Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) General Well I just finished bd....

I can honestly say that I am very dissapointed. I love larian studios and how they listen to their fanbase and come to the forums for suggestions and what not. The ending to Beyond Divinity was very good. But to me that seemed the only highlight of the game. It was like arriving to a city that is 90 % burned down and trying to salvage the last 10 percent. The game to me was very linear. This great story-line everyone is talking about. I fail to see it. I must have missed something big. Becuase the only big thing I saw was in the very last act. So if a game has a great story line because of one very good plot-twist then tell me...How does a game like Arcanum get shunned by reviewers but yet has one of the most amazing stories I have ever experienced in an rpg? Also another thing that bothered me was the game not being open-ended as was Divine Divinity. Sure you could go anywhere here in ACT 2 but oh wait Im on Act 3 and I forgot a quest in the village of Act 2. I'll just run back there...oh wait...what's this a giant lake of lava blocking my way. How grand. I had fun for awhile but about to the end of Act 2 my hope diminished. I played through the last 2 acts to see the ending out of curiousity. I can say im glad I did for the ending was spectacular. But how many people are like me and will play through a game poor in comparsion to the one before it just to see the ending? I hope Divine Divnity 2 does not dissapoint me the way Beyond Divintiy did. *sigh* <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" />

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like it XbjX <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" />.

btw how long did it take you to beat it ?

I beat it yesterday so I guess 3 weeks? maybe 60-80 hours in that timeframe. Very good ending I reccomend anyone who feels the way I do to keep going on because the ending is well worth it.

Ugh, no thank you. 60-80 hours total of click-the-monster is not my idea of gaming fun. I'm playing Skies of Arcadia and loving it -- imagine, an RPG whose storyline is compelling and the fights along the way are fun.

I don't care how good the ending is to BD; being relieved that the game is over is no reason for me to sink any more time into this.

um. if you have no good thing to say, um, could you please shut up? thanks. click-the-monster is nothing bad. tehre really isn't another way to docombat. almost all RPG's have that. the storyline in BD seems very good to me, even in act 2! I just discovered I had about 1/2 the quests done, and the illness and alchamist are very good! I don't seen whats so bad about the storeyling and the fights.

On the contrary, if you have something bad to say Larian needs to hear it in order not to make the same mistakes again. There is no need to protect them from negative feedback.

I haven't gotten the game yet. So far, there are mixed reviews/feedbacks on it. Will that prevent me from buying the game? More likely not <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> My curiosity will take these feet to the store and compel my wallet to produce funds for the game. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stupid.gif" alt="" />

Skies of Arcadia is a very good rpg. I beat the gamecube version due to the dreamcast version having way too many random battles for my taste. It does have a very good story. I would reccomend Beyond Divinity to anyone. Its a good game and everything but compared to Divine Divinity I was just dissapointed. Didn't live up to my expectations.

and I guess if one has something good to say, one better pipe up so Larian doesn't abandon what you like about the game.

OK, piping up, though earlier than I normally would. I am really enjoying this game. I prefer more non-linear games, but linear games have their own advantages, such as more coherent story line and plot, and better balance in terms of combat.

What does this game have over Arcanum--combat that doesn't cause me to fall asleep or cry out in disgust over my party memebers wretched AI.

Maybe I am wierd, I can love Arcanmum for what it was--a fascinating original world, but with some of the most wretched combat ever in a major game relase-- and love BD for what I am finding it so far--a fun atmospheric dungeon crawl remeiniscent of the Icewind Dale series.

I agree with the original poster. There are numerous things I did not like about BD and I feel that it was not a very good RPG (my opinion).

1: People do not get mad if you steal things from their houses.

2: The reputation system did not seem to exist, maybe it was just me.

3: For me, all the side quest were very linear. They seemed to be all "I need something/I lost something" and the response your character would have, "Ill try and get it". In Divine Divinity I loved the side quests. They gave more background and were more complex. Hell, the side quest to expose Dr Elerath and cure the illness was better than the main quest in BD to cure the illness in the imp village (my opinion).

4: I know everyone has already mentioned it but I need to add it. Clicking on neutral animals.

5: Like the above poster said, once you complete an act you are done. You can not go back.

6: I did not like BDs atmosphere. I guess when I imagine hell I dont imagine a level one character being able to survive there. In DD everyone had something interesting to say, not so in BD. 90% of the imps in act 2 say the same thing and do not even have portraits. I must admit though that act 3 was alot better at making a town come alive.

7: Lack of responses for main character. It seems the only response my main character could say was "I agree" or "I dont have time" when accepting a quest.
8: ALOT of bugs, but DD had a ton of bugs also so I wont hold that against it.

In conclusion I felt that I had to drag my feet throughout the game. The only thing that kept my going was "I wonder what happens to the death knight". It was like having to eat chips of crap to get to a pizza. I do thank Larian for listening to their costumers and I also think Larian will fill the shoes of making great CRPGS. I believe larian will make alot of great games in the future.

1. noo don't let them get mad we don't wanna go morrowind way do we <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />
2. yep I agree missed it too. will try the game again with aiming for negative reputation and see what happens. but as it is now I don't have the feeling that my actions have inpact on my reputation or future desicions.
3.It saddens me that I agree with this. theire where a couple of longer side quests but not manny. Maybe they could introduce guilds in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />²
example: To go further in the game (main quest) you must have the aproval of a guild master. Theire are 6 guilds. You can only chose one, but each guild has abn enemy in aother guilds (guild wars). Also I have the feeling they dummed down the game alot to get get a broather (read as stupider) market. Aslo because they have devided it into acts a subquest can't cross act boundries a big NO NO in my book. I want sub quests that are just as long as the main quest.

4. i like killing al tibar yous walk arround whl 30 - 40 tibar behind you and then BAAAAAm lighning storm instant level up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />

5. Agreed, You must be able to go every where any time. I believe they put acts in for several reasons.

to give direction (to stupid player) who give a sh|t about those players. it's an RPG not a FPS
to get smaller saved games an less loading time. now this is a valid argument but i wouldn't mind having 150 + megs saved games.

6. atmosfhere was ok in my book. Sometime i do mis the green landscapes of <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> but I would like to see more of nemisis in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />² I like it theire.

7. don't get you theire. what about "put DK on the altar" as response
8. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> is as steady as a rock compared with <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />

One personal grievance. No world map of Nemisis <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />

But don't be fooled i love <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> it is diffirent as <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> but mostly better then <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> IMHO. Love the party aspect, crystal, bag dolls.

I so totally agree.

1) I was gonna mention this even. But the fact that in DD you stole something, people would shout for the guards and you would get arrested... That added a nice touch. And if you weren't in a town, people would just get mad at you, and maybe not trade with anymore.

2) True... In DD when you traded alot with the same person, his feeling towards you would improve, and he would give you better prices. This made the game feel personal, and added to the atmosphere. In BD, I do most of my trading in the battlefields, and that couldn't be more unpersonal. Also, I have yet to find someone with something other than a (0) after their name.

3) Very true. Not all the time though, there are some good quests in BD too, but there were alot more in DD. The historical background to a quest can be important too, for the feel of the game. You remember how a farmer and his wife would give you a 15 minute history lesson just to tell you their crops are glowing green? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

4) People find this annoying, but I don't. I don't really care. If frogs want to kill me because I killed one of their brethren, so be it.

5) Although I would also love to have an RPG that is just one giant world (or several giant worlds which you can travel in between), you also have to think of the problems this carries. It makes things harder for the developer, and that... leads to bugs...

6) This is a personal opinion that everyone must decide on their own. As for me, I hate imps. I hate how they can't formulate a proper sentance and have high-pitched voices, and I swear to god I will kill every last one of them before I leave Act2. I need human villages! (or possibly elves... or orcs... orcs simply because they are cool... The Ranaar seem quite ok too, though I've only read about them in the novella.)

As for the setting: I don't want hell. I want an earth-like landscape, because I can relate to that. Am I the only one who prefers the grassy fields of Rivellon over the hellish landscape of Nemesis?

7) Yeah, most of the replies weren't all that great. Just a silly little thing: in the Citadel in Act1, the DK would give you directions. You had options to ask him the location of everything, and then you could finish the conversation by saying "bye!"... "Bye!"?!?! Um... You're soulforged! Where do you think you're going? It's very silly, but the conversation should be ended by saying something like "Thanks", not "Bye!"...

My conclusion is that BD is alot less personal than DD was. It's the silly little things that give DD that give the game atmosphere I find lacking in BD. Sure, Larian tried hard to meet up to the demands of everyone, but it seems that along the road they forgot a few things that were already good.

Like character traits... Now why would you wanna get rid of something like that?

Still... I find both BD and DD to be great games. However, it just so happens to be that I like DD better.

noo I miss em too. But when I think about <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />² i would realy enjoy it if it had both worlds. this would also than bring more difficult quest.

example: cant cross a barrier in rivellon riftrun to Nemisis walk a coullpe of steps right riftrun back after the barrier. (like in zelda (snes version))

and indeed tovi I mis the personal relation between chars sometime.

as for acts. they are huge but they are boundaries. While theire were no boundaries in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />. This realy limits the "gta freedom feeling" sure gta had acts but you could always drive back (add skills and stats to gta and you've got an rpg). The thing is that every object in the game world you dropp must be entered in your savegame where you dropped it. this probably expands your saved game alot. so i would suggest the rain function in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" />. every thing thats in the game world that is dropped will disappear when it rains unless it is stored in a barrel or inside.

BTW oes the sun ever go down in Nemisis?

But when I look at the 2 games as a whole they leave a very positive expression.

Although I like the idea, it might not be appreciated that much by everyone. Kindof reminds me of soulreaver, a game in which you could travel between two worlds, and you had to solve puzzles that way.

You had the material realm and the spiritual realm. Both of them looked pretty much alike, except in the spiritual realm time would stand still, and you could pass through certain objects, but you couldn't move anything around, or pick anything up. Or certain objects would appear only in the material realm and not in the spiritual realm.

Ofcourse it was an innovative idea, but the game gets a bit too hard for my taste.

"The historical background to a quest can be important too, for the feel of the game. You remember how a farmer and his wife would give you a 15 minute history lesson just to tell you their crops are glowing green?"

If the same quest was in BD, the farmer would only say ,"My crops are green , can you please help". I have NO idea why larian refused to give interesting quests. *sigh* Needless to say Ill wait for reviews before I buy BD 2 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" />

Hell, the only quests are "Hey, you clicked on me, and I'm an NPC! I need help." Every single imp quest was given only because of a gamer's natural inclination to click on every NPC in town. I could've cared less about the missing spider, or the imp that fell in the well, or the imp that was missing her husband, and the only reason the storyline even included these trivial bits was because I clicked on each imp dutifully like an RPG gamer should. They certainly didn't advance the story, the only thing they did was give my characters a pittance of XP. Goodie.


While it's my natural inclination to ignore trolls, I see no reason to let this idiocy stand, Lews. Divine Divinity had a bevy of fun warrior skills that made combat a fun experience. Likewise, Diablo 2 has a bevy of skills besides "Attack monster" that you can use to make combat more than "click the bug" gaming. So don't tell me that all RPGs have that; find me one RPG besides Beyond Divinity that has no other skills for fighters besides "Swing weapon" and "Twirl around" and I'll gladly take off my hat to you as the experienced gamer. Until then, why not shut yourself up and learn about other gaming options out there?

In DD there were alot of things that had nothing to do with the story but made the game feel more alive. The dwarf and human (I think it was a human) argueing over who was at fault for crashing their carts comes to mind. BD lacked this and the whole world seemed so static.

Even though I haven't played in a while, I remember the farmers always gave alot of explenation. They would describe their history, and their relation with other farmers... It's just been so long since I last played...

If you don't want to attack neutral animals click "c" to exit combat mode...

Lews, why are you always that aggressive if someone's opinion is not the same as yours?
You don't have to yell at him for saying what he thinks? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />