Larian Studios Forums Divinity II The Dragon Knight Saga / Flames of Vengeance (English) Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga How different is the remastered edition?

I would agree that Divinity II is the better game from a mission design standpoint, but I just took another look at G4 for a reminder and direct comparison.

I didn't find the story and especially the quests to be that interesting, but to concur with Brandysnap, Gothic 4's presentation does feels more streamlined.

He mentions saving issues in DKS and it's true. Saving takes too long on consoles for a PC-style RPG with lots of save/reloads.
Basic things are smoother in G4, including saving.
In Gothic 4, the Back section of the menu is dedicated entirely to saving/loading and options, so it's a much faster process than in DKS. Checkpoints are also a bit more evenly spread out.
The Start section of the menu is a wheel with Inventory right at the center, and Crafting/Map/Quest Journal/Status on the sides.

Yes DKS is better but it's so clunky in its fundamentals that in practice it ends up not being that much more fun than G4 to play, despite some vastly superior design elements.
Now if DKS had the menus of G4 and more manageable load times, it would be head and shoulders above G4.

As console gamers, we are ready to appreciate fine PC-style RPGs, but not at the expense of the accessibility and optimization that made use chose a plug and play platform like the 360.

to counter all my seeming negativity towards DKS on the 360, i will say that the framerate is rock solid throughout.

only once, in 15 hours of play, have i encountered a weird anomaly where the game started stuttering. couldnt track the cause down though - no enemies or anything around at the time. it was further down broken valley past the fortune teller.

I don't like the sounds of easier enemies... I like the challenge and risk of exploring areas above your level. Also, aren't the graphics improvements one of the things that you get just buying the expansion, rather than the combined DKS edition?

Sounds like I should just get FoV.

I'm just a few hours in the game, but these are the things I noticed that were different (besides graphics):

SPOILERS


There are more sets now, you can get a set of armor in the very beginning of the game.
When you attack with the 'normal' fire-attack of the dragon, it growls. I'm not sure if I find it an improvement or not...

I don't like the sounds of easier enemies...

Yes, it sounds like I'll need to switch to hard difficulty to keep the combat interesting, though I was planning to do so anyway.


Also, aren't the graphics improvements one of the things that you get just buying the expansion, rather than the combined DKS edition?

Most of the graphical improvements are included in FoV, but DKS does add a little bit extra in the D2:ED section (probably not enough to worry about missing).


Sounds like I should just get FoV.

There is a conversion patch in the works to update D2:ED + FoV into DKS, so getting FoV could allow you the choice to do either.

Does anyone know if the skills have been changed? Like is Sword and Shield an interesting combo now? or still kinda blah?

The game is so much better with easier enemies and faster leveling, I found ED so boring with how long and tedious combat was it interrupted the flow of the story I lost interest by the time I got dragon form, but things move along nicely and it does a good job keeping you moving forward. I can see though where masochists might not like this though.

As for differences, aside from the balancing, there seems to alot of dialogue tweaks, and additions, and new equipment available, and much earlier, but other then that, aside from the graphics, its pretty much the same. The only reason I see for getting DKS now is if you dont own ED or you enjoy the easier balance and dont want to wait for the FOV update to DKS patch.

However if you love challenging combat, it probably is more economical to wait and get FoV then just skip the DKS update patch. You'll loose the graphics update, but then you have to decide what is important to you.

FoV ????

FoV = Flames of Vengeance, the add-on for D2:ED, included with the remastered version of D2:ED in a package called The Dragon Knight Saga (DKS).

While these over the top powerful weapons seem to be everywhere now in DKS, especially early game, I can kinda see why: They removed potions from pretty much all vendors so far, so the only potions you'll find are out in the wild; no more buying 100s in the beginning.

So now that you're stuck with only a handful of potions, you need those crazy powerful weapons in order to kill off enemies fast enough so that you can survive more than one fight without having to chug 2-3 potions.

Just got to sentinel island, however, so if you can still make pretty much unlimited greater rejuvenation potions with the battle tower and weapons continue to be insanely powerful, then the rest of the game will probably become very easy.

Merchants restock when you level. I didn't need to buy any potions in D2:ED; I did buy some early in the game due to a few topics about their scarcity, but I found (and later made) more than I needed. The only time I had to chug potions was when trying to take out opponents too high a level, and there were invariably other areas or quests I could do first.

I don't really need health potions (there's plenty of food to be bought to replace it), but in the beginning of the game I needed a lot of mana potions that just weren't available.

I really like that there are no more endless groups of Imps every ten meters on the long road to High Hall in Orobas fjords.

Also, level-based damage seems to be gone, so that opponents higher a level are no longer a big threat, while lower level mobs can still hurt you.

game is a bit too easy i think.

at level 14 i was able to enter the fjyords and take on level 18+. each 2 groups of imps along the mountain path i killed i got a level.

only thing that stopped me and made me go back to the main quest was when entering the cave system and confronted with level 23 skeletons.

Don't forget that later in the game you will be able to craft your own potions aswell.

Buy this game on PC and play it properly. :P

In all seriousness though you guys are pretty weird. You want it to be open world and massive, then you complain about it being too linear, then you complain about the load times. Then another guy complains about being able to enter a high level cave too early and dies to level 23 skeletons.

FFS. Bit tough to please you all?

I wouldn't call myself a "masochist" at all, it's just that challenge and risk/reward makes the game more interesting. If you just clicky-clicky without thought to kill everything it ends up very boring for me. Arcania: Gothic 4 is a good example... it removed any and all challenge from the game and that results in me being stone-cold bored the entire time I play it, it feels like going through the motions rather than playing a game.

Story is important in games, yes, but I don't play games JUST for story. I would rather read a book or watch a movie if story is all I wanted. It's the combination of story, exploration, challenging combat and choice and consequence that make me love playing CRPGs.

I see what your saying, but from all accounts it sounds like your a 'hardcore' player, which of course is nothing bad, though its interesting how different people can be, you find easier story focused gameplay without challenge to be boring and you have casuals like me whom enjoy feeling empowered like a 'hero' should. I found Gothic 4 to be a great game, if theres no story and just hack and slash it gets boring for me, the story and immersion in the world is all I need to keep me interested. Though I had though people wanted what I consider boredom and frustrating out of a sense of masochism, however I can understand now how people just want their rewards to have meaning, though personally, I think its taking gaming too seriously.

If you get it be sure to unlock the fps and lock the cores.

I just got my game from STEAM for 40$ the Saga version. I am really liking it right now. I play it on Normal and I can't say that mobs are TOO easy. I am level 2, trying to do the jail quest, found the switch, found the trap door, went down and got killed my a lvl 4 goblin chieftain. He killed me in like 2-3 hits. It was so fast I couldn't do anything.

I am having a hard time finding the quests. Requires a lot of exploration which I think its great. being pointed to every objective in game wouldn't be as fun.

What are you guys talking about 'locking the cores'. Options have "Customize for Single Core", and I have duo processor. I play on Extreme quality and man this game is beautiful.Not just that its actually very well done and doesn't feel rushed or too linear like Gothic 4.

And how do i unlock fps??

Nvm found how to unlock FPS:

http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=424718#Post424718