My characters are currently lvl 9 and I just finished everything in the first zone, and currently working my way through the second.
I have 2 qualms so far.
1. The role-playing aspect. Role-playing as 2 main characters is already kind of weird, but when the game forces you into a dialogue with... yourself, it just crosses the border in my opinion. It ends up as a mindless way to boost your traits in a way that suits your specific character the best.
2. The story. Now, the story isn't bad; it's just poorly presented. I never thought I'd ever say this about a game, but: I wish it would've been more linear. You just can't help but get completely wrapped up in a bunch of different missions. Couple that with the fact that a lot of the missions are too obscure, and you end up stuck. I've had to google how to progress several times so far. I'm not saying I want the game to hold my hand throughout, but some form of direction would've been nice.
Having said all that, I still very much enjoy this game. The combat is fun and challenging (less so later on though, unfortunately), the graphics and voice-acting superb, and the humor in the game is also a fresh gust of air. (Pet Pal is the greatest thing ever, and completely mandatory just fyi). The equipment are diverse and interesting as well. For instance, I just picked up a ring that lets the wearer cast spells he/she otherwise wouldn't have been able to, albeit at a cost to efficiency. The crafting system is interesting, but some sort of list/menu would've been nice, so you don't have to go back and read the recipes every time.
All in all, I give this game a potential 8/10 (once all the bugs and kinks have been taken care of). I definitely recommend it.
Edit: Forgot 1 thing: The soundtrack in this game is a-freakin'-mazing. Whenever I boot up the game, I hesitate to load a save because of the menu-music.
The game's minimum requirement is OS X 10.8/10.9 with 4GB of memory. The game will run on Intel HD 3000 & 4000 graphics cards, but those should be considered minimum requirements. For integrated chipsets like Intel Graphics, we highly recommend 8GB of memory. The recommended configuration for Divinity on OS X is either Intel Iris (Iris Pro) integrated chipset or NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M and higher video cards.
Screw them and this game! I wanted to play it in my OS X 10.7.5 with my Intel GMA 950! Looks like I'll postpone this game until I get a new computer
I actually ended up buying it on Steam about a week ago (which I have since regretted if only because I hate Steam achievements and the game has them for some strange reason). Should have bought it through gog.com
But anyways I was going to say that I'm able to run the game fairly well using the following.
2.53 core 2 duo intel processor, 4 gb ram, 1 gb ati 4670 graphics card.
Anyways in my experience with the game even if you could run it on a mac with a 3000 intel graphics card and 4gb of ram the loading times would be what kills you (and you will have to reload with this game).
@elminster just in case you're not aware, you can disable achievement notifications. Once you do that it's pretty easy to pretend they don't exist.
That is very true and I probably will end up doing that next time I'm on Steam (I actually looked it up a few days ago but hadn't gotten around to it).
Slightly off topic, but has anyone played the GOG version of "Divine Divinity". I'm thinking of giving the original a purchase in the next few days. And does anyone have any experience with "Inquisitor"??
Divine divinity is an amazing game. I recommend it to you.
I've also played Inquisitor, although I've never went past a certain point, but if it costs little I recommend to you to buy it. The fact is that I was never able to play it so I can't certainly say what are the strongest point and what not. But it has a shit-ton of dialogues and I was astonished by some scenes. So definitely, take it if it doesn't cost much. Actually, thanks for reminding me that I should buy it.
Sadly, I've read horrible things the 'Inquisitor" combat system the last couple days (comparing it to Arcanum's, which is another game completely ruined by a inept combat system). A shame because the rest of it looks great.
I'm surprised from looking at screenshots that the required specs are so high, this game looks VERY promising but not enough to buy a whole new computer, sadly.
I don't know if it was mentioned, but the first update added AI personalities for those people who don't like roleplaying the reactions of two protagonists. You can choose a personality for your companion at character creation.
I really hope many people will buy this game. It's really great, and reminiscent of old BG and Ultima type of games but presented in a more modern way. In summary: Very depth. Must buy.
What inept combat system? Arcanum had a great combat system...if you used the turn-based option only. The real-time version is awful, that I agree, simply because it's so fast as to be basically uncontrollable.
It's like fighting battles where every enemy/ally is Balthazar in terms of movement speed.
I do agree that magic could've used a little more balancing, since the damage was directly proportional to your magic attunement level, rather then your character level...and harm had a ridiculous level of scaling (the other attack spells were far more balanced IMO, and Disintergate at least penalized you for taking advantage of it's instant kill top-spell. I do agree that that was a bit of an over-sight. IMO, harm should've been 3rd tier, and animate undead be 1st or 2nd tier (the 1 that summons skeletons/zombies rather then directly re-animating a character, and requires a dead body to work...I really dislike the idea of a necromancer summoning things out of no-where when there's already a conjuration school that does that.)
@elminster I started with Knight & Battlemage. I figured if F/C and F/M are among the best in BG, lol. It's not bad, but I would probably start with a Knight & custom Battlemage specced for ranged if I was to start again. It seems archery is mega useful in this game.
Still, it's likely the closest spiritual successor to the BG series that we are going to see anytime soon.
The closest spiritual successor to BG would be Pillars of Eternity coming out at the end of 2014, I think. But the beta is already out and as a backer, I played it.
The only difference is that BG has more side-quests. But at the end of the day, it's you slaughter droves of enemies with little difficulty, and gets gobs of monty haul loot that no GM in their right mind would hand out as freely as BG does.
Not sure about ADnD 2E, but in 3E you have something called "Wealth by Level". Basically a recommended amount of gold each character should have based on their level.
Also, in 3E if you don't give loot to your characters and mundanes, you have Druids that don't need armor or weapons and just destroy everything.
You have mages and Clerics that can enhance a weapon with a spell (Greater Magic Weapon) as well as their armor (Magic Vestment) with no cost at all.
If you don't hand out loot, you have underpowered melees with +1 weapons, while Clerics can enchant their own +3 weapons and armor, at no cost. With only a couple of spells.
So really, I don't buy the argument "this is monty haul loot and if a GM does that, he's crazy" when casters don't even need it but mundanes do.
@Archaos I must say this game reminds me of playing BG1 for the first time. There's lots of exploring to do, interesting things and characters to find and you can feel a bit lost at times. But it's worth it. Just like BG.
You are right. I'm hoping the patch to add more proper companions comes out soon.
@FinneousPJ, if not a patch there will be probably mods soon, because (unlike that other overrated project erroneously considered by many a spiritual successor of BG), Divinity Original Sin can be easily modded
Well, there's supposed to be a patch that will add a Ranger companion, and a Fighter companion. I think it's been pushed back to September now.
As for D:OS modding, I don't think its easy right now. Yes, there's a toolset, but of the 39 mods for D:OS that I've seen, none of them are NPC mods. One's a difficulty mod. A couple make it so then you can play with 4 people. There's a couple more that add a their own campaign. Other wise, most of the mods are either re-textures or portraits. So, yeah, I wouldn't quite say "easily modded" yet, but it's slowly getting there.
Comments
I have 2 qualms so far.
1. The role-playing aspect.
Role-playing as 2 main characters is already kind of weird, but when the game forces you into a dialogue with... yourself, it just crosses the border in my opinion. It ends up as a mindless way to boost your traits in a way that suits your specific character the best.
2. The story.
Now, the story isn't bad; it's just poorly presented. I never thought I'd ever say this about a game, but: I wish it would've been more linear. You just can't help but get completely wrapped up in a bunch of different missions. Couple that with the fact that a lot of the missions are too obscure, and you end up stuck.
I've had to google how to progress several times so far. I'm not saying I want the game to hold my hand throughout, but some form of direction would've been nice.
Having said all that, I still very much enjoy this game. The combat is fun and challenging (less so later on though, unfortunately), the graphics and voice-acting superb, and the humor in the game is also a fresh gust of air. (Pet Pal is the greatest thing ever, and completely mandatory just fyi).
The equipment are diverse and interesting as well. For instance, I just picked up a ring that lets the wearer cast spells he/she otherwise wouldn't have been able to, albeit at a cost to efficiency.
The crafting system is interesting, but some sort of list/menu would've been nice, so you don't have to go back and read the recipes every time.
All in all, I give this game a potential 8/10 (once all the bugs and kinks have been taken care of). I definitely recommend it.
Edit: Forgot 1 thing: The soundtrack in this game is a-freakin'-mazing. Whenever I boot up the game, I hesitate to load a save because of the menu-music.
But anyways I was going to say that I'm able to run the game fairly well using the following.
2.53 core 2 duo intel processor, 4 gb ram, 1 gb ati 4670 graphics card.
Anyways in my experience with the game even if you could run it on a mac with a 3000 intel graphics card and 4gb of ram the loading times would be what kills you (and you will have to reload with this game).
I really hope many people will buy this game. It's really great, and reminiscent of old BG and Ultima type of games but presented in a more modern way. In summary: Very depth. Must buy.
It's like fighting battles where every enemy/ally is Balthazar in terms of movement speed.
I do agree that magic could've used a little more balancing, since the damage was directly proportional to your magic attunement level, rather then your character level...and harm had a ridiculous level of scaling (the other attack spells were far more balanced IMO, and Disintergate at least penalized you for taking advantage of it's instant kill top-spell. I do agree that that was a bit of an over-sight. IMO, harm should've been 3rd tier, and animate undead be 1st or 2nd tier (the 1 that summons skeletons/zombies rather then directly re-animating a character, and requires a dead body to work...I really dislike the idea of a necromancer summoning things out of no-where when there's already a conjuration school that does that.)
So anyone playing this. If so what did you start out with?
I started out with an up-close cleric-like character and then a rogue like character (bow and knife wielding).
That being said, I think my next group is going to be Ranger/Rogue with two custom companions since I got Jahan and Madora in the current group.
But the beta is already out and as a backer, I played it. Not sure about ADnD 2E, but in 3E you have something called "Wealth by Level".
Basically a recommended amount of gold each character should have based on their level.
Also, in 3E if you don't give loot to your characters and mundanes, you have Druids that don't need armor or weapons and just destroy everything.
You have mages and Clerics that can enhance a weapon with a spell (Greater Magic Weapon) as well as their armor (Magic Vestment) with no cost at all.
If you don't hand out loot, you have underpowered melees with +1 weapons, while Clerics can enchant their own +3 weapons and armor, at no cost. With only a couple of spells.
So really, I don't buy the argument "this is monty haul loot and if a GM does that, he's crazy" when casters don't even need it but mundanes do.
As for D:OS modding, I don't think its easy right now. Yes, there's a toolset, but of the 39 mods for D:OS that I've seen, none of them are NPC mods. One's a difficulty mod. A couple make it so then you can play with 4 people. There's a couple more that add a their own campaign. Other wise, most of the mods are either re-textures or portraits. So, yeah, I wouldn't quite say "easily modded" yet, but it's slowly getting there.