Larian Banner: Baldur's Gate Patch 9
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4
Joined: May 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
stranger
OP Offline
stranger
Joined: May 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
I thought I'd just post my thoughts about Divine Divinity vs Beyond Divinity.

First, I'll say that Divine Divinity was one of my favorite RPGs from the last few years. It's been described as a cross between Diablo and an Ultima game, and that's exactly what I loved about it.

I'm really enjoying Beyond Divinity also, but I greatly prefer Divine Divinity for several reasons:

1. I love cities in RPGs. In DD, I was never very far from a city or at least a group of friendly NPCs to talk to. I've played BD for a long time and have seen nothing but dungeons so far.

2. BD seems a bit buggy.

3. The world was much better to look at in DD. I particularly like outdoor, natural environments, and DD had plenty of that. Maybe things change later on in BD, but so far I've only seen miles and miles and miles of gray or brown walls. I'm dying for some fresh air here. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

4. This will sound funny, but I hate having a demon in my party. It's a GREAT story element, but I'm having trouble getting past having to drag a demon along with me and keep him alive. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I really loved the old companions in the Ultima games. I like the feeling of having good folks in my party in RPGs, and now I'm stuck with THIS guy? Ugh. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

In general, I think I liked EVERYTHING about Divine Divinity more than Beyond Divinity. In particular, I liked the fact that DD felt almost like an Ultima game at times. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm definiately having a good time with Beyond Divinity also. I'm just hoping that your next game will be more like the original Divine Divinity.

Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Belgium
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Belgium
What act are you on in BD?

By the way, just so you know. Divine Divinity was also buggy when first released, but the latest patch seems to have gotten rid of pretty much all major bugs. There are still a few minor bugs left, but nothing too worrying.


Tovi May Raan refresh you!
Joined: Jul 2003
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: Jul 2003
There is no comparision, in my opinion, between Divine Divinity and Beyond Divinity, for all the reasons you've outlined.

I'm still playing Divine Divinity (the original version, unpatched, because the bugs don't bug me and frankly I've barely noticed them). Beyond Divinity is on it's fourth patch in a week, and it still doesn't work right.

Plus I just don't like anything about it as well as I liked DD. It's a good game; it's just not a great game, and nowhere near as addictively fun as DD.


Joined: May 2004
Location: Blefescu
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: May 2004
Location: Blefescu
Give <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> time. Some skills are still broken and quite a few are unbalanced, but there's potential in it for a game that's deeper and more varied that Divine Divinity. As it is, I still find it fun, annoyances and all.

Joined: Aug 2003
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Aug 2003
Quote
2. BD seems a bit buggy.


Out personal experience I can tell you that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> was also buggy. (Blue screen of death buggy).

I am with you on the open world thing i realy like that. That acts in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> where introduced because some players of <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> got confused by the large quest list (ruining it for us all <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" /> )

As for what game I liked best. I can not answer that theire just to diffirent.

Makes me wonder what direction <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />² will be in. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />


Not in the mood for cheese?
That excuse has more holes than a slice this fine Gorgombert!
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Belgium
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Belgium
Quote
I am with you on the open world thing i realy like that. That acts in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> where introduced because some players of <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> got confused by the large quest list (ruining it for us all <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" /> )


I was thinking about that, but I think it might have had to do with other things aswell. Like performance or something.

Personally I feel however it was to decrease the size of savegames. Remember how in DD your savegame was 100mb+ per savegame? Well, I think that BD was cut into 5 pieces to reduce savegame filesize, as you don't have to save what happened in the previous act.

Or is my theory just completely wrong?


Tovi May Raan refresh you!
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: USA
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: USA
Quote
1. I love cities in RPGs. In DD, I was never very far from a city or at least a group of friendly NPCs to talk to. I've played BD for a long time and have seen nothing but dungeons so far.



Hmmmmm, sounds like you may have missed one or two things if all you've seen are dungeons. *evil nudge* When I began playing BD, I spent days and days in that dungeon until I decided to go back to the beginning (not restart a new game) of the dungeon (in the prison) to see if I missed anything. Sure enough, I did. One was even a quest! LOL

Maybe you want to try the same thing? Sounds like you're ready for a breath of fresh air -- DD style. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />



Faralas <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />

P.S. Btw, welcome to the forums! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />


Last edited by Faralas; 09/05/04 05:03 PM.
Joined: May 2004
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: May 2004
I agree with you a lot on most of your points (don't mind the Death Knight, myself, except that he keeps getting killed and taking me with), and I'm glad I'm not the only one. I loved the look of DivDiv, and I miss having a starting level like Aleroth; I too am starved for converstaion and fresh air. Plus I personally prefer the kind of 2D graphics DivDiv had, but that's just me, everyone I know likes the 3D better.

Of course, this is not to say that I'm not enjoying Beyond Divinity. I'm not great at handling parties, so it's a bit of a learning curve for me, but except for the bugs and the immovability of the character portrait window, I'm having an excellent time playing it. And I'm nowhere NEAR done with the game, so I'm sure that eventually I'm going to come across the kind of areas I like playing.

I think that DivDiv was great for someone like me, who missed all the gaming years between 1998 and 2003 due to antiquated technology. ("No, I don't need a 3D card in my laptop," said the girl graduating from high school, "I'll be fine with out it! After all, how much am I going to want to play games?") The system was incredibly intuituve and easy to understand, so I was able to get into the gameplay immediately. Beyond Divinity's got a steeper learning curve... so I'm off to go play it some more. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

Joined: May 2004
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: May 2004
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> was way better in my opinion. It was like Diablo meets Morrowind, and that was the game of my dreams. This... seems too linear, and i REALLY hate the battlefields thing. My favorite part about <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> was just wandering around uncovering the entire world map, finding neat little things along the way. I sorely miss that among this neverending dungeon.

Oh, and word of advice: Stamina is lame. I could do without it.


"When did you get a cloner?...ANSWER ME...no...CLONE ME...and answer my clone!" LordMalis:plate mail was well worth it, I was deleted in style!
Joined: May 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
stranger
OP Offline
stranger
Joined: May 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Quote
What act are you on in BD?


Well, when I wrote that, I was at the end of act 1. Of course, the beginning of act 2 includes some of the very things that I was missing so much. Still, though, I stand by my basic point. I don't really like the idea of spending an entire act (mostly) in a gray-walled dungeon. I like spending some time in dungeons, but spending an entire act there makes the game seem too much like a "generic, nothing special RPG" to me.

As others have said, the world of Divine Divinity felt more like a real world to me. The Beyond Divinity world seems a bit too much like it was contrived just for me to enjoy hacking and slashing. I like the hacking and slashing, but I prefer for it to be integrated into a world that seems alive and real. As others have suggested on these boards, the idea of a 50-50 mix between Ultima/Morrowind and Diablo 2 seems like a dream come true game. Divine Divinity was almost there, but BD seems to move in the opposite direction.

Again, I want to stress that I'm really enjoying Beyond Divinity. It's just that Divine Divinity was a game that makes me drool and pant for more; Beyond Divinity seems like just another good game.

Last edited by Sloggalate; 10/05/04 12:54 PM.
Joined: May 2004
N
apprentice
Offline
apprentice
N
Joined: May 2004
Imo Beyond Divinity has several dubious design decisions. One which is the battlefields, which i detest, they are something utterly bad and contrived. Mindnumbingly boring like Dungeon Siege. But worser imo, is that the battlefields TOTALLY destroys the need for the teleporter stones, if you just can warp to the battlefield merchants to restock, heal yourself or sell loot. The tport stones was an innovative addition to divdive, but here they are practically unneeded.

Also im having a beef with the skill system, there is way too many options, and far too little skillpoints. In Divdiv you could become proficient with a weapon type for only 5 skillpoints, only restricted by your level in how much you could play in one. Were in BD, you need 50 skillpoints to totally master one weapon. The skill system is very badly burned by that most skills take 10 points to max, or some 50 even.

Also the game is very biased towards fighters, as mana costs of spells is astronomical, you take too long to regenerate, even with a hefty investment in survival.

Beyond divinity should take a page from diablo2, in how you gain an amount of mana per level even, depending on class, meaning you would have a steady increase in mana. So you dont have to spend your first 100 statups to increase intelligence to get a decent mana supply.

And something is waay off with how heavy items is, my main char has a strenght of 60, and is decked out in items, and i cant lug around many more, because they weight extremely much. A ring weighing more than a full platemail? Seems to me that somehow the mods on the item, adds more weight too.

Lastly, i prefered the large open gameworld in divdiv, where you just could go wandering, find new towns and quests out in the wild. Beyond divinity is too disjointed, you will practically only find one major place of trade in every act.

Joined: Jun 2003
Location: malaysia
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: malaysia
first & foremost, welcome to the forum, neferjackal.

as for the battlefield or BF as most call it, it has always, since <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> was on the drawing board, been an option. that means should u feel that it's not integral to the game environment that u wish it to be, then u don't have to venture into it. it's actually a more realised version of easter egg. so please don't knock it off just because it has too much dungeon siege elements, as many are into it because of that same reason. it's a place where u can have your break.



......a gift from LaFille......
Joined: Jan 2004
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: Jan 2004
I have to agree with 1 and 3

Joined: May 2004
A
apprentice
Offline
apprentice
A
Joined: May 2004
Quote
I have to agree with 1 and 3


I copy that.

Dark enviroments tend to get boring really fast. I love towns, cities, green grass, flowers, animals and so on. I like the possibility to get my own house too, like in Divine Divinity, but would be nice if you could get it earlier in the game, and maybe different houses (cheap and more expensive ones). I really hope Divine Divinity 2 will be more like Divine Divinity on these points. It was also great to have the ability to access most of the world from the beginning, makes the game feel more open (more role playing and less "follow the road").

Joined: Apr 2004
L
stranger
Offline
stranger
L
Joined: Apr 2004
With Larian games you should wait a month after the realease to buy it because they will be bugged out everytime. I also thought Divine Divinity was better in every aspect accept the items which I thought were better Beyond Divinity.

Joined: Apr 2003
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Apr 2003
Quote
Plus I just don't like anything about it as well as I liked DD. It's a good game; it's just not a great game, and nowhere near as addictively fun as DD.


yeah sure.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> tell that to my bleedin eyeballs...... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
it's different is all.....and just as highly addictive <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stupid.gif" alt="" />



[color:"#33cc3"]Jurak'sRunDownShack!
Third Member of Off-Topic Posters
Defender of the [color:"green"]PIF.
[/color] Das Grosse Grüne Ogre!!! [/color]
Joined: May 2004
Location: Blefescu
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: May 2004
Location: Blefescu
Quote
With Larian games you should wait a month after the realease to buy it because they will be bugged out everytime.


It might be fairer these days to say, "With all games, you should wait a month after the initial release to buy the product, because each will be extremely buggy." <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Belgium
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Belgium
not ALL of them, they're bugged, that's true, but nog critically bugged... only SOME are bugged that way


Viper
Joined: May 2004
Y
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Y
Joined: May 2004
I've always thought Divine Divinity was a bit tough. But then I only played a Warrior, and the Black Ring always owned me because of their spells. It's almost always a massacre. :P The sheer amount of quests in that game that you could do pretty much at the same time also overwhelmed me.

I remember in the very beginning, where you had to restore the wizard's sanity (I can't remember his name, haven't played it in a while <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />), the skeletal guardians and the casters always destroyed my character. A lot of things could easily destroy you, now that i think about it. smirk

Joined: May 2004
H
stranger
Offline
stranger
H
Joined: May 2004
I've stopped playing BD since a while now. I was at the beginning of act 2; when those critters with their telephatic link decided I was bad and that they had to kill me especially when I had no control over my character (ie: in an event)

The good sides of BD where not enough to make me play again. I do not like the new skills system, the environment, the dungeons, the battlefields, the fact I have two morons to guide (one doing something stupid as soon as I switch to the other char), ... I think that's pretty enough to stop.
I've just switched to the next game. This is sad because I liked DD so much and BD just doesn't match.

I still come to the forums each week or so to see if anything good happened to the game.

Last edited by Hurricane; 20/05/04 10:11 AM.
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  Larian_QA, Lynn, Macbeth 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5