Dear Larian Studios
First off, I want to say I enjoyed playing Divinity 2: Ego Draconis a lot. While the game ended in a very odd way, I believed you'd paved the way for a great expansion. The game depicted the rise of your character as a great hero, a unstoppable force. Sadly, deceived and imprisoned, waiting... hungering for that moment of vengeance. Making Damian, your nemesis, and everybody who would dare to stand in your way, pay. Flames of Vengeance would rain down, and the Dragon would carve a burning trail of death and destruction through the forces of the Damned One, bent on but one thing: Sweet, sweet revenge.
And that, unfortunately, did not happen.
I think I can call myself an RPG-freak (I've played tons and tons of them since I was eight.) I live along with a game, I feel what my character feels. I hated, Damian, Ygerna and the whole lot that wanted to ruin my pretty world, I was horrified to see what had happened to Broken Valley. As such, I longed for a climactic ending that wouldn't only give me my moment of glory, but also free Rivellon from Damian. I assure you, nothing feels better than beating your arch-nemesis in a face-to-face fight.
When I saw what the last mission was I could think off but one thing: “Please, let that plan fail.”
It didn't. As great as the graphics, the lore, the voice acting, the combat and the characters were, the ending was all but pleasing and makes everything seem so... futile.
Sure, Ygerna was the one that framed us, but I think I'm not the only one who would have preferred facing Damian instead. But we didn't, we didn't even see him in FoV. Not even as he stared in disbelief and fell dead to the ground like he must have.
As good as your writers are at producing a games plot, they are really not good at thinking of decent endings. I know how little the impact of my opinion will be but I'll still state why it let me down.
1.
You play as the dragon knight, but I spent 10 minutes as a dragon (Yes, I played on hard from the beginning of ED and it took me ten minutes or so). I missed that feeling of: lets turn into a dragon and burn some people. Not to mention that I didn't feel at all like a dragon knight anymore by the end. Surely you realized people wouldn't like that? But sure, maybe limited time. Fair enough.
2.
95% of FoV takes place in one hub. True, Aleroth is (very) well designed but so were Broken Valley and the Orobas Fjords. I kept hoping Aleroth would be the hub until I broke the siege by letting Zandalor stop his shield channeling and attacking the fortresses. Surely, that couldn't have been too hard? Not to mention realistic.
Then, the other hub could have been the now ruined Orobas Fjords or the road to Rivertown. Not only adding another zone to the game but also allowing more playing as a dragon. I read this was part of the original plan but was taken out due to time issues. Too bad, you missed out there.
3.
It feels short, remember Augustus saying he had mere hours before Zandalor had to stop casting?
So yes, the whole expansion takes place over about 12 hours or so. So basically, you go from being defeated and besieged to victorious in 12 hours.
4.
The Ending. I don't know who came up with it but there are about a hundred different and more satisfying ways to end a story like Divinity 2.
First off, Let us face Damian, or at least brawl with him a little before he beats us and we go for Ygerna instead. I mentioned it earlier, Ygerna was the serpent that had mislead us, but the true enemy was Damian.
Secondly, drop a bomb on the palace? That “out of the blue” idea sure dropped the bomb on me. Not wrong, but honestly, Damian nor Ygerna should have been there. It was just anti-climactic. I'm guessing the fight in the hall of echoes was there just to appease those disappointed people? Didn't work that well. Also because I beat her in 30 seconds or so.
Deux Ex Machina, yep, just like good ol' Zandalor told us, Ygerna sure earned that title.
One moment you're trapped in the last city holding out, the next moment you're celebrating victory in a suddenly (and quite ridiculously) happy city with birds and white kitties. Every fantasy novel, movie or other shows that the best victories are those that are earned gradually. Here's a more novel-like ending.
Break the siege - Attack the forces in Orobas - Kill high ranking generals - Free that evil mage in return for the divine - Attack Damian - Be beaten by Damian - Kill the mage you set free while he helps Damian ascend - Damian ascends and the Divine holds him off while you find Ygerna and kill her before all is lost - Fight Ygerna - She runs to Damian - Before his eyes, you strike her down, not only claiming vengeance but also saving the divine and Rivellon by killing the Damned One.
A hard earned victory, fighting side-by-side with Rivellons legend against an evil that must be nipped in the bud before he outgrows everyone In power. Other endings are possible too of course.
A long post to be sure but one, I hope, will be read and given attention. I've read the forum, most posts concerning the expansions ending aren't all that great, if not downright insulting.
I realize time is money, and not all that I named above can or even should be changed but your games ending defines so much of it, you really can't let it break the experience.
I'll keep buying any good games Larian releases, even if but in an act of patriotism, to help that last good game developer in my country. But you must look into these notes, for I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks “they ring true” as our good friend Zandalor would say.
