An honest review from a non fanboy

[Lock]

My favorite game, or RPG, of all time is Baldur's Gate 2. Nothing has ever come close to surpassing its excellence in storytelling, immersion, sound and overall design. I've played every CRPG that came out since, and although many people might disagree with this, the only games that ever came close for me were The Witcher 2 and (yes) Skyrim. I kind of liked Dragon Age: Origins, but it just didn't grip me. I even liked Dragon Age 2, but again, it didn't grip me enough. I liked Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas, but after playing Oblivion, they just felt like more of the same. Mass Effect 1,2 and even 3 were great, but they were not RPG's in the same way The Walking Dead is not an RPG. I've played Diablo 2 & 3, and they were fun hack&slash games, but nothing more. I've played Avernum and Abadon, but even though they came out a decade later, they felt older than the Baldur's Gate series and so I couldn't enjoy them as much. I've played many more game, but nothing ever came close.

Now as a Belgian myself (sorry about last night US people), I remember being all hyped up when Larian released Divine Divinty more than a decade ago. I bought it, played it, and... I didn't like it. It lacked all the good qualities the Baldur's Gate series had. An epic story with personal stakes, excellent companions with their own personal stories, and quests which would take you all over the world and would take weeks to complete. Divine Divinty was "meh". It tried, it did it's best, but it never came close to the brilliance that Baldur's Gate (or even Fallout) was. I remember Larian promoting it as if they combined Diablo 2 with Infinity Engine games. This was simply not true. It wasn't a bad game, not at all, it just wasn't great. The misplaced "humor" and unepicness caused me to not finish the game and simply to forget about it after 20 hours or so.

Almost a decade later, Larian released Divinity 2. It had exactly the same problems as Divine Divinity, and this time I didn't like it at all. The story made no sense, there were literally no interesting characters and moving from a topdown RPG to a 3rd person action adventure was completely the wrong way to go. Next came Dragon Commander, not an RPG, but again, they promoted it as a hybrid between an RPG and an RTS. I didn't like it at all, it had the exact same problems.

I have no clue as to why, but when Larian announced Divinity: Original Sin, I got real excited. A promise to go back to the days of the old infinity games. An epic story! Memorable companions! Top down perspective! Turn based combat! New graphics! This was almost to good to be true. I'm not for the whole Kickstarter, Steam Early Access, idea. In my opinion it doesn't work and I still have to see the first game that gets released through these mediums which is actually good. Against my better knowledge I decided to buy it anyway. This couldn't go wrong right? They promised all the right things...

And here we are, and after 15 hours in, I can safely say that Larian did it again. Once again they made a mediocre RPG which promises to capture the same feeling the old infinity games did, but fails in the execution. It's quite easy to pinpoint where this went wrong: the writing. Again; a dull story which nobody will remember in a few weeks. Bland characters you don't really care about. And a journey that will take you through 4 kind of the same maps with not that much to do. Where is our epic villain? Who doesn't remember Jon Irenicus? What about Minsc and Boo? Did Cyseal have a serial killer who escapes you but turns up 30 hours later in a different city? Divinity Original Sin doesn't have any of that. It's a pretty nice dungeon crawler with a sort of decent combat system and filled with forgettable characters and quests. I'm 100% positive that if they hired the right writers, this could have been a game of epic proportions. But once again they failed to attract the right talent and what we are left with is a game filled with "funny" dialogue where your actions have no consequences and your companions are the stereotypical "imma gud fiter" or "Im a very intelligent wizard". After all this negativity it might sound like I hate Original Sin, I don't. It's a good RPG, and I will finish it in the following weeks, but it is by no means the revelation it was supposed, or could, have been.

If you want a true successor to the old CRPGS, I suggest you watch Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity, that looks like the game (I for one) have been waiting for all these years. But still, congrats on a nice game Larian, I hope it sells well and that it brings enough money to the table for you to hire a decent writing team for your next game.

7/10

[Billcimus]

Publicado originalmente por Lockmort:

Publicado originalmente por soge99:

I make 45 grand a year. Some day you be out of your moms basement and graduate from minimum wage burger flipping and perhaps you can buy a few more games past level zero before goin broke.

Next.

I'm level 9, I don't think that means anything, but according to your standards it appears to be that I'm better than you? Thanks for that anyway. My mom has been dead for over a decade, and I don't have a basement since my wife and I live in an appartment in the city and make aproximately 40 grand a year. Anything else? No? Ok then.

Ignore him: It's extremely obvious he's VERY insecure about something. Whatever that might be, it's his problem.
Why else would anyone need to tell everyone in a small thread about how much they earn? I mean, what the hell does that have to do with the price of cod?

[Lock]

Publicado originalmente por SquireEwokonTitan:

Publicado originalmente por soge99:

LOL @ Squireewok, another penny scrounging Level zero steam noob on private status. wow these guys are all butt hurt today.

I have about 450 Steam games and am level 13; I didn't even know my account is private, I assumed it wasn't. But then, what does that matter-- what the heall does Steam level have to do with the validity of an argument,

Arguments stand for themselves. Hard for a primitive head-smasher like you to understand, perhaps, but this is the truth.

Did da big man lose an argument? Did da big man? Dats why it needs to muscle in and tell everyone how much a big da man it is?

Haha, well said.

[Lock]

Publicado originalmente por sheep from hell:

how can i story or storytelling be oldschool? the reference to the oldfashioned games are only meant by gameplaymechanics, no handhold, turnbased combat, isometric instead of first person view and so on. and overall this is all true. thats the point the op missing completely. the op focus only on story (because of this the walking dead was meantioned) and storytelling is timeless, it has not the dark tone nor the epicness of bg2 (btw bg1 didnt have them too) but it wasnt never a goal of the game. but to bring back the gameplay mechanics from the old games was intended, and that is delievered

Well if you put it like that, I can only agree to it. Well said. The only problem I have with this game is that they promoted it like a spiritual successor to Ultima VII and the Infinity games, which this is not (according to me). But gameplay wise you're absolutely right, it nails it and is a great game.

[Mytheos]

@OP

The truth is in the past the games didnt have the best graphics, and were very technically limited.

RPGs originally were primarily focused on story, and considering the older game's limitations, focusing on the story was always a good bet.

Even if the actual game play was mediocre, the game could end up being a classic just due to the story.

Now a days though, the story generally isnt in the top 5 priority list...and is mostly an afterthought.

Dont get me wrong, I'd love games to have better stories, but its hard...TV shows and movies, media forms that are primarily story based...well how many AMAZING shows/movies come out every year? Maybe 1 if you're really lucky?


Though in the end, personally if I had to choose story or gameplay, I choose gameplay.

I cant hardly expect every game to have some amazing plot when TV and movies fail 90% of the time.


So OP, I think you need to just stick to reading books, if you expect games to have plots on the same level, expect many more years of disappointment...

[Selvec]

The writing team is fine, it just suffers from poor translation.

[Loligo Vulgaris]

I thought people played games for the gameplay and not for the story and characters.

[Lock]

Publicado originalmente por Mytheos:

@OP

The truth is in the past the games didnt have the best graphics, and were very technically limited.

RPGs originally were primarily focused on story, and considering the older game's limitations, focusing on the story was always a good bet.

Even if the actual game play was mediocre, the game could end up being a classic just due to the story.

Now a days though, the story generally isnt in the top 5 priority list...and is mostly an afterthought.

Dont get me wrong, I'd love games to have better stories, but its hard...TV shows and movies, media forms that are primarily story based...well how many AMAZING shows/movies come out every year? Maybe 1 if you're really lucky?


Though in the end, personally if I had to choose story or gameplay, I choose gameplay.

I cant hardly expect every game to have some amazing plot when TV and movies fail 90% of the time.


So OP, I think you need to just stick to reading books, if you expect games to have plots on the same level, expect many more years of disappointment...

Hmm, I get what you're saying but I don't agree. Bioshock Infinite (a game that released last year) had the best story I've seen in years. Not just in a game, but in movies or tv-shows as well. Same goes for Telltale's Walking Dead series. I think story will become more and more important in games, and I love it. There are also a ton of RPG's out there with great stories, like The Witcher series and some JRPGS have decent stories too. I'm looking for the perfect balance between gameplay and story. It's rare, but it does exist.

[Selvec]

Publicado originalmente por Tilde:

I thought people played games for the gameplay and not for the story and characters.

Not really. Back when games where first coming out Gameplay was so bad story was one of the only things you could actually do well, due to limitations in technology.

[Billcimus]

I find what tells most of the story in great RPGs is the mere existence of a well realised world. Exploring ancient forests is storytelling in itself. THIS is the greatest strength of gaming, and a factor that is sadly relegated in modern days.
This is why weather is imperative, this is why day/night cycles are crucial. This is why I lament so when Larian decided to cut it out.
The game is still fantastic, but oh how it has been hamstringed by the removal of the above.

[Lock]

Publicado originalmente por Tilde:

I thought people played games for the gameplay and not for the story and characters.

I play for both of them. Gameplaywise, this game is a winner. Storywise, not so much.

[Lock]

Publicado originalmente por SquireEwokonTitan:

I find what tells most of the story in great RPGs is the mere existence of a well realised world. Exploring ancient forests is storytelling in itself. THIS is the greatest strength of gaming, and a factor that is sadly relegated in modern days.
This is why weather is imperative, this is why day/night cycles are crucial. This is why I lament so when Larian decided to cut it out.
The game is still fantastic, but oh how it has been hamstringed by the removal of the above.

You're right.

[Samalot]

Lockmort can you stop bumping your own troll thread already?

If you want to write a review then put it in the reviews section.

[Lock]

Publicado originalmente por Samalot:

Lockmort can you stop bumping your own troll thread already?

If you want to write a review then put it in the reviews section.

I reply to everyone who posts in this thread, because I like to have a discussion.

[sheep from hell]

Publicado originalmente por Mytheos:

@OP

The truth is in the past the games didnt have the best graphics, and were very technically limited.

RPGs originally were primarily focused on story, and considering the older game's limitations, focusing on the story was always a good bet.

Even if the actual game play was mediocre, the game could end up being a classic just due to the story.

Now a days though, the story generally isnt in the top 5 priority list...and is mostly an afterthought.

Dont get me wrong, I'd love games to have better stories, but its hard...TV shows and movies, media forms that are primarily story based...well how many AMAZING shows/movies come out every year? Maybe 1 if you're really lucky?


Though in the end, personally if I had to choose story or gameplay, I choose gameplay.

I cant hardly expect every game to have some amazing plot when TV and movies fail 90% of the time.


So OP, I think you need to just stick to reading books, if you expect games to have plots on the same level, expect many more years of disappointment...

wouldnt say the old games focused on stories because of this (baldurs gate is still pretty, played it not long ago with big world mod and the possibilities in character development still outstand nearly every modern game), more that new games mostly focus on the look, if it looks pretty it will sell well because that can be promoted, a story not.

[three_sevens]

"If I understood the developers right, every class in PoE can solo the game."

Excuse me, but I have soloed Baldur's Gate 2 many times, with a variety of classes. It only means that the classes are balanced and all powerful in their own way. It is not a negetive.