Why is a game with so much stuff, so much fun, so many features and aspects of gameplay being made by a small indie company with the help of crowdfunding? Why have AAA devs been stripping down their games for the last twenty plus years, so that now they're just alternating combat and conversation in corridors? Is it our fault as consumers that we have settled for and even defended clearly degenerate feature stripping and content streamlining? Why has it taken twenty plus years to make a game that is not on par with Ultima VII, because it lacks the narrative excellence, but that comes damn close?
I don't think we can just blame 3d anymore, I think there's something inherently wrong with AAA developers and publishers, and maybe us as discerning customers. Whatever I think though one fact remains, Larian have just pulled down the pants of the big publishers and gid their bare buttocks a spanking that'll leave 'em red cheeked for a week, good on you Sven.
Because Larian put their creative goals firmly ahead of their business goals. It's not that both can't coincide, but I don't think both can coincide in large AAA studios run by a bunch of suits who aren't familiar with games. The few reviews I see online, Larian is set for a GOT contender. Even if that is a silly popularity contest, I'd love to see them mop the floor with DA:I.
I have liked D:OS a lot so far. The camera movement is the only thing I still haven't get used to but otherwise the game has been just brilliant.
What I really like is lack of hand holding so the player has to discuss with NPCs, read journal and explore to find a way forward. I very much hope it is possible to turn quest markers off in The Witcher 3.
What D:OS lacks in story complexity, it more than makes up for in interaction complexity. It's a game that actually lets you roleplay and makes you really think about how to go about solving a quest - it's the closest thing to a computer PnP game since Ultima. And the story, while nothing special, is not worse than that of the BioWare classics. None of the upcoming KS RPGs offer this level of interactivity with the world, instead they offer other things that take advantage of the fact that it's a computer game, while Divinity focuses on the PnP roots of the genre.
Because Larian put their creative goals firmly ahead of their business goals. It's not that both can't coincide, but I don't think both can coincide in large AAA studios run by a bunch of suits who aren't familiar with games.
I have liked D:OS a lot so far. The camera movement is the only thing I still haven't get used to but otherwise the game has been just brilliant.
What I really like is lack of hand holding so the player has to discuss with NPCs, read journal and explore to find a way forward. I very much hope it is possible to turn quest markers off in The Witcher 3.
I note in the options you can unlock the camera from its 90 degrees, though I haven't tried it, as they say the game has been designed intentionally as is, and while I often prefer a full 360... I must say I'm not at all bothered by this one. They way the scenery occludes is really quite smooth & neat.
I note in the options you can unlock the camera from its 90 degrees, though I haven't tried it, as they say the game has been designed intentionally as is, and while I often prefer a full 360... I must say I'm not at all bothered by this one. They way the scenery occludes is really quite smooth & neat.
It works just fine, it's just that the edges of the map are not designed for a 360 camera so you get to look at nothing when you reach them, unless you rotate the camera.
I stumbled into a boss fight way before I was supposed to and kept getting murdered, so I barricaded myself in a nearby room using candelabras before triggering the fight, whittling down the enemies' health after plugging the doorway with a summon to avoid nasty enemy AoE spells hitting my characters. Here's hoping this kind of ridiculous and wonderful freedom becomes an industry standard.
Why is it not anything special? That's not a rhetorical question; I've seen various comments about how the story is merely okay, but so far I've seen lots of really good writing that balances humor and seriousness while providing several villains who aren't clear-cut good or evil. I don't see what else the game could possibly offer without becoming something else entirely.
I agree that the main story could be seen as the game's "weakest spot". But the humorous and sometimes hilarious side quests, exploration, secrets and puzzles make up for it imo. A serious and deep story and deep C&C in dialogues is just not the focus of this game (I think that's not only a writing "problem" but also a design decision based on the co-op vision)...
I completely agree that this is most likely a design decision related to the co-op mode.
It's probably also the reason why the other companions fell a bit short~
Multiplayer works fine with Divinity: OS, but I wish developers wouldn't feel the need to slap
multiplayer on everything they develop. Who keeps requesting this ?
I think we have more than enough MMOs out there if someone wants a multiplayer RPG - no ?
Why is it not anything special? That's not a rhetorical question; I've seen various comments about how the story is merely okay, but so far I've seen lots of really good writing that balances humor and seriousness while providing several villains who aren't clear-cut good or evil. I don't see what else the game could possibly offer without becoming something else entirely.
Because Larian put their creative goals firmly ahead of their business goals. It's not that both can't coincide, but I don't think both can coincide in large AAA studios run by a bunch of suits who aren't familiar with games. The few reviews I see online, Larian is set for a GOT contender. Even if that is a silly popularity contest, I'd love to see them mop the floor with DA:I.
Yepp, you can see that everywhere in the game and in the way Larian and Swen communicate with their backers and the public. They don't give a shit about business conventions or genre conventions. Swen has been using his blog to give us honest and direct insights in Larian's game development for years now, long before they went to kickstarter for some additional funding (much more than for example CDPR do...).
Swen Vincke is one of the people I respect most in game development. The does his work out of pure passion and he does it in a way that warms my hearth. How Larian handled their kickstarter was immaculate (ha, insider!). They did the game they always wanted to make, not because of sales forecasts but because they deeply believe that quality and passion wins. In that point they are really similar to CDPR although I think CDPR went a little bit too much to "mainstream" development lately, following too much the conventions of the industry and talking to much about business in way that doesn't seem natural and honest but "calculated" (don't know if you understand what I mean).
Larian instead is true and pure indie (in both financial terms AND in the way they act and communicate transporting this special grounded "indie spirit") even though Divinity: Original Sin is imo a true "AAA" game in terms of polish and content. That's really rare nowadays and to that extend unique in the gamign industry. I wish CDPR would be THAT transparent and simply "natural" again (like in the days of TW1)...
@Gilrond at last good news ! y'know I'm primarily a single player, but I could see myself cooping this one sometime down the line... though not on steam
It works just fine, it's just that the edges of the map are not designed for a 360 camera so you get to look at nothing when you reach them, unless you rotate the camera.
Top tip mate, I just gave it a try and you're right, I see no problems at all even at the edges. I took the warning seriously, past experience has shown similar camera unlocks to show badly placed graphical elements, but not here... sweet.
I stumbled into a boss fight way before I was supposed to and kept getting murdered, so I barricaded myself in a nearby room using candelabras before triggering the fight, whittling down the enemies' health after plugging the doorway with a summon to avoid nasty enemy AoE spells hitting my characters. Here's hoping this kind of ridiculous and wonderful freedom becomes an industry standard.
heheh... nice one ! Last night my first fight I Leeroyed down a path into 9 same level mobs (2 mages, 3 boars, 2 archers & 2 skeles) and got slaughtered, reload & took the alternative approach that kept a ford between my softies & them - that was basically all I needed for an advantage - Sun Tzu would be proud
Why is it not anything special? That's not a rhetorical question; I've seen various comments about how the story is merely okay, but so far I've seen lots of really good writing that balances humor and seriousness while providing several villains who aren't clear-cut good or evil. I don't see what else the game could possibly offer without becoming something else entirely.
And this is the thing... for some people this story will be great, others simply adequate, yet others "ugh". Computer games are highly subjective, and in RPGs the story is probably the most subjective aspect of all. If I could explain my feeling it would be: each night i've been looking forward to the game for the gameplay & to advance my characters skills & explore & all that stuff but not the story as such, whereas first time in Vergen, for example, I couldn't wait to get back to advance the story even though I loved all aspects of that game, the story had me completely hooked.
but the story is enough to motivate within the game.
I recently discovered that if you give a character 121% or more fire resistance, they can walk on lava and be healed several hundred hit points every step. Even better, melee enemies will often chase you onto the lava, instantly killing themselves in the process. And if you give said character the Explode skill, they can damage everything around them while simultaneously healing.
Another fun thing I found: If you sneak up behind a friendly and attack them while still sneaking, you can get away with it (even in broad daylight) provided you kill them in a single hit. Merchants drop a randomized portion of their inventory, too, so it's a great way to acquire some high-level skillbooks and scrolls without having to pay out of the nose. It's also an easy way to rack up some cheap experience if you're sure the person you're killing won't be important at some point.
Last night my first fight I Leeroyed down a path into 9 same level mobs (2 mages, 3 boars, 2 archers & 2 skeles) and got slaughtered, reload & took the alternative approach that kept a ford between my softies & them - that was basically all I needed for an advantage - Sun Tzu would be proud
Heh, I know exactly where you mean. Around that point I was relying on Rain + Blitz Bolt almost exclusively because of how underpowered my characters were.
The story gets quite a bit more interesting from where you are, by the way.
Heh, I know exactly where you mean. Around that point I was relying on Rain + Blitz Bolt almost exclusively because of how underpowered my characters were.
Rain + Frost works even better.
It has a lot lower AP cost and wet targets freeze immediately, without stunning your own guys accidently.
By the way... are there any other companions in the game besides Jahan and Madora ?
I know that you can get these random, generic companions in the homestead - but now I'm at the end of map 2
and haven't come across any other party members yet. Did I skip any ?
I note in the options you can unlock the camera from its 90 degrees, though I haven't tried it, as they say the game has been designed intentionally as is, and while I often prefer a full 360... I must say I'm not at all bothered by this one. They way the scenery occludes is really quite smooth & neat.
Ah, thanks. I had missed that option.
Works very nicely. Small problems with the shadows here and there but nothing major. The games gets better and better ...
Well, tbh the companions were something they included based on customer and backer feedback. Originally they just wanted to use henchmen to hire for combat. Larian have not unlimited funds anyway. It's also worth to mention that with a classless system this is way less an issue. From a gameplay perspective you can just respec your companions as you like...
@Volsung
65 hours since release. 35 hours in beta. 100 hours in total.
You're right... he's right guys... whether I've settled into it, or it's settled down, I'm no longer skimming. It's also important to differentiate "quality of writing" & "quality of narrative", and the writing I cannot criticise, while the narrative quality is subjective and we could each argue for its level of what? significance / allegorical strength / emotional involvement / originality? It uses all the right words in the right order, it characterises appropriately across the board, and there are interesting discussions along with the humourous and the necessary directional cues. Characters are certainly not cookie cut, many are a mystery, good or bad is unclear.
And on good or bad, I'm currently playing good, but next time when I go bad, it won't simply be a case of choosing Renegade & rude or Paragon & polite, it'll be primarily based on your selfish actions thieving, murdering, and disdain for the populace. Bioware looking at this should hang their corporate head in shame once more.
I'm not going to call it generic, as all fantasy is to a point - it has its continually employed, and often required to be genre - tropes. LOTR while original is now generic, and we can't complain about that, TW2 may break that mold with so much allegory, but as much as I'd like to see more like that, if we had more there'd be a limit to how far it could go. Game of Thrones has its generic elements too, just mixed with Norman Feudalism fresh to most of us, probably passé to someone versed in that history.
Recall what I've said concerning the light hearted tone compared to D&D seriousness and the limits that naturally placed on Baldurs Gate (which also had its humour - Minsc & Boo), and that while they can't be directly compared, ReptilePZ said its no worse & I think it is fair to say that they are "on par", which merely indicates a level of equality in standard.
Last night I got the ability to talk to animals & chatted with a crab, a dog, and a cat, and even their characterisation is spot on. Some people won't like that they converse anthropomorphically, again humour vs seriousness, but the dog in particular made me unexpectedly chuckle
@.Volsung. It's summer, my traditionally reduced gaming time, lots of DIY to do about the house, and I'm playing music again, so i'm getting 2 hours a night, and the game affords such drop in drop out. You know if this was effecting me like TW2 my work would be suffering, so again... for me this is a very timely gem of a game.
