Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga Review

22 Nov 2010 at 19:05:04 by Peter Parrish
Systems used to review this title: (PC)

Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga is a wonderful, welcome surprise. It's been a long time since I've played an RPG that manages to balance a lengthy, in-depth story with such a self-aware and hilarious script. Much of the splendid protagonist dialogue in The Dragon Knight Saga (DKS) reminds me of similar moments from Anachronox (2001) and Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines (2004); two other titles which managed to do justice to their respective genre influences, while also effectively poking fun at them.

But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. DKS is a re-issued and re-tooled version of Divinity II: Ego Draconis (released in late 2009/early 2010 depending upon your region,) bundled with the fresh Flames of Vengeance expansion - so most of it is not exactly new. The original Ego Draconis received moderate reviews, garnering a fair bit of criticism over balance issues. DKS aims to fix those problems, tinker with a few quests and offer somewhat improved graphics. If you already own and have completed Ego Draconis, you'll probably be best served by just picking up the stand-alone release of Flames of Vengeance. However, if (like me) Ego Draconis passed you by the first time, DKS is definitely the package to get hold of.

The twin pillars of a successful RPG are memorable characters and inventive quest design. Good writing forms the foundation for both. Without getting too mired in what 'good' means to different people, I think it's broadly true to say that the further an RPG title goes to disguise the basic quest formula of 'go here and do this for me please,' the more enjoyable a player's experience will be. DKS spares no expense on the funny glasses and Groucho moustache.

A specific example would be helpful, wouldn't it? Here we go then.

There's a point in the game where your character has just emerged from exploring an ancient tomb. He (or she) gets jumped by a group of fighters and a battle ensues. In too many RPGs, this would be a basic combat encounter without much life to it - just another excuse to farm a few more experience points. But here's the full details of how it plays out in DKS (this is, I'm afraid, going to be slightly spoilery by necessity.) The tomb is under the stewardship of religious fundamentalists who worship dragons. Inside, your hero engages in conversation with a seductive treasure chest who wants to play sexy memory games. You emerge, only to be confronted by a freelance group of bitter dragon slayers, to whose threats you can literally respond: "You do know I'm the most powerful being in Rivellon, right?" Your foes scoff at this, adopt Power Ranger poses and then launch their attack.

This kind of absurd brilliance is not a one-off.

DKS knows precisely how ludicrous most fantasy RPGs are, and while this doesn't stop it from pursuing a fairly standard 'you are the chosen one and must save the day' plot, it does mean it will take every opportunity to say 'yes, we know this is silly.' So expect to encounter a guy who wants help increasing his collection of erotically carved cannonballs, a lisping, stitched-together copy of a Necromancer's ex-girlfriend and a Dark Messiah-esque voice in your head who is frustrated by your preoccupation with side-quests over her own world-saving agenda. You can also expect superb dialogue options that allow you to be a passive-aggressive sociopath at almost every turn. DKS lets you feel like a truly powerful force, to the extent that it offers the best villain-sassing opportunities since Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines. After the first encounter with the main baddie (who, in classic style, lets you live) the game realises it owes you the chance to say something along the lines of 'man, he really should have just killed me there.'

As well as being backed by fine writing, the majority of quests handed out by DKS have multiple solutions. Thanks to some fantasy plot handwaving, your character has the ability to read (some) people's minds. Though the experience cost is not always worth it, this inventive feature will often open up fresh approaches to a current mission, or a brand new, unmarked side-quest. How about another example of this, eh? Ok.

A hilltop village is under attack from trolls, sent by a disgruntled former resident who has shut himself away in the nearby mines. Once inside the mine, you can just attack the guy and end his reign of troll-terror for good. However, it's also possible to read his mind and discover that the only thing protecting him from the summoned trolls is a wall-mounted friendship rune. This serves as a handy bargaining chip. If you don't fancy either of those solutions and happen to have stumbled across an odd 'chicken rune' during a previous dungeon raid, you can strike a different deal with the chap. He'll cease his troll raids in return for the ability to conjure chickens from thin air, and subsist as a loner (though he's kind enough to invite you back for fried chicken.)

The world of DKS is detailed and rewards exploration. Each 'hub' area (of which there are four in the main game, though two are much larger than the others) has a multitude of quests to be found and offshoot dungeons to be delved in. Some of these dungeons have rather ill-advised platform sections where the game briefly turns into Tomb Raider, but fortunately these are short, usually optional and can be save-scummed through with relative ease.

There's very little hand-holding from the game. No quest compass. No, 'ok, you've done this, now go directly here' instructions. If, in the course of your travels, you learn that somebody keeps the key to his stash under his pillow it's up to you to find the person's house, and then find his loot. It's the kind of open, free-roaming (albeit limited by the boundaries of each map hub) which more RPGs used to exhibit. Once you've hoovered up a decent list of quests, it's entirely up to you which order you pursue them in. The game won't prevent you from entering an area full of enemies that are too powerful for you to deal with, it'll let you figure out that you're outclassed and should come back later. All the necessary information is at the player's disposal, it's just never spelled out in neon letters. In short, it credits the player with a modicum of intelligence.

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