Divine Divinity - Review

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Spaceman
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Divine Divinity has been reviewed by our own GabrielMP_19.

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The Story of the Marked One

In Divine Divinity, you play as the Marked One. You can create a male or a female character from one out of three classes: warrior, wizard or survivor (rogue), which does not influence almost anything in the story, and only some of the dialogue is changed if you are a male or a female. While you were happily strolling around the village of Aleroth, you are struck by a thunder. That’s when the game begins.

The village of Aleroth is composed of healers and it’s in turmoil because their source of healing magic has been drying and their leader, Mardaneus, has become crazy. After helping the village, you discover that this is only the beginning of your troubles.

[...]
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This is one game I would like to see remade with the new d:eek:s engine. I think the story is and loot is a lot better than their more recent games.
 
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I still think Dragon Knight Saga is their best title, but a Divine Divinity remake would definitely be something I'd be interested in.
 
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Prior to that game I had hated Diablo style games. DD has shown me that a point and click action game can also have deep RPG elements. I played, finished and liked all the later Divinity games (apart from DOS2 which i will play in the future). But this game has always a special place in my heart. Turn based combats in DOS1 and 2 are fine. But a true sequel to DD would be fine. An isometric action RPG.
 
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Funny, I just picked up my year old play through of DD in the past couple of days. I hadn't tried it since I bought it but it looks nice at 1080 on my 32" monitor. Of all of them I played DKS first then started DD and have only played a little bit of DoS in between. I quite enjoy the familiar elements of world. The lack of hand holding is both a plus and frustrating minus sometimes. The 70 page manual is a nice reminder of ye olden days of gaming.
 
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This and Dragon Knights are what the Divine games should be, and not the mediocre offering that the first Sin was, and the second wasn't even on par with the first. I'd re-buy some of their great games if they updated them, wouldn't even stop to ponder it at all.
 
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I still giggle a little every time I see the title. I enjoyed the game a lot and especially loved the darker and grittier feel the world seemed to have.
 
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This remains my favourite game from Larian's growing and formidable cRPG library, although I'm yet to complete Original Sin 2. I think Kirill Pokrovsky's soundtrack has an integral role in that, as it made it such a memorable atmospheric experience to explore the world. The remake or revisitation of the dwarf drinking tune in D:OS2 was a nice touch.

As I like to do with most Divine Divinity threads, here's a link to the completion thread for Watchers to enter their characters in: We need more entries and strategies for this classic for the ages! :)
https://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14252
 
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The first part of DD was excellent, but the second half and the end game left much to be desired. I'm skeptical it would benefit from a remake.
 
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Love, LOVE DivDiv ... totally changed my perspective on ‘action RPG’ genre. Have replayed a bunch of times, some truly incredible stuff from the music to dungeon design to the stories and areas and all the little tidbits ...
 
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I luv luv div div too too. I still like DKS the best, but Larian goes mostly backwards imo.
I like DKS, Div, Beyond Div, DOS2, DOS1, in that order.
 
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Loved this game.
I'd pay full price if they released an HD version. Better value for me than most of what Beamdog has done so far.
 
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One of my all time very favorite RPGs and the only game that I have played completely 3 times. Yes, not the best graphic wise (and yet I find endearing) but a really good story/plot that shines brightly. Plus I found many of the quests to be some of the best I have come across my years of PC RPGs. And can you say Steel Scorpions? I just loved them. :p
 
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Absolutely agree with rjshae: seems like most of those, who praise DD as one on the best CRPGs ever made, forgot how soon game fell flat and became just Diabolo style trash mob killing. I tried to replay it for some time ago, but lost will and interest as soon as I reached orc camps.
Honestly I don't know how DD could be better than DOS1 &2?! Only because of nostalgia maybe.
 
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I'm mixed. I played it twice once a year or two after it came out and again a couple of years ago. The skills and character development are quite good (compared to diablo); it has a lot of interesting quests and hte story (esp at the start) is very good; i hated the graphics (wrote Larian a note about it in 2003 or 2004 and got a response; also I had a crashing bug and they responded in 24 hours with a patch). Throughout the game it has interesting sub quests and maps though they could have shaved the last piece off and still had a fine (or better) game. Also I like the loot in this game a lot better than d:eek:s - yes it has random stats and stuff but the hand placed items have fix base stats and then random adds. Anyway it is what it is. I enjoyed d:eek:s and d:eek:s-2 but I think d:eek:s had better combat and d:eek:s-2 better writing and story (though many of the sub stories are better than the main story).

Absolutely agree with rjshae: seems like most of those, who praise DD as one on the best CRPGs ever made, forgot how soon game fell flat and became just Diabolo style trash mob killing. I tried to replay it for some time ago, but lost will and interest as soon as I reached orc camps.
Honestly I don't know how DD could be better than DOS1 &2?! Only because of nostalgia maybe.
 
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Who said it was objectively better? Some of us merely prefer it. It's not rocket science.
 
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Absolutely agree with rjshae: seems like most of those, who praise DD as one on the best CRPGs ever made, forgot how soon game fell flat and became just Diabolo style trash mob killing.

I partially disagree ... I find that the game holds up extremely well up until after the Council areas ... Black Lake Dungeon area (and most of the Wastelands) is where XP no longer matter and it is all about getting to the finish. Not really different from most games in general.
 
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Divine Divinity and Dragon Knight Saga pull me in and keep me fully engaged the entire game, and that includes replays. Is nostalgia a factor in this? I'm certain it is, but these are also supremely superior games, much more so than their last two offerings. Of course, opinions may vary.
 
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I partially disagree … I find that the game holds up extremely well up until after the Council areas … Black Lake Dungeon area (and most of the Wastelands) is where XP no longer matter and it is all about getting to the finish. Not really different from most games in general.

As most of the games of that era, DD suffers from not being properly finished. I liked the game a lot but, seriously, the ending sucks. It's far from being a top RPG but it is certainly a memorable one.
 
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