Divinity: Original Sin II - Review @ GameBanshee

Drithius said:

Your impression without playing, eh? Well, that's valuable indeed.

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An impression formed after reading a dozen reviews and some forums. Not very valuable, obviously, but my comment was more about nostalgia glasses and how games are never going to be good enough because the standard only exists inside someone's mind.

Don't think it's just "rose tinted glasses". I haven't played D:OS2 myself but I'm not really getting excited by what I've been reading. It's matter of taste as well.

Also, hype. We will see what people say after 10 years, if people still consider D:OS2 a classic/masterpiece etc then.

I'm looking forward to play it, but I'll wait for an enhanced edition or at least some patches. Unfortunately, those kinds of games are never released in their best shape and there's always room for improvement.

Is there any game released since 2013 that was very well accepted by hardcore gamers? I can only think of Underrail and Age of Decadence, buy both of them have a lot of haters as well. Sorry if I'm starting to get off topic...

Wasn't The Witcher 3 well received by everyone including "hardcore" gamers?

Drithius said:

Well, it's a casual game, through and through:

• Diablo randomly generated loot.
• Inflated, exponentially increasing power numbers (HP, damage, armor, etc).
• Unlimited respecs and travel to anywhere at any time make for exploration that is free from any consequence.
• Physical/magic armor system completely trivializes or negates what should otherwise be hazardous effects. The same hazards that Larian spent so much time talking about.

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Very well put, especially your first two points are my biggest gripes. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but action RPG loot with levels and over the top exponential growth curves annoy me to no end. Oh, and vendors scaling to your level. Yuck. At least the enemies don't as far as I can tell.

purpleblob said:

Wasn't The Witcher 3 well received by everyone including "hardcore" gamers?

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Hardly. I couldn't get past the 20-30 hour mark with that game. That being said I don't dish the game as its clear it is a well made quality game. I don't even dislike the game. I simply could not get into it.

DOS2 is a fun game and I don't see it as having a lot of filler content myself. What is considered filler has some wiggle room as do most things that are borderline objective/subjective and a matter of taste. While the battles are slow they are well done even if I am not a big fan these days of turn based combat. Outside of that I am finding the content of the game to be a lot of fun - lots of lore, stories, anecdotes, quests with-in quests (as in a side-quest that then has sub-quests) and very little hand-holding. For casuals that is a complaint and I admit to not solving a few things myself … probably rusty on games that require a lot more brain power.

Anyhow I think the filler content is far better than most games and not as over done as others. Somewhat depends on what you consider filler.

There are time sinks which perhaps is considered also filler? I am breaking that out as its own thing though. The time sinks get to me a little. Time sinks is the combat itself and having to spend so much time in inventory comparing items and looking at what you have. Then checking merchants each level and always upgrading. Granted I play on easy so I am able to get away with not upgrading as often. Still I can spend an hour or more on a gaming session just in inventory and with merchants. Between that and combat I get very little done each night which is why I am still on island two (reapers coast) although I did do Bloodmoon Isle (not sure if that is really considered seperate or not) and about 2/3 of the coast. I am somewhat focusing more on the main story and the core companion stories of my companions.

Still a fun game and do enjoy it. I should say I don't really disagree with the points made by Drithius either. I see it as more of a casual game even if it can also he hard. It reminds me of Diablo with better companions, much slower combat, and better story (I am not critical on stories and I admit to loving this story so far … find it enthralling and it really helps to hold my interest through the slow combat and getting to the next bit of story/lore. Likewise for the companions).

Drithius said:

Well, just because it's filler content doesn't necessarily mean it's bad quality. Just the opposite in the case of D:OS2. The side quests are original and they don't typically hold your hand. The problem is that there are simply too many of them; you're practically tripping over content and, while that can be exciting at first, it really became quite fatiguing for me.

There is indeed a narrative that plays out, but it gets buried underneath a mountain of branching npc story arcs. And vendor reloading. Lots of vendor reloading. Yay RNG.

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Right, on the positive side what I have been reading about how quests can be solved in multiple ways or even differ based on what order you complete them sounds great. Lack of handholding can also be good; as long there is some clue as to what to do so you're not stuck with trial & error as your only option.

But many other things like the random / generic loot really put me off of D:OS. And the combat got so tedious. I strongly prefer TB tactical but it's just too much. Saw some complaints about DOS2 combat animations really dragging on, too, with no option to speed them up? Ugh.

The big issue for me was that the whole dialogue system being set up for co-op made it awkward for singleplayer in DOS. Even once AI was implemented… I understand they've done away with the awful paper rock scissors in 2, but is dialogue any less awkward?

Well, this thread convinced me that I made the right decision by axing a hardcore RPG development project
My fellow colleagues still hate me for it, but at least I won't ruin the company by chasing a dream, and I can keep the staff paid

duerer said:

Well, this thread convinced me that I made the right decision by axing a hardcore RPG development project
My fellow colleagues still hate me for it, but at least I won't ruin the company by chasing a dream, and I can keep the staff paid

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You seem unstable. What has the ramblings of 3 or 4 posters on an obscure forum got to do with a business' bottom line? Usually, the more money something makes, the more criticism it gets, so, er, have fun making random executive decisions based on broken crystal balls.

[If one single thing you say is even true, that is]

Dasale said:

Story is more for casual players

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Seriously?
So Farmville has a story?

The game levels the items because it cannot predict how many side content you will do. The point of side content is, it is optional.
Now if you put hard levels on the items and ither elements you force basically everyone to do everything just to be at the right level. When a game forces me to do all the quests in one place because else I will not have the right level expected by some designer, there for me is a fault.

I'd personally rather side content be "mandatory" in that the game would expect you to do a certain amount of "stuff" before tackling the main quest or harder areas.

Morrowind does this. Caius Cosades, i.e. the first main quest giver, tells you to go out, explore the world, get your bearings and become stronger before you attempt the difficult tasks he has for you.

Designing an RPG that way today would sell less units but it makes for a more immersive RPG, IMO.

And long live Piranha Bytes. They are basically the only RPG dev on their level still designing worlds that way.

Matter of personal preference, you still can do everything or try to. That is the point it is based on freedom and choice.
You can even go from the first Island to the last one without getting a single foot on Nameless or the second one. What a surprise that would be if arrived there all the items would 15 levels above your own level.

Aerth said:

The game levels the items because…

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...because the power growth curve is ridiculous and more at home in WoW.

Drithius said:

…because the power growth curve is ridiculous and more at home in WoW.

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So Divinity OS II is similar to WOW.

ok.

Thanks?

Aerth said:

So Divinity OS II is similar to WOW.

ok.

Thanks?

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Insofar as the exponential HP/damage growth curve is concerned, yes. It's a ridiculous system that serves more to 'bulk up' the game with continuous equipment management -
equipment that rarely ever evolves past more hp/damage; ie., WoW.

I am getting too old for this. Had you fun with this game, yes or no?

Between the guys who did not even played the game but criticize it because they did read lot of reviews and the guys who say there is too much content and when you tell them you can skip it. Well, then they tell you they prefer mandatory content and so there is too much of it...

This game looks like a real good and fun surprise in reality and a forum failure.

I have been reading the different threads of the forum and most of them are generally negative but written by people who have never played the game, don't even own it or compare it to other games no one but them could think about while playing DOS2

I am just getting too old for that shit. Don't mind me, go on, go on.

So you're tired of the negativity but fail to address valid criticism of the game, instead falling back on passive aggressiveness and forum generalizations. Go on, go on.

Aerth said:

I am getting too old for this. Had you fun with this game, yes or no?

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I had fun up until some point in act 2; that act outstayed its welcome and made me want to hurry towards the end of the game and never look back. Still not done.

On the whole thread you are one of the 2 only persons who articulate a valid negative point about the game. The rest are a compilation of reviews, of wish list about a game who does not exist and so on and so on.

And that is the case with all the threads about that game. So yeah I feel entitled to complain.

As for your point specifically I think I asked to you if that critic had detracted on your pleasure with the game. You just replied than yes. So yes your point is indeed a valid point in your case.

I genuinely think the gearing thing is a bit of a drawback, and I mentioned it in my review. The characters remain almost static near the end, except for the huge leaps in gear, which essentially provides almost all the character progression in the final third. Level ups primarily mean something because vendors are re-stocked, now with 30-40% stronger items than they used to have.

That just feels off to me, and was one of few things I was hoping they'd address in a potential EE, but that doesn't look to be happening.