Review RPG Codex Review: Divinity: Original Sin

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Wtf is wrong with this forum?
Doesn't writing and atmosphere matter at all?

Fun is the most important thing in a game.

That's basically a no-brainer, because that's like saying "Quality is the most important thing in a game". Oh really?
The question obviously is: what defines "fun".

 

[tuluse]

That's basically a no-brainer, because that's like saying "Quality is the most important thing in a game". Oh really?
The question obviously is: what defines "fun".

Gameplay, not writing nor atmosphere.

 

[set]

Wtf is wrong with this forum?
Doesn't writing and atmosphere matter at all?

Fun is the most important thing in a game.

That's basically a no-brainer, because that's like saying "Quality is the most important thing in a game". Oh really?
The question obviously is: what defines "fun".

fun means good gameplay. DOS has everyone beat so far this year, even Pillars of Eternity. Unless the final product shapes up a lot compared to the beta...

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

That's basically a no-brainer, because that's like saying "Quality is the most important thing in a game". Oh really?
The question obviously is: what defines "fun".

Gameplay, not writing nor atmosphere.

I don't think this answer is correct.
"Fun" is whatever the respective player values as "fun".
Meaning: A game with bad writing and no atmosphere is much less fun for me than a game with good such things.
Or if you want to have something more objective: "Fun" is a whole bunch of things. If it was ONLY mechanics, there would be no storyfags, if it was ONLY writing there would be no combatfags etc.

 

[tuluse]

I don't think this answer is correct.
"Fun" is whatever the respective player values as "fun".
Meaning: A game with bad writing and no atmosphere is much less fun for me than a game with good such things.
Or if you want to have something more objective: "Fun" is a whole bunch of things. If it was ONLY mechanics, there would be no storyfags, if it was ONLY writing there would be no combatfags etc.

Writing and atmosphere are important, just less important than gameplay, which D:OS has in spades.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

I don't think this answer is correct.
"Fun" is whatever the respective player values as "fun".
Meaning: A game with bad writing and no atmosphere is much less fun for me than a game with good such things.
Or if you want to have something more objective: "Fun" is a whole bunch of things. If it was ONLY mechanics, there would be no storyfags, if it was ONLY writing there would be no combatfags etc.

Writing and atmosphere are important, just less important than gameplay

For YOU, but not in general!
Because for me it's exactly the other way around!

which D:OS has in spades.

With that, as I said, I agree.

 

[tuluse]

For YOU, but not in general!
Because for me it's exactly the other way around!


With that, as I said, I agree.

If gameplay isn't the most important thing, I'm not sure why you are playing games instead of enjoying a medium that does writing and atmosphere much better than games ever had.

To each his own I suppose.

At any rate, I believe I have explained the mind set that leads to calling D:OS a great RPG.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

For YOU, but not in general!
Because for me it's exactly the other way around!


With that, as I said, I agree.

If gameplay isn't the most important thing, I'm not sure why you are playing games instead of enjoying a medium that does writing and atmosphere much better than games ever had.

To each his own I suppose.

Because I agreed gameplay actually is important.
(If I said it was only about story and atmosphere you'd be right: I should read a book.)

At any rate, I believe I have explained the mind set that leads to calling D:OS a great RPG.

What was never disputed.
I only said it's overrated and can not compare with the true giants of the genre for said reasons.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

What am I missing? Trannies posting nudes and moderators doxing members?

The meaning of "ARPG", for one. Also the meaning of "linear". Although I suppose you might be one of those people with their own special definitions for common words and acronyms.

An ARPG isn't solely a Diablo clone hack'n slash for a start. This game is action focused. It's about combat and little else the same way Icewind Dale is.

The game is linear. There might be slight variants but area levels make it so that you complete quests and clear them in a specific order with little variants available.

So, is Temple of Elemental Evil all about "action" as well? Wizardry 8? Any of the Might and Magic games? Or maybe they're FPS because they're first person and you can shoot things?

 

[Harold]

ITT people implying that being able to role-play in a role playing game is not actually gameplay.

 

[Calis]

I am officially declaring "incline".
Most fun I've had with an RPG in years.

 

[Maiandros]

when a Jew brofists your posts, i need do nothing but rest my case.

You should learn to stop worrying and love the Jew.

haha
truth be told, i did try to love Infinitron as he was one of the first people to reply in my posts, acknowledge me in general, and i have thanked him for that. It's just that somewhere between his yuppie mentality, his paradigm shifts, his calling the Gold box era developers shoddy unkempt HIPPIES and his patronising tone, i lost focus..i keep wondering why..or come to this, why "classic response" or non classic, the essense is alas quite there. If i could take all that aside, additional props for keeping the Codex front page active would be due as well. Just personally don't give a fuck about that aspect.

( edit: movie reference was not lost ^^ )

Now back to topic?

Did Larian Studios got to write down what 'gameplay' signifies for D:OS? In specific? Because if so, i must have missed it
I do believe however that gameplay does have a reasonable relationship with a game's overall flow does it not?
If the aspects of any game don't work together and coherency is lacking? Or in this particular case, if one aspect is so noticeably underdeveloped in comparison to the rest? Last i checked story/quest/context did have a pretty core role to play in an RP-G.
Either way, this isn't the local indie neighbourhood developer studio. They have 7-figure budgets and a by now attainable goal of making the 'big' one. Comparing them to EA just to allow for excuses no longer washes sorry; and with all due respect to them.
Should not a specific mention be made? Always room for improvement.

 

[turul]

I'm just gonna say, that while it is definitely the "best" RPG in recent years (decade?), that doesn't mean it's the best (RPG) game ever or the most fun game ever.
Being the best crpg of now, not necessarly means, that everyone is blown away by it. Actually it's kinda sad.

Thumbs up for sort of "ressurecting" this style and I hope, that more developers will follow (in this meaning resurrection means, it's the most popular or well known crpg in 2014 and not only known by a bunch of lonely codexers).
But it's still diamond in a rough. I can't help not to dislike it- but Larian Studios have a certain style that doesn't work for me. I've played their other Divnity games and I get the same sensation, when someone wants to sell me a goose shit green Honda Accord. I know everyone likes it and it's reliable as reviewers claim it to be, but the color ruins it for me. I will drive it too, but playing D:OS is like driving around in a goose shit green Honda Accord.
Many will love or or don't mind it, it has nothing to do with its performance, but my mind says otherwise.

 

[Maiandros]

本田技研工業株式会社 [kawaii!] > American bucket with four wheels attached sorry i meant car

it's what's under the hood ^^
if it's the paint you mind, mods are slowly ariving

 

[Jaesun]

But it's still diamond in a rough.

What specifically do you not like? You are not saying anything.

 

[Starwars]

I found the combat to be excellent (though too easy), but pretty much everything else was kinda boring. In a game like this, where there *is* a lot more than combat to partake in, it becomes a problem. The first hours spent with the game, I had a lot of fun. Was fun to try shit out in combat.

Once that first fun period (and it was superfun) was over, the game took a dive for me. There was nothing else to keep me interested.

Not an incline, but not decline either. Just... cline I guess.

 

[Sòren]

I found the combat to be excellent (though too easy), but pretty much everything else was kinda boring. In a game like this, where there *is* a lot more than combat to partake in, it becomes a problem. The first hours spent with the game, I had a lot of fun. Was fun to try shit out in combat.

Once that first fun period (and it was superfun) was over, the game took a dive for me. There was nothing else to keep me interested.

yeah, my experience too. i played the shit out of the beta, at least 40 hours of gameplay just in Cyseal.

i lost interest in the game after realizing that the few unique items are completly negligible and the most powerful weapons are just obtainable through crafting which isn't my most beloved element in an RPG.

i'd say its a pretty mediocre game. maybe i'm gonna restart it someday, i dunno.

 

[HiddenX]

I am officially declaring "incline".
Most fun I've had with an RPG in years.

New era for the Codex ... I think.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

I am officially declaring "incline".
Most fun I've had with an RPG in years.

The elder gods have awoken

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Here is my concise mini-review.

The writing is derpy, with some good and bad characters. Also I agree that the timing is just wrong within context of the plot circumstance. It would have been better of the entire thing were light-hearted rather than jarring contrast between plot situation and out of place, sometimes poorly written levity bits.

On the down side, I have not enjoyed the character system as much as the reviewer. It is not clear early on when you get traits and how to use them and so I wasted some ('All Skilled Up' for 2 skill points anyone?). I think three of my characters are screwed up in this way being far from optimal, but it has added some difficulty to combat which is welcome.. While discovery is nice I hate this trend of no or weak manuals coming with RPGs.

The loot system is just horrible. I don't bother looking at anything unless it is legendary, and even then I just pick it up and move on after seeing there is a gold labelled item. If at some point I hit a difficulty wall I will identify and re-equip but this hasn't happened yet. I find the loot is just so mundane - I have no real interest in scrutinizing hundreds of drops to see which one gives me a 2% bonus. Also for the record I fall in the percentage modifiers on equipment is bullshit camp. Item descriptions text is canned and auto-generated statistics with no flavour text in most cases. Too bad as these touches really add something to the tone of the game for me.

I seem to have taken this game mostly out of order and have several times had to bull doze my way through whole areas with swaths of much weaker enemies to finish out areas that would have been more challenging earlier on. This happens because the difficulty is just not there. It's really too bad because the mechanics of combat are really very good considering this is Larian's first kick at TB. I have been purposely fighting areas 2-3 levels above my party's level to keep the combat challenging. This unfortunately means having to plow through weaklings elsewhere but if I have to plow through something, I am at least having fun one-shotting groups of enemies, making it quick work usually.

This brings to light some issues with the game expecting that you will have visited certain areas before-hand. I killed a boss as a first task in an area, then spent hours clearing out the story bits that would have led up to the climactic boss battle. All the while, NPCs and my party are behaving like I had not destroyed the boss long ago. It would have been nice if the game recognized this. I have found many instances of this because of my tendency to follow my whims and fight out of level.

On the brighter side, at some point I realized that I needed to adjusting my approach. I am revisiting locations with my U7 hat on and the game is quite a bit more enjoyable. I find myself looking at the situation and wondering how I might have approached in U7. I have had great fun with the sandbox aspects, particularly in bringing this spirit to combat situations. I remembered once in U7 lugging around powder kegs to stage prior to a battle, trying just to lure the enemies to their death. I have recreated this a few times and was delighted when I practically dropped a boss in 20 seconds recreating the scenario as I did 20 years ago. Great fun!

I am not sure I will finish D:OS, at least not without putting it down for a time. I think I am about 70 hours in and getting somewhat fatigued. Still, 70 hours is solid so I can't fault the game for my attention span.

In spite of the flaws I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with D:OS and it has brought the fun factor like not many games have in a long time.

8/10.

 

[Black]

If you're going to rate it 8/10 at least make it 9/11 to show you had a blast.

 

[Sranchammer]

Not a bad game but not good either

 

[TheGreatOne]

If gameplay isn't the most important thing, I'm not sure why you are playing games instead of enjoying a medium that does writing and atmosphere much better than games ever had.

Games do atmosphere better than other mediums though. Thief, Silent Hill, Portal, System Shock 2, Half Life 2, Metroid Prime etc, it's amazing how much more memorable and enjoyable the gameplay experience becomes when you have good audio design and ambient music. Depends on the genre and type of game though. Which is better: Red Dead Redemption, Blueberry (comic) or Clint Eastwood movies?

An ARPG isn't solely a Diablo clone hack'n slash for a start. This game is action focused. It's about combat and little else the same way Icewind Dale is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_role-playing_game
Action role-playing games (abbreviated action RPG, action/RPG, or ARPG) form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat.

 

[Castanova]

I fucking loved the first zone. Second zone started getting a bit tedious, combat got easier, puzzles disappeared unless you consider pixel hunts a puzzle. I recently put the game down in the Phantom Forest. Combat became a chore and I lost track of the story a long way back. If the game was 40 hours long it would have been one of my favorite RPGs in a long time. As it is it's still one of my favorite RPGs in a long time but for the wrong reasons.

 

[hiver]

Eh. seems like a review that is interested more in sounding very intellectual and phrases heavy then actually inspecting all the good stuff of the game.

occasionally suffer from jarring tone deafness and anachronistic expressions.

blimey.

Being addressed with “Sup, mate” by a rooster,

ah, thats the real thorn of the problem, ha.
That stings the sensitive literal buds