Divine Divinity

Divine Divinity has some great quests during the middle of the game. Unfortunately the beginning and end of the game is marred by endless combat with hordes of skeletons, hordes of orcs, hordes of trolls, hordes of bandits, hordes of lizard men, etc. etc. etc. This problem with the game is apparent as soon as the first quest. Don't be fooled - if you are sick of the combat after fighting the skeletons at the beginning of the game, it doesn't get any better. I got so tired of the combat that I had to take a break from the game for months at a time at least three times. As for the voice acting, I can't imagine why anyone would say it's good. The graphics are beautiful, however. It's too bad that shortly after this game was released the entire industry shifted to 3D graphics. I'd like to see more games that look like Divine Divinity. My biggest gripe with the game, aside from the combat, is that there are only a few really interesting quests. The game engine was obviously designed to do allow the player to do some really creative things, which you get to do during the middle of the game. I get the impression this is because the development was sort of rushed, and the studio was under pressure by the publisher to make it as Diablo-ey as possible, or something. This would explain why there are occasional moments of brilliance between all the hacking and slashing you are forced to slog through. I finally beat this game yesterday. I will fondly remember the middle of the game, but I will never get the other 40 out of 50 hours total I spent playing this game of my life back.

First off, absolutely get the unofficial Direct3D fix which sets it to 16bit, removing the cripping slowdowns and load times. It becomes a fully different game! Also the resolution fix is great. There's a 1.34 patch but some claim the GOG version is newer, some say it's based on 1.29. game itself's solid, but: - dialogs are nothing to write home about - there's not much choice at all. It's not Fallout - a couple tactics are game-breaking (e.g. the controlled scorpion) - but you can avoid them easily - I find that the dungeon are too long, and then the non-dungeon "fetch quests" sequences as well. nonethless a great diablo/Baldur's Gate mix.

So let me say first i loved playing the game, exploring the huge worlds crafted with lot of interesting NPCS, quest and diablo like slaying combat. Game was a bit grindy but i didnt mind cause it was fun to clear all monsters inside the dungeons. There is a lot of difficulty spikes in campaing but i never felt like i had to cheat or beat my head agains the wall stuck until the last point of game. And here is my problem i have and why i have to give only 3* because its just horrible. You are put into this wasteland area filled with spongy enemies that take forever to kill (and i played mage was lvl 47 when i entered endgame got all quests done and found all legendary armors and weapons mind you! - my ressistances were 150). So ... This area is HUGE, empty, boring with spongy enemies. It was chore to play but the worst is yet to come. After hours of boring exploration killing tons of spongy enemies you are thown into this dungeon that is just pain. Terrible desing after finishing it left me angry and frustrated. Amount of BS in there is insane. Giga dps enemies that takes forever to kill(check), confusing hallways filled with enemies blocking your way (check), bosses that are insane with energy shield so as a mage you are basically screwed (check) and for fun bosses are in rooms full of hardcore enemies (check check check). Have fun i guess.... And if it wasnt clear i did not have fun. Delete last area and you have 4* game. In the end i felt like i wasted my precious time and if you are in between on purchase of this game i WARN YOU dont play mage and even better go google best DPS build so you can even finish it. Good luck

This was a no-brainer. More in depth story and character development than Diablo but without having to worry about tinkering with a party of five or six with varying abilities. The customization of the player-character in DD provided enough leeway to concentrate on some skills over others yet allow for crossover abilities if needed. The story was engaging and complex with a vast number of side missions if so desired. It's often the case that I feel obligated to do every side mission or cover every inch of every dungeon just to get extra points and loot. DD provided much opportunity for both. I also found the "loot" to be well thought out -- not giving the player anything that would make him invincible and ruin the gameplay. One complaint and what made me give it a lesser rating were the annoying albeit few times when I just could not figure out how to meet up with such and such person or find a way to provide such and such item for some NPC. I felt that at those times, the clues provided to figure out the puzzle/quest were too sparse. Although I liked the non-linear nature of the game play -- allowing the players to mostly roam free and encounter things by themselves -- I felt there were a few too many frustrating moments of running into some enemy that was about 40 levels (exaggeration mode off) too difficult to fight. Although I can see where that would give the game a more "real world" feel to it than keeping things locked until a player can face it. There were also a couple of technical glitches that needed to be balanced early on -- resolution and system crashes being some of them. I eventually got the crashes to a manageable level (usually only happens when a dozen enemies are all casting spells at the same time) and frequent saves spared me the grief. All in all, a very enjoyable game and an eater of many hours filled with fun. At the price this game is offered on GOG, it is more than worth it. A steal, actually.

Just beat it after 2 straight weeks of playing. Was much better than I thought or hoped the game would be. Perfect blend of classic PC RPG and Diablo-style hack and slash. Not so brain dead as Diablo, not as RPG intensive as Baldur's Gate. Graphics remind me of Sacred. Has a weird sound issue every now and then and also slows down for some reason during attacks, but nothing crippling. Some of the maps were just absolutely freaking huge! Probably spent a good 55-65 hrs on it. Well worth the money.