Divinity 2 Short Review - 12th Oct

Divinity 2: Ego Draconis by Larian Studios is in fact not officially out yet but the German version is released and I had the oppurtunity to play the German version. With a little tweak (which I would not reveal how) converts the dialouge to English. This would enable me to understand the dialouge by reading the actual text as the spoken language is still in German. Anyhow, I've only gotten the game quite a while only ago and there wasn't much progress at this stage but several of the ideas and mechanics are already there which I think is sufficient for a small review without the scores.

So, in the game, there's only one playable character that you can customize. Although the aesthetic customization is not as extensive as Fallout 3, as most of the customization available are presets. I'm still not sure what are the effects if the gender but it is available to choose. You start with yourself being transported to somewhere without being told of your backstory and why. All you need to know is that you are undergoing a series of training to help you become a Dragon Slayer, an elite kind of Hero. At this stage, you'll be able to select your first specialization although at later stages you may even combine specializations such as having mage spells with warrior skills. There are 4 specialzaions to choose from: Warrior, Ranger, Mage, Priest and the standard Slayer skills.

In terms of graphics, I'm rather annoyed. Having a 8600gt w/1Gb VRAM (See My Computer Specs HERE doesn't even let me enjoy the graphics properly. I've disabled most items or set it to lowest, besides the resolution (anything less than the 1024 setting renders the text incomprehensible on screen) on the Graphics Menu but yet it still feels sluggish and laggy. Although with this setting, the graphics still look somewhat nice but not as expected with everything blocky or textury. There's no slider bar or anything for you to set it to lowest details or such which is not good for older systems.But, as I do not know whether is the posting of screenshots of unreleased game illegal, it shall remain on my computer for now.

In terms of gameplay, I'm not sure is it me or the game itself, but I feel lost in every quest available as I'm not sure where everyone or everything is. It feels like the world is just too large and I'm wondering why I can't afford some of the most basic weapons in the game at this moment. The combat is just umimaginative and like Diablo, it a mouse-clicking fest. The thing is with the combat is that the you have to face your enemy to actually hit it, but with the ease of camera turning, it becomes rather apparent that its hard to be a warrior, especially when you're being mobbed and surrounded by several critters. Overall, the game is quite ok, but the low framerate really puts me off, which I hope can be fixed soon. The combat also should be fixed soon to keep the player engrossed.