"A marvellous game with a specious title"

Introduction

Divine Divinity (DD) is a 2D single-player Role-Playing Game developed by Larian Studios, a Belgium-based computer game development company.

Being a fervent fan of role-playing games, I was searching for a creditable one some time ago to ease my insatiable craving for such distractions. I remembered that what eventually drew me to purchase Divine Divinity over several other commendable games of similar genre was the box aesthetics: the rousing portrait of the attractive female angel on the front of the game box, as well as the promising in-game screenshots on the back. Despite being cognizant of the fact that judging a game solely by its visuals was not the brightest thing to do when evaluating its quality, I did not care much at that time – like I said, I was hungry for something to play; and besides the engaging screenshots on the box gave me some measure of assurance as to the game's worth: even if the gameplay was bland, at least the visuals were stunning enough.

Fortunately, as I was to find out moments after obtaining the game, Divine Divinity did not disappoint – both in the gameplay and graphics department.

Plot (8/10)

You are taking a nice pleasant walk in the forest when a band of orcs ambush you. Severely outnumbered, your chances of survival – not to mention victory – are incredibly slim. Despite boasting a commanding physique, you are no match for the orcs, who overpower you in short order. Just as one of them was about to deliver the finishing blow, however, a pillar of light plummets down from the heavens and strikes you squarely in the chest – and everything goes black.

That is as much as you can glean about the storyline when you first play the game, assuming that you did not read the accompanying story manual which tells of the background and history behind the world of Divine Divinity. You then wake up in a stranger's house, where the story begins to unfold bit by bit. In fact, it is not until around the middle of the game that you truly comprehend the whole plot of the game.

The storyline of DD is, in my opinion, acceptable; nothing too fanciful, nothing too dreary. It has just the right mix of suspense, adventure, humour and intricacy that would befit a reputable RPG. While certain parts can make you go, “Oh come on this is sooo lame…”, I feel the plot is still in most parts acceptable by mainstream gamers.

Gameplay (9/10)

In DD there are three classes to choose from: the warrior, who specializes in one of the many weapon types available in the game (including ranged weaponry) and whose majority of skills involves the augmentation of his potency with his chosen weapon; the wizard, who as the name suggests employs conventional ‘mage-like' magic like fireballs and lightning bolts to obliterate enemies, among other spells in his arsenal; and the survivor, who, again as the name implies, relies more on stealth and the ability to stay alive than on spell or sword, and makes use of ‘utility' skills like invisibility magic, trap-setting, lock-picking and trade-bartering to eke out a living. Each class also has their own unique class ability: the warrior can perform a 360 degrees spin with his melee weapon and hurt adjacent opponents, the wizard can teleport and the survivor can sneak (which basically renders him invisible in poorly-illuminated areas).

While on the surface the survivor might seem like the least-appealing class to play as due to a lack of offensive aptitude, it is not always so: DD cunningly incorporates the skills of all the three classes into the game so as to make it more relevant to the gameplay. For example, certain quests can only be completed if you possess certain survivor skills like pick-pocketing (to obtain a certain item), forcing those playing as warrior or wizard to venture a little into the realm of the survivor in order to accomplish such quests. Also, certain areas in the game are only available to specific classes, particularly the survivor and wizard.

For instance, the survivor's lock-picking ability, if at maximum rank, allows him to bypass virtually anything in the game that has a lock: doors, chests, cupboards, drawers and floor ledges, among others. Occasionally, this results in the lock-picker obtaining a rare artifact from his shady act that neither the warrior nor the wizard can obtain, as well as to explore seemingly restricted areas, like the duke's private rooms. Similarly, the wizard's prowess of telekinesis and telepathy grants him a special advantage in maze-like circumstances, especially in dungeons: he can use his telekinetic powers to flip switches at a distance, irrespective of the obstacles between him and the lever. His telepathy can also help reveal the general layout of such mazes to ease the challenge of getting through them. This delightful feature entices players to explore the game world with different characters in order to uncover delightful surprises, enhancing DD's replay value.

In DD, like in almost all other RPGs, there is experience to be obtained from slaughtering enemies and levels to be gained from the experience. In addition, at every five-level intervals you will gain skill points, which is used to ‘purchase' ranks in one of the many skills available.

On the game interface display you will find the red health bar, blue magic bar, the stamina bar and other miscellaneous options that are normally found in the game menu instead; full marks for practicality. You die if your health bar becomes empty (duh) and spells can't be cast with an empty magic bar until it has replenished. Once you die it is game over: although you can resurrect your allies, they, unfortunately, can't do the same for you. In the game you can also choose to run or walk; running decreases the stamina bar while walking will not. The developers supposedly meant for running to be an emergency evasive act (as your character's running speed is faster than most enemies' mobility rate, allowing you to escape danger), but for convenience's sake you will almost certainly find yourself running even when under no peril.

DD is incredibly open-ended. Right from the start, you are allowed to wander as far as possible as you want across the vast game world, the increasingly powerful enemies being the only hindrance to your wanderlust. The developers have certainly made creative use of enemy difficulty levels to restrict a player's area of exploration, forcing you to toughen up your character in order to explore fresh locales.

DD also allows you to afflict just about any NPC in the game. Apart from a few significant characters, you can literally pickpocket, assault and murder anyone from the humble commoner to the pompous city official. Once attacked, a non-fighter will flee, while a combatant will automatically engage you in a fight to the death. Only when you pickpocket an NPC will there be a dialogue between the two of you: your victim, if he is cognizant of the theft, will say something to the tune of “Hey give that back or I'm calling the Watch!” in which you can either comply or resist. Failure to obey will result in several Watch Guards coming to accost you, in which you again have the option of either returning the stolen item and be let off with a warning, return the loot and be sent to jail (if you are a common figurehead in theft acts), or – you guessed it – fight. However, the guards are no pushovers, being several levels higher than your average foe. Unless you are of decent level, engaging the guards will certainly result in your death.

Some interesting points to note: Firstly, if an NPC runs away as a result of your assault on him, don't anticipate an easy kill: puny as he may be, his movement speed is the same as yours! Expect to pursue your prey across the area for several seconds before you land the killing blow. Next, if you are spotted pickpocketing an individual the guards will be alerted; but if you attack him instead, he will only flee and not call for help, and other nearby NPCs, with the exception of the guards, will all turn a blind eye to the malevolent happening! (You can chase a person into a shop and hack him to pieces in front of the shop proprietor and the latter won't give two hoots about it.) Lastly, if you rob a person in a remote area where there are no guards for several miles, and he spots you and calls for help, guards will still appear!

One excellent feature of this game that sets it apart from its peers is its minimal loading time. The entire world of DD is fused together in a few gargantuan area segments. That means there will be no loadings when you commit any activity in a certain segment: no transition loadings when you enter a building, no loadings when you descend from above into the city sewers, and certainly none when you enter one of the many caves interspersed across the world. The only occasions when the game does need to load is when you save/load a game (obviously) and when you travel between area segments; the entire realm of DD is surely too huge to be rendered simultaneously. It means that there will be a loading time when you travel from one significant region to another, like say from the grand dwarven halls to the immense wilderness above (dwarves live undergrounds); but any actions executed in either the halls or the forest will not be met with a loading hiatus.

The skill system of DD is also rather simplistic. The skill tree consists of three ‘paths' – that of the warrior, wizard and survivor; and each path is further divided into four diverse categories. You can learn skills from all 3 classes regardless of your chosen profession, though it is naturally more idyllic to learn skills from your own class due to statistically-related reasons. Furthermore, each skill is further segregated into five ranks – the higher your rank in a particular skill, the more effective that skill will be. Skill points are needed in order to attain new skills or to enhance the rank of a learned skill, and they are obtained every time your character reaches a level that is a multiple of five.

Lastly, the weapons in DD are varied and appealing. Melee weaponry choices range from brutal warhammers to vicious daggers, while those favouring the art of precision might instead be drawn to lethal bows, crossbows or even the unconventional spear, which apart from being a deadly melee arm can also function as a ranged missile when wielded by an accomplished spearman.

Challenge (8/10)

Divine Divinity is, for the most parts, tough. You can get killed as early as in the starting phase if you are not careful. Expect to see your stomach bloated with healing (and/or magic if you are a spellcaster) potions. Also expect to see your inventory run out of such potions rather swiftly. In my opinion, the character type that has the easiest time in this game is the ranged combatant. With hit-and-run tactics, killing enemy fighters is a simple task, though some spellcasting foes do cast speed-hindering, snaring spells to slow you down. Also expect matches to be an unfair fight on numerous occasions: a five-to-one battle can be considered fortunate.

If regular enemies are tough, bosses are overwhelming. Fortunately, bosses don't come in droves and hordes the way normal foes do, but they usually are surrounded by droves and hordes of their underlings. If you are tackling a boss, in addition to having a potion-swollen stomach expect to hit the ‘quick load' hotkey quite regularly too: a couple of hits from the boss and you'll more often than not be knocked out cold, resulting in the need for hit-and-run manoeuvres on your part.

However, certain bosses are vulnerable against certain elements like fire and ice, as well as (in rarer cases) incapacitating conditions like freeze and crippled. Learning to exploit these advantages will definitely be a boon to you.

Besides regular enemies and the more infrequent bosses, there is also a third type of foe in the game: traps. A hit from a trap is typically more lethal than a hit from a normal enemy or boss, but on the plus side, a trap only springs once. Ominous locales in the game, like a fiend's dungeon or the abode of an antagonist, are usually trap-rigged: even if you possess the skill to detect them, some traps are impossible to avoid as they span the entire hallway; only an accomplished survivor is able to disarm them. But be careful: failure to disarm will also result in the setting off of the trap. Like boss onslaughts, getting hit by a trap is by and large a fatal incident; have your potions close at hand – assuming you survived the trap strike.

One negative point of DD is its occasional lack of objectivity, resulting in you wandering aimlessly across the countryside searching for hints that will help your progress through the game – and that in itself is a challenge.

If enemies, bosses, traps and searches for plot-related clues are not testing enough, say hello to the perplexing dungeon labyrinths, mind-boggling puzzles and exigent mysteries. Enough said.

Graphics (8/10)

The graphics in DD are gorgeous. This game fulfils most of the customary criteria related to game draftsmanship – vivid rendition of realistic character models, impressive environment designs and a wide array of colour implementation, among others – that games of this genre are expected to possess. DD also boasts of pleasant physics-related effects in its visuals like the splashing of water puddles upon being treaded on, and reflections from streams and ponds. In fact, DD is the most graphically-accomplished 2D game I've ever played.

However, there is a slight complication in terms of the rendering of dungeons and other dim areas, where levers and doorways that are placed there are barely discernible from the cavern walls; but then again, such interactable objects can be readily revealed with a push of the keyboard keys that are meant to highlight such objects.

My only real deprecation of the game's graphics department comes in the form of the game's CGI introduction and ending movies, both of which are really below-par when considering how brilliant the in-game visuals are. The character textures in the movies seem rather featureless and shoddy, as though the artists responsible were drastically pressed for time. The movies' resolution isn't too great either, especially in the ending sequence, where the background features are barely discernable.

Audio (9/10)

The game's music is superb. It boasts of one of the most impressive melody compositions I have ever had the pleasure of hearing in a long while after the Final Fantasy series of games. As inferred, each region has a separate tune, from the spookish and forlorn forest chant to the deep and mysterious hum of the dwarven halls to the despondent tune of the desert wastelands. One musical piece that, in my opinion, deserves special commendation is the game's stirring intro music which is, well, stirring. Besides the expected musical flair, the intro piece also exhibits an emotive and rousing vocal piece that is, quite unfortunately, not sung in English (I believe it is Russian). But still, listen to the tune once and chances are you'll get invariably hooked on to it.

While DD has an impressive musical score, its sound effects are not too bad either. Most if the many foes in the realm of DD have their own distinct exclamation, ranging from the guttural cries of the orcs to the terrible roar of a dragon in fury. Weapon clamors like the swishing of a sword and the twang of a bow being fired are also included, as are miscellaneous audio like the chirping of birds and the crashing noise of barrels and kegs being cleaved apart.

The only factor that prevents this game's audio department from getting a perfect 10/10 score is DD's extremely miserable voice-acting – voice-acting that is so appalling it is almost comical. Some NPCs talk with virtually no emotion, while others speak with a mood that is totally inappropriate under the current circumstance, the most notable example being the part where a boss, despite being seriously wounded by you, talks with a sneering air of someone still very much alive and kicking. I commend Larian Studios for even having implemented voice-acting into Divine Divinity in the first place, whereas some other games simply do away with that issue and just present you with a text window bereft of narration; but, if Larian are going to implement something unique, at least do it with some semblance of adequacy.

Controls (8/10)

Controls, for the most parts, are straightforward and uncomplicated. The movement mechanics is pretty traditional: just click on anywhere in the game world and your character will travel there. There are also hotkeys that can be blinded to your various skills so you do not have to manually scroll through your skill list to select a skill to execute, as well as keys that will highlight all enemies and interactable objects, like levers and crates, in the vicinity for convenience. Lastly, there are keys for the ‘quicksave' and ‘quickload' commands that save you the hassle of accessing the game menu every time you want to save or load a game.

Fun Factor (10/10)

Divine Divinity is fun; so fun that you, if you fall into the ‘hardcore gamers' category, are likely to spend several sleepless nights just playing the game. Its impressive degree of open-endedness, lush graphics and amazing music only adds to your level of addiction. I do not know how much else to elaborate on this concept, but, despite some programming defects, trust me: the game is fun.

Replay Value (8/10)

Since you are never going to accomplish all the sidequests and uncover all the secrets in the game on your first attempt without referring to a guide, you are guaranteed to play through it at least twice. Double or even triple that figure if you also want to explore and acquire every single skills of each profession in the game; the game is structured in such a way that by the time you complete the game you'll most likely only have mastered skills that are mostly from your profession only. Add to that the fact that the game is really fun to play (see above) and you can forget about your life for the next several weeks.

Best Part of Game

When you kick the sorceress Josephina's butt. In my opinion, she's the toughest boss in the entire game (yup, even more so than the final boss) and you'll probably need to summon every magical defense in your arsenal and buff up on your amount of hit points before you meet her, if you want to have the slightest hope of even surviving long enough to retreat should the battle get ugly. Suffice to say that she is a magic spammer and seems to have an unlimited amount of energy, and can slaughter you in a couple of seconds if you are magically unprotected. The worse news is that you have to fight her twice in the game. Good luck.

Conclusion

Divine Divinity is a must-buy for anyone who has no qualms about playing an RPG, not to mention fans of that genre. The game's flaws are predominantly insignificant and for the most parts unnoticeable by the average gamer, who will be too swept away in awe by the game's terrific gameplay, music and challenge to mind its trivial failings. What is evident, however, is the game's below-par voice-acting, but unless you are a – what? – a die-hard fan of voice-acting (?) or an ardent perfectionist in game selection, that minor blemish should not tarnish your overall experience of playing this wonderful game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/06