Divinity 2: Ego Draconis is the sequel to the cult classic PC RPG Divine Divinity that came out a few years back. In the sequel, choose to be a male or female Dragon Slayer, and customize your appearance and voice. Straight out of the Academy, you spend the first hour of the game in a special town to get initiated as a Dragon Slayer in a mystic ceremony. Then choose your profession as a sword master, archer, or mage (you can master all the skills later). But prematurely into your initiation, reports of dragons have appeared in another village, so you’re whisked away only to have a run-in with evil forces which transform you into the very thing you’re trying to kill—a dragon. Now as a warrior who can change into a dragon, you’re charged with saving the land from the returning evil lord Damien in this action RPG for PC and Xbox 360 (360 version reviewed here).

Divinity 2 is very similar to other action RPGs like Fable, Dragon Age, and even a bit of World of Warcraft. As a Dragon Slayer on foot, you run around vast landscapes and towns, hacking and slashing enemies along the way. Gain experience points and level up your skills, spells, and abilities in a expansive yet manageable skill tree with magic, fighting, and archer skills. After completing a few missions and objectives, you’ll be able to turn into a dragon. These flying sections are best described as a flight combat style of gameplay with fantasy elements and themes.

Similar to BioWare RPGs, there are massive dialogue trees when talking to townsfolk, soldiers, and merchants in villages. Depending on what you say, you can unlock side missions and quests to earn more gold and items. One skill you acquire as a Dragon Slayer is the ability to read minds. At the cost of some experience points, you can tell what others are thinking, and can uncover secrets that NPCs may not be willing to say. Using this skill, you might even be able to persuade (or blackmail) others into lowering their prices of wares they sell, or help you with your quest in other ways. But be careful, some stronger-willed characters take more experience to read their minds, and sometimes this action can backfire on you and cause others to dislike you and raise their prices of goods!  One other aspect about the text, especially in the menu screens, is that it is rife with witty humor.

Later on in the game you’ll have access to your very own Battle Tower, where you can upgrade and customize nearly everything you do in the game. Create potions in the Alchemy Garden, summon creatures to aid you in battle, or upgrade your weapons and armor. You can also create your own battle creatures by collecting limbs and other parts from defeated monsters.

There are a few problems with Divinity 2, though. While the graphics are lush, detailed, and beautiful, the frame rate is not, and the choppy movements can affect your controls sometimes. Goals are oftentimes unclear and you might spend a while just wandering around not knowing where to go or what to do. And you have to wait a while and complete a lot of menial fetch quests before you get to do all the cool stuff like being a dragon, having a battle tower, or making your own monsters. Because of that, it’s a little hard to get into the game at first. You’ll also want to save often, maybe even make two save files, because even on the easiest difficulty selection, this game is HARD! Monsters guarding your goals are almost always a level or two above you, so you’ll have to do some serious level grinding to complete your tasks. But for fans of PC-style fantasy action RPGs like Fable, Divinity 2 is still worth a look.

Kid Factor:

Divinity 2: Ego Draconis is rated M for Mature with ESRB descriptors of Blood, Suggestive Themes, and Violence. While there is a lot of hack and slash style violence, the blood isn’t overly gratuitous or anything. The suggestive themes come in the story and dialogue when dealing with some of the female cast. And you can also de-equip your female Dragon Slayer and have her run around in her undies if you wish. Older teens who are used to the antics in Fable or Dragon Age would probably be OK with Divinity 2. But because of the steep difficulty and complexity of the game, it’s probably best for older gamers anyway.

Tags: Game Reviews