Divine Divinity
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Video Game Reviews of Divine Divinity
Customer Review: A well done mixture of Baldur's Gate and Diablo
Summary: 4 Stars
If you enjoyed the gameplay of Diablo, but found yourself wishing it had more of a storyline, this is the game for you.The interface of this game is so similar to Diablo's that it is surprising Blizzard hasn't objected. The items are structured in almost exactly the same way, and the left and right mouse buttons function just like Diablo: left mouse button for motion and attack, and right mouse button for skills that use up mana ("magic points"). Many times I felt like I actually was playing Diablo.
However, in great contrast to that game, the quests are nonlinear, and the dialogue is entertaining, if sometimes corny. At one point, an enemy's minion grovel before their master in a way that come across as unintentionally comical. There are a lot of sequences similar to Baldur's Gate, where the game "takes over" and two NPCs have dialogue with each other. Sometimes the dialogue is relevant to the story line, and sometimes it's just an aside, a little side-scene. These are usually well-done; one featured two skeletons complaining to each other about the logistical difficulties of being undead.
Divine Divinity is not as much fun as Baldur's Gate---the story line is not as taut and compelling, and it is a single-character game---no NPC parties. However, it is still quite entertaining, and an improvement over Diablo as far as immersion goes. (There is of course no multiplayer aspect to Divine Divinity). Diablo's combat is somewhat more streamlined and well-executed, but I get the feeling more thought has been put into it for Divine Divinity.
Customer Review: Loads of fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent game that isn't nearly getting the credit it deserves. I got high praise from the press, but apparently, the publisher lacks some marketing power. But don't let that (and the silly name) scare you away! If you like RPGs, you will not regret buying this one!This game has often been called a "Diabolo clone", and I suppose that is true. And a good one at that. I have't quite completed this game yet (although I suspect I will shortly), and I therefore am not sure what is yet to come. But right away, the player finds lots of quests that aren't of the silly "FedEx quest" type. In other words: You are solving more sophisticated puzzles. This is NOT an adventure game, but still, the tasks the player performs have more gameplay depth than at most other role playing games.
The weapons are fun, and the spells are creative. Overall, this is a nice break after so many AD&D games.
Customer Review: A must for all rpg/action lovers out there ..
Summary: 4 Stars
Well i bought the game a few weeks ago and completed the game yesterday.If you are looking for a game that offers many many challenges and quests, advanced interaction with the DD-world with great graphics then this game is for you. After choosing your character you have the ability to teach it skills of various types; mage, thief and warrior; The good thing is that you can combine all skill classes to you desires. This game litterally offer many many hours of game play, it will take you nearly 7 days and night to finish the game. The story is pretty nice, and to be honest you won't be bored for a single moment.
The game offers no multiplay however but regardless is still a fine single player game.
This game has some similar aspects to diablo two, but the game-quality itself is of a higher quality whereas diablo 2 is primarily focussed on skills and experience gathering.
Definately a good game.
Customer Review: Excellent RPG game
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! I finished this game yesterday and I have to say it's possibly the best role-playing game I've ever played. Not to oversell it, but it has lots of nice touches and is polished as well as addictive.First, a complaint. It isn't the most stable game I've ever played. I have a plain-vanilla gaming PC, Intel chips, ATI video card and so on but I had to learn to save every half hour or so due to frequent crashes. Regardless of the settings I used, I had occasional untimely crashes to the desktop, about once a day.
The voice-acting is very good, I don't remember anything that was horrible and some of it was quite good. There is a strong storyline, similar to Diablo II and the acting and video cutscenes add to the atmosphere. The ending is anti-climactic but by then I was too tired to appreciate it anyway.
It is a hard game, in the initial levels your character is at risk of death by nearly anything, but later on it gets better. I've already started to replay the game since it was so fun the first time thru and I unintentionally messed up some of the quests by tackling them too quickly.
One note about the gameplay: it isn't terribly well-balanced. If you can get any weapon that does decent damage and does frost damage, you can kill nearly anything from that point on fairly easily. You can still get swarmed under, but one-on-one no boss can match you. Also, the traps you can set with steel scorpions are ridiculously strong so I tried to never use them once I got to level 10 or so. Also, as soon as you can poison your weapon it gets much easier to kill critters since poison can more than double the damage you do and it continues for a few seconds.
Unlike lots of RPGs, you don't have to debate which race to pick, or what type of magic to master. You can learn any spell whether you're a warrior or a thief or a wizard, and master any weapon as well. There are no limits on armor for spell-casters either which I also appreciated. You definitely want to learn a variety of spells since the graphics are so spectacular.
You can beat the game as a straight-out fighter but you'd miss a lot of good eye candy. The only difference as far as gender goes is the character's appearance and the two skills you start with. I chose the female thief because of her starting abilities but it was amusing to hear her interaction with other characters and how her appearance changed with different armor and weapons.
I've played Diablo II and the expansion and it was great. There are rip-offs of that game out there but DD isn't one of those. Diablo was based on games that came before it and DD draws from other games as well but that's not the same thing as a clone.
I highly recommend exploring every inch of the map as there are countless critters to kill and baddies to defeat, all for that great experience as well as the fun. Some games, such as Dungeon Siege, are fun but inane in some ways. You can't see any benefit from completing quests, you can't select skills etc, but DD is a treat as you tailor your character stats and skills however you want.
There is also a lively online forum if you get stuck in the game or have some technical problem. You can get a walkthru or just a hint, whatever you need, which is good since I couldn't find a game guide anywhere. This is handy if you have a hard time getting or completing a quest on your own.
Compared to Morrowind, Dungeon Siege and Arcanum, Divine Divinity is terrific, and it's at least on a par with Diablo II and even with it's problems it was more stable for me than Diablo II was. Gameplay and graphics are at least as good as any of those games and most of the voice-acting is superior.
As far as replayability goes, that seems to be very good too as I didn't hesitate more than a few hours before starting over with a new character. This time I won't waste a single skill point to identify my loot since merchants will do that for a fee and money is so unimportant later on. Much better to have an extra point for something else.
As someone else has noted, the interface is well-thought-out and the journal and automap are great. You can review conversations you've had to get more info for quests you're on or if you forget what was said. It would be nice to be able to carry more loot, but I'm a greedy sort of adventurer.
I would have liked a more dramatic ending but I think it leaves it wide-open for a Divine Divinity 2, which I'm looking forward to.
Customer Review: A great game that slipped under the radar screen
Summary: 5 Stars
You may have never heard of "Divine Divinity", and that is a shame, because the game is excellent. The game has hardly any faults -- it's biggest might be the name, which is about as catchy as Corn Flakes. This offering from Larian Studios is short on flash and flair, but long on substance and game play. If you have ever complained that RPG's focus too much on sexiness over substance, then "Divine Divinity" is the game for you.This game doesn't offer a lot in the way of originality. What makes ?Divine Divinity? such a good game is that it combines the strengths and experiences of so many other successful RPG?s, while discarding the genre?s usual faults. In addition, it makes the right tradeoffs between production values and core gameplay ? tradeoffs that should be made more often in the PC gaming business. You can tell that the developers for the game know what truly makes a good RPG.
The game certainly puts its worst foot forward when it introduces itself. When you start it up, it screams "Diablo clone from hell", with the red bulb for health, blue bulb for mana, and yellow bar for fatigue. However, the game quickly shows that is is a great open-ended RPG, and not just a dungeon crawl. The world is huge. Massive. Gargantuan. Morrowind-like. The game is truly open-ended, allowing you to wander and travel at will, exploring where you wish, and solving whatever quests you want. You could probably play for 150 hours if you wanted to without starting over, although it takes more like about 80 hours to finish.
The game uses 2D graphics, which are not breathtaking, but still good. The environments look excellent, and rarely look repetitive. There are mountain caverns, sewers, forests swamps, cities, etc. The game is loaded with hundred's of NPC's many of which look unique and have unique dialog trees. The soundtrack for the game is not remarkable, but it is still very good and has a lot of different sounds for the game's different areas. RPG fans will be pleased to see that most of the quests are not of the mundane ?FedEx? variety. They involve solving mysteries, exposing criminals, and accomplishing military objectives.
"Divine Divinity" excels the most in the RPG's most underappreciated area: the interface. DD's superior interface is a prime example of how this game gets the nuts and bolts right. Any detail of the game, whether it is inventory, skills, or the map, can be quickly and efficiently accessed. Multiple windows can be kept open to make tasks easier. Inventory management is refreshingly easy to use, and so is the in-game journal. The game has an in-game mini-map, as well as an attractive map screen with 3 zoom levels. The user can assign the 12 Function keys as shortcuts to almost any item or action. ?Divine Divinity? rarely bogs down inventory management sessions, or any of the other tedious shortcomings of most RPG?s. The game takes roughly 80-100 hours to complete, and they are all quality hours.
By far, ?Divine Divinity?s? only serious fault is its horrendous saving and loading times. The game?s ?Quick? save might be the slowest quick save ever created. Transitions that require a loading are rare, but when they occur, they provide a good opportunity for doing household chores.
It's hard to describe why a game like this is so good, because this game does so many little things right that you have to experience them to appreciate them. You might not fall in love with the game at first. Once you do, you will see that "Divine Divinity" has few faults, and is a lot of fun to play.