Divinity series

[Haerski]

I bought Divinity Anthology box and just started Divine Divinity... and I must say I'm very pleasantly surprised, even though I'm only about an hour in. Gameplay in overall feels so smooth and polished (except few little things that might get annoying in longer run) I felt like I had played this game already for couple of hours. Haven't got into story much yet.. in fact not at all, but seems there's some pretty good humor and parody of standard fantasy setting and that's always welcome. Interface is clear and easy to use which is always plus, but best thing about it - which is often overlooked in games - is that you can open and close those windows as you wish, move them around and leave open when needed. Especially handy with large HD monitors. Why don't all games have such system? Best possible first impression, but lets see how it lasts...

 

Funny thing is I bought this game mostly for great commercial the studio released (this has never happened before ), but I can already see there is much fun to be had here. What do you think about these games? Was it good decision and are there some unpleasant surprises waiting for me further in the games? Any tips for newbie?

 

Here is the commercial that made me buy it. Hope this doesn't break the rules of this forum about advertising, but it's very funny anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA9QggTdsdg&list=PL58106A8E360224ED&index=1&feature=plcp

Edited October 23, 2012 by Haerski

[Tigranes]

Divine Divinity and Divinity 2 are flawed games, but inexplicably very very fun for all their flaws. Definitely worthwhile, DD has a pretty poor start with a Diablo-style dungeon but then the world turns out to be much more than that.

[Amentep]

I never got very far in Divine Divinity; some day I should go back and try to finish it.

 

Divinity II I stopped playing after a bug ruined my save game.

[HoonDing]

Along with Sacred it's the only hack 'n slash series that doesn't manage to bore me to tears.

[Volourn]

When I first played DD, I loathed it with a hateful passion reserved for epic failures. i tried it again in the pastr eyar, and it turned out a fun game.

 

DD2 is also solid.

[Humanoid]

So is the omission of Beyond Divinity from any discussion here meant to imply that it's best ignored? Sort of like the Invisible War of the series?

[Nordicus]

So is the omission of Beyond Divinity from any discussion here meant to imply that it's best ignored? Sort of like the [DELETED] of the series?

The what of the series?

[argan]

I got quite far in DD, but then a computer crash made me erase my games. A shame, I really really enjoyed it.

[Volourn]

BD is okay and hs a certain charm but is definitely the weakest of the three.

[Nonek]

Enjoying this, the humour's somewhat sophomoric for my liking, but the game itself is really captivating me. It's also very nice to see a game that's not obsessed with stripping out features but actually strives to implement some cool stuff.

[Haerski]

Along with Sacred it's the only hack 'n slash series that doesn't manage to bore me to tears.

I guess they must be pretty good then.

 

So is the omission of Beyond Divinity from any discussion here meant to imply that it's best ignored? Sort of like the Invisible War of the series?

When I did little research about these games I also got impression that BD was going to be the least of the three or at least least known. It's probably not bad, just indifferent. Which usually in games means bad, but... well I don't know. I'll see when I get around to it.

[Orchomene]

There are too many mushrooms in BD. And gnomes too.

It's close to DD, but more linear and more dungeon crawl than the first one. Yet, there are some interesting novelties, like being able to control two characters instead of one. The story is ok, but not that original. At release, it had a lot of bugs that made the game difficult to play, but it's no pretty stable I think.

So yes, weak point of the series but not unenjoyable.

[Maria Caliban]

Divine Divinity was a fun game. Divinity 2 was an okay game, but you did get to turn into a giant dragon and fly around.

 

The problem with the Divinity series is that you always lose. The point of the series is that you try to defeat the Damned One, but at no point can you do so. Much of the time, you attempting to defeat the Damned One is merely you playing into his hands.

 

So is the omission of Beyond Divinity from any discussion here meant to imply that it's best ignored? Sort of like the Invisible War of the series?

At the beginning of BD, you're chained to a Death Knight who is like the Gilbert Godfry of companions. He frequently whines and his voice is annoying.

 

There are also random 'battlegrounds' with randomized battleground quests. One quest had me fight 'that naughty Gwriveryn,' which was a giant spider trapped in a boxed off room I couldn't reach. It didn't fit with the rest of the game, wasn't fun, but gave good XP and if you skipped the battlegrounds, the regular game became progressively harder and harder.

Edited November 22, 2012 by Maria Caliban

[HoonDing]

It's not a Larian game without a Xanatos gambit.

[marelooke]

I got Divinity 2 in a Steam sale, then somehow ended up on the founder of Larian Studio's blog. It's a company that obviously does what they do because they love doing what they do, they've been through some seriously rough times it seems and from what I've read it's half a miracle they're still around.

 

I never actually played Divine Divinity, it's bug ridden reputation always put me off, but that apparently is mostly a thing of the past as it seems these guys keep on supporting their games well after release (sounds like a certain company that tends to bring out "enhanced editions" of their games...for free even, wth? ). What I had seen of D2 and what I had read about the company made me shell out for the Anthology (them being countrymen sort of helped too I'll admit) and what struck me most is this passage by their founder (literally last sentence of the Preface):

 

We couldn't have come this far if we didn't have a healthy dose of idealism in us, and I hope that will never fade away.

 

This sounds quite like a certain company we know (*hint* the name starts with an "O") and alas, unlike another company we also know (name starts with a "B")

 

As for the quality of the games, I'm pleasantly surprised by Divinity 2 so far, combat can be quite frustrating at times but overall it's good fun, wouldn't put the stamp "great" on it, but "good" definately. There's some interesting mechanics to the game (giving up XP to read people's minds for one) and flying around as a dragon is great fun (but like the Larian guys I'm a sucker for dragons so ymmv)

Edited November 26, 2012 by marelooke

[Keyrock]

I liked Divine Divinity quite a bit. A heavily flawed game, but definitely worthwhile and fun. Beyond Divinity has an interesting premise but not executed particularly well. Also, it's supper buggy (maybe that's fixed now?). I could never get into Divinity 2, it just didn't grab me.

[Wulfic]

Divine divinity is one of the best action rpgs( if not THE BEST ) i've ever played. AND I HATE Action rpgs. But DD I loved :D it has so much in it. So much cool story. It isnt really deep but it is surprising. The sidequests however kick-ass ! Love them. The world is cool too ! And it is challenging it isnt easy. I have to admit that DD is one of the best games I've played. Beyond divinity and divinity 2 sucks ;/ REALLY BAD. Beyond divinity sets u in a corridor and u have to walk it through it is boring and not entertaining AT ALL. Divinity 2 was good at the beginning and then smack in the face. Exploration suddenly just stops and you walk in dungeons and fly as dragon, which sounds fun, right ? RIGHT ? NOOOO ! The idea of the game was to be a dragon. The name of the game is EGO DRACONIS and you dont feel like a dragon at all... I wait for the new game of Larian studios which can be actually pretty fun :D