Divine Divinity!

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Well, play the real game and you'll find out it has the look of Diablo (well, actually it looks much better, more detailed, better effects, and at 1024*768 it simply rocks), but the spirit of Fallout and Ultima 7

 

I just got it and i figured i am really spoiled by Infinity Engine from BG

Really i did except a bit more detailed and quality graphics But i feel like i will play it for quite some time now

I wonder are there realy only 3 classes to play with I started as a mage as i feel it closer to druid (my prefered class ) than any other.
Is there any specialization later

 

Think it more like single character RPGs like Fallout and Morrowind, your starting choice will give you some advantage in that particular area, but you can also learn skills from other area and nothing prevents you from developing your mage into a fighter with some spells. Just put the ability and skill points and it's fine. You can specializing in whatever you choose.

The graphics in 1024*768 is very detailed and with nice effects. You don't see water reflection in Infinity engines, and wait till you see the shimmering effects of the magic shield, I say it look terrific Also hte butterflies, rabbits, dogs, cows, etc. etc. The monster models have stunning details IMHO, more detailed than BG2

Finished it already, and I'm start a second run now, this time a fighter

 

I haven't played too far into the demo, but from what I've experienced, it's very Siege of Avalon-ish. I'm not entirely sure how to describe what I mean, but if you've played Siege, you'll understand

 

Picked it up on ebay yesterday!
Now the wait for it to be shipped begins (It is here yet? Is it here yet? Arrraagggghhhhh)

I don't think there are any other "schools" than the three (warrior, survivor, and mage), although, as noted you can freely choose between them, which gives you a lot of variety.

After spending more time with the demo, I really got into it, and while it's still not the equal of BG or BG2, DD is quite a fun game that I am really looking forward to.

Now where the &%#$ is the mail man?

[EDIT] I've spent the last three days playing the full version, and I must say I am liking this game!
One small problem, after shopkeeper George got killed (in the first town), I had having trouble finding someone to do repairs and sell stuff to. The other people in town don't have enough money to buy much, and they don't sell anything I want except potions.

I went to the barracks and the commander told me to "take what I wanted" from the armory. Biiiig mistake on her part! It took a couple of trips (actually 4 or 5) via the teleporter, but the entire armory is now in my chest at the village. (I'm using the chest in the room where I first
woke up at the beginning of the game as my stash.)

I did get the repair skill, which helps, but I need someone with big bucks to sell this junk to.

[ October 08, 2002, 00:47: Message edited by: Nutrimat ]

 

Similar problem here (about money), but i have problem with game speed, the game runs well but sometimes it slows down a lot, is i have tried to lower quality of graphics but the speed (fast parts and slow ones) is the same. Ironically the graphics doesn't impress me at all

Game is fun, but i had better fun with Dink Smallwood!

 

total, here are the merchants I found to buy stuff from:

There are 4 in Ars Magicanna (it's the village in the north east of Rivertown). Between the 4 of them, they usually have enough money to buy everything in my stash. There are roads that go there, so if you are a lower level, stick to the road and you won't get attacked (too much anyway). The wizard in the first town is good for potions, and there's another in Verdistis that sells them also. There is a smith and his apprentice in the Dwarven Halls who have some nice items and loads of cash, also a healer on the west side, and a cranky alchemist in the Dark Forest who sells potions.

About the slowdown: There is a "hotfix" patch you can get that might help. Go to http://www.larian.com/Site/english/divinity/english.html to get it, you might need some patience, because the first few times I tried I couldn't download it. I went back a few days later and was able to pick it up though. I didn't notice THAT much difference in the Rivertown area, but it made Versistis sooo much smoother. If that doesn't help, letting your character walk instead of running helps, you have to turn "always run" off.

I'm near the endgame now, and I have to say this game is HUGE. I've spent almost as much, if not more, time on this than BGII. There are what seems like hundreds of small quests to do, and if you are determined to get everything, it will take you a LONG time. Most of the quests are optional, but you'll miss out on a lot if you don't do them.
It has some standard find-the-widget quests, but in many cases even those are original and imaginative. Case in point: I met a soldier who was horribly scarred, and had lost an eye. He sent me to get revenge on the person who maimed him. I tried just attacking the guy and killing him, and I got a crappy item, and little exp. But then I reloaded and talked to him instead and discovered that one-eye had been sleeping with the other's wife. So I got an option to go back and tell one-eye to handle his own problems. This caused me to fail the quest, but I got a lot more exp this way. The quests are pretty interesting in this way, and many of them have more than one way to solve them.

The game also has some really funny dialouge and descriptions in it, like an evil mage's notes saying that by killing his servants and turning them into undead minions "besides saving on wages, it has the additional benefit of clearing-up thier flatulence problem".

One memorable moment came when I was exploring near the Orc camp and found what looked like the aftermath of an Orc attack, wagons scattered and broken, items all over the place. I found a Dark Elf amulet in this spot that read "To my best friend - C.B.". Apparently someone at Larian is not a Drizzt fan!

Anyway, now that I'm nearly finished with the game, I have to say I loved this game and am looking forward to an expansion or sequel. It wasn't quite as good as BG2, but much better than NWN or Dungeon Seige, IMHO.

Some tips so you don't "bust" quests (minor spoilers):
Always save your game (not a quick save, a new, regular save) before entering any dungeon, the first time you enter a town before you talk to anyone, or right after you get a quest. That way if you discover that the area is too tough or screw things up, you can go back. With the exception of one quest (listed below), there are NO time limits on any quests, so feel free to ignore any quest until you are ready to do it. I got a few quests right near the beginning that I did not complete until almost the end of the game.
* You have to heal Otto and Goemoe's wounded before they leave the first town, or you won't be able to finish the quest. There's some good exp from this.
Rivertown:
* Don't open any of the four tombs in the holy weapon chamber. (it's in the northernmost part of Rivertown area, and very hard to find). Don't go there at all unless you have all three pieces, there's nothing else to do there.
* Don't go into Commander Ralph's room (he's in the building just south of Stormfist Castle). He will kick you out and lock the door, breaking a quest (you won't be able to open this door again).
* Castle Stormfist invitation: I would recommend putting this off for a while. I got this pretty early, had my teleporter stones stolen, and didn't get them back for a good while because I didn't think I was strong enough to get them back.
Verdistis:
* Don't give Corina the tree branch you get from the merchant in Verdistis.
* If you steal the magic lockpicks from the guard barracks, be careful! I did this, and dropped them (because I knew I wasn't going to do this quest for a while), and they just vanished! The hotifx is supposed to fix this bug, but it was too late for me.
Dwarven Halls: When you go to find the Dwarf council member (in the village), and get the stone axe quest, DON'T give it back to him, take it to the Dwarven King in the Hall instead. The dwarves won't let you take items into the King's chamber, so stand in front of it and throw the item into the chamber as far as you can (save before doing this in case you mess it up). Also throw in the letter revealing his brother's treachery. If you do this, the king will give you a quest to get the Dragon Armor, and if you restore the Dragon Armor and take it back to him, he will give you the helm. BTW, once you get the entire Dragon set (Helm, Gloves, Belt, Shield, and restored Armor), equip everything for a nice exp bonus. You can always take it off right after if you don't want to use it. Also, if you like the old armor better, talk to the smith after he restores it, and he will have it for sale!

Skills that are must-haves, and ones to avoid:
* Get pickpocket to level 1 (no more, it's kinda useless IMO), and lockpick up at least to level 3 or 4 if you want to join the thieves guild in Verdistis. Joining is necessary to complete at least one quest, and you get 2 or 3 more quests from joining. Plus, lockpick is a great skill to have anyway, there are a fair amount of locked chests in the game!
* Get item repair up to level 2, no more and no less. That allows you to repair items to 70%. Do this, and you won't need to have anything repaired at a shop, which saves some big bucks. It doesn't cost you anything to repair yourself, and at 70%, you won't have to fix your stuff often enough to be annoying.
* I'd recommend Identify item up to level 3. It's not really necessary to take it further, since there aren't that many level 4 and 5 items in the game. Id level 3 will identify 90% of the items you find.
* Don't get survivor's instinct, it's useless. Even at level 5 your HP will not regenerate enough to be useful in any way.
* The restore skill will save a good bit on health potions, especially if you have a mana drain item that will refill your magic.
* Elemental damage (Fire, lightning, and spirit damage) is a must. I didn't bother much with poison, but I maxed the others.
* Augment defense is a must (max it)
* Some people feel Wisdom is useless, but if you max it, it adds 10% to ALL the exp you get. Just level it up early for maximum benefit.
* A point into enchant weapon. This is a great way to protect yourself from elemental damage. When adding charms to items, wait until you have a lot of charms, then click on the item you want to add them to. Click on the item a bunch of times, and the charm window will open multiple times. Add one charm in each window, and DON'T close any windows until all your charms are in. Once all your charms are installed, close all the windows. Doing this, I added 47 charms to an amulet that had space for 5!

* Weapon specializaton (max it) The best weapon in the game seems to be giant swords, although there are some really nice axes later in the game. If you can use giant swords, you can pick up a really really nice one effortlessly early in the game. Look east of the Dwarven village (hint: boulders)

[ October 18, 2002, 01:01: Message edited by: Nutrimat ]

 

Thanks, i gave the game second chance and did some quests before i rushed from the village!
I also found that even without patch (wich i will install since it fixes many bugs i havent been, fortunatey, aware of) the game is faster, my char runs faster when holding SHIFT (note: not like in FPS ).

The game really reminds me of Dink Smallwood since it has same weird (good) humor!

 

Anyone knows who created the game?

No? ... a belgian company ,that's right, Belgian . Didn't guess that, did you?

Apparently I'm not the only fantastic thing coming from that tiny country.

 

Uytuun, most people here dont even know what Belgium is

 

but they know Belgian Chocolate, Belgian beer, Belgian games (Divine Divinity, Outcast) and well, they know me (sorta).

Now think about Chocolate factories, brewers, game developpers and girls in front of computers. Stuff them on a tiny bit of land and ...voilà, there you have Belgium.

and would someone please tell me what's so fun about us that the Dutch and French make fun of us?

 

sorry that this is off topic, but my last names possibly belgian, its airzee. Can u belgian people tell me if it is

 

It sounds cool. The Fallout-Diablo mix sounds very intriguing so I might buy it someday.

 

I really liked the demo and I think DD is one of the better RPG's of this year.
Definitely try the Demo!

It could be Belgian, but I haven't heard it before.

'Zee' is the Dutch/flemish word for 'sea', but I don't know what the 'air' part means. Well, I do know what it is in Dutch, but I don't get the connection between 'air' and 'zee'.

[ November 09, 2002, 13:41: Message edited by: Uytuun ]

 

erm, PC Gamer gave DD 84% in their scoring, that=excellent (their word). I wouldn't call that a low score.