Divinity 2: Developer's Cut

Divinity 2 feels like a much older RPG somehow brought through a time-warp into the present. Most of the time, this works out fantastically. The game's writing, the sense of exploration, the design of the quests and the world, the soundtrack, all of it is fantastic. The graphics for the most part are beautiful and just slightly stylized, making it look like a pulp fantasy illustration barring a few issues. The combat works, but it's hard to say it's fantastic. If you're a person who likes exploring or humor, you're probably going to enjoy this game quite a bit. Poking around everywhere will let you find stuff you never even knew was there in the first place. And, impressively, sometimes the game challenges you with something that isn't even combat. You'll find platforming sections, or riddles, or impromptu memory tests. The writing is both gently sarcastic and refreshingly sincere; it believes in the insane fantasy world that it's set in, but it's not afraid to poke jokes. Try to find one conversation where you can't make a snarky comeback. The gameplay is a mixed bag. The system of stats and skills works very well (essentially freeform, allowing you to take whatever skills you like) and the loot taps into your inner DPS-calculating nerd. The combat is quick and you can be pretty acrobatic with leaping strikes and backflips, but it can boil down into a clickfest while you chug potions. It does know how to get challenging enough to keep you on your toes, though. If you don't have a high tolerance for hack and slash combat, try the demo first. The story itself is nothing all too special--it's done well enough, but there's nothing that sets it apart all that much, even though it's got enough good ideas in there to keep you going for the most part. The graphics are beautifully stylized, but in some places the seams start to show a little, like how distant mountains don't blend into the sky properly. If you've got a good PC and you're struggling with framerate issues, you should turn on the 'shadow frameslice update' option; it makes environmental shadows update more slowly, but saves a lot of performance. And if you're having trouble with sharp aliasing on high settings and can't force AA through your graphics card control panel, try turning on FXAA if your drivers have it, or getting the SMAA injector. (Just search Google for it.) Either of those helps the aliasing considerably. So in the end, even though I love this game dearly, I have to admit it's not exactly perfect. But if you don't mind looking past a few blemishes, Divinity 2 is an astoundingly rewarding game that can easily suck up fifty hours of your life. And you'll only have finished about half of the content there is. I'm speaking from experience there.

Divinity 2 is in my opinion, as the title of this review already says, a hidden gem. It's one of those fantasy RPG games that never got big, but is very solid nonetheless. In that sense I think you can compare it to games like Gothic 1, 2 and 3, in that it also has a very distinct and committed fan base of its own. The game introduces some RPG systems that are very unique to this particular series in terms of skill management and earning and spending experience points. These elements might take a little "getting used to" when compared to bigger and (and often simpler) titles. But invest some time in it, and quickly it will become second nature to you. The game also is very old school in the sense that it really doesn't hold your that hand much. It's up to you how to approach certain situations, and it forces you to think about them before you throw yourself into it. This is also a game that you want to play with a notebook, since you have to write down clues for certain side quests yourself. (Once again, no hand holding here, the game gives you clues, and you decide whatever you do with the information). There is a helpful option to read back previous conversations you had, but a separate notebook is all the more handy, and frankly, its fun to do. The maps of the different regions and lands of Rivellon show only the lay of the lands as they are. Important buildings in villages you have to mark for yourself on the map. I like this feature, since it makes "exploration" as a gameplay element all the more essential. (And yet again no handholding, mark it yourself !) In terms of production value, the game is way above avarage. The graphics look nice and colorful, and most of the textures have nice detail to them. Larian also filled the environments with animals and such, making each area feel alive. The environments them selves look very nice, and the interplay of light and dark can create some very nice looking pictures. All the environments all are hand crafted , which makes the areas have a very organic and distinct feel to them. Voice acting is well done in my opinion, and the music fits the setting. Like other western RPG's you create your own character in Divinity 2, and this is where the game in my opinion is lacking a bit. There really aren't that much customization options available for your character. This is one minor gripe I have, but easily forgiven with all the other good things it has going for it. So if you are the type of person who likes old school RPG's, and you're not afraid to invest some time into a game that just does some things a little different, you might as well want to try Divinity 2. I'm certain you won't be disappointed !

In addition to what others have said about this game I get a feeling from Divinity 2 that I have not felt since EverQuest and Diablo 2. I want to play it. When not playing, I think about it, what quest did I miss, what to do next, should I go back to a chest I skipped earlier and try to open it now. Some great epic RPGs are out now but often they can start to feel like a grind. When I come home from work, I want a game that is somewhat simple and fun. This game is both, not too many things to remember, not too many keystrokes to memorize, and lots of things to stumble upon. Five stars for recapturing the feeling I once had playing games.

It's very good, it is not without some major faults, mainly in handling combat and movement. First, targeting. Some attack skills require homing. So, let's say you target a healer or summoner, and then someone runs up to you. You have to untarget to be able to defend yourself, and the time taken for that can get you killed. Normal attacks should either be divorced from targeting, or WASD should override it. Second, the Gamebryo affliction. You can get "stuck" on slopes and such, and this will get you killed. Third, range. Even with relevant skills, you can't use bows at enough of a range to play stealthily. You can see every feature of the enemy, but not shoot a bow at it. Grrr. If the mentioned problems, and a few that made my first try too long, weren't there, it would be worth 5 stars. The content is there, but some execution details detract from it.