So, I spent some 20 hours or maybe more with the game, and actually wanted to play more before I write down some impressions, but alas, I got stuck with a bug so I'll write it now. But before I start with a bit negativity, I first want to make clear that Divinity 2 is a really very enjoyable experience, despite the many glitches. You really feel that the developers put a ton of love and detail into the game, especially quests, writing and world design shine through this rough gem.
Yeah, so, after the intro, you start with the character creation. Choose gender, face style/tatoo...and that's it. Well, that was quick. You get to learn the basics very quickly. Choose between mage, warrior or ranger and test it on some goblins, mind you though once you leave the tutorial area you can freely develop your character. There are no classes in Divinity 2, instead you use skills appropriate for your taste (priest, warrior, mage, ranger, dragonslayer - you can of course also mix, but beware, specialization may be necessary), after each level-up you can choose only one, plus you put stats into Health, Willpower, Strength, Agility and Intelligence.
What is odd is that you become a dragonslayer within the first 5 minutes of the game and get the mind-reading feature "for free". Normally, you'd have to earn this, but hey... After you leave the tutorial area, the actual game starts. A dragon has been sighted in the peacefully village of Rubbledale (?). Your collueges are off to search the dragon, while you start investigating the village dwellers.
So you get to talk to people and start accepting quests. Mostly quite fedex stuff (i.e. get me goblin hearts and I'll pay for you; go find the tower and talk to blabla). Sometimes, you get a choice how to solve the quest. I.e. turn the tide around for a discount, or read the secret love letter of the farmer woman to unleash some drama, etc. You also get to save a guard from a bunch of gobblins. Very funny. You can also free a prisoner and tell him the captain setup a trap, or not, and you'll be compensated with either items, money or XP. Mind reading (it's a feature you get during conversation) substracts XP, but it's also good for a laugh sometimes. Yes, the humor god thanks doesn't come too short. Kill a bunch of cute rabbits, and as a penalty, you'll have to deal with a monster rabbit later. Writing is also very good, definitely better than the horrid Witcher or Gothic series. Even if farmers are better written than some Bioware villain, well then that conceals something positive I guess.
So, when you get started to fight stuff, first weaknesses occur. The combat is very action-orientaded, plays kinda like God of War, but with more glitches...Balancing is also horrible in the first 7 levels or so. Or how often was my ass handed over to me by 2 small goblins! Crawl down into the cryptic, and you get greeted by three skeletons. Well, you think, no problemo, but as soon as you want starting slashing, you're already dead. Of course do some more quests, get higher levels, and the situation inverts. Kill a Goblin with two slashes can become boring....but as soon as you get used to beat the crap out of them, some new monster emerges and kills you in no time.
You can also summon creatures (priest skill), they work kinda similar to the golems from Diablo2. They're a nice disctraction for enemies, but weak if not leveld-up. You'll also meet a shy necromancer who can create a creature out of body parts that you can find in crates etc. Along the areas, you also find waypoints that teleport you from shrine to shrine. Very handy.
Some of the technical stuff: Audio is great, no complaints there, but graphics are a bit glitchy. The performance is mostly very good, but sometimes I get some major fps drops, then it vanishes after 30 secs. for no reason. Technically, it's not very cutting-edge anymore, but it shines through lovely and imaginatively created architecture and environments. I haven't experienced any crashes, but overall it still feels very rough. Sometimes my summon spells don't initiate, then there are some goofy physics quarrels that almost stopped me completing a quest, the fps slowdowns, some invisible walls for a short period, and of course the horrid balancing in the beginning. I heard though Larian is working to get that fixed at least. I also recommend to turn off "Render plants" to save some 50% performance, you won't miss it. Everything else can be maxed out.
So yeah, that's a short summary of Divinity 2. As I said, it's a marvelous game full of lovely details, very good writing and overall motivating story (so far). It's by no way a disaster like Gothic 3, but it still could use a patch or two to get rid off these small annoyances. Overall I can recommend this game. It beats the crap out of Gothic 3 and Oblivion easily. Well done, Larian!
Edit: typos
Last edited by Pinstripe; 26/07/09 07:17 PM.
