A hidden gem, it keeps surprising you with content, and occupies you with it's deep, immersive gameplay.
First, a couple of quick facts. Divine Divinity is a 2D isometric RPG game by German developer, Larian studios. Contrary to it's brethren, the focus is on a sole hero, instead on a group of heroes like in some other titles. Gameplay-wise, it's basically a Diablo clone, but under the hood, it's a deep, immersive game.
Once you walk past the first corridors of the starting area, you'll se a huge, detailed world full of new opportunities.
Content is the game's biggest strength. The main quest is long and complex, but the side quests are where the game really shines. The quests are almost always inventive and satisfying. While there are some generic pick-up and kill quests, the quality (and quantity) of the unique tasks overshadows the occasional repetitiveness. The quests range from restoring an old man's sanity, to finding the holy grail. A great sense of mystery and adventure is present, enticing you to venture into the unknown and explore the possibilites.
Due to the game's huge gameworld, there are a lot of quests hubs, and an astonishing number of secrets. Our hero interacts with the world and his choices can directly influence the things he will get and the paths he will take.
There are situations in which you reach the point of no return, altering the possible conversation options significantly. Cities are present in the world, and they serve mainly for guild quests and selling vendor trash. The game takes a good 90+ hours on the first play, and exploring everything takes months. Theres also a great feeling of reward and power from aquiring unique weapons and charms.
This was all fairly innovative for it's time, but it was downright amazing and addicting.
The fighting mechanics are typical hack & slash, filled with all king of attack and damage modifiers, and they work like a charm. Some bugs and exploits are present in the game, and they can be removed with patching. Leveling takes quite some time, as the experience income is pretty small, regardless of grinding or solving quests.
Graphically, the game is 2D, which was regarded as aging at the time, but artistically it looked great. The characters are 3D renders placed in a richly detailed 2D world, full of diverse textures, areas and effects. The graphical package isn't amazing, but the number of unique objects as well as their detail makes it seem superb.
The sound is generally good. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing and truly enhance the game's atmosphere, the only gripe being the small number of tracks. The voice acting is good, but there are some questionable actor choices, especially for the elvish race, which brings it down a bit.
With all these elements that shape the game, Divine Divinity is a superb package, filled with content and addictive gameplay. While it has a small number of things draging it back from true greatness, it's one the best experiences that the hack & slash RPG genre has to offer. A hidden gem, to say the least, it's worth every bit of attention invested in it.
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics : 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Value: 10/10
Originality: 8/10
Final score: 9.0
~SU