Divinity II: Developer's Cut

 PC
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 0 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of

There are no critic reviews yet.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 81
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 81
  3. Negative: 9 out of 81
  1. MeritCoba
    Jun 14, 2013
    5
    Divinity II: developers cut for the pc.

    Writing a review of a game is hard because a game is as much a matter of taste as anything else.    Divinity II: developers cut for the pc.

    Writing a review of a game is hard because a game is as much a matter of taste as anything else. Even within a specific genre, like roleplay games, tastes differ and what someone finds a great game, others find awful.
    I also often find that a review also seems to be a one way communication device and a judgement based on one person’s opinion. And everyone knows an opinion is just an opinion.
    But one person’s opinion is not bad in itself. The question is: is this opinion of use to you?
    Or more to the point, when I write a review of game a, b and c, and we both agree on a, b and c, then it is likely that we also agree on d. And if that is the case then my reviews of games you have not yet played are of worth to you.
    So to start with my review I want to give you a bit of background so that you know where I come from.
    My favorite game of all time is a game called Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Other games I like include the Fallout series, the Kotor series, Jade empire, Deus Ex(but not the last one), Mass Effect 1 & 2, Dragon Age (both versions, but not the expansion pack to the first), Rainbow Six:Raven Shield, Swat 4, the entire Baldur Gate series with spin offs, Torment(!), Mask of the Betrayer and Saints Row 3.
    Notable games I don’t like are: the Elder scroll series, Masseffect 3, Farcry 2, Borderlands after level 15 or so and Dvinity II.

    And there you have it. I tried Divinity II and I tried very hard to like it. I wanted to like it, but it just bored me.
    The exact moment I decided to uninstall the game was when I had conquered that battle tower and could become a dragon.
    Just before my first time as dragon I was in my battle tower and the bad dude in the game had ordered an attack on that tower. I could hear the thudding below..
    Turn into a dragon and fight off the invaders, I was told.
    And so I did, because the script required it from me.
    And what did I fight? I fought a series of static spear throwing towers and a few plant like things that spat out giant insects that attacked me. I had to destroy all the buildings to win while dodging spears and fighting insects. It was space invaders with a dragon.
    And this is the major problem with the game. Nothing seems to really connect.
    For example: you find lots of jewels, money and ingredients. But until you gain that battle tower, about in the game, you can’t do much with them. The jewels you use to make enchantments. For that you have to have the right set of jewels and combine these with the right enchantment on a piece of equipment that can have it. Unfortunately it hardly pays to stock them, for most of these enchantments barely do anything. They do something like: a five percent chance to inflict fifteen hit points on a nearby foe for two seconds.
    This same tedious resource gathering and combining also goes for ingredients. You can make potions with them: if you have the right combinations, with the right recipes and find a potion maker. And then you might find you made a pretty powerless potion.
    Again the same goes for money. You get a lot if and hardly can spend it because the weapons are limited by your level. You can buy better weapons, but you can’t use them until you gained the required level and by the time you are of the proper level you find better weapons in the loot.
    The skill system is another example. Basically you will find that most of the skills are nice to have, but quickly get maxed out. The real thing that makes you stronger is simply your level and your equipment and potions.

    All of this wouldn’t matter if the story had been anything but boring. It has it’s twists, but it has all been seen before, ad nauseum. Another evil bad dude wants to rule the world and you are there to stop him. You get to fight those staple stock of monsters: orcs, bandits, goblins, skeletons and so on. Your impact on this world is nothing. You kill everything that attacks you, but the world still feels the same.
    The mood of the game is also indifferent. At the start I thought it would become a hybrid of fantasy and steampunk because of the very steampunk like airship, but I was wrong. It is hardcore fantasy all the way.
    There is an attempt to have some memorable characters in the game. There is for instance an interesting patched together woman opponent who was made by a necromancer from body parts. She could have been an interesting opponent or even ally, but she gets killed of rather quick.
    Divinity II is not a rpg in the sense of Baldurs Gate. It is a game like Diablo merged with aspects of Dragon Age. But like the elders scroll series it lacks consistency and a good gripping tale with memorable characters and a plot. To those who like a game because of it’s mood, scenery, story and memorable moments and characters, I can but advise to look elsewhere, you likely to get bored with this divinity II.    … Full Review »
  2. krokodile
    Apr 30, 2014
    8
    [note: I only played original game and the expansion but I did not use the developer's cut bonus material]

    Divinity is a single player    [note: I only played original game and the expansion but I did not use the developer's cut bonus material]

    Divinity is a single player sandbox (ish) RPG by Larian Studios. The game features a classless leveling system where points are freely spent in any of 5 trees. Hitting shelves in early 2010, the game's graphics are still solid 4 years later. In Divinity II you will have to discern the truth from the lies in history as you hunt down and try to stop one man as he tries to ascend to the lord of evil.

    The Good: Divinity II really gives an RPG fan almost everything they could want. Skill and stat points to spend, many weapons and armors to find, forge and upgrade, an excellent home base with a smithy and alchemist (among others), good music, large lands to explore and loot, a bunch of side quests and a pet to customize and build to help you on your quest. The game was just plain fun to explore and to move through. It is also pretty long, I spent just over 70 hours on the original (Ego Draconis) and the expansion (Flames of Vengeance) and I still didn’t have that “man, I wonder when I get to kill the boss” feeling I get on some games. If you enjoy Might and Magic 6 & 7, Morrowind, Oblivion or other open world exploration and loot games than Divinity II will be up your alley!

    The Bad: The game is pretty easy once you get the hang of it ... and it isn't very hard if you don't get the hang of it either. I played on normal difficulty and I really wish I cranked it up. I had one tricky spot in the game but I realize that at level 30 I still had my level 16 gear on and I had not forged any weapons yet. After forging a custom set of armor and weapons I was so powerful that I was killing everything in just a few hits; normal hits not powerful skills! These weapons were so good I also beat the expansion at level 45 with these same level 30 weapons. The only really hard fights were fights that had a strange gimmick. One boss have a 45 second fear … you could go get a drink while your character ran away! Also any monster that can heal WILL completely heal themselves at least once, the percentage based heal should not have been given to monsters!

    The Funny: The mindread system is really neat in this game but half its worth seems to be comedy. When you read minds you get special quests and sometimes skill points but you also get embarrassing facts out of people. It costs you a little experience but it is worth it to mind read; for the laughs if nothing else.

    The Summary: I give Divinity II: Developer's Cut a solid 8 out of 10. It's a great little diamond in the rough that, even 4 years after release, is a great game. Also, since I've helped myself to many a skill list online before but never contributed, I took it upon myself to fill in the lack of skill information online for Divinity II! This my gift to you dear reader, I have personally tested and written down each and every last level of every character skill in the game and made them available on the Wiki! Follow this URL ( http://divinity.wikia.com/wiki/Divinity_II_Skills ) and you can see the skill details and my notes on every skill! Happy Adventuring!    … Full Review »
  3. Klewer
    Jan 25, 2014
    7
    This is actually a great game with so many great RPG aspects, however it is quite slow moving and after putting in a lot of time you feel likeThis is actually a great game with so many great RPG aspects, however it is quite slow moving and after putting in a lot of time you feel like you have made zero progress.

    Still worth a look.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »