So, how do we rate D:OS 2?

[Darth Roxor]

Some random dudebro youtube video I chanced across made a good point about systems-uber-alles regarding quests (I paraphrase): In D:OS you're initially tasked with solving an inane murder mystery which involves talking to all the relevant NPCs (boring); in D:OS II you're initially tasked with escaping Fort Joy which involves multiple solutions using the various game systems as you see fit (interesting).

sometimes i feel like there are people out there playing a different game than i am

 

[Luckmann]

... In D:OS you're initially tasked with solving an inane murder mystery which involves talking to all the relevant NPCs (boring); in D:OS II you're initially tasked with escaping Fort Joy which involves multiple solutions using the various game systems as you see fit (interesting). ...

There's multiple ways to solve the murder mystery in D:OS1, and it's a hell of a lot more interesting because that's exactly how it starts; you're just investigating something, and then it spirals outward from there, until we've arrived at world-changing circumstances. In D:OS2, even if you didn't even fall into the water in the prologue, you're immediately pointed out as ze chosen one, and even though escaping Fort Joy can be done in a number of ways, you can end up doing it even by accident. It doesn't even take trying, or exploration, the fort is clearly leaking like a sieve.

Spoiler

From the gate past the beach, I literally walked up to the statue, found a secret entrance into the prison (for some reason), and then I literally just walked out of there.

 

[Azarkon]

The thing I love most about OS 1 and 2, and what I hope will be its lasting legacy in the minds of future RPG devs, is that it puts the core systems first and shows that they're allowed to be good. There have been many, many RPGs where the combat was boring, bad, half-broken, or had little interactivity besides minmaxing correctly at character creation. Instead of playing the game for the game, we were "meant" to play for the things which should be secondary window dressing- companions, romances, story, C&C, the writing, whatever. What's really impressive about OS2 is that if all of those secondary things were stripped away, and the game was nothing but a turn-based squad tactics game like nu-XCOM, OS2 would still be by far the better game, even though nu-XCOM is a AAA release that focuses on nothing but the combat.

While all CRPGs sprung from the loins of turn-based tactical strategy games, I would not say that in today's CRPGs, core systems are limited to combat mechanics. There are, at the minimum, three other aspects of gameplay:

* Character creation and progression
* Item use, management, and itemization
* Out of combat interactions

The above aspects are independent from aesthetic concerns such as art, writing, music, etc., but constitute core mechanics of a CRPG. For example, a game in which there is no character creation or progression can still be an excellent tactical combat game, but most people would not regard it as a CRPG. Just the same, even though I wouldn't consider items and itemization essential to a CRPG, its existence is more or less comprehensive. Out of combat interactions include quest design, interactive dialogue, choices and consequences, traps, puzzles, exploration, environment manipulation, and all those other building blocks one associates with CRPGs. A game with none of the above would be a very different experience and probably not a CRPG, just as the Myth games, for example, aren't.

So I wouldn't call it window dressing. Larian being an action CRPG developer will naturally favor the combat side of games; but saying that games like Path of Exile exemplify what CRPGs should be, ignores the fact that Planescape: Torment was voted the Codex's favorite game, and that game has terrible combat. There has always been a systemfag vs. storyfag divide on the Codex and within the CRPG community, but out of combat gameplay is not necessarily tied to the aesthetics of the story, since you can fail on the aesthetics of a quest but still succeed on the gameplay design.

 

[rado907]

I'm nearing the end of the big island on 2 separate tactician campaigns, one solo and one with my brother - and initially I thought the game was a 10/10 but now I think it's a 9/10. The game has a number of poorly-implemented features which detract from the whole.
The perks and social talents are retarded, the tags add little more than silly flavor, the stats are unnecessary, the companions are too few and too quiet, and the items are just stat-sticks.
On the other hand, the graphics, the art design, the level design, the encounters, the quests, the combat system, and many other crucial aspects of the game deliver in a big way. And the multiplayer is surprisingly fun.

 

[Iznaliu]

and the items are just stat-sticks.

If you play any RPG for long enough, it will have this effect. The difference between them is what period of time makes up "long enough".

 

[Lhynn]

If you play any RPG for long enough, it will have this effect. The difference between them is what period of time makes up "long enough".

Good itemization is one where items remain memorable through the whole experience and beyond. Its one where items enable alternative gameplay styles or choices that remain separate from character building.

 

[Murk]

I can defend many aspects of Larian's games but their insistence on borderline parodying Diablo with their itemization is beyond salvation. With each game, they edge away from the RNG of it tho -- so maybe there's hope that Divinity 69 will have decent to good itemization.


.... maybe.

 

[Sjukob]

 

[Vibalist]

the companions are too few and too quiet,

I actually like that they shut the fuck up most of the time. They're like the companions in BG2. They have a personailty, but they don't stop you every five minutes because they want to talk about their dead grandmother or drag you on some meaningless side quest.

I think it would be nice if they talked to each other, though.

 

[Mortmal]

Would not say without flaws, but it deserves its 10/10 cause there's nothing better, only thing i really dont like is its in fact really linear, you have to inspect every npc to be sure you are in your right level area. Its fake openworld, some partial level scaling could have helped.

 

[Luckmann]

If you play any RPG for long enough, it will have this effect. The difference between them is what period of time makes up "long enough".

Good itemization is one where items remain memorable through the whole experience and beyond. Its one where items enable alternative gameplay styles or choices that remain separate from character building.

To this day, whenever I play basically anything fantasy, I can't but remember Daystar in BG2 for some reason, a +2 longsword. Not any of the super-epic end-game weapons, for all their ability to carve a fucking path through anything. I mean, I remember those too, but I don't think of them. I think of that radiant sword, Daystar, and how I used it to purge vampires and shadows, and how that made me feel awesome, and how it turned the tide.

How it changed that facet of my character and those encounters, and how I lamented the day it was no longer viable as my go-to standard weapon.

 

[Sneaky Seal]

5/7

No, really, it's a great game, I'd put it into the RPG Hall of Fame if we had one.

 

[Bocian]

9/11

 

[cvv]

8/10.

I actually didn't like it that much but I'm an old fuck, I've played everything and I get bored easily. I'd probably enjoy the everloving fuck out of it in my 20s.

That said it IS a sprawling, party based, turn-based RPG with some interesting CC and it this day and age of cinematic experiences full of trans-dwarfs and humanoid bisexual bulls it deserves our support.

 

[Roguey]

full of trans-dwarfs and humanoid bisexual bulls it deserves our support.

You're saying this as if D:OS2 doesn't also have it.

 

[Immortal]

Game is pretty good - The issues have been beaten to death.

I don't like Combat Mechanics or Itemization. Plot is fun enough to keep me entertained. It's not the best written content ever but at least it doesn't take itself so fucking serious like PoE.

It's a fun little romp but I am waiting for mods before a second playthrough.

(Coulda been a little longer too, some parts feel rushed or not polished out)

 

[cvv]

full of trans-dwarfs and humanoid bisexual bulls it deserves our support.

You're saying this as if D:OS2 doesn't also have it.

True but it's not the sole reason for its existence.

 

[anvi]

I would give it 16 woohas out of marklar.

 

[anvi]

I don't like Combat Mechanics or Itemization.

But that's like the whole game...

 

[Iznaliu]

but at least it doesn't take itself so fucking serious like PoE

I think the original D:OS's failure to take itself seriously is worse.

 

[cvv]

but at least it doesn't take itself so fucking serious like PoE

I think the original D:OS's failure to take itself seriously is worse.

This. Saxons should always try to take themselves seriously coz their attempts at humor always end with tears of embarrassment.

And yes, we Slavs cry when we're embarrassed.

 

[Lhynn]

but at least it doesn't take itself so fucking serious like PoE

I think the original D:OS's failure to take itself seriously is worse.

D:OS never took itself seriously, that was part of the problem.
In this game you feel that you are at least part of something that isnt utterly banal.

 

[rado907]

I think it would be nice if they talked to each other, though.

Ye that's what I was thinking, too. The part where they talk to each other in BG1&2 gets me every time, it's pure gold.

 

[Shin]

It's a great game with some flaws, like every great game basically.

I think Larian deserve all the money and praise they can get and keep making games like this. What will they develop next though? I don't think they'll start on Divinity OS3 right away and might branch out to a new IP or something.

And thus the real test (of success) begins now; will they stay true to their nature? Or will Sven and his fellowship fall to pride, greed and decline?

 

[Black]

How do we rate Vibalist?