Multi-Plat Divinity II: Ego Draconis, Flames of Vengence

[Ecks]

Recently I picked up this little gem called Divinity II: Ego Draconis from GameStop for $20. I got mine for the PC but apparently there's an X-Box 360 version as well. (Go PC- It's better)

It's a single player RPG and I suppose the best way to describe it would be that it's like a combination of Dragon Age and Morrowind/Oblivion. The added bonus here is that the game actually lets you, at a certain point, transform into a dragon at will. As a dragon you fly around and fight airborne enemies and towers. There are other notable aspects of gameplay such as having multiple ways of completing quests with multiple outcomes, and a fully customizable "battle tower" to play around with (later in the game). They were all selling points that interested me as I read the back of the game's box.

But before I bought the game I asked a couple of the guys at the store if they knew about the game. One of the guys said it wasn't that good, but then my good friend that works there said he enjoyed it a lot. I can generally take his word on a good game, so I went for it and because the price was cheap it also seemed like a good purchase. I've been playing the game for about a week off and on between work days and I have got to say it's been a thoroughly enjoyable gaming experience.

The music is very well done and engaging. The game has a lot of really good humor in it, lots of little jokes that just tend to make me chuckle and sometimes laugh a bit. And I still have quite a lot to do before I'm close to beating it, though I am probably past the halfway point in the game. The game is pretty, not FFXIV pretty, but pretty all the same.

A few days ago I found out there's an add-on-like expansion that actually just came out yesterday called: Flames of Vengence. This add-on adds even more to the story at the normal game's end. It also introduces a "new, improved engine" so basically things look sharper and even more pretty for the entire full length game, not just the new added on areas. Many quests and new characters are added and apparently the normal game's storyline is expanded to give the player an even greater understanding of the world of Divinity II. Which I believe. There already is a loooooot of fictional history invested in this game. Tons of books you can pick up in your inventory and read. Having some knowledge of the game world is even required when doing some of the quests in the game.

Oh yes, and the game features an open ended skill system so you can essentially build your character how you want to from the (I think there's 5) different class abilities listed. And you can even customize your dragon powers as well. Did I mention you can wear armor as a dragon too? It's awesome.

Weapon types include: Bows, 1 Handed Swords, Axes (1handed), Maces (1handed), 2 Handed Swords, and Shields which can be used with any 1 handed weapon. You can also dual wield any two 1handed weapon types.

I don't know what else to say other than this game is a lot of fun. I'll be buying Flames of Vengence when I get paid next.

My only gripe about the game, is merely the lack of customization options for your character's actual appearance. Females have 4-5 different hair colors while Males only have 2. Females also have several more different hair styles compared to Males. There may be more options with the Flames of Vengence add-on, but I won't know for sure until I get it.

(Update about my gripe) While it is something that does irk me, in the grand scheme of the game, this peeve is actually quite silly. I say this because you will be wearing helmets as part of your armor sets and usually the most you will see of your character's face is, at most, from brow to chin. There are many helmets where all you can see are your character's eyes (and maybe a mouth and/or chin).

 

[Zaltana]

very interesting. i may give it a look.

 

[Tribalinius]

I thought they were supposed to release a combo pack with both the first and second eventually. If that's still the case, I'll give it a go. I need something to do between Fable and DA2 lol.

 

[Zaltana]

i'll just try it because i need a new damn game period.

 

[Marick]

Yeah I bought this about a month or so ago as well after trying to demo. I thought it was pretty kool myself, I didn't even know about an expansion pack, thanks for the heads up on that.

 

[Ecks]

No prob Marick.

Also, can't believe I forgot to add to my first post that, yes. There is a combo pack with the full game and add-on content. I'm not aware of any combo pack between Divinity and Divinity II, however.

The Divinity II combo pack can be bought off of Steam for $39.99. Which is actually a cool deal, since Steam is also offering three exclusive armor sets with the purchase. Personally I would totally love to get my hands on the melee type armor set (blue). But I'll have to do without, unless there's an alternative way of getting the armor in the game. (which I totally hope there is)

 

[Ecks]

Additionally, if you already own the game and just want the expansion. It can be bought here: www.larianvault.com for 19.95€, which is roughly $27-$28. I don't know of any other places to buy only the expansion other than that at this time.

 

[Ecks]

Minor update. Anybody thinking about getting or trying this game needs to get 'The Dragon Knight Saga" collection version of the game.

Even if you already have this game and have beaten it at least once. Do yourself a favor and just get the saga edition instead of buying the Flames of Vengence expansion solo.

Last I checked, they hadn't made an update for the old version of Divinity II for the expansion, but you can probably bet one will be on the horizon eventually. I say this because if you just buy the expansion solo it's a completely different experience and possibly a buggy one too.

A good friend of mine bought the expansion solo first. Tried playing through the normal game after installing the expansion and got stuck on a quest because the quest mobs just wouldn't load even after reloading his game and restarting his PC. Apparently all the new graphical changes are working just fine. But there is a lot of changed content that does not get transferred over. This was done so that it wouldn't ruin old save files, but at the same time you miss out on quite a lot of new material.

Instead, save yourself the hassle and buy the combined package which is being sold as 'Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga' and includes Divinity II with it's expansion 'Flames of Chaos'. The regular Divinity II game now, aside from having a whole new graphical update, has new armor sets.. many new armor sets. The old version of D2 had a total of 4 armor sets. By sets I mean, a whole list of armor that belonged to one set and when you whore multiple pieces of the set additional bonuses were given for wearing set pieces.

There are also now actual unique new models for weapons and armor that are labeled 'Unique' I do believe some of the special weapons also have unique looks. Unlike before, where everything looked like another type of armor available.

Right now, the best option for obtaining this game is buying it through Steam for $39.99. You get 3 steam exclusive lvl 15 armor sets, and access to be able to obtain every other armor set available in the game. Sets that, if you play the X-Box version, you have to pay extra money through XBL to obtain.

The only bad thing is, if you're like me and have old save files from the original game, they are unplayable with the new game. They show up in the loading screen, but are grayed out and say 'Outdated save game' on them. I'm currently playing through the game again with a new character. Gonna try a slightly new approach this time, but so far I've been enjoying the heck out of it.