Larian Studios Forums Divine Divinity (English) General My opinion of the game

* * * * * SPOILERS AHEAD, somewhere... * * * * * * * *

When I first saw the screenshots, I though that this game was total ripoff of Diablo2. All the same attributes, almost identically paper doll, items with sockets and even the GUI looked much like D2's GUI. Well, I wasn't too interested about the game then... but until recently I though: "What the ****... I liked D2, why wouldn't I like this? And that store is selling it for quite cheap..."

Well, some time after that I had the DD in my hands. I didn't have any great expections for the game. Well, the first shock was the installation. It neede 2.5 gigabytes of hard disk! "That game must be HUGE!" I thought.

After creating the character and playing sometime, my thought were:

+Nice, I can choose my gender
+Interface is much like D2's and it's quite simple
+Cool, I can pick some rogue's and wizard's skills too!

-Annoying walk/run animation
-Ugly camera angle (if you know what I mean...)

Well, the beginning wasn't so bad, so I decided to play some more... and more...


After couple of days:

+This world is actually quite large (though not as huge as 2.5 gigas could be...)
+Dialogue had some irony on it...
+This game isn't ripoff of D2

-I killed about 50 mind-controlled soldiers and nobody noticed that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
-The dialogue is not quite professional. Sometimes there's options missing that I would have chosen (like I tried to tell the captain, that half of his army is mind-controlled.. but I couldn't). Also I had strange feeling that a teenager had wrote all those dialogues.


And my current opinion

-BUGS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY!! I almost lost my game because of "Crash in Verdistis" bug. I also have over 5 quests I cannot complete and they are not marked as "Failed". And there's dozens of bugs everywhere. And the temporal storm skill doesn't do anything. Wasted 4 points for nothing. And Heaven's blessing dosn't give any resistance bonuses.
-The main plot is TOTALLY ripoff of Diablo (1)! (Boy of ruler has been turned into a demon with evil artifact and he's going to open portal to hell.)
-The game is totally unbalanced. At the beginning I had to constantly use "Hit-and-run" tactics to kill enemies. Suddenly I found an ID3 item, actully 3 items! I was still fighting with club... Now, at level 40 I'm killing almost every monster with single blow. Last challenging situtation I had at the graveyard after I had escaped Iona's dungeon.
-Railroading: Too many times the game tooks over the controls of character. This shouldn't happen. And some times I can't even choose my words.
-My game kept crashing every then and now (I have Radeon 8500...)
-The game wans't playtested enough (if it was even playtested...)
-No running button (only auto-run)
-It was quite diffuculty to walk in crowded ares or ares full of stuff.
-Admiring NPC were angry if I had weapon in hand while talking to them.
-Some voice-actors were quite lousy
-The game was quite heavy for my machine (1700xp, WinXP, 512DDR, Radeon8500) and yet it wasn't looking good (nor had any other superior quality).
-The game is full of cliché
+Divine one knows that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> (My favorite: "You mean that trolls, halflings, sprites and such aren't races? And since -WHEN- did wizards became a race?")
+The game was quite entertaining when it worked as it should have worked.
+I enjoyed the music quite much.

What to improve?
-Controls. Stand still and run buttons would have made it much comfortable to play
-Playtesting. There were dozens of major gamestopper bugs and some need for balancing the system.
-Dialogue. There was quite many 'missing choices' on dialogue. Why I had always be the hero? Why couldn't I just say NO to Zandalor? And my opinion wasn't asked when they killed me with the ritual.. =/

And something to ask:
-What's the difference between character classes? Aside the appearance, starting attributes and mana/life gain at levels...?
-What the heck is black ring and why I couldn't ask anybody about it?

Habba out. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

Hi Habba!

Sorry you didn't enjoy the game as much as the rest of us. You're very correct about those points you mentioned. A lot of it came down to the lack of play testing. CDV imposed a very strict deadline (mostly because they're going broke). Beyond Divninty is going into proper Beta testing very shortly, and they are not repeating the bugs in Divine Divinity. I actually found the balance to be quite good at the start of the game (but still poor at the end). I didn't so much need hit-and-run tactics as divide-and-conquer tactics. I'm glad you had some fun with the game, though.

Hang around and have some fun! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[color:"orange"]It neede 2.5 gigabytes of hard disk! "That game must be HUGE!" I thought.[/color]

The game engine is 2D, so all of the animations for each gender and class take up a lot of room. Beyond Divinity has 3D characters (still 2D backgrounds), so will take up less room.


[color:"orange"]-Ugly camera angle (if you know what I mean...)[/color]

I didn't have a problem with the angle, though there were a few places you could walk behind and not be able to see your character or things on the ground.


[color:"orange"]-I killed about 50 mind-controlled soldiers and nobody noticed that[/color]

I ran away at first, to try to get help. There is a notice put on the bulletin board by the castle if you kill everyone (not sure about avoiding them).


[color:"orange"]-The dialogue is not quite professional. Sometimes there's options missing that I would have chosen[/color]

No matter how many options there are, that could be the case, though. IMO, one of the biggest missing speech options is when completing the quest for your elven love's lost necklace.


[color:"orange"]And the temporal storm skill doesn't do anything. Wasted 4 points for nothing.[/color]

I don't think there should be a problem with Temporal Storm, but you can use iZakaroN's SaveEditor to remove the skill points you put into it.


[color:"orange"]-The main plot is TOTALLY ripoff of Diablo (1)![/color]

Was Diablo 1 original? This is one of the standard variations of the quest-to-save-the-world type stories.


[color:"orange"]-Railroading: Too many times the game tooks over the controls of character. This shouldn't happen.[/color]

Cut scenes are sort of required to advance the plot.


[color:"orange"]-No running button (only auto-run)[/color]

Hit the 'R' key to toggle the always-run mode.


[color:"orange"]-The game was quite heavy for my machine (1700xp, WinXP, 512DDR, Radeon8500) and yet it wasn't looking good (nor had any other superior quality).[/color]

With a Duron 900 MHz (later Duron 1.3 GHz), Win 98Se, 512MB PC133, GeForce 2MX system I had no performance problems apart from very occasional slowdowns with a lot of NPCs or trees on screen.


[color:"orange"]+I enjoyed the music quite much.[/color]

Divine Divinity Music Extractor by BrainBox.
Divine Divinity music
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Larian Studios!


[color:"orange"]Why couldn't I just say NO to Zandalor? And my opinion wasn't asked when they killed me with the ritual.. =/[/color]

I think there would be problems if Larian deliberately included dialog options which would prevent you from completing the game.


[color:"orange"]-What's the difference between character classes?[/color]

differences between classes (minor spoilers)


[color:"orange"]-What the heck is black ring and why I couldn't ask anybody about it?[/color]

The Black Ring is a secret evil organization. You can not ask many people about it because it is a secret, and they are deliberately obscuring the source of the problems they are trying to create.


Welcome to the forum. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

There's a article on the bulliten board about drunken shenanigans. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yes but still, there should be more of an effect on your rep and folks' attitude towards you. Especiallly when you consider how npcs react to other relatively trivial things you do. I mean come on--- kill 10 thieves--thieves! and everyone hates you. Kill dozens of soldiers and people hardly notice.

I don't know about you guys, but there was noone left standing that could rat me out as far as the mind controlled soldiers went <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> I like the way you think! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

1.
Divinity - Diablo
-----------------
Son of the duke - Son of the king
Duke died - King died
The sword - The Soulstone
Lord of Chaos - Lord of Terror

I'm not saying that diablo had very unique plot, but similiarities between DD and Diablo are quite obivious.


2.
Clear railroading is VERY bad thing. Making an illusion that the choices were your own gives the atmosphere. Game that constantly guides and controls you is no fun! I didn't give a s*** about lord of chaos, but I would have gladly kicked Janus for couple of times for mocking me.

And the most stupid thing was at the mines below the dwarven halls. After hurting the wizard badly he escaped. Well that's nothing bad, but the he did it! I was hitting him and suddenly I lost control of my character, the wizard walked SLOWLY away and my character just stood there and watched. And the wizard walked quite a long way...


3. Not everyone wants to be a divine one. Not everyone wants to die to become the divine one. At least I wouldn't, because it sounds quite ridiculous. Zandalor could be member of black ring too... It would be perfect way to kill the divine one. And yet I couldn't say anything when they decided to KILL me. Could you stand there quitly if someone is going to kill you?


4. If black ring is secret organization, it shouldn't stop me about asking about it... And I hope that they really do have good reason to help the demon... and not just "We have to, we are evil."


But Hero's attitude saves much, because it shows that Larian also noticed the clichés...

A) Have you ever read the "Prequel Story" ?

B) Do you know what "Greed", "Power" and "Might" are ?

A) Nope, where's that?

B) I do, and those are quite useless after the world has been destroyed. That is what lord of chaos is going to do. Destroy the world created by other gods.

The prequel story can be found on the CD in .pdf format. Check your Windows 'Start'-menu

you do have the latest patch right? cause when I first got it when there weren't any patchs the game played fine with me not one bug, guess I'm just lucky <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" /> plus you do notice thats almost every good guy bad guy plot.

That's true. Not everyone wants to be the divine one but everyone wants to be a hero. And that hero doesn't necessarily have to wear a halo over his/her head. However, when choosing to play Divine Divinity, that's the exact choice you made (whether it was intentional or not).

I create fantasy games so I completely understand what you're talking about. I love RPGs that have a lot of choices. But sometimes I just like a game, like Divine Divinity, that makes some of those choices for me. Which was one of the features about the game that I liked. I knew where my character was headed at all times. There are some games on the market where you don't have to stick with the main storyline. Ones where your character's alignment is made by the choices you make and you can have as 'bad' or 'evil' a reputation as you want. But I didn't expect Divine Divinity to be that kind of game because from the beginning of the story you already know your character is going to end up ridding the land of chaos. And since NPCs respond to your reputation, it was simply a matter of how difficult a time I wanted to give myself (or my character, I should say) that changed the game's degree of difficulty (in addition to the actual game settings of "easy", "normal" or "hard").

I was most impressed with Larian's letter (from Swen Vincke) to the player in the beginning of the player's manual. The developers state their intent so clearly:

"When we set out to create 'Divine Divinity', we had one clear design goal: To create a game that is instantly accessible for the majority of gamers by providing simple and fun gameplay. At the same time, we wanted to maintain an enormous amount of depth for those among you who prefer to stand still for a while and reflect on what's going on. Or, put more simply: We wanted to blend the best of both hardcore and simple action role-playing games."

They certainly hit the mark with their intent, IMHO. So, as I stated in a previous message on this board, it's hard to please every person in your targeted audience. But on the whole, Divine Divinity has a wide appeal. I would recommend this game to someone who has never played an RPG before and also to people who have played a significant amount of RPGs.


Faralas <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />

actually, I wouldn't suggest this game for true HC gamer. Why? Because this game ain't HC game. Too much humor, off-game humor, in it. It would be okay if characters would make that humor, but in Divinity it's made by game developers and it's meant clearly for player. In HC games there is no 'player' nor 'game developers', there's just your characters and lotsa NPCs.

It doesn't matter if you can choose or not... it matters if you can even attempt to resist!

"But I do not want to be the divine one!"
"And did someone ask your opinion?"
"But I AM NOT A DIVINE ONE."
"No, you're not. But you'll be. It's inevitable."

Even that kind of dialog would be nice... It makes me feel that it is my character and not just another NPC.

What is HC ?

By the way, my own opinion on Gods can be viewed here. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />

HC=hard core

Alrik, I just finished read "The Adorant". Extremely impressive considering you had to translate it into another language. I'm a typical American who has learned very little of other languages, except Spanish. I think it's difficult to choose the right words in our own native language when crafting a story, so to translate one and choose words in a foreign language -- well, let's just say, you have my admiration.

In the series I'm working on now, Gods and Goddesses play a huge role in the ancient history of the land. I enjoyed your interpretation of your Goddess in The Adorant. I especially enjoyed the fact that you gave her limitations. Not all Gods and Goddesses need to be all-powerful and all-knowing. And that tiny aspect alone will give your world its uniqueness.

My ex-husband was fluent in German (even though he was/is an American). Like French and Japanese, I think German is a beautiful language. I wish I had the time to study and learn other languages. Perhaps one of these days?

Thanks for sharing your story. It was a great way to start my day! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />


Faralas <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />

sorry for being off-topic but welcome to lady faralas & may u have a nice time here in this forum. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the comment. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" />



<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" /> Hi janggut! Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm thoroughly enjoying the folks and the messages in these forums. 'Tis a great group of people we've got here. I look forward to seeing you around these parts. *g* <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


"Lady Faralas" (I like that!) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />