Deadfire vs Divinity OS 2

[Sedrefilos]

I'm just happy to be living in a time when we can debate the relative merits of two excellent party-based cRPGs.

Yeah. Now that we have plenty we can dislike freely :D

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I'm going to play both, but if I'm being honest getting very drunk beats them both.

[Argahawk]

I will play both games too. Already was able to test Divinity OS 2 and can't wait for 14th September to see the rest of the story. Funny is that I wasn't able to finish DOS 1.

 

But then POE is a different game, more faster with more interesting story than DOS 1 (can't say for DOS 2 for now). So if POE 2 will be the same or better then at least for me POE 2 will be more interesting for replaying than Divinity. But time will tell

Edited September 6, 2017 by Argahawk

[Messier-31]

These two games are just too much apart to compare - I mean as someone already stated, Divinity is a succesor to Ultima while Pillars is succesor to Infinity engine games. Both are fantastic in their own way, but Larian tongue-in-cheek approach tires me quite quickly - that's the reason I still haven't finished that game (stuck at the end of Cyseal chapter) while already had a few takes on Pillars.

 

But DOS2 will have a dwarven companion, I'll give em that.

[daven]

On a tangent... I've never seen anyone on here mentioned Tides of Numenara. Been waiting for a sale on that one, just can't make up my mind. The official forums for is almost entirely filled with endless complaints.

[Sedrefilos]

But DOS2 will have a dwarven companion, I'll give em that.

 

Laughed hard :D

[Sedrefilos]

On a tangent... I've never seen anyone on here mentioned Tides of Numenara. Been waiting for a sale on that one, just can't make up my mind. The official forums for is almost entirely filled with endless complaints.

I was waiting with such anticipation for this game and, unfortunately, I dropped it after the 1st chapter. For me, the game was more like a digital storybook were you made choices here and there and less of a game. You make one step you read 20 minutes of text. You click 2 meters further, you read another 20 mins of text. Much of the text was unescessary, imo, with obvious descriptions and weird invented words that meant nnothing to me. As setting was interesting at first but too over the top and after a while, when you have realized that anything is possible (like there were no rules) you were hardly surprised by anything happening. The combat was toooo slow-paced and unteresting and most times I ended skipping through it going for the "alternate" objectives (which was the main objectives actually). A friend of mine finished the game; he was a huge fan of the original Torment and he liked it but find it too short at the end.

The pool system it was an interesting one but it would work better in a digital storybook and not in an iso-rpg imo. I suppose it works well in the tabletop game. Unfortunately, for me, it added nothing special to the genre; that's why I, at least, don't mention it 

Edited September 7, 2017 by Sedrefilos

[Messier-31]

 

On a tangent... I've never seen anyone on here mentioned Tides of Numenara. Been waiting for a sale on that one, just can't make up my mind. The official forums for is almost entirely filled with endless complaints.

I was waiting with such anticipation for this game and, unfortunately, I dropped it after the 1st chapter. For me, the game was more like a digital storybook were you made choices here and there and less of a game. You make one step you read 20 minutes of text. You click 2 meters further, you read another 20 mins of text. Much of the text was unescessary, imo, with obvious descriptions and weird invented words that meant nnothing to me. As setting was interesting at first but too over the top and after a while, when you have realized that anything is possible (like there were no rules) you were hardly surprised by anything happening. The combat was toooo slow-paced and unteresting and most times I ended skipping through it going for the "alternate" objectives (which was the main objectives actually). A friend of mine finished the game; he was a huge fan of the original Torment and he liked it but find it too short at the end.

The pool system it was an interesting one but it would work better in a digital storybook and not in an iso-rpg imo. I suppose it works well in the tabletop game. Unfortunately, for me, it added nothing special to the genre; that's why I, at least, don't mention it 

 

 

Same here.

 

This was the first game in ages where I picked Polish over English and still got a headache

[grumpymoose]

I can't see it as a versus situation. I played Original Sin and Pillars. I'll play OS2 and Deadfire. I am not limited to one game, and in a mood I will prefer one style, while in another mood I'll prefer another. Genres of gameplay and genres of setting change on a whim, this month, this thing, the next day, that thing, always there is room for something more.

[Wormerine]

On a tangent... I've never seen anyone on here mentioned Tides of Numenara. Been waiting for a sale on that one, just can't make up my mind. The official forums for is almost entirely filled with endless complaints.

If you are interested I would say it's enough to give it a go. All criticism above is valid, but for me the problem was dry writing. There is little character to it, but a lot of explaining and lore. Still I found it interesting enough to complete. A lot of interesting ideas but not really well developed. I though that second "bloom" section of the game was pretty solid.

[firkraag888]

On a tangent... I've never seen anyone on here mentioned Tides of Numenara. Been waiting for a sale on that one, just can't make up my mind. The official forums for is almost entirely filled with endless complaints.

It was a complete con job and a scam. They raised on kickstarter and took millions of dollars of peoples money on the basis of the game being similar to torment, baldurs gate and pillars.

 

It is nothing like the above games mentioned. It is one of the worst games I have ever played. 0/10 for me

[daven]

I can't see it as a versus situation. I played Original Sin and Pillars. I'll play OS2 and Deadfire. I am not limited to one game, and in a mood I will prefer one style, while in another mood I'll prefer another. Genres of gameplay and genres of setting change on a whim, this month, this thing, the next day, that thing, always there is room for something more.

Aye, sometimes I'm really in the mood for sci fi, sometimes fantasy. Actually really getting into Persona 5 right now, nice change of style.

[injurai]

 

On a tangent... I've never seen anyone on here mentioned Tides of Numenara. Been waiting for a sale on that one, just can't make up my mind. The official forums for is almost entirely filled with endless complaints.

It was a complete con job and a scam. They raised on kickstarter and took millions of dollars of peoples money on the basis of the game being similar to torment, baldurs gate and pillars.

 

It is nothing like the above games mentioned. It is one of the worst games I have ever played. 0/10 for me

 

 

Well, not sure about scam. You should go into crowd funding understanding the nature of investment and loss.

 

However, I remember when they revealed full vertical slices and then did their whole pre-release media push, that people were really excited about it and thought it looked better than Pillars. I had the opposite reaction, hardly anything about it enticed me. I wasn't feeling the art, the 3D assets in the scene didn't mesh with the world. The whole class system was super simple, the combat looked bad. Now I can't fully judge a game I haven't played, but I have a very good compass for my own tastes when it comes to judging a games systems and style by it's demo showings. Torment:ToN just looks like an utter disaster out the gate. I could go on, but I'll spare it the torment. Hopefully they have better luck with Wasteland 3.

[Wormerine]

 

 

On a tangent... I've never seen anyone on here mentioned Tides of Numenara. Been waiting for a sale on that one, just can't make up my mind. The official forums for is almost entirely filled with endless complaints.

 

It was a complete con job and a scam. They raised on kickstarter and took millions of dollars of peoples money on the basis of the game being similar to torment, baldurs gate and pillars.

It is nothing like the above games mentioned. It is one of the worst games I have ever played. 0/10 for me

 

Well, not sure about scam. You should go into crowd funding understanding the nature of investment and loss.

 

However, I remember when they revealed full vertical slices and then did their whole pre-release media push, that people were really excited about it and thought it looked better than Pillars. I had the opposite reaction, hardly anything about it enticed me. I wasn't feeling the art, the 3D assets in the scene didn't mesh with the world. The whole class system was super simple, the combat looked bad. Now I can't fully judge a game I haven't played, but I have a very good compass for my own tastes when it comes to judging a games systems and style by it's demo showings. Torment:ToN just looks like an utter disaster out the gate. I could go on, but I'll spare it the torment. Hopefully they have better luck with Wasteland 3.

I think it is quite an ambitious game but every aspect of it feels weak. Firkraag strongly overreacts (unless he was super lucky with the game he played) as it is not a terrible title. It is just not very good either.

 

It is very clear that they tried to recreate Planescape and it shows. Sadly, a game where story and characters were the biggest strength are impossible to recreate in a way games based on mechanics can. Numenera feels very artificial, with story beats and moments which remind you of a good old time but never really matches it. Visually it is clunky but it woundt be an issue if game itself was more engaging (wasteland2 was hideous but still had relatively good time with it - though I think PoE and D:OS have raised a bar a bit higher since then). The biggest criticism I can give Numenera is that I really don't feel like replaying it. It was fine while it lasted, but nothing gameplay/story wise worth revisiting.

[Varana]

I also backed all five (PoE1+2, D:OS1+2, and TToN), and haven't really been disappointed, so far. (TToN just took the hurdle.)

 

Sure, I never actually finished D:OS1. I never found its story all that interesting, and for me, it has HUUUGE pacing issues, even more so than PoE. They reportedly overhauled the ending for the Special Edition, but even though I restarted, I didn't get very far. Cyseal becomes a slog quite fast and actively stifles any sense of progression, their crafting system is an overcomplicated mess (with the inventory not helping at all), and I didn't really care for much of the story.

That said, it's still tremendous fun. Not so much for story, but it's turn-based combat done very well. That comparison with XCom is really spot on. You get plenty of interesting (and plenty of not-so-interesting but still decent) combat even without finishing the game, and that's where the game really shines.

Also, I like that tongue-in-cheek style. I tend to find fantasy with world-ending dragon vortexes or whatever that takes itself seriously quite ridiculous, these times. :D

 

So I'm really quite optimistic about D:OS2 - combat won't be worse, the story and world can only get better (including weresheep ghosts and other fun), and that's fine.

 

RTwP combat, OTOH, is not primarily about tactics, for me. It's over faster, it's better for some trash mobs (those are a real PITA in turn-based), and just generally not that much in the centre of attention. PoE is a different style, and while it had its shortcomings, it was a good game.

 

Now, Numenera. PS:T was one of my favourites (even though it suffers from nostalgia-tinted glasses at least as much as BG, I think), and TToN tries really hard to emulate it. PoE took the BG formula and did something with it that reminds the player of BG while at the same time making it clear that this is definitely and intentionally not BG (or IWD) but a game that wants to stand on its own. TToN is lacking that emancipation from its paradigm. It tries too hard to surgically isolate exactly those parts of PS:T that people fondly remember, and stitch them back together in the hope that the thing will come to life again. It doesn't.

I have a soft spot for weird fantasy, and I like reading. Which means I got a decent amount of entertainment out of TToN, enough to justify the investment. But it's not a good game.

 

In fact, once you realise that it's not so much a game but a strange mix of a novel with visual support and interaction, you'll enjoy it way more. If you buy it, use it as such, and don't go looking too hard for game-y stuff.

Edited September 8, 2017 by Varana

[kanisatha]

Very interesting discussion. For me there's no contest because I hate turn-based. I did buy DoS1 on steam just because it was on a very good sale price, but have not yet played it at all and probably never will. I've checked several gameplay videos on Youtube and really hate how combat works in that game. Plus, even when you're not in combat there's no pause function. Really hate that.

[HooAmEye]

I am more interested in the PoE2 vs Kingmaker debate

[Quillon]

I'm more interested in Deadfire vs The World, GOTY 2018 debate 

[MortyTheGobbo]

The first Divinity: Original Sin did little to draw me in. The character generation, though classless, felt more stifling and less inventive than Pillars', even though Pillars has classes. I have little interest in the warrior/rogue/mage division, even if it's not technically enforced by classes. So I skipped it. Maybe I wasn't fair and would have loved it, but that's my impression.

[Wormerine]

The first Divinity: Original Sin did little to draw me in. The character generation, though classless, felt more stifling and less inventive than Pillars', even though Pillars has classes. I have little interest in the warrior/rogue/mage division, even if it's not technically enforced by classes. So I skipped it. Maybe I wasn't fair and would have loved it, but that's my impression.

I believe that DOS main strength lies in coop. Characters and scenarios aren't particularly engaging unto themselves but it is a way you interact with the world and solve problems which makes it so fun. If you have a gaming buddy I can't think of better game to spend an evening with than DOS.

[Sedrefilos]

 

The first Divinity: Original Sin did little to draw me in. The character generation, though classless, felt more stifling and less inventive than Pillars', even though Pillars has classes. I have little interest in the warrior/rogue/mage division, even if it's not technically enforced by classes. So I skipped it. Maybe I wasn't fair and would have loved it, but that's my impression.

I believe that DOS main strength lies in coop. Characters and scenarios aren't particularly engaging unto themselves but it is a way you interact with the world and solve problems which makes it so fun. If you have a gaming buddy I can't think of better game to spend an evening with than DOS.

 

Although the people who answered they'll play the game co-op were quite a low percentage to their servey. They know most people will play it solo, that's why they made it with one main character this time, although they supported co-op (even upgraded it to 4 players) because there is still an audiance for this PLUS it makes good combo with their DM mode they're introducing this time.

Larian loves fun in their games and they show it

Edited September 11, 2017 by Sedrefilos

[SonicMage117]

I think each game has its pros and its cons...

 

I will say that (from what I've seen), DOS2 has more interesting companions and I favor turn-based combat over rtwp combat. However, something about PoE Deadfire's lore grabs me and I'm looking forward to the ship and crew originality it brings to rpg's.

 

I think PoE Deadfire is far different from the first while DO2 is more like the first.

 

I agree with Sedrefilos, Larian's concepts have always been about fun, moreso than Obsidian could ever hope to be. Obsidian is more serious and grim tone. Larian can be serious and grim if the occasion calls for it.

 

I guess they are totally opposites in rpg's yet they are two great games to pit against each other. I mean, why not? There's alot of great points to make comparisons and I always told friends that PoE and DOS were great rpg's that complimented each other because of how different they are. They are so different that they are a match in heaven.

[Karkarov]

I'm more interested in Deadfire vs The World, GOTY 2018 debate 

Well.... you asked for it.

 

 

Special thanks to Penett on Tumbler for that really cool Durance fan art I used.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

If we're talking vs here, I'm interested in seeing Durance vs Bojack Horseman.

[SonicMage117]

I'm more interested in Deadfire vs The World, GOTY 2018 debate

While I like youe enthusiasm, there's A LOT of great games coming in 2018. Honestly, I thinm Deadfire will be pushed aside, overlooked and ultimately forgotten by the vast public.

 

Of course, I'd love to be proven wrong.