I'll confess that after completing the demo a few times, I'm still not particularly excited about the new skill system. I dislike having to "open" a skill area through training, only to discover that I still can't use the skill until I put precious points into it. Some quick calculations show that even with two characters, trying to cover the must-have skills that were relatively easy to acquire in DD (minor repair skill, I.D., lockpicking, minor alchemy... all of which I could not do without in DD... and major combat skill in one's specialty along with a couple of pertinent spells like shield or freeze) will be time-consuming and more difficult in BD.
As someone noted, having all one's skill points in one-handed melee only to lose the benefits if one finds a nifty shield is frustrating. Truth is, I was disappointed to see that you have to decide what your weapon specialty will be up front, before you even know what weapons will be available and when you might get them. Unless I want my character to be a club-user forever and ever, that is.
I'll be getting Beyond Divinity, no doubt about it. But I'm actually not too keen on the changes in inventory and skill system. I hope that when Divine Divinity 2 comes out, it will be closer to the original in these areas than BD is.
