Some time ago, I made a contribution to a Kickstarter campaign - a campaign to get Divinity Original Sin 2 made. And recently, the first fruits of this move have emerged with the beta access being released to backers. This means that backers like myself have access to the first area of the game.
Early impressions create a game that is showing a lot of promise. The character creation is much more diverse with races, more appearance options and, interestingly enough, back stories. The back stories are of particular interest as they can result in certain options being available in the dialogue trees. In addition, certain combinations can result in a fixed character - one that can later appear as a party member in the game itself.
As for the game itself, I'm enjoying it so far. The combat operates in similar fashion to the first Original Sin. I also see that, compared to the first game, a party is built up more quickly with characters who have their own agenda to content with the plans of the player. The settings are beautiful to behold and certainly painstaking in their detail.
Needless to say, I'm keen to see how the finished product turns out...
Showing posts with label Divine Divinity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Divine Divinity. Show all posts
Monday, September 26, 2016
Monday, September 8, 2014
Why don't you come join my party!
Here's something I've been pondering on recently: At what point did RPGs drop the player being in sole control of a party of adventurers?
Granted I can understand that RPGs are designed to be purely played through the eyes of a singular character and people would rather prefer an investment (both time and emotional) into one character rather than having such an investment spread across multiple characters. But I do miss the days when you can create a bunch of characters and take them across a journey spanning many, many hours of game time.
It's just like being a father guiding one's children: You create characters, you stay with them through thick and thin, you get worried when they get knocked out, you grind your teeth when there's this one guy who can't hit a barn door (there's always one) and you cheer when your dudes complete the game triumphant. They are six guys you created who each need care and attention to get anywhere and it;s your job to get them there.
I can't think of when the idea was dropped. Baldurs Gate may be last game I can think of that employed the traditional D&D six man party and even that had a structure that required participation from NPCs - well you could create a complete six man party but only one will be required to carry the narrative all the way through.
And whilst there have been party-based games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and the Final Fantasy games they don;t really count because you have a selection of party members available - if you don't like someone you can not choose to use them. Its not the worse idea but there's something satisfying about having a character start out useless only to eventually turn out awesome.
Considering the processing power of gaming machines these days it does raise the question of whether this idea will be revisited. Both MMPORGers and Divinity Original Sin has proven that RPGs can work with multiplayer and people will eagerly embrace such an idea.
Besides, who wouldn't want to create multiple characters and go with them on every step through an incredible journey?
Granted I can understand that RPGs are designed to be purely played through the eyes of a singular character and people would rather prefer an investment (both time and emotional) into one character rather than having such an investment spread across multiple characters. But I do miss the days when you can create a bunch of characters and take them across a journey spanning many, many hours of game time.
It's just like being a father guiding one's children: You create characters, you stay with them through thick and thin, you get worried when they get knocked out, you grind your teeth when there's this one guy who can't hit a barn door (there's always one) and you cheer when your dudes complete the game triumphant. They are six guys you created who each need care and attention to get anywhere and it;s your job to get them there.
I can't think of when the idea was dropped. Baldurs Gate may be last game I can think of that employed the traditional D&D six man party and even that had a structure that required participation from NPCs - well you could create a complete six man party but only one will be required to carry the narrative all the way through.
And whilst there have been party-based games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and the Final Fantasy games they don;t really count because you have a selection of party members available - if you don't like someone you can not choose to use them. Its not the worse idea but there's something satisfying about having a character start out useless only to eventually turn out awesome.
Considering the processing power of gaming machines these days it does raise the question of whether this idea will be revisited. Both MMPORGers and Divinity Original Sin has proven that RPGs can work with multiplayer and people will eagerly embrace such an idea.
Besides, who wouldn't want to create multiple characters and go with them on every step through an incredible journey?
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Dragon Aged
A new Dragon Age game is on the horizon but I'm not exactly thrilled. This may be a far cry from previous posts on this blog when I was excited about Origins and no.2 but I am older, wiser and wary of EA's handling of Bioware's IP.
The string of announcements that have come about Dragon Age Inquisition seems that somewhat desperate, as if someone looked at bigger games and are trying to replicate their successes. An open world with detailed environments - because Skyrim wasn't enough. And now it has multiplayer - even though Divine Divinity Original Sin proved how it could be done within an RPG environment.
These changes do not sit well for me: With these changes to Dragon Age will there be anything left of the original game? Because I felt Origins did indeed have a personality and identity of it's own - therefore this radical changes that are being promised seem more like a dilution - it makes me wonder what will be left of that original identity when the next game comes around.
Still at least Dragon Age Inquisition makes a a welcome return to the subtitle....
The string of announcements that have come about Dragon Age Inquisition seems that somewhat desperate, as if someone looked at bigger games and are trying to replicate their successes. An open world with detailed environments - because Skyrim wasn't enough. And now it has multiplayer - even though Divine Divinity Original Sin proved how it could be done within an RPG environment.
These changes do not sit well for me: With these changes to Dragon Age will there be anything left of the original game? Because I felt Origins did indeed have a personality and identity of it's own - therefore this radical changes that are being promised seem more like a dilution - it makes me wonder what will be left of that original identity when the next game comes around.
Still at least Dragon Age Inquisition makes a a welcome return to the subtitle....
Friday, August 22, 2014
How Divine
The recently released Divine Divinity: Original Sin is a game that intrigues me - chiefly because it is an RPG that actually accommodates for two players.
As any RPG connoisseur will tell you, RPGs are strictly a one player genre - it's hard to incorporate a second player when it is one player who builds a character and takes them all the way through the game, killing dudes and making vital decisions. How do you fit in a second player? Granted there have some attempts that have a second player but they are just confined to going along with whatever the first player does. And whilst that may work in some places it is dull in others. It may work from a narrative perspective (Final Fantasy X anyone?) but it must fell restrictive to play an RPG, a genre known for making decisions count, and not have a say in how things go.
Original Sin solves this problem in a clever way: It would seem that the narrative is shared between two players - when they have to make a decision the players are allowed to argue about it before coming to a conclusion through a minigame. That's actually really clever and proof that an RPG can work for two. Throw in the usual RPG conventions of killing monsters for loot and experience - only this time with someone else to back you up - and you have proof that an RPG can work for two. So much so, you wonder why no one's tried it before.
Now if only I had a cool forty bucks lying around....
As any RPG connoisseur will tell you, RPGs are strictly a one player genre - it's hard to incorporate a second player when it is one player who builds a character and takes them all the way through the game, killing dudes and making vital decisions. How do you fit in a second player? Granted there have some attempts that have a second player but they are just confined to going along with whatever the first player does. And whilst that may work in some places it is dull in others. It may work from a narrative perspective (Final Fantasy X anyone?) but it must fell restrictive to play an RPG, a genre known for making decisions count, and not have a say in how things go.
Original Sin solves this problem in a clever way: It would seem that the narrative is shared between two players - when they have to make a decision the players are allowed to argue about it before coming to a conclusion through a minigame. That's actually really clever and proof that an RPG can work for two. Throw in the usual RPG conventions of killing monsters for loot and experience - only this time with someone else to back you up - and you have proof that an RPG can work for two. So much so, you wonder why no one's tried it before.
Now if only I had a cool forty bucks lying around....
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