Hi, this is my first real post on these forums and what better way to begin than by praising a game that truely deserves praise.
I am so happy to see some really great CRPGs coming out of Europe. Games like Divine Divinity, Arx Fatalis, and Gothics 1 & 2 embrace the style of gameplay that American developers used to crank out back in the 80s and 90s.
Anyway, I missed Divine Divinity when it first came out simply because I wasn't 'plugged into' European gaming sites and American gaming sites provide little if any fan-fare for the aformentioned games... thank you RpgDot for showing me the light...
Anyway, here are some of the things I find about Divine Divinity that make it such a great game:
Interactive Objects:
Finally, a game that is the spiritual successor to Ultima VII in this department. Great job with object placement on the world instead of objects being static and part of the backdrop of the world (a-la Baldur's Gate). I wish more developers understood how much this type of interactivity adds to the immersion of a game, even when such interactivity is not specifically related to a quest. I wish more developers understood how boring and uninteresting a gameworld is when object interactivity is minimal and all you can do is open/close doors and smash barels. A huge sense of 'possibilities' is created when a player just happens to move a rock or a pillow and finds something underneath. In a subsequent Divine Divinity game, I would be equally pleased with the implemenation of the exact same level of object interactivity found in Divine Divinity. But if you guys were to go nuts and make object interaction as deep as object interaction found in Arx Fatalis then all the better!
Story:
Divine Divinity has a great story. It's just about on par with BG II. A few surprising twists made for much entertainment. From the dramatic Iona's deception to the simple boy 'disgracing' the church to the enigma of the imp universe - these are just a few things that created a huge amount of atmosphere. And I also like the mild humor strewn throughout the game.
Books:
In-game books contribue to the story (and history) but I wanted to break out books separatley. First, I think in-game books in a CRPG is very important. I really like the level of detail in the books. There are a lot of diffent books that can be found in Divine Divinity and none of the books are too lengthy which I really appreciate after playing Morrowind. I liked Morrowind a lot and I liked reading in-game books in Morrowind too, but sometimes the books were too long for my taste. I feel Divine Divinity strikes a better balance. I also like that some books raise your skills (also like Morrowind).
Music:
The music in Divine Divinity is probably the best CRPG music I've ever heard. The music in the Farmlands and the music in the Dwarven Bread Inn are both fantastic. Great job!
Quests:
Love the quests. Very few simple Fed-Ex type quests - although a few quick Fed-Ex style quests in a CRPG are always welcome. I really like how some quests require the player to interact objects together. Very neat, interesting, and above all, very fun! Love the quest log, it's elegant, easy to use, and takes note of all important data - sometimes Morrowind's quest log ommitted key info leaving the player stumped as to where to go next or who to report to. Didn't have any of this kind of trouble in Divine Divinity. Also, I'm very satisfied how some quests alter the environment, such as the quest where the merchants need a replacement wheel but when you come back the cart is destroyed and the bodies have been drug off to a different location - really makes the game have that 'alive' feeling.
NPCs:
NPCs are interesting and I am very satisfied with how conversations are carried out in the game. Conversation choices disappear from the list when they are used up making it easier on the player to see what hasn't been selected. This is an area where Morrowind was very punishing for people like me who have to read every single conversation choiced. This NPC history of dialog is awesome - just awesome. There is a good balance of dialog such that no single NPC bogs you down too long in conversation. I also like how quests can trigger the movement of NPCs to different locations. Also noteworthy of mentioning is how different conversation choices are available based on your reputation - very neat and reminds me of Morrowind and NWN. My only nit-picky gripe would be to have NPCs operate on a schedule similarly to Ultima VII. This is one of those immersion factors much like object interaction that really adds to the 'alive' feeling of a game. Gothics 1 & 2 have this feature and it really is great.
Map:
The map is awesome and I can put as many notes on it as I want! The system reminds me of Ultima Underworld; flexible, easy to use, quick to access and detailed enough so that I can find places where perhaps I didn't make a note. In a word, superb. My only mild gripe is that I wish my notes could be longer. For the most part though, I had enough space to type to remember things good enough. One other comment about the map... since you 'uncover' the map as you adventure, I think it would be rewarding and fun if you earn experience as you unveil the blackness... it would encourage players to explore everywhere and uncover as much of the map as possible.
Character Attributes:
I just love how regardless of which class you choose at the beginning of a new game, you still have access to any skills for the other classes. Finally, my mage can repair items and pick locks. Hallelua!
Cut Scenes:
The pre-rendered cut scenes are all nicely done. But better still, most scenes play out via the game engine which is what I prefer as it better holds one's suspension of disbelief.
Polish:
Based on my research of Divine Divinity via the internet, I can see that when the game was first released it was patched many times. My play experience with the most current patch (English, v1.34) yeilded 0 problems (not done playing but I'm about 90% complete). With that, I have to say that the game's interface is quite polished. Everything is presented clearly and operates intuitively and elegantly from the main menu to the in-game screens. I think the only thing that took more than a second to figure out was how to split up stackable items. I particularly appreciated how certain skills were designed with special attention so as to make them feel a part of the in-game screens. Such as the enchanting skill. This skill requires a screen of its own to make it easy to use and that's exactly what Larian did. Good job.
Customization:
I am very satisfied with how you can customize your character in terms of skills and gear. Finding a great equipable item in Divine Divinity is very satisfying. Partly because the equipment looks cool and partly because there isn't an overabundance of 'god' items in the game. So when you find something remarkable, it's a treasure! I also was pleased to be able to have my own house. Being a 2D isometric game, it's inherently a lot easier to decorate your house just the way you want to because object placement is so much easier than say in a 3D game like Morrowind.
Well this post got pretty long so I'll end it here. Fantastic game! I can only hope and dream that Divine Divinity 2 will be just as great and I'm looking forward to wraping up Divine Divinity and checking out Beyond Divinity.
