Divine Divinity was the best RPG of 2002, and since then, nobody has made a great epic like this.
User Rating: 8.8 | Divine Divinity PC
I wish that “Divine Divinity” had won RPG of the year on 2002, because it was the best. When you play this game, you can tell that the developers are RPG fans, and they truly know what makes a great RPG. If you have ever complained that RPG's focus too much on sexiness over substance, then "Divine Divinity" is the game for you. This game doesn't offer a lot in the way of originality. What makes 'Divine Divinity' such a good game is that it combines the strengths and experiences of so many other successful RPG's, while discarding the genre's usual faults. In addition, it makes the right tradeoffs between production values and core gameplay -- tradeoffs that should be made more often in the PC gaming business. This is not to say that the graphics are crummy. They aren’t. In fact, they are very good. But they aren’t state-of-the-art, because they don’t have to be. The game certainly puts its worst foot forward when it introduces itself. When you start it up, it screams "Diablo clone from hell", with the red bulb for health, blue bulb for mana, and yellow bar for fatigue. However, the game quickly shows that is is a great open-ended RPG, and not just a dungeon crawl. The world is huge. Massive. Gargantuan. Morrowind-like. The game is truly open-ended, allowing you to wander and travel at will, exploring where you wish, and solving whatever quests you want. You could probably play for 150 hours if you wanted to without starting over, although it takes more like about 80 hours to finish. The game uses 2D graphics, which are not breathtaking, but still good. The environments look excellent, and rarely look repetitive. There are mountain caverns, sewers, forests swamps, cities, etc. The game is loaded with hundred's of NPC's many of which look unique and have unique dialog trees. You can tell all of the game’s major NPC’s and monsters from one another by their appearance: this is rare in an RPG this big. The soundtrack for the game is not remarkable, but it is still very good and has a lot of different sounds for the game's different areas. RPG fans will be pleased to see that most of the quests are not of the mundane 'FedEx' variety. They involve solving mysteries, exposing criminals, and accomplishing military objectives. "Divine Divinity" excels the most in the RPG's most underappreciated area: the interface. DD's superior interface is a prime example of how this game gets the nuts and bolts right. Any detail of the game, whether it is inventory, skills, or the map, can be quickly and efficiently accessed. Multiple windows can be kept open to make tasks easier. Inventory management is refreshingly easy to use, and so is the in-game journal. The game has an in-game mini-map, as well as an attractive map screen with 3 zoom levels. The user can assign the 12 Function keys as shortcuts to almost any item or action. 'Divine Divinity' rarely bogs down inventory management sessions, or any of the other tedious shortcomings of most RPG's. The game takes roughly 80-100 hours to complete, and they are all quality hours. By far, 'Divine Divinity's' only serious fault is its horrendous saving and loading times. The game's 'Quick' save might be the slowest quick save ever created. Transitions that require a loading are rare, but when they occur, they provide a good opportunity for doing household chores. It's hard to describe why a game like this is so good, because this game does so many little things right that you have to experience them to appreciate them. You might not fall in love with the game at first. Once you do, you will see that "Divine Divinity" has few faults, and is a lot of fun to play.
