I got pretty far into the 2nd half of the game but slowed down alot. Just WAY too many quests going this way and that way. Then spent hours fighting those Flying Battle Fortresses, hours and hours and hours. I think it losses me there with being so open ended, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for me at this point and my ADD it got to me. I will pass it. I love the action of this game.
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Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga |OT| Re-release with new expansion and updates
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
Sportbilly
Member
I picked this up during the Steam Christmas sale and only started playing it once I'd read through this thread, when it promptly got bumped to the top of my backlog. I really am thoroughly enjoying it- it runs nicely, it's got some funny dialog, interesting combat and appeals to the loot whore in me. The mind-reading mechanic is also nicely done and there is plenty of scope to expand your character as you see fit, rather than get led down one particular path.
The only thing that's a potential drawback is that I'm wondering if it's possible to gimp your character and end up with one too weak to finish the game ( a la vanilla Oblivion is you concentrated too much on particular skills). Can anyone say whether this is likely to be a problem, and is there any way of respeccing if you do run into trouble?
The only thing that's a potential drawback is that I'm wondering if it's possible to gimp your character and end up with one too weak to finish the game ( a la vanilla Oblivion is you concentrated too much on particular skills). Can anyone say whether this is likely to be a problem, and is there any way of respeccing if you do run into trouble?
Sportbilly
Member
Oh great, thanks for that. I'm not a big min-max-er, but before I go much further with it, I'll have a look at the official forums and see if there are any good-looking builds.
jaundicejuice
Member
I've put a few more hours into the game over the last few days, about the only complaints I have thus far are related to object interaction. You can have the reticle placed dead center on an object that you can clearly interact with (golden sparkles are emanating from the object) but you have to wiggle the reticle around a but before you can get the prompt to pick the item up.
Also some items, quest items, aren't tagged with the golden particle effect at all. There's been a few moments in the game where it grinds to a completely standstill because, combined with the above mentioned issue, you don't know what you're supposed to interact with. There was moment in Lovis' tower
and another in the Temple of Maxos
where I just didn't know what the fuck I was supposed to do. It was completely obtuse, the key objects I needed to move forward looked like standard non-interactive objects in the world and the targeting/interaction issue didn't help.
Those two hiccups aside, I'm still quite enjoying the game.
Also some items, quest items, aren't tagged with the golden particle effect at all. There's been a few moments in the game where it grinds to a completely standstill because, combined with the above mentioned issue, you don't know what you're supposed to interact with. There was moment in Lovis' tower
(the body with the scroll that reveals the elevator that takes you down to Lovis' throne room)
(the book on the bookshelf in Amdusias' room that acts as a switch that reveals the secret compartment)
Those two hiccups aside, I'm still quite enjoying the game.
jaundicejuice said:
Oh yeah, levers and buttons for hidden chests can be a huge PITA to find... Even if you're standing right in front of them. I had to use a walkthrough here and there and even when you know the whereabouts of a button it can still be hard to find. Sometimes resulting in scrolling a wall brick by brick trying to interact with every stone...
jaundicejuice
Member
Not sure about the exact amount of time I've spent playing, but by casually glancing at the overview on the wiki it looks like I'm roughly halfway through the game. Outside of the four or five moments where the game is a bit too obtuse with how the player is supposed to progress and some questionable dialogue here and there, the Dragon Knight Saga remake of Ego Draconis has been consistently enjoyable.
I really enjoy the combat, even if it is a bit on the simple side with all of the melee skills learned. Combat consistently boils down to relying on the dash and whirlwind attacks, and using normal melee strikes and the occasional air strike while those skills cool down. It is pretty damned satisfying bashing into a group of enemies, then staggering them all and killing them in two or three hits. For the boss fights I've found the only alteration to the hit-everything-with-a-really-big-stick strategy is using a few spell and potion buffs.
Even if it can be a bit dodgy, I do enjoy the platforming in this game. Even just the simple fact the your character can leap and bound around the field or in battle is pretty satisfying. It's not exactly something I'd expect to find in a crpg.
I really enjoy the combat, even if it is a bit on the simple side with all of the melee skills learned. Combat consistently boils down to relying on the dash and whirlwind attacks, and using normal melee strikes and the occasional air strike while those skills cool down. It is pretty damned satisfying bashing into a group of enemies, then staggering them all and killing them in two or three hits. For the boss fights I've found the only alteration to the hit-everything-with-a-really-big-stick strategy is using a few spell and potion buffs.
Even if it can be a bit dodgy, I do enjoy the platforming in this game. Even just the simple fact the your character can leap and bound around the field or in battle is pretty satisfying. It's not exactly something I'd expect to find in a crpg.
I would say I am in Part 3 of the game, the Aleroth City of Death Inducing Amount of Quests. But really enjoying it 
Part 1 of the game was great, Part 2 where you get your flying fortress and you are taking on the other Flying Fortresses blew chunks of Monkey Bum Stew. But Part 3 is really well done. To myself anyways. 35hrs in. Still a bit to go.
Part 1 of the game was great, Part 2 where you get your flying fortress and you are taking on the other Flying Fortresses blew chunks of Monkey Bum Stew. But Part 3 is really well done. To myself anyways. 35hrs in. Still a bit to go.
Malio
Member
I'm nearing the end of Broken Valley and finding combat just challenging enough to keep me on my toes. I had heard the difficulty was a major turn-off, but this is providing just the right amount of challenge. Still not sure if I'm spending my skill points well, but I'm having fun trying.
RPG of the year so far, easily.
RPG of the year so far, easily.
jaundicejuice
Member
The opening parts of the Orobas Fjords tested my patience and enjoyment of the game. Invisible walls galore, some you can turn off, some are just lazy design. The pacing has kind of slowed to a snails pace with the fetch quests, the "anti-dragon zones" that forbid my faster mode of travel in some sections of the world and it's kind of grind-y with the constant battling. The steady flow of combat has me dumping a lot of skill points into regeneration and leech skills. One of this game's saving graces is that if you kill something, it tends to stay dead. No respawning waves of goblins to cut a bloody swathe through while you stalk up and down the mountains of the Orobas Fjords.
I don't know if I want to jump right into Flames of Vengeance right after completing the remake of Ego Draconis. I've been eyeballing Risen for a while.
I don't know if I want to jump right into Flames of Vengeance right after completing the remake of Ego Draconis. I've been eyeballing Risen for a while.
Gillian Seed
Banned
How is the 360 version? I am loving Dragon Age 2, but i want something to play afterwards. I tried Two Worlds II, and ended up sending it back to Gamefly. It just seemed very average, and needed much more polish.
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Hate to be that guy but here's my review of the 360 version:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/review/360/divinity-ii-the-dragon-knight-saga/
Solid stuff. Wish Flames of Vengeance was much longer though.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/review/360/divinity-ii-the-dragon-knight-saga/
Solid stuff. Wish Flames of Vengeance was much longer though.
jaundicejuice
Member
The part where you have to defend Zandalor while he tries to close three rifts at once is pretty damned lame.
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Gvaz said:
*shrug*
Gillian Seed
Banned
PepsimanVsJoe said:
Thank You for the review. I ended up buying it from Amazon. Seems like a solid deal for just under 40 dollars shipped.
jaundicejuice
Member
Ego Draconis complete, quite the ending. Even though I purchased Risen the other day on Steam I think I'll stick it out and work my way through Flames of Vengeance before moving on.
The game crashed on me right after the final cinematic of Ego Draconis played. I started a new campaign in Flames of Vengeance, created a new character and almost immediately loaded up my last save from the end battle of Ego Draconis
, worried that I had missed something because of the crash. Turns out I did, my character being carried over from ED to FoV. The pre-fab did have a few more levels on me though.
I think the game's saving grace has been that the combat has kept me engaged due to the challenge. The final battle of Ego Draconis was likely more challenging for me because I didn't grind through all of the flying fortresses or complete all of the side quests. There was a two to three level difference for me in that fight.
The game crashed on me right after the final cinematic of Ego Draconis played. I started a new campaign in Flames of Vengeance, created a new character and almost immediately loaded up my last save from the end battle of Ego Draconis
(only Zandalor was left with half of his life with that save)
I think the game's saving grace has been that the combat has kept me engaged due to the challenge. The final battle of Ego Draconis was likely more challenging for me because I didn't grind through all of the flying fortresses or complete all of the side quests. There was a two to three level difference for me in that fight.
jaundicejuice
Member
subversus said:
The first few tries at that battle were brutal, I just flat out died in the opening moments of the fight. I used the teleportation stone to go back to the Battle Tower just before the final fight, reset my skills for 5000 gold to create a pure melee tank with a two handed sword and bought every damned potion Sasana (sp?) had for sale.
I had a necklace that provided me with ghost summoning, the creature summon skill and the crystal skull. Basically I would summon a creature to act as a milling pylon to distract some of the enemies, imbibed a constant stream of buff and health potions and whittled away The Divine's guards one lowly peon at a time. Using the dash attack, a few regular melee strikes and the thousand cuts skill when I had the target down to half their health, I could usually kill one of the guards in a few seconds while the rest, hopefully, focused on my summoned critter. I saved my progress with each foe killed but once I had respec'd my skills, had all of those potions and my basic strategy it was much easier weathering that battle and it only took that one try. Well, two if you count that end-game crash.
jaundicejuice
Member
After putting a few hours in, I think it's looking like Flames of Vengeance is the better game. FoV is more limited in its scope than Ego Draconis, but restricting the game largely to the city of Aleroth really plays to Larian's strengths as a developer. They've got a really talented world art team with a knack for making great looking urban environments, interiors and dungeons. That talent really shines through the design of the city, all of its interiors and dark recesses.
There's a little more character, a little more absurdity interjected into the plot and it's handled with more finesse than similar moments, bits of dialogue or quests that I stumbled across in Ego Draconis. Thus far anyways. I've probably wiled away a good chunk of my day just playing through Flames of Vengeance. Glad I decided to stick with it on not simply move on to Risen.
There's a little more character, a little more absurdity interjected into the plot and it's handled with more finesse than similar moments, bits of dialogue or quests that I stumbled across in Ego Draconis. Thus far anyways. I've probably wiled away a good chunk of my day just playing through Flames of Vengeance. Glad I decided to stick with it on not simply move on to Risen.
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Yeah I really wish Flames of Vengeance was longer.
It helps that I love RPGs where a sizable chunk of them are spent in large towns. You go in one house and you chat with some people, go to the house next-door and it is filled with monsters, etc.
It helps that I love RPGs where a sizable chunk of them are spent in large towns. You go in one house and you chat with some people, go to the house next-door and it is filled with monsters, etc.
I picked this up on a whim a few nights ago and have been realllllly enjoying it.
Its kinda what I hoped Two Worlds 2 to be. Im finding this game a lot more satisfying, despite not looking as good as TW2 graphics wise (art wise I find this game a lot more pleasing).
Its kinda what I hoped Two Worlds 2 to be. Im finding this game a lot more satisfying, despite not looking as good as TW2 graphics wise (art wise I find this game a lot more pleasing).
jaundicejuice
Member
Looks like I'm near the end of Flames of Vengeance, I've managed to complete all of the side quests this time round and only have the end game of the main quest left to tackle. I have all of the necessary artifacts, I'm loaded to the gills with curative and status buffing potions, my character is a two handed sword melee tank, my skillset is such that I only have to heal in serious mobs because I leech and regenerate so much health and have my first complete armor set which I've fully enchanted and charmed. I think I'm more ready for whatever the end of Flames of Vengeance will throw at me than I was for Ego Draconis' final battle.
Combat is definitely more crunchy in FoV. The expansion has a tendency to throw more mobs at you than Ego Draconis and the mobs tend to regenerate whereas ED became a ghost town once you cut a bloody swathe through a given area. There's been a number of encounters where I had to be more diligent and active in maintaining my health and buffs mid-combat.
All-in-all, it's been an enjoyable expansion, an improvement over the original in a number of ways but I'm kind of glad it's short. It'll be nice to be able to move on and play something else fairly soon.
Combat is definitely more crunchy in FoV. The expansion has a tendency to throw more mobs at you than Ego Draconis and the mobs tend to regenerate whereas ED became a ghost town once you cut a bloody swathe through a given area. There's been a number of encounters where I had to be more diligent and active in maintaining my health and buffs mid-combat.
All-in-all, it's been an enjoyable expansion, an improvement over the original in a number of ways but I'm kind of glad it's short. It'll be nice to be able to move on and play something else fairly soon.
jaundicejuice
Member
Okay, how do you fight
and survive for more than a few seconds? I'm the same level as
kills me in three hits, three hits. I've done every quest in the game, fought every creature I could, I'm at the same level, I shouldn't be this under-powered, the fight shouldn't feel this one-sided. Is there some trick I'm missing?
Edit: I just dropped the difficulty down. That was a horribly balanced fight that I likely made worse for myself by
I went from dying in three hits to being able to hold my ground and eventually beat both
.
Ygerna and Behrlihn
Ygerna, but she
Edit: I just dropped the difficulty down. That was a horribly balanced fight that I likely made worse for myself by
siding with Behrlihn over Belegar.
Ygerna and Behrlihn
Drinky Crow
Banned
that was a bear of a fight. even with regen/leech maxed and tons of regen boosting eq, i barely eked out a victory on normal. not fun!
Just started out on the game with the Missus yesterday.
Solid stuff indeed, we did a 5 hour stint, and the afternoon was gone like that:
- gfx approved,
- voice overs better than feared,
- combat system and controls functional and entertaining,
- story albeit standard high fantasy fare quite interesting
All-in-all, We're ready for round 2 this evening :-D
Solid stuff indeed, we did a 5 hour stint, and the afternoon was gone like that:
- gfx approved,
- voice overs better than feared,
- combat system and controls functional and entertaining,
- story albeit standard high fantasy fare quite interesting
All-in-all, We're ready for round 2 this evening :-D
Finished up Flames of Vengeance tonight. I have to say that I am sad there's no more game to play here because I really, really enjoyed myself through Ego Dragonis and the expansion. I went for almost a pure melee build and enjoyed putting together the armor sets and pimping out my weapon and gear with nifty charms and enchantments and by the end of the game my character was an absolute beast. Maxed Bleed, Life Leach, Whirlwind, Death Blow (the crit ability) Thousand Strikes, and 1h + shield specialty plus some flavor points in other helpful areas like mana leach and regeneration really worked well.
I ended up at a touch under 50 hours and level 45 and was able to complete most of the quests in the game in that time although I did consult a walk through for some portions. I never had any crashes (on the PC) or major glitches and the game looked and ran flawlessly for me which is a major plus. I enjoyed the humor in the NPC's and the writing and applaud Larian for making a game that kept me interested and having fun for that many hours without ever getting tedious or dull.
Edit- Saw the poster's above me talking about the Ygerna fight. I don't know what kind of armor and stats you guys were packing but I didn't have any trouble with her and ended the fight in less than a minute. Level 45, Order of the Viper set, Caracalla's Warhammer, Lion's Mane (shield), 1250'ish hps, 750'ish mana and all my resistances (melee, magic, ranged) were in the low 60's. I found that in the late game I was still taking some damage spikes from the large groups of enemies so I focused on raising my critical hit chance through death blow which in turn made my bleed and life leach skills that much better since they do a percentage of the damage you dealt. Hitting for 750 to upwards of 2k on a crit will tend to end a fight quickly and in your favor.
I ended up at a touch under 50 hours and level 45 and was able to complete most of the quests in the game in that time although I did consult a walk through for some portions. I never had any crashes (on the PC) or major glitches and the game looked and ran flawlessly for me which is a major plus. I enjoyed the humor in the NPC's and the writing and applaud Larian for making a game that kept me interested and having fun for that many hours without ever getting tedious or dull.
Edit- Saw the poster's above me talking about the Ygerna fight. I don't know what kind of armor and stats you guys were packing but I didn't have any trouble with her and ended the fight in less than a minute. Level 45, Order of the Viper set, Caracalla's Warhammer, Lion's Mane (shield), 1250'ish hps, 750'ish mana and all my resistances (melee, magic, ranged) were in the low 60's. I found that in the late game I was still taking some damage spikes from the large groups of enemies so I focused on raising my critical hit chance through death blow which in turn made my bleed and life leach skills that much better since they do a percentage of the damage you dealt. Hitting for 750 to upwards of 2k on a crit will tend to end a fight quickly and in your favor.
Gamer @ Heart
Member
*sigh* i own the first game and burnt out after awhile because of the performance and a few design quirks, but i want to give it another chance for summer, having DKS out is ruining it a bit for me. I kind of want DKS but its hard to justify owning the original. Is is really that improved performance and graphic wise? I have some game stop credit i dont mind using, to make the wallet blow a little lighter, but i want to make sure.
How would you guys rate the expansion content out of 10.
How would you guys rate the expansion content out of 10.
disappeared
Banned
Played the demo for Dragon Knight Saga on 360 today. I found myself curiously engaged by it. The combat felt good (I tried both ranged and melee) and the graphics seemed decent enough. The writing and dialog also felt good and funny at times.
One thing that really pissed me off though was the GUI. What's the deal with the "Press L-bumper to..." taking up a giant portion of the screen!? They couldn't just put a small prompt at the bottom? Not to mention the map and button icons are terribly misplaced. Perhaps I'm getting finicky as I get older, but GUIs (and the inability to customize them) is constantly leaving a bad taste in my mouth with many western RPGs.
One thing that really pissed me off though was the GUI. What's the deal with the "Press L-bumper to..." taking up a giant portion of the screen!? They couldn't just put a small prompt at the bottom? Not to mention the map and button icons are terribly misplaced. Perhaps I'm getting finicky as I get older, but GUIs (and the inability to customize them) is constantly leaving a bad taste in my mouth with many western RPGs.
jaundicejuice said:
The difficulty in this game (PC version here) is so screwed up a times. I stopped playing after a while because of it this because it simply became to annoying. Which doubly annoyed me since I was still on the first game. Just glad I didn't pay the original full price for it. Fun but so frustrating.
Neuromancer
Member
Just ordered it from Amazon (360 version), I'm pretty pumped about it.JDS 1977 said:
If it's on par with Two Worlds 2, I'll be very happy I'm sure.
Infamous Chris
Banned
Neuromancer said:
This game makes Two Worlds 2 and Dragon Age 2 look like trash. Seriously, it upsets me so much that a gem like this is under the radar compared to a lot of trash WRPGs out there. This is coming from someone who liked TW2 and, of course, thought DA2 was garbage.
I picked this game up for Xbox 360 when Amazon had the B2G1. I know I wanted Oblivion steelbook Anniversary, and Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate, so I tried to take advantage of the deal by picking a third game. Thing is, I had mostly all the good games in the promotion, so I was going to pick up Demon Souls GH edition since I don't have game anymore. But I already beat it to death, so I saw all the 5-star ratings Divinity 2: DKS has (it's sitting at 5 stars instead of most good games 4.5 stars overall, which is rare) and I blind-bought it. I've never seen such unanimous good reviews on Amazon in a while, and it was all for THIS game.
It was the best blind-purchase for a video game I've ever bought in my life. I only have 30 hours in so far but I know I'm going to spend at least 100 more before Skyrim drops.
Edit: It's on sale for $29.99:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JHJHCC/?tag=neogaf0e-20
AND it comes with an artbook and soundtrack. Amazing value for a game as long as this.
Infamous Chris
Banned
Malio said:
Listen to this man.
JDS 1977 said:
Yes, many of us in this topic can confirm the 360 version is as amazing as the PC. Not sure if there are any mods, though, but this game is very expansive as is. Many people complain about being able to do TOO many things at once (which, if you have OCD, can be overwhelming just like Oblivion).
storafötter
Member
JDS 1977 said:
I disagree. At first I thought it was intriguing but then it got plagued by terrible quests and bland combat mechanics. It has some interesting things about it, like the dragon form. Otherwise it often feels direction less with a lot of quests in between before story progresses. I just hope the expansion is much better.
I really enjoyed the first part of the game, but when I was doing the trials on that island and earning my dragon form the game fell more through.
Neuromancer
Member
Yeah I saw it for $30, didn't hesitate.
Neuromancer
Member
Don't have a PC, anyway it's not always about the graphics.Gvaz said: