Employees Larian Studios For a long time and confidently mastered the tactics of the line from the snuffbox. Their Divine Divinity appeared in 2002, when the players noisily decided which role -playing game is better – Neverwinter Nights or TES 3: Morrrowind. It would seem that the Belgian RPG on this holiday certainly did not shine, but Divine Divinity was still able to interest the fans of the genre and grab their share.
Two years later followed Beyond Divinity – a third -party game in the same setting – but there was no talk about a full -fledged continuation. Until mid-2008, the developers were finished with hints of a sequel, and also with pleasure talked about numerous educational games that they did for television. The second part was expected with a much big trepidation, but there were no guarantees that in five years the Belgians did not lose their past skills. And of course, few seriously believed that Divinity 2: Ego Draconis will be able to make serious competition Dragon Age: Origins And Risen. As it turned out, they did not believe in vain.
Cosmetic repair
Here you need to explain what the first part is so good for. This was one of the most successful examples of the connection Diablo and epic plot role -playing game. On the one hand, Divine Divinity had all the signs of a thoroughbred Diablo clone. A small but very harsh hero (as it should be in the isometric perspective) jammed the crowds of orcs, goblins and other fantasy-shapes at a great speed, overturned two hundreds of red and three hundred blue bottles every minute, ran through dark dungeons and devoted indecently a lot of time search for new epic mantles. The usual class system (warrior, magician, ranger, thief) was supplemented by a classic set of parameters (strength, dexterity, intelligence, etc.D.) and the skills of the hero. In addition, it was possible to identify objects here, insert magic stones into a weapon. In a word, nothing that we did not see in the game from Blizzard.
On the other hand, in Divine Divinity there was a great living world with interesting (and often nonlinear) quests and worked out characters – that is, with all that, which, by and large, was not in Diablo. We conducted some detective investigations, talked with well-read demoniacs, and social and thieves' skills were added to combat skills: hacking castles, theft, art of bargaining.
Over the past seven years, the game has transformed beyond recognition, at least outwardly. The isometric perspective has remained in the past, now Divinity 2 looks no worse than Risen. Picturesque pastoral landscapes are supplemented by gloomy Gothic architecture, from which it naturally breathtaking. If a sculpture-so it is necessary with a sword or horns for half a screen. If the tower is really a huge structure, which you need to climb about ten minutes, so that later in a state of aesthetic shock, look at small spots of houses below.
Entertaining mechanics
Changes in the mechanics were not so radical. The essence has not changed: we communicate with NPC, perform quests, run through the pouring meadows and gloomy dungeons, transfer the enemies to the minced meat and pump, pump, ride, pump. The role system is based on the same principles, but now it got rid of gigantomania. Divine Divinity had as many as twelve skills schools, many of them were superfluous or duplicated each other.
This time the Belgians pulled themselves together. Instead of five classes – three development paths: warrior, magician and archer. Nobody imposes hard specialization, and you can make, for example, a Faiter, who, before giving a mace in the face, loves to throw a firebole into the enemy with a fireball. Instead of a dozen skills schools – only five. These are the most classic, most used things for all cases of “heroic” life: a fight with cold weapons, archery, spontaneous magic (all kinds of fireballs and lightning from the sky), necromagia. There are some social skills, such as hacking locks and, excuse me, wisdom that allows you to get more experience points. True, the identification of objects and the need to repair weapons disappeared, but these conventions were terribly distracted in Diablo.
In general, it is noticeable that the role system has become more accurate and somehow more collected, and most importantly-the developers do not allow an imbalance inherent in the first part: to turn into an invincible terminator, which has nowhere to put money and experience points, now much more complicated.
As for the battles, they, despite the third -party appearance, remained in the soul the same as seven years ago. This is not a slasher or even his simplified variation from Risen: success in battle still depends on the characteristics of the player and the properties of the equipment, and not on the ability to put the block or somehow slyly dodging the blow. Therefore, by the way, Schmotnity and shopping plays a big role here. Things, in the best traditions of Diablo, are divided into ordinary, rare, heroic and legendary. They can be improved by magic stones, and the most interesting thing is, of course, to collect sets, that is, sets of unique equipment.
The world is for you
In Divinity 2, as in the original, the case is not limited to pumping. Firstly, there is a plot that is interesting to follow. The plot is simple. In Divine Divinity, the fairy -tale world Rivelon survived the invasion of demons. Divine One (as they called the hero of the first part) defeated Lord Chaos, but in the end he himself fell by the death of the brave by the hands of his old enemy Damian, who somehow learned to use the power of dragons. In response, the people of Rivellon create the Order of Hunters for these fire -breathing creatures. We begin the game just as a dragon hunter passing the latest exams, dreaming of taking revenge on Damian for everything ..
In a word, condo fantasy. But here you feel a good production. During the dialogs, the interlocutors either crawl into the frame in a semi -conscious state, then they instruct the hero Luke with a menacingly reserved arrow, and in one place they even beat him up to the hem. The camera of the virtual director can spare effectively along the hall littered with corpses and stop behind the throne, closely showing the villain’s bloodied hand hanging from the armrest. At the same time, the scriptwriters regularly throw some new intriguing turns. They can suddenly make the protagonist kill their colleagues, burn a whole village behind him, and then suddenly take and hook the image of a mysterious woman into his mind.
The authors came up with a lot of a variety of quests. In some, it is traditionally proposed to knead chain mail, turning into a bond hunter. Others make Lara Croft from the hero and make you sit on moving platforms, press the levers and jump between the portals. Thirdly, you have to carefully study the books and diaries found to answer a couple of tricky questions. The fourth propose to solve the ornate riddle or to unravel the meaning of the foggy quatrains. And the fifths just cause a smile. Despite a serious face (a bloodied hand on the armrest of the throne, remember?), Larian always managed to deftly weave humor into the Gothic atmosphere, and Divinity 2 successfully continues these traditions. Here you can meet a fortuneteller who will ask you to follow the rabbit, or, for example, a mentally unbalanced peasant who considers himself a goblin ..
Moral dilemmas have not disappeared anywhere. Even in the first part there was a quest, where having a limited supply of medicines in our hands, we had to decide who to live and to whom to die. There are also enough such situations in Ego Draconis. For example, at some point the hero must choose his assistants from several candidates. The problem is that those to whom he refuses will die, and among them a fragile girl or a cute married couple may well be ..
Allow me to introduce yourself: telepath, dragon
But the main feature of the quest system in Divinity 2 is the ability to read the thoughts of almost any character. The hero receives the ability to telepathy at the very beginning of the game, and only experience points for its use are the restriction for its use, which will have to pay for the intervention in the personal life of other people's brains.
Telepathy opens completely new facets in communication with characters. And we are not only about the possibility of finding out what others think of you, or get a discount in the store, solving the merchant’s thoughts about the margins. Due to the possibility of reading thoughts, the standard quests system opens the second bottom.
The incentive to explore the world around the world immediately increases: an inattentive player can pass by half of the tasks. It is worth, for example, in the pack of guy, she especially does not want to talk. And if you climb into his mind, you can find out that he came to the village to measure his strength with a local champion warrior, but, when he saw a competitor, he was chopped up. And then you can immediately hand it over to the champion, and he will cut the woe-pest before your eyes; And you can hint the grief that you know his secret, and then either blackmail him, or just scare him off – so that it is not disgusting.
Tasks with several solutions were the hallmark of the first part of the game, but in the sequel the Belgians take some completely unattainable Everest. Almost every side quest in Divinity 2 can be performed in different ways, and this fully compensates for the linearity of the main plot history.
The listed is already enough to get a lot of pleasure from Ego Draconis. But the authors seemed a little unique system of telepathy, and somewhere in the middle of the game, when it seems that everything has already been studied, they give us a couple more amazing opportunities. Firstly, a personal tower becomes available to the player in which you can engage in alchemy, improve objects and make a lot of other useful things. We saw something similar in Overlord And Neverwinter Nights 2 , But in Divinity 2 convenients and affordable services in personal apartments more than in a five -star hotel (see. inserts). Secondly, somewhere in the middle of the game the hero will learn to turn … into a dragon. It is impossible to fight on Earth in such an indecent form (it is understandable, the balance in this case would be completely broken), but the dragon has its own unique missions, its own set of skills and armor (a note about it also see. next door).
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Piranha bytes With Buddhist determination for the fourth time it releases the same Gothic. BioWare Dragon Age rethinks the approach to the genre in general and to fantasy in particular. Larian Studios act in a much more prosaic way. They honestly process their own concept of seven years ago, add fresh ideas to it (see. system of telepathy), give the players as many nonlinear quests as they can take away, and – to finish off the most fastidious fans of the genre – allowed to steer a dragon. In our opinion, for an excellent role -playing game – more than enough.
Reigracy – Yes
Cool plot – No
Originality – Yes
Easy to master – No
Evidence of expectations: 90%
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound and music: 9
Interface and management: 7
Waited? A classic role -playing game that makes it possible to avenge all those years when you nervously wondered what's on the next character, and looked at the dragons exclusively from the bottom up.
Mania rating: 8.5
"Great"
[[Break]] Samodelkin
In Divinity 2, you can assemble an assistant … from parts of the bodies of defeated enemies
Digging in corpses, periodically you will find not only a new sword or chisel, but also hands and hands left from opponents. So, they can be attributed to the court necromancer, and he will construct a monster from the offal, which will fight on the side of the hero.
Who lives in the tower
Features of the Belgian pool
Your personal tower will become a home and a forge of success for a long time. Specialists live here in the most necessary areas for any hero. Among them are an alchemist who can make potions from the herbs you collected, and a blacksmith that can endow objects with new magical properties. There is a skills coach and an illusionist, thanks to which you can change your name and hairstyle. In addition, there is an opportunity to send specially trained people in search of certain types of herbs or jewelry.
We saw all this in one form or another in other games: in Overlord, Drakensang and Neverwinter Nights 2, for example. But the Belgians went on. Firstly, there is a competition for a place: first you need to choose who will work for you. Secondly, each specialist has a special quest, having completed which you will increase the effectiveness of his work. Thirdly, a personal composer lives in the tower who can change the musical theme playing in your chambers, and even a personal dancer named, of course, Salome.
Fire and fire
By the middle of the game, the hero Divinity 2 will learn to turn into a dragon
There are no restrictions for transformation, except for low ceilings and narrow walls. Turning around the ancient reptile, you can get to the most inaccessible places of Rivellon, simultaneously fighting off other dragons. And there – again return to the guise of a person and go to explore new lands. Dragons have their own set of skills: for example, the ability to accurately spit with fire for several purposes or the ability to turn flying enemies into God's cow. In addition, an armor can be hung on various parts of the dragon body.
Among LTC Casino sister sites other things, for reptiles, your own set of quests has been prepared, in which you often have to combine both forms – dragon and human. For example, there are missions in which you need to destroy huge flying fortresses. So, in flight, the hits should be avoided, simultaneously attacking from the distance and pointily disabled protective structures. And then, having returned the human face to yourself, you need to quickly penetrate inside and interrupt the evil technical personnel that controls these towers and ballists.