Larian Studios Forums Divinity II The Dragon Knight Saga / Flames of Vengeance (English) Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga Triple review!! DKS vs Risen vs Two Worlds 2!

I was able to try TW2 for a short (by RPG standards) while on console, and the combat was frustrating, even more so since it looked very promising from the onset.
You have different stances, but each has its own aggravating restrictions. You constantly have to change between them, which might seem like a cool strategic thing, but in practice winds up being tiresome.
You don't move like you should when you parry, you have to hold a scepter in hand to cast spells...
On top of that, on console, it seems that you have to loot everything at once, you can't pick and chose. Or at least it was very unclear how you do it.
Inventory slots are also big and a bit annoying to navigate with a pad.

Combat had the potential to be much better than in DKS, things were in place for more varied options and better movement, but it doesn't pan out very well.

Artistically, the world looked kind of hit and miss. The color palette can be a bit of a mess and some stylistic elements are slightly overdone and tasteless. It feels less coherent than DKS.
Technically, on console, it also looks poor, especially outdoor environments which are blurry and low poly.
The load times however are pretty good, and much less of an issue than in DKS.
The game also has more convenient save/load features than DKS.

From what I played on console, I'd say that it had more potential than DKS in terms of combat and gameworld, but not everything panned out and DKS, although not without its faults, remains a safer choice.

On PC, TW2 might be more manageable depending on how the interface pans out.

Has anyone here played a game called Drakensang and if so, is it worth buying?

I'm seriously considering getting it myself but I'm waiting for the Steam Christmas sale to kick off first. I was reading a fairly decent review of it about a week ago and it sounds intriguing to say the least. I have so many RPGs to finish up though right now. If I do get it, I'll let you know what my first impressions are.

The one positive thing I remember about the review was the praise for the graphic effects. They said figuring out the underlying combat system was fairly difficult though as it's not a traditional system they were used to, but rather a German pen & paper system adapted to video game.

There are actually two Drakensang games: The Dark Eye and the most recent one called The River of Time.
For English-speaking readers, this is set in the same universe as the early 90s trilogy "Realms of Arkania".
I'm not familiar with these games, but I believe these are not action-RPGs. There is a real time aspect, but it's heavily mitigated by elements of turn-based combat, so be aware of that.

Get Drakensang if you like turn based, tactical combat in your RPGs. if you like frantic clickfests, it might not be your thing. If you didnt like DAO's combat for example, i doubt you'll like Drakensang's either

I have found Drakensang (the dark eye) for just £12, so it's not going to break the bank to give it a try. I didn't mind the combat in DAO, it was fine once you got the hang of it.

I think most of you will agree it's not easy to find something to play after you have played DKS, nothing seems to compare.
I do hope they don't take to long making Divinity III.

The Dark Eye is actually the name of the IP both games are set in (being based on the German tabletop RPG Das Schwarze Auge). The first game was just called "Drakensang" and the second one "Drakensang: River of Time". To make matters more complicated, the second game actually takes place BEFORE the first one. It's kind of a prequel.
I love the Dark Eye setting as it reminds me of the Grimm fairy tales and it has that distinctly German/Austrian medieval feel to it that is very charming in my opinion. I enjoyed the first game quite a bit, even though it's quite a hard game (at least it was to me), combat is very slow and the story wasn't very "epic" but rather... well, again, charming.
It is absolutely gorgeous though and there are a lot of sidequests. It definitely has a bit of a Baldur's Gate feel to it. I haven't played the second one yet but I hear it's even better than the first one. I used to play the tabletop game with my friends so it has a bit of a special place in my heart, I do have to say

Ahh...Two Worlds II is great!

I remember reading a little about Two Worlds II, and as I recall, the words broken, bugged, unfinished, slow and bad port over, were mentioned quite often, this put me off buying. But I have never played it so I wouldn't know for sure if it is worth playing or paying the asking price.

That has to be the first Two Worlds, the sequel is very polished and an improvement over the first game in every way.

Apart from the map being smaller than the first game and not as much content?

Drakensang The Dark Eye was very enjoyable.
It is unlike any other RPG... very unique feel and atmophere.
because it is 'different' and a little slow in the beginning...
you must give it some time... it will grow on you

Drakensang River of Time official 'English' release is set for Q1 2011.
i dabbled with beta versions...
this one is sure to be another unique experience worth the time of any RPG fan.
(just hope they have the common sense not to release it against Dragon Age II)

Two Worlds...is not comparable to Oblivion, Divinity, Risen, or Dragon Age...
not half the quality in content or aesthetics.
Both Two World I and II are 'B' quality copmared to any above.
it was a large open world that was fun to explore.
filled some RPG 'need' between better releases.

Two Worlds II... well... compared to original it is improved on many levels.
enhanced tutorial, better combat, updated graphics, etc...
it too will fill a void when i have NOTHING else to play.
however, to say it pales in comparison to DKS is a GROSS understatement.
specially the voice acting... nothing short of offensive... borderline painful
Inventory, leveling, music, story, graphics, combat... ummm... how do i put this?
let's just say all the staff at SouthPeak could benefit from a internship at Larian Studios

Risen... i enjoyed Gothic III... i enjoyed Risen just as much.
It is a FAR more polished experience than Gothic III.
Lots of good quest, decent voice acting, open character developement, graphiclly stunning, challenging, large open world,...
good RPG times

I think I will give Risen another try, maybe I was a little hasty in my judgement of this game, in the meantime I think I will order Drakensang.

I don't trust reviews from popular sites such as Gamespot, to many times have I wasted my money following their advice, to tell you the truth I don't think their reviewers would know a good game if it were to walk up and bite them on the bottom.
I much prefer to take advice from real game players that frequent forums such as this, at least they know what they are talking about.

I am not expecting to find anything as good as DKS, just something to get me through the DKS cold turkey.

Played it again after reading this post, that game is the one with the most freedom I've enjoyed so far (in ways to handle NPC and ways to solve quests).
You can easily get lost though.

Hi,

me too, when I play Risen the very first time, I give up too fast !
Now I'm at level 15 and still on chapter I !

I like DKS very much and I just take a look at TW II (so I can't say much about this game now) and I think I go enjoy them all :
DKS in first place, then Risen I think and third TW II.

Personal I don't like turn based combat. Except if I'm playing "chess"

In general I love the genre "RPG" most of all (beside adventure games and puzzle games and aducative games too) and I also love it RPG's are different to play because of the variation of (in first place!) gameplay!!
For example : I like the combatskills in Risen (with learningpoints to spend by NPC's) and I like the free to use skilltree in DKS. Two totally different styles, but I like them both, because I love to have variation from time to time.

Mostly I play 1 or 2 RPG's on the same timeperiod, but 1 RPG I give priority and that RPG I play a loooong time (months or maybe a one year playthrough (who knows?) !

I've completed it and I would rate it as "good, but not great". It does have good atmosphere (graphics, sound, environment) but the rules system is not properly explained in the manual. Many of the sidequests are entertaining but the main plot is fairly stereotypical (find the One Ring to beat the Dark Lord...oh sorry, wrong game). There are fascinating places to explore, but you often end up battling dozens of identical monsters in them.

The biggest problem with it in my view is dialogue - too often you are only given one choice, that being of a "typical hero". If you like to roleplay a mercenary or chaotic/evil character, this will annoy you disproportionately.

Combat isn't turn-based but real-time with an auto-pause option. There's a moderate level of tactics involved (fighters gain special techniques they can use at a cost in fatigue, mages can learn and improve spells at a cost in mana) but nothing that hasn't been done elsewhere. The spell selection is so-so (a few dozen) so disappointing compared to the Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights series, but most can be cast at higher levels of power as your mage develops.

Character advancement is slightly different - you can spend experience (adventure points) on improving skills as soon as you earn them (no need to wait until a new level is reached) while character level limits how much each skill can be improved.

Worth a look (especially if you can get it cheap) but not quite up to The Witcher, NWN2 or Dragon Age standards. I do plan on getting the (pre)sequel if it comes out in English though.

3 games all should own

I love Risen soo much but DKS is also very good. TW2 is third but a good third!