Monday, January 4, 2010

Divinity 2 - Dragon Age what?

Ok...my title is QUITE bold, but hear me out.

Unequivocally... I truly LOVE Divinity 2 ...way more than Dragon Age.

There I said it. It is done. Fanboys and Girls may stop here...or read on...

There is no gut wrenching story of love, hate, loss, or even pushy politics (though you DO create some of your own). There is just one goal in Divinity 2. Fun RPG goodness wrapped up into a button smashing, stats controlling, gear swapping, sandbox open world of fun.

Now, do not get me wrong. You have a goal. Think of it like Oblivion in the respect that you have one central story to complete, but you do not have a linear path there, and you do not have a time basis to complete it in (my over 30 hours of addiction can relate to that).
You complete various bits and pieces in the game world as you reach it. You find a dungeon, go in, and do it. You run around the world and activate NPC's as you get near them, then you can complete their quest at that time, or go do another dungeon or etc, etc. It ends up being various random events strung along in the large world map that you get to play in as you get there.

Again, the events are things that can be triggered by a central quest, or just happens as you move through the world. But, once you are done, eventually you can finish a piece of the world, and complete the stories for that zone...then you move on.

Basically, I could twist this around all day, and try to explain it. But, I won't. The underlying theme to me as I did each of these quests or activated NPC's or turned in quests and moved on; these things made one purpose clear...

I wanted to keep going.

What would they hit me with next? Like a good novel, if I wanted to continue reading instead of turning out the light and going to bed, there was a winning formula within those pages. Within this code (that is somewhat large) is a slew of little issues and bugs that would pop up, that most likely would make me quit out, and not boot it back up....if the game sucked. It did not. It does not, as I am STILL playing, and can see the potential for more here.

Ok, ok...this is not your normal review. I could sit here and tell you the in's and out's of gameplay. I could describe features like total control of your stats as you level. You are classless, thus you make your own class, which with my hybrid of Mage, Ranger and Warrior as the example, is so much cooler than the standards of most RPG's or MMO's.
I could go on about the fact that the game is NOT easy (though it may seem so at first), as the mobs become more prevalent and plentiful. More powerful as well. Or that finding the areas you need to go to (thanks to no "leading by the hand" mapping) can prove to be a pain, yet also a delight as you discover new little areas.
I could discuss the interweaving of humor, story, interesting plot twists (wait, I am a Dragon Slayer, yet I have the spirit of a Dragon within me?) or the fact that I take the story at my pace. I can investigate all the little nooks and crannies to find more goodies (OMG...now, how am I suppose to get that key they hid up on that shelf? And why is it that I have found 6 chests within this one zone that do not have keys handy...is there a secret to opening them?)...

Nope, I won't ...for now. BUT...I will leave you with this little video that pretty much gives you an idea of how much fun the developers were having with this game.



Cheers...oh, and I am off...to PLAY some more.

1 comment:

Daniel I. Mårtensson said...

I also love Divinity 2 (The Dragon Knight Saga) way more than Dragon Age: Origins. I even think Divinity 2 is the best rpg I've played this year. Arcania (Gothic 4) was good as well though. Fallout: New Vegas was a disappointment.