Anyone played Divinity II: Dragon Knight Saga?

[LookingGlass]

I hadn't heard of this RPG until just recently. It seems that it was originally released with the sub-title "Ego Draconis" and then "Dragon Knight Saga" is the original game with some improvements (like The Witcher: Enhanced Edition) and also an expansion pack... I think. That's my understanding from what I've read.

Ego Draconis received mixed reviews but Dragon Knight Saga seems to be more positive... but it's not been reviewed by any major places so it's hard to tell.


I've been plodding along in the demo this morning and it seems to be pretty good. Surprisingly decent voice work, good graphics (not top of the line but good enough), well-designed inventory, dialogue, and skill systems. Combat is a bit awkward and doesn't have much of a weighty feel to it, at least with the (weak) weapons and spells I've used so far.


So I figured I'd get your thoughts on it. Who's played it? Love it? Hate it? Is there much in the way of a story carrying the adventure? How does combat evolve as you get new weapons and abilities?

 

[80Maxwell08]

I played it on the PC (don't know which version you are looking at) for a while enough to get out of the second area but I think I missed about half of that. Honestly it's seemed fun enough to me so I would recommend it even with how far I've gotten. Still think I missed like half of that area though.

 

[Sram]

I've played it and I liked it, it was released way erlier in Europe than in the US, don't know exactly why. My first playthrough was with a dualwield warrior and the beginning was tough but with better weapons and skills it was more like a 3d diablo-like hack n' slay.

The story is ok with some twists, the quests are fun and most of time the game takes itself not very serious. Later on you can transform into a dragon and can fly around, the areas are explorable but limited to around 5 zones if i remember.

It's not as great as the Witcher but i had my fun with it.

 

[LookingGlass]

Yeah I'm just looking at the PC version.

I finished the demo... got a solid 2 hours out of it which impressed me. I do rather like the game... but I think I'll have to wait for a Steam sale. It's $39.99 USD at the moment. Now, it appears to provide a lot of content and so that's certainly not horrible, but I think of it this way: I've preordered Skyrim for $43.

If I didn't already have a ton of games to play, or if it was $25, it'd be a no-brainer.

 

[shrekfan246]

I've played it. It's pretty cool. As you yourself said, OP, the combat is a bit floaty and the animations could've used some more work, but for a non-AAA game it's surprisingly high quality. Until shortly after level 10 most people get their asses handed to them by two-three or more enemies at a time, and after level 13 or so your character becomes significantly more powerful than most mobs unless you really zip through the story.

If you have the expansion along with it (Dragon Knight Saga) the storyline + side quests make up a very weighty real-time RPG, with great voice acting for the most part, excellent visuals, nicely varied combat (mostly up to how the player wishes to play as a mage, warrior, or ranger), and I won't lie, once the "second half" started

Spoiler

after you obtain your Tower and dragon transformation

it felt much more unique and interesting than most other RPG's I've played. The difficulty curve, I would compare to The Witcher 2, to be honest. At the opening, you're a pathetic mewling schoolgirl waving a tiny switchblade around and hoping enemies die out of pity for you, but if you spend time to grind out some levels before the second half you end up plowing through enemies like they were made out of papier-mâché.

The story I would liken to Dragon Age or The Witcher style of games, rather than, say, Bethesda's games. Most of the game is story-driven and it is fairly well-written for the most part.

So, to put it simply, if you've enjoyed the demo so far (I haven't played the demo but I imagine it's probably the first few levels of the normal game) and you're looking for a recommendation to buy the game, I heartily give one. Just make sure you get Dragon Knight Saga (the game re-released with enhancements + the expansion), and I would suggest the PC version over the Xbox 360 version.

 

[Jacob.A.]

I am at the end and if there is any advice I can give is that you should do everything the game offers you to do (quest).

 

[darth.pixie]

Loved it. Played the whole Saga a couple of times. It's not actually better than the original Divine Divinity, but it's really awesome. Dialogue is funny, being a dragon is challenging and yet manageable...

It's like a mix of Oblivion and Baldur, to me. There are tonnes of quests to do and many interesting characters.

It's honestly one of my favorite games.

 

[LookingGlass]

Am I correct in thinking that the initial selection of Mage, warrior, or ranger only affects the initial weapon and skill given to you? And from there everything is still open to you? It didn't seem to restrict anything else.

I started as a Mage and the mace they gave me sucked. I picked up two more but they sucked too and I was cutting it close against large groups of enemies, since I'd tend to use up all of my mana. But near the end of the demo I picked up a nice sword that literally did 6-10x the damage of my shitty mace, and they were powerless against me.


Also, one thing I wanted to try out but didn't get to was the shield. How does wielding both a sword and shield work? Does the shield block automatically? Does it do nothing visually, but give me a defense bonus? Do I get to block manually myself? What's the deal there?

 

[LookingGlass]

Spoiler

after you obtain your Tower and dragon transformation

it felt much more unique and interesting than most other RPG's I've played.

What's the deal with the tower thing? I saw a few messages about it in some of the loading screen tips, but I still don't know what it's talking about. Is there some kind of tower defense mini-game built in? Or does it function as sort of a hub? Something else?

 

[Philip Collin]

I've played it and I liked it, it was released way erlier in Europe than in the US, don't know exactly why.

Unlike most games, Divinity 2 was made in Germany, and took a while to get translated into English Ive got it in the original German and its very very good, a bit slow to start but it gets epic once you unlock the ability to transform.

Havent tried this new expansion but its a solid rpg with decent gameplay length, much better than all the AAA titles out atm.

You just need to remeber that you arent hugely powerful to start with so taking on more than a few enemies at once will cause you to die very quickly, so be careful

 

[shrekfan246]

Spoiler

after you obtain your Tower and dragon transformation

it felt much more unique and interesting than most other RPG's I've played.

What's the deal with the tower thing? I saw a few messages about it in some of the loading screen tips, but I still don't know what it's talking about. Is there some kind of tower defense mini-game built in? Or does it function as sort of a hub? Something else?

It's . . . a bit of both, really. Its actual function is basically a home base that allows you to tell servants to gather materials and learn how to craft armor and weapons and a bunch of other little things, and it introduces a secondary section of gameplay where you destroy other aerial towers/bases controlled by the big baddies while in dragon form. It's been a while since I've actually played the game, so I don't remember the specifics, but that's the general idea behind it.

 

[darth.pixie]

Spoiler

after you obtain your Tower and dragon transformation

it felt much more unique and interesting than most other RPG's I've played.

What's the deal with the tower thing? I saw a few messages about it in some of the loading screen tips, but I still don't know what it's talking about. Is there some kind of tower defense mini-game built in? Or does it function as sort of a hub? Something else?

You'll see it when you get to it. It's a whole section after Broken Valley. There's no mini game but it's really great.

My suggestion would have been start as a warrior. You get a bonus of Endurance/Constitution and Strength. You can level up however you want and it doesn't matter what you pick. Bows are useless at high levels and swords get boring at epic levels since you get awesomely powerful fireballs (though they recharge so slow so maybe magic missiles are better). Focus on getting some Mana and hitpoints. You will sorely need both.

A hint: Kill all the rabbits you see but save prior to each kill.

 

[Cantehman]

I've played it and I liked it, it was released way erlier in Europe than in the US, don't know exactly why.

Unlike most games, Divinity 2 was made in Germany, and took a while to get translated into English Ive got it in the original German and its very very good, a bit slow to start but it gets epic once you unlock the ability to transform.

Havent tried this new expansion but its a solid rpg with decent gameplay length, much better than all the AAA titles out atm.

You just need to remeber that you arent hugely powerful to start with so taking on more than a few enemies at once will cause you to die very quickly, so be careful

What? No it isn't, Larian Studios is based in Belgium.

Yes, that's right, Belgium makes video games.

Also, as an avid RPG'er, pretty good game, after dozens of hours, it's still a hoot to jump from a cliff and transform into a dragon midfall.

Oh, and above poster: Bows aren't useless. Explosive Arrow is probably the single most broken skill in the game. It pretty much takes the fun away if you fully pump it.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I got the full package for $30 off their site directly, and at that price it's fucking awesome.

It hasn't got a fully polished triple A shine to it, but their design ideas are great, not to mention all the modern humor they get in there, the story is actually really neat I was paying attention all the way through.

 

[Philip Collin]

I've played it and I liked it, it was released way erlier in Europe than in the US, don't know exactly why.

Unlike most games, Divinity 2 was made in Germany, and took a while to get translated into English Ive got it in the original German and its very very good, a bit slow to start but it gets epic once you unlock the ability to transform.

What? No it isn't, Larian Studios is based in Belgium.

Yes, that's right, Belgium makes video games.

oopes, sorry. I assumed that because the original language was German it was made in Germany.

 

[Alma Mare]

It's a pretty solid game, actually. Looks good, plays well, lots of atention to detail, definitely worth a purchase in my opinion.