? Besides HP bloat, was there anything noticeable?

I'm asking because according to the wiki, there are several differences:

http://divinityoriginalsin.wiki.fextralife.com/Difficulty+Modes

But, I think I dropped down from "Tactical" to "Explorer" because I was getting bored and I noticed no difference, except smaller HP pools.

I've said this before, but there are some functional differences beyond enemies having certain grenades/arrows or using them more -- the easiest one I can bring up is the turtles on the beach in the beginning area. On tactician, when they die they explode in a larger fire-explosion. On lower difficulties, they only seep out some poison. This difference isn't just a fire source being nearby to ignite the poison either as I checked for that.

I found non-tactician too easy to play, but if you're not enjoying the combat then... well tbh, if you're not enjoying the combat you may as well not play the game.

 

[vazha]

I'm probably late to the party, but where's the rampant animal abuse Roxor mentions? If anything, the game's very sympathetic towards animals. The bad stuff that happens to them happens also in real life (well, at least where I live, it does) - For example the bear cub thing one steam reviewer was super pissed about, same goes for the black cat - some people kill animals for no reason whatsoever, especially in the countryside. I actually liked the animal writing a lot more than the main story, it had a nice, whimsical touch to it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The bad stuff that happens to them happens also in real life (well, at least where I live, it does)

yes, like tortured mutant dogs begging you to euthanise them

where do you live again?

But anyway, if you care enough I think I mentioned a few examprus earlier in the thread. To be honest my memory is hazy now because it's been so long ago and this game is so thoroughly forgettable, but I know that it bothered me consistently as I was playing it, and I also jotted a note on it down in muh .txt, which I probably wouldn't have done without reason.

 

[vazha]

The bad stuff that happens to them happens also in real life (well, at least where I live, it does)

yes, like tortured mutant dogs begging you to euthanise them

.

I don't recall any dog begging me to do that, although I recall a shark asking for a coup de grace because the waters were polluted with voidwhatevers. I thought it was a quite powerful, if out of place message on how much harm can humans cause. It's like fighting evil by portraying how evil can evil be. As in cinema - Displaying tragic events in vivid details is meant to alert the viewer, not encourage them to do the same. The City of God would be one good example.
P.s. I've read the entire review, but not all posts afterwards. Will have a look at them too then. I agree on all other points though, this review is the best feedback Larian could have hoped for if they really want to bring about the incline.

 

[vazha]

Well, you learn new things every day it seems. Today I discovered that I m probably an edgelord when it comes to animals because honestly, I enjoyed all those bits you mentioned. Cann't really see your point on why these are god-awful (Once again, depicting violence doesn't equal to promoting & encouraging it). Oh well, at least I'm not alone - there's bound to be someone at Larian who thinks the same

 

[Volrath]

Great game. Will play again.

 

[Mark Richard]

There's several humanoids throughout the game who beg you to end their suffering. Why should animals be exempt? In Larian's world they're sentient creatures capable of the same choices, and these moral dillemas are clearly intended to invoke sympathy for them. It's not 'edgy', it's appropriate in context. Many of my interactions with animals involved befriending them or rescuing their young from The Void, which threatens nature as well as civilization.

 

[Hassar]

I wish I read this review before purchasing it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

no one reads roxor's revios

before it's too late

 

[ERYFKRAD]

no one reads roxor's revios

before it's too late

And mostly not even then.

 

[Konjad]

Behead all virtual animals

 

[BruceVC]

I thoroughly enjoyed D:OS2. It was my first Larian game I have ever played but with BG3 coming it obviously wont be my last

I loved the combat mechanics and the different ways you could adopt combat strategy to defeat powerful enemies. I also liked the optional ways to complete most quests and the companions all worked for me

I did use some Nexus Mods but those only added to things like my spell choices, its definitely in my top 10 favorite RPG of all time

 

[jackofshadows]

... but did you read the review?

 

[BruceVC]

... but did you read the review?

No, I generally dont read reviews of games that I have enjoyed ....its not going to change anything

 

[FreeKaner]

... but did you read the review?

No, I generally dont read reviews of games that I have enjoyed ....its not going to change anything

Yes you will keep enjoying garbage.

 

[jackofshadows]

....its not going to change anything

It won't change your impressions, sure but you might learn that the game you have enjoyed suck meaning you should be ashamed for the rest of your life. It's not small matters we're talking about here.

 

[Atlantico]

Yes you will keep enjoying garbage.

That's an alt account of someone who thinks he's hilarious, that you're replying to.

 

[BruceVC]

Yes you will keep enjoying garbage.

That's an alt account of someone who thinks he's hilarious, that you're replying to.

You got me, Im an alt account.

 

[BruceVC]

....its not going to change anything

It won't change your impressions, sure but you might learn that the game you have enjoyed suck meaning you should be ashamed for the rest of your life. It's not small matters we're talking about here.

I will read this review but I only played D:OS2 9 months ago because it has generally received good reviews and my brothers and gamers I know recommended it. And my actual experience was excellent, I dont see how a negative review is going to change that ?

 

[Atlantico]

You got me, Im an alt account.

No shit.