Divinity Original Sin 2 Critique

[@NeverKnowsBest]

I didn't really consider that this video might one day get a lot of attention from youtube recommending it to people who may not have watched my previous video on D:OS1, so just to be clear: This video is heavy on comparisons to the first D:OS and i'd really recommend watching that video first (which can be found here kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJXLoat6e9lsoas ).

[@Daniel-zg5mb]

I am absolutely one of those people. I think I got recommended your video after I watched a few documentaries about Larian and the making of DOS2. Not only had I not seen your previous video, I haven't played the first game yet(though I intend to). I made a comment about a week ago expressing some dismay at the amount of comparisons you make to the previous game. I think I worded in a way that made it seem more negative than I had intended it to. I actually really enjoyed your video as a whole and did get a lot of insight out of it, despite not having the frame of reference that I think you assumed or intended your viewers would have. Maybe my initial dismay was my fault for coming into the video with both false expectations and a lack of knowledge, having not seen your previous video or played the previous game. Either way, I'm excited to see what you do next. I actually really liked the way you opened the video, since while i'm not a CRPG veteran, I'm not exactly a mainstream newcomer to the genre. I have started Baldur's Gate 2, Dragon Age Origins, KOTOR and its sequel, and several others but always fell off of them a few dozen hours in. I have always had an interest in the genre, but no game ever held my interest to the end...until Divinity Original Sin 2. I'm not really sure why it was able to keep me, where others weren't. I think the writing and voice acting helped a lot. As did the combat, I enjoyed the combat far more than any other CRPG I had ever played(or even most turn based games in general), though after having watched your video, I do see some of the issues you pointed out. I think that no matter what anyone says about DOS2, it did do something incredible with how it managed to appeal to both experienced CRPG fans, mainstream new comers, and everyone in between, even if it didn't stick the landing for everyone.

[@ej2208]

pin this comment so more people will see it.

[@tyskbulle]

Well done, you put to words everything I feel about the game. I think the game was at its strongest in Fort Joy. Everything from the theme, tone, story, game-play, balance ec. Was just right. From the mid of Act 2, things just felt out of focus.

[@tyskbulle]

@@Daniel-zg5mb CRPGs and just RPGs in general tend to have severe pacing issues, especially the first time. The trick is to brute force through, often requiring a session where you not having very much fun. The mage tower in Origins, Pegasus mining station in KOTOR 2, Mako & Citadel sections in Mass Effect, The Hinterlands in DA: Inquisition or putting of Skellige in The Witcher 3 comes to mind. The only game that avoided them that I can think of, is Mass Effect 2 with its episodic content. Though at the expense of the trilogy's overreaching narrative. But if you manage to get through these sections, you eventually trickle back to the parts that make it all worth while.

[@mikewestbrook1142]

I enjoyed your KingMaker review and found that helpful, but feel a need to comment on this one. Your critic of DoS2 just doesn't hold the same weight for those of us who didn't played Div1. The game is fine the way it is for element effects and AC types and spectacularly so; it's even better in the definitive edition with the minor tweaks. People watch who watch this video of yours might be put off by DoS2 due to your nostalgic whining and that would be a shame. The game earned its praise and rightly so.

[@YaBoiMeatBallze]

"Another good example is the *oil field fight* " (Immediate PTSD flashbacks)

[@saberaxe]

More like my GPU is having the flashbacks, poor guy was an old card already.

[@Maikeru101]

Oh god, my brother and I had some problems with that area, I was mostly physical so he was the main damage dealer there

[@zearcjustice7837]

that battle was so realistic even my pc is burning 10/10 would play stage that again

[@atomickrispies]

SAME

[@leninthebeaniesouhacker.2459]

My poor pc man, he endured this literal hell of fire for so long...

[@KlaelDemon]

And sweet mother of God, I wish they had implemented a way for another party member to interject into a conversation. There's nothing more annoying than finishing a fight, and then instead of talking with your party member you've maxed persuasion, or certain stats and tags on, they talk with whoever's closest, usually leading to an unfavorable conversation.

[@-pressxtostart-]

Yknow what thats a problem ive had alot 😔

[@knavenformed9436]

Also my friend had pet pal when I didn't and he couldn't act as a translationist for me, so annoying that we had to kill the last forest tiger.

[@TaniDraws]

I had that issue with the skeleton locked in a cursed chest on a beach on Fort Joy, fortunately by then I'd made a habit out of constantly saving, so when Lohse who was the only one w source in her used Bless and was forced into conversation with him, I failed that persuasion check hard. The backtracking to get my persuasion person source'd up was... An ordeal.

[@alejodavies]

In the menu there's the Gift Bag section, where you can turn on things like shared persuasion and barter. Also the mirror in fort joy and the ability for summoners to use buffs on other summons than the incarnate.

[@luisarmando5081]

This is a huge oof for me... I think I wont play this Game lol

[@gabeperras3711]

"playing competitivly" means RPing as a villain type who steals all the sweet loot, sabotages team mates, and gets yelled at while the host re-loads because he didn't like the outcome you orchestrated

[@OnlyVuimo]

This is how my friend plays except he is the host so I can't do anything about it lol

[@robertharris6092]

That sounds like its just going to be abused to hell.

[@yuvalamir3226]

11:45 I know I am late to the party but there is a tactical reason the AI skips their turn when they are far away. The reason is that it is more AP efficient for them to save up their AP and let you use AP to get to them than for them to just waste all of their turn walking towards you, just to get smacked in the face. 6:38 Also regarding your point about the stun and freeze status effects, the hydrosophist and aerotheurge (mainly aerotheurge) skill trees are the best stunners in the game. The reason is that while it is true that chilled and shocked need to be cast 2 times for it to stun, you don't lose any dmg since knockdown abilities deal far less dmg and have a huge cooldown while almost all damaging hydrosophist and aerotheurge skills applies the status effects so they pretty much get stunnlocked.

[@Mistyvoices]

I think it's because they can't reach you with any current skills or it would take more than two turns to reach you

[@purpledragons6669]

Ye plus if they're wet it's insta stun

[@Yeshua996]

Ambushes just feels like im being punished for exploration, i wish there was a balance. and less fire im so tired of fire

[@TucoBenedicto]

I always explored being READY to the risk of being ambushed, though? There are legitimate gripes to worry about in this series (and this video touches on the most relevant ones, namely loot and progression) but this isn't really one of them.

[@Yeshua996]

​@@TucoBenedicto im just saying maybe theres too many ambushes for its own good. For an rpg its realllll heavy on combat encounters, just saying it'd be nice if there was a better balance of exploration and combat. Downtime in games is important, at least to me.

[@OnlyVuimo]

@@Yeshua996 agreed, it gets old quickly when you constantly get ambushed

[@ninvusoogoar6098]

@@Yeshua996 maybe for you, but if you know how to play the game correctly then you never have to fear ambushes or any combat situation.

[@warmlycalculated390]

@@Yeshua996 I barely even noticed the ambushes. You're warned in advance for almost all of them.

[@aliciaaltair]

There is a mod in steam workshop called "Divinity Unleashed" that addresses every combat complaint you mentioned plus more you didn't, and that includes the armor issue. I'm 3/4 of the way through the game (second playthrough) using this mod and incredibly surprised and pleased with the changes. My favorite change is that the environmental effects are once again deadly: no more strolling through fields of fire! I'm playing on tactician and the mod makes tactician actually feel like tactician. And if you love dogs I also highly recommend "Happily Emmie After" , which gives you satisfying options regarding buddy and emmie... if you played the game you know what I mean :)

[@ShimyIa1]

man i was so sad i couldnt reunite emmie and buddy no matter what i tried glad theres a mod for it

[@babadook1283]

Good to know

[@OuterHeaven210]

I gave buddy a red squeeky ball I found inside the fort where the magisters are. He loved it!

[@slimakovamamam]

Prefer Epic encounters , DU just make game faster , but not actualy harder

[@wholewheatrotini6712]

While the armor mechanic was clearly flawed for reasons you stated and I do agree with, I still think credit is due in acknowledging that it did achieve in what it set out to do which was mitigate the amount of influence RNG had in the outcome of a battle. So for that alone I don’t agree that DOS1 encouraged the player to try different approaches to get past a fight more than DOS2 did. For if if you try the same losing strategy in DOS2 100 times, you will almost certainly lose 100 times. But if you reload and repeat a failing strategy 100 times in DOS1, you will probably come out ahead far more often than you should based only on favorable rolls. Because DOS2 leaves so little to chance it did feel rewarding to see how much small tweaks in your strategy can completely change the outcome of certain engagements. It makes the combat feel more like playing chess whereas the all-or-nothing nature of DOS1 sometimes felt like you were just playing slots.

[@marinahalbion]

I can absolutley agree with that. That's the main reason i prefered DoS2 over the first one. I can also backup the fact, that even sucu tiny tweaks as switching 1 or 2 spells out for a specific battle, or switch to a slightly better equipment item, can change the whole outcome of a battle

[@TheRastil]

Completly agree, fuck RNG. That is the sole reason i finished DoS 1 just once, and DoS 2 ten times.

[@miobiuscrimson2828]

Absolutely! Every time me and my friend lost a fight, we had to change everything about it: in which order we enter the field of battle, how far do we position our characters from one another, who do we engage, in what order, how much crowd control we need, etc. Sometimes even leveling up didn't help to win, but more intelligent approach to fighting did.

[@Desimor]

I think the problem for him is that RNG provided way more varied fights that forced him to adapt his strategies when a roll went south. That's what makes D&D fun sometimes when I roll low for a fight, because it forces me to play differently than I normally would. Because RNG can force you to change strategy, it can switching things up heavily. But in D:OS2, once you know your winning strategy, it becomes the same strategy you use countless times. As an avid chess player, once I started learning the winning strategies, most matches become the same thing over and over again which admittedly can get boring sometimes. Despite me defending his point, I 100% agree that D:OS2 was absolutely right in adding armor and taking out RNG. It doesn't matter how RNG adds variety to a fight. It still feels absolutely cheap when you have a winning strategy that you know should work and it doesn't because the roll was bad. I would much prefer to get bored cause I have the same winning strategy, then to get cheated out of a strategic victory because my roll was bad. It's far more rewarding for the majority of people to go on that journey of finding the winning strategies than to have luck be a major factor of winning or losing. Plus, D:OS2 still had enough depth and difficulty that I find my self constantly challenged even when I think I have a winning strategy. Example: I thought making my archer a glass canon was amazing at first, till I faced off against the scare crow who feared my archer into submission the entire fight. I finally had to take that perk off because I couldn't have my main source of damage stun locked and I was already under leveled for the fight. Or the time where I took down the level 15 witch when I was only level 11. She had way more damage than me, but with careful planning, I was able to skillfully take her down and got some sweet loot because of it. Forcing me to ever so slightly shift my winning strategy with each encounter is exactly why D:OS2 is epic.

[@arrogantsavant2960]

@@One.Zero.One101 Playing one of those Rng (Completely Random) Rpgs was actually fun for me when the enemies and me were on the same playing field and there are consumables that mitigate some of the rng but they are rare and a lot of the fun I had was reloading a fight to figure the most efficient way to spend my consumables and when I get super unlucky with the randomness but it feels like I get rewarded for my skill point investment that can lower the worse outcomes for yourself or make the enemies outcome worse.

[@g4anode]

I personally found the wild swings in mood- from whimsical to grimdark- rather refreshing. A full palette of emotions if you will.

[@whocansay2215]

I love that in OS:2 they aren’t afraid to mix humorous and horrific tone! It’s like they’re making jokes but they don’t feel the need to hide grim elements from you for the sake of the joke.

[@Xelpherpolis]

The Dragon Quest series has kind of a similar shtick. I *suspect* it's because both Divinity and DQ were directly inspired by the Ultima games, which were also pretty mood-swingy.

[@ardenorcrush649]

Like life itself.

[@Ana_Ng]

yeah, i didn't really understand this line of critique.

[@skypekai]

I didn't like it at all, cheapens the whole experience with the constant haha funny moments. To the point that I completely stop caring about the world and what happens to it.

[@durandmefew]

Nothing pumps more dopamine into my brain than dealing 3K with a shield throw.

[@Smokeyourselfstraighttohell]

Defense literally best offense, btfos almost every other attack

[@boo5860]

The writing feels like a DnD campaign tbh, I like how the tone feels unstable

[@knight_lautrec_of_carim]

thats how I described the game to my frens, too. It's very very similar.

[@MrNoxxta]

YES. Exactly. I don't mind the different tones throughout the game

[@pepcore]

I like DOS2 a lot. It's and incredible game, very expansive. Only on my first play through but love it. It's a very extensive game. I like the story somewhat. Better than pillars imo. Im looking forward to baldurs gate 3! BG2 was my favorite game. So I'm glad larian is making BG3. (From what I've seen they could've almost called it DOS3, but that's not even a bad thing)

[@haybusa4547]

A trap I ran through many and many times never killed me. I recently played after a long time of not playing and it ended my Honour playthrough. I was speechless.

[@riptideanomy1024]

I fucking love winning fights in this game, feels like every fight is an achievement in itself.

[@arthursimsa9005]

Up to a point. As said in the video, After level 12 or so your build is complete and things start to cet repetitive.

[@arthursimsa9005]

More like level 16 actually. In the last sections of the Driftwood map, the Isle of Blood (or whatever its in-game name is) notably. I remember that's where Fextralife often posted footage of their builds since the builds were really complete by then. But already by level 12 you

[@riptideanomy1024]

@@arthursimsa9005 a lot of it is because of the mirror access. It’s nice it can turn your guy’s class at will

[@Shukulo]

LOL

[@stayfrosty9377]

Hehe apotheosis skin graft lone wolf fane goes brrrr

[@kleitos6162]

I feel like the criticism you bring up at about 29:30, where you talk about companions supporting your claim to divinity unquestionably, is false (I'm also writing this way after this video is released, so you probably already know this or won't see this comment, but oh well). Your companions don't always support your claim to divinity. They can either support you depending on the actions you take, or they don't support you and you have to try to convince them to, and if you can't convince them, you have to fight against them in the race for the wellspring. Also, the statement that only your main character can ascend to divinity is totally just wrong; anyone in your party can ascend, it doesn't have to be your main character at all.

[@shepergames3734]

My fane left and I had to reload.... yeah that was awkward. He was very unhappy with me.

[@ninvusoogoar6098]

true its mostly based on how far into their character story lines u help them through... if you ignored their stories completely then yeah they tell you to go fuck yourself i want to be god dont think he really did his research on this one

[@aetherblackbolt1301]

Old Post I know, but how do you get others to ascend to divinity? I convinced all of then to support me at the Nameless Isle, and now all of them unquestionably let me take divinity at the end. I haven't found a way to let one of them become divine. Do you need to choose certain dialogue much early on so that they aren't so loyal to you?

[@Tone32616]

-Ambushes are unfair. Yep, this is how ambushing works.

[@eliran9231]

fk up your entire unsaved half an hour play - sounds cool.

[@Tone32616]

@@eliran9231 And whose fault is that, I wonder? I mean, who could be dumb enough to neglect saving often?

[@anjishnubose98]

@@eliran9231 I mean it's a CRPG, it's kind of expected that the player saves at least every 15 min. Also iirc, the game does mostly autosave before each fight doesn't it?

[@SuperSpikewolf]

The problem of this game is that after the first act 99% of the fight are just gimmicks and/or ambushes,and it’s not even ambushes that you can predict in some way,they just appear from thin air

[@ScReamOut93]

@@SuperSpikewolf Exactly. It's just a stupid invisible trigger. Even if you already finished the game and know exactly where those events will trigger you barely have the chance to get the drop on them. Had one of the worst experiences with ONS2DE ever (after the first chapter). And it's klunky, bugged inut detection is a joke. Especially movement.

[@vladimirtchuiev2218]

Played both on highest difficulty that doesn't limit saved games. DOS2 combat is far better balanced IMO, as in the original game I could just blast through the game with water+lightning CC without much problems and the skill progression just wasn't interesting for me because every skill not on 5 in the original game was underpowered. In DOS2, the selection is much broader and there is a good balance between using one/two point wonders and dumping points in a skill to boost damage. Damage is king now? Try to blast through the later enemies only with fire+earth on the highest difficulty, I can assure you you won't get far with that, you need to control them eventually or you die a horrible death. The resource management aspect to the source skills makes them also much more interesting than what the original game had. Of course there is the exponential progression that is way too much, but it will be fixed in BG3 due to the nature of the setting.

[@bronzesfinest6478]

I think what he means by damage is king is that blasting through an enemies armor or magic resist is the top priority. Once those are gone you can cc them and take them out of the fight for usually 1 turn.

[@finix7419]

both were actually really easy on highest difficulty after mid game which was sad stuff but before mid game dice mechanic of DOS1 worked out much better for mixing tactics .I rather see baldur 3 returning back to DOS1 mechanics rather than 2 but also make mid game onward much more difficult on highest difficulty for players that make good builds

[@slipperyjohn3144]

I hope one of your videos makes it into the holy land of the youtube recommended page! This is some S grade content dawg

[@frogeater5949]

I have the feeling that less views means more quality content. Strange world and sad..

[@Malouco]

Slippery John this game and series is easily one of the greatest games that ever been made.

[@calvinwinner]

It just did, came here from recommended

[@Dissociare]

Was recommended to me! Hopefully more people see it too!

[@iluvatarchem]

This will never happen if the vids are for 1 year old games. Period

[@timweenie725]

Just found your channel when looking for Pathfinder reviews. Keep it up. High quality content. Your channel will continue to grow.

[@ddarnoc]

I like how you brought up the combat differences between both games. DoS 1 usually has me on edge with a lot of fights but by the time I reached the middle of act 2 on my first DoS 2 playthrough I was already getting comfortable. Now I want to play through 1 again for the 7th or 8th time but...Cyseal. Really wish they had stuck that area in the middle of the game.

[@jonnyvelocity]

ddarnoc I prefer DOS over 2. But the first 3 hours of walking around and talking in Cyseal....

[@beezusHrist]

@@jonnyvelocity "Cyseal, Cyseal, shiver me timbers shiver me heels..."

[@amomogus]

Dunno, i've played both games for over 1000h and I enjoyed combat in divinity OS:II A LOT more. It's the matter of taste I guess, if you don't like it it doesn't mean it's worse. I can agree on slow enemy animations, grenades and traps, but I highly disagree on the other ones. Also trying to beat the game with one character on LW is actually a great thing to have fun with. (that freaking oil fight tho)

[@Shukulo]

lol fanboy

[@johnathanera5863]

armor system is objectively bad.

[@KutluMizrak]

And now we are getting Baldur's Gate 3 from em. Sometimes, just sometimes, something in the universe happens the right way.

[@Dueilangoisseus]

I doubt any developer could do a better job creating BG3 than Larian. Any other developer, I'd be skeptical, but I feel BG3 is in safe hands with Larian.

[@WillowGreenheart]

@@Dueilangoisseus Yes! They can make good classic RPG that get to 2020 standards of gamplay rather than "look, we make RPG! But it's same like BG2" and nostalgic prey. In the same time they knew about flaws of system they created what we can see from BG3 interviews :D

[@Grandmaster-Kush]

All the old CRPG studios has been disbanded and spread out, I believe Larian is the only studio that can make BG3 in modern times

[@skypekai]

@@Dueilangoisseus Obsidian. From the footage Larian showed it looks almost exactly the same like DOS - colourful happy plasticky world...

[@MizterMoonshine]

From the footage shown so far it looks nothing like Baldur's Gate and everything like Divinity Original Sin 3. The first red flag was the turn based combat. We are getting DOS3 with a Forgotten Realms skin. Like @William Bodie said Obsidian would be a much better choice for BG3. Not as commercially successful perhaps, but true to the originals.

[@ilovelctr]

I've finally (recently) laid my hands on this game. I believe this video is 100% constructive criticism, and some of the balance issues between different classes are annoying, especially at the early stage. But I'm still amazed by the truly open-ended gameplay, and the huge amount of freedom in dealing with almost any mission. You can even exploit the game's dialogue UI to steal NPCs, which never gets old. I believe the dev really understands what player's freedom means, and this game has way more freedom than those sandbox games in which missions are extremely linear in fact.

[@Maethendias]

^there is one way to make more than 2 magic schools "viable"... polymorph intel stacking

[@Daniel-zg5mb]

It's definitely refreshing to see someone have something to say about Dos2 other than praise(which I do appreciate as I adore this game). That said, as someone who never played dos1, I was a bit dismayed to see that nearly every point was based on a direct comparison to the first game and as such, I didn't really learn much from the video other than "there are things that dos2 did worse than dos1". It's absolutely right to make comparisons with previous games in a series, but I do also think it's important to consider dos2 as its own game as well. I think this also ties into your last comment about how Larian should have not just concentrated on fixing the bad, but also put some thought into improving the good, because I think it's somewhat parallel to critiquing what dos2 did badly(and more specifically what dos2 did worse than dos1) and ignoring highlighting what the game did well.

[@zzxp1]

Well is a sequel after all, it is heavily tied to its predecessor specially when things that made first game so unique change. It is important to remark why such changes can potentially affect the game in ways that even the developers didn't intend or could not foreshadow.

[@Daniel-zg5mb]

@@zzxp1 I completely agree. But I don't think that should be the whole review. This was a few days ago, but the only thing I remember the review covering that wasn't a comparison to the first game was the story and that was brief. What I'm saying is that it's absolutely important to consider where dos2 came from and making comparisons to the first game is totally great, but it's also important to a game as its own thing as well and consider its qualities abstract from predecessors. You can do both in one review.

[@dickking9373]

@@Daniel-zg5mb You're making a weird connection somewhere I feel. Yes, he compared it a lot to DOS1 rather frequently but his critique isn't "This game isn't like DOS1." Instead, its "These are how the games systems work and these are the flaws of them, lets use DOS1 to show its flaws more easily.." I feel he did a rather good job of doing both in one review and all of his criticisms don't merely exist in a vacuum of "Its not like the first."

[@Daniel-zg5mb]

@@dickking9373 What connection am I making? And I generally agree with you. My problem is that if you have never played DOS1, the majority of the review is meaningless. So it's not a review of DOS2. It's a review of DOS2 through the lens of DOS1.

[@dickking9373]

@@Daniel-zg5mb The connection you're making is that because he mentions DOS1 a lot this critique is largely "Meaningless" so the game isn't as bad as he's making it sound. You have indeed made that connection given your last comment I would say. Either way, it's still a review of DOS2 and none of the problems he mentions go away. Yes, he frequently compared it to DOS1 but even in a universe where DOS1 didn't exist but 2 somehow did, his critique of the game is still valid. None of his problems is "This isn't like 1 and isn't a good sequel cause 1 did it better." Instead, they are. "With a little bit of thought, this combat system could be more dynamic and interesting and rethinking the armour system as it pushes a damage meta is necessary to have said more creative and interesting fights." In a universe, without DOS1 those problems still exist and the mods intended to fix them would also still exist. Regardless of if he meets it in whatever way someone arbitrarily defines "Meeting the game on its own terms as its own thing," DOS2 is still deeply flawed and most those flaws stem from an attempt to fix DOS1s systems that weren't broke. Mentioning DOS1 is certainly needed for context and also mentioning DOS1 would still be required to meet it on its own terms as those terms as "I'm a sequel and want to fix this stuff." In the universe, without DOS1 its terms would be "I'm trying to be an RPG with lots of multi-classing, a dynamic combat system with lots of environmental effects and varied approaches to combat and enemy encounters." Which is still not achieved due to the exact things he mentioned in the video.

[@thesummerofmark]

Took a look at your saves around the 10 minute mark. Man, I really do hope you have a healthier sleep schedule these days 😄

[@Matthew_Jensen]

I recently found your content and enjoy your thoughts. Tip of my hat to you sir. I have spent a fair bit of time on most of the games you have reviewed so far and your critiques have provided some insights I haven not thought about.

[@NeverKnowsBest]

Thanks. I'm glad you the videos interesting.

[@nineonine9082]

Necrofire everywhere This is fine though the odd time i come across a blessed puddle of water that doesn't get blown away within one turn by the enemy is AMAZING

[@AndrewTheFrank]

Necrofire everwhere can be annoying. Getting better at the game though means most enemies die before they take a turn. Means almost no necrofire the whole run.

[@fast1nakus]

@@AndrewTheFrank You mean like using the same broken stuff in every game and oneshoting everyone? Maybe.

[@popkhorne5372]

I remember fighting oil slugs in the black pits. There was one, huge zone filled with necroflames surrounding my characters, and every turn it would switch between flames and necroflames, and that meant every turn waiting 30 seconds for it to change entirely. And then change again once the slugs moved in it. (When i say slugs, i dont mean the fire slugs. I mean the oil kind of slugs.)

[@Drew.DrivesYT]

Regarding the damage/armor system, there's a mod called Divinity Unleashed that reworks it to an EHP-based system, where armor offers varying degrees of damage resistance instead of total resists, along with other balancing tweaks. Surfaces are actually dangerous, traps hurt, and combat is just way more fun.

[@slydevil4759]

There was a mod in original sin 1, when you CC an enemy it becomes immune to that CC for 2 turns after. It made it more interesting because you had to mix CC and couldn't just use the same over and over.

[@roglach4681]

I just bought this game on Christmas and loving it so far, playing on Tactician so fights require me to actually think. I've never played an isometric RPG before, so I had to get used to the combat and gameplay, but it's so damn rewarding. Small tweaks to your strategy can have great results. For example, I was fighting Orivand and co in Fort Joy and had difficulty outhealing/outarmoring his attacks, but eventually I figured out I can use the teleportation gloves to just toss him down into the main portion of the room and block out entrances with fire/ice to sometimes prevent enemies from advancing and make them choose the longer path and the fight became much easier. Also, the soundtrack is fire, some of the battle tracks are just straight kino.

[@rotoninja]

Just a couple of thoughts: Disagree a bit on magic. I don't know, but I found it quite OP, even on Honour mode. The Torturer talent helps a lot of the effects off magic (except maybe Aero/Hydro), along with Savage Sortilege/Hothead you can do massive damage. Agree on rewards. Not being able to compare is extremely frustrating especially when you get an item you don't need. My complaint: Dwarves and Lizards seem way less useful than Humans and Elves, which reduces variety. Great video!

[@nicosonico94]

From what I've seen in my couple hundred hours with the game, Physical will always outperform Magic. This is mostly due to elemental resistances being so widespread, and the fact that magic has to naturally do less damage because it has more CC power. If you also add the fact that some elements can basically nullify each other, and that mixed parties aren't really useful/viable, Physical comes out on top, and it just keeps getting better and better in the late game. In the last part I could oneshot literally any enemy, and sometime finish encounters in a single Arrow Storm (is that what it was called? The ultimate ranged source skill that rains arrows in a huge area).

[@Pixeldragonfly]

@@nicosonico94 I'll agree magic is weak overall, but there's a couple of avenues that lead it to being the most busted skill investment (which hurts build variety a ton). Mostly, elemental affinity talent, combined with the adrenaline skill, plus heavy investment into polymorph to access skin graft and apotheosis, makes for what I believe is the most powerful build in the game, almost regardless of your choice in school of magic.

[@LumosX]

I don't think I've ever had a quest reward item that's actually useful to me. By the time I complete a quest, my gear always seems to outclass the relatively boring items given as a "reward". Usually pick the most expensive one so I can sell it on the next inevitable upgrade cycle.

[@remenencenda768]

nicosonico94 tell that to my rain+lightning infinite shock

[@bio0link]

While I like your methods of explaining your points I feel as if you didn’t play these games as much as I did. In OS1 while environmental effects were great they were also ignored once you realized cc was so brutally overpowered it made combat heavily focused on managing cc. OS2 is the same with but managing damage then CC, honestly I preferred OS2 armor system because it forced me not to abuse go to strategies and I felt more inclined to use wacky interesting builds I just would have ignored in OS1. Grenade were absolutely busted in OS1 so much so that they could sway entire fights with the CC they pumped out, I like that they aren’t broken in OS2 but still usable. Melee builds in OS1 were also kind of meh because all of the environmental effects that while awesome and a highlight of the game made moving into melee range a chore and often a death wish, and the new movement spell let heavy melee builds be far more fun than they once were. I just didn't have this experience you did of highly varied combat encounters in OS1 it always ended up with me chain stuning specific targets and blocking off other enemies with effects.

[@hassathunter2464]

Did you play the original? Since from what I recall grenades where an addition in the EE, one of the... more failed updates.

[@mateuszmazur6246]

In my opinion 2nd game is much improvement from the 1st one. First of all narratives are way better, even if they aren't perfect. Story is more engaging, characters are more interesting. I actually enjoyed roleplaying my character in dialogues, something that I haven't experienced in cRPGs since Fallout New Vegas. And finally male character models don't look like bodybuilders while they have minimum strength... I like armor system, I imagine it like a barrier (magical or physical) that gets penetrated by every hit. Wheter combat system is better or not... it's hard to decide. It has pros and cons. But overall DOS series combat is my favourite one in video games at all. It's faithfull to it's table-top roots and entertainig (I still remember a fight, when I teleported a shark out of the water, so it instantly died). But as always it's really a shame that magic is pretty much portrayed as elemental powers and necromancy. I think it's primitive, there are much more application options for magic. The only feature that was significantly better in DOS1 in my opinion are charades and riddles. I think those were more imaginative, but that just personal feeling with really no arguments to support it.

[@demonlolz543]

Though I agree with almost all of the things said in the video, in my IMO I think some of the criticisms of the narrative are unfair 1. In regards to the issue of the other characters deferring and giving up Divinity, I don't think that all group dynamics need to have a specific reason or explanation. I mean the real answer to why they give up Divinity is cause you're the PC. Without diving too much into pedantic apologetics, the reason they trust you could just as easily be because you technically have brought the team together, have made all the major narrative decisions up until that point and were, of course, instrumental in each of your companions' questlines (which is also because you're the PC). That's just my headcanon but I think using that as evidence, you can very easily just say that your character was generally more assertive (because you're the pc) and became the leader by chance, which I don't think is too contrived. Though I do wish that there would be more contention over who becomes Divine throughout the story 2. I think that the tone shifts can be okay with the darker tone of the story. Despite all the Grim Dark imagery, I wouldn't consider the game's narrative to be overly depressing or hopeless. I think the light-hearted aspects can make the world endearing, especially for the companions and the other supporting characters. Seeing more light-hearted aspects of the world made me feel like I actually made me feel like the world was worth saving despite the many despicable people that inhabited it. This is all just my opinion, obviously. It's awesome seeing how invested people are in this game and it's not hard to see why. This was my first crpg and it has become one of my all-time favorite games. Despite my counter-criticisms I think this was a great video, and seeing how willing to address criticism Larian was when making DOSII I can only hope that they finally find a balance for the combat in Fallen Heroes

[@BRoyce69]

In my, in my opinion.

[@isaaclong6085]

@Hesus I hope you realize your companions can turn on you and fight you because they believe you aren't fit to ascend and it's their job. The reason why they back up and let you is because they trust you and you've built positive relationships with them. You've got your panties in a bunch

[@isaaclong6085]

@Hesus Also cussing profusely doesn't make you right.

[@MrSmoore77]

@@isaaclong6085 my last playthrough fane and sebille were cool but beast had decided I was too selfish and reckoned it should be him, seeing as I had no real desire to ascend and playing as a human my god was a massive twat anyway I agreed. My only real gripe with the writing was some of the ending scenarios seemed a bit conflicting

[@JhoTerra]

The point about persuasion being a let-down due to the lack of investment is very, very true. In every game that has an actual "talk your way out of problems" skill tree it's directly related to how much combat ability you want to sacrifice via stats or skill points, which means that your charisma IS your role. Persuasion checks in this game boil down to 1) is there an actual reward for being right, 2) do I want to skip this whole segment, and 3) do I want the combat exp anyways?

[@sirbradfordofhousejones]

So interesting how different personalities analyze a game. My priorities for games are story, immersion, music, voice acting, and exploration. Gameplay and mechanics tend to be secondary. I see these points you’ve made and agree with them, but half of the beauty of this game was hardly even covered here because I’m guessing it doesn’t matter as much to you. Found that fascinating. Love your videos, as it gets me to critically look at elements I don’t look at as often as other gamers.

[@dmwrobinson]

people like you are ruining the games industry

[@montchellvonctor]

Yeah this is true, it is really interesting. To play a mild devil's advocate, I would say that the kind of people who like CRPGs are probably people who are more (or at least equally to role-playing) focused on mechanics, especially a Larian game where they make a huge promise of mechanical depth (which they mostly pull off).

[@cesruhf2605]

"gameplay" in a game being a secondary priority is a pretty bad take.

[@sirbradfordofhousejones]

@@cesruhf2605 yep, truly a sin amongst pro gamerz.

[@greppim911]

I think the main reason they changed the initiative system in DOS2 was because you could easily stack up a ton of it on DOS1 and CC the enemy before they could do anything. Not that DOS2 initiative's system is any better.

[@hassathunter2464]

Yup. IIRC that system was even still in place in the first (few?) EA builds, till they replaced it with round robin with much discussion as a result. But sadly all that discussion seemed to have been on deaf ears.

[@maskoblackfyre]

As someone who completed this game 3 times in full, with 2 of those being on Lone Wolf I'd like to add something that I found lacking: 1. The pace of the game drops in the middle of act 2, when you're halfway done chasing the "Masters". It just loses some "juice" and becomes all about clearing the map. The story doesn't keep up very well 2. If you use magic the game becomes too easy. Magic armor and damage is far superior to physical damage and you can CC enemies into oblivion if you use a 2 character combo of Aerotheurge and Hydrosophist. After the 1st 3rd of act 2 you are basically unstoppable. The balance feels way off and thus the game loses a part of it's charm. I still love it and I still think it's the best cRPG ever created, but it has some flaws for sure.

[@remenencenda768]

lone wolf is also fucking unlanced, especial if you have a friend, You can get incarnate champions at level 5 with lone wolf. 100% balanced

[@What_do_I_Think]

4 years later, Larian continued to shine and shine even brighter with Baldurs Gate 3 -- Thank you Larian! A spark in the darkness of corporations following just the money.

[@1984Kojot]

There are plenty of good crpg outhere, in my opinion they are better the Bgay3 or DOS2.

[@What_do_I_Think]

@@1984Kojot That is your taste, not mine! And when you frame games like that because you like specific details not of them, you just show how valuable your opinion is (NOTHING). I guess, you did not even try to play the game, because of your (religious?) believes. I give you a tip: You don't need to play a gay character in this game, if your religion forbids!

[@1984Kojot]

@@What_do_I_Think Why you are getting so angry??You said that there are no games like that. This is not true. Simple as that. There is really a lot of crpgs. Some of them are better...by far. BG3 is crappy rpg and that is what it is.

[@What_do_I_Think]

@@1984Kojot 🙃I don't get angry. I just analyzed your negative comment as what it is. And that you don't reflect on my comment but just repeat your indefensible claim, just shows that you are angry yourself and are not able to reflect your own behavior.

[@What_do_I_Think]

@@1984Kojot One thing: *Plonk*

[@naterambles8525]

Omg, that Arx fight was a nightmare. This is a great critique, very smart. I always felt there was something I didn't like as much about DOS2, thanks for putting it in to words. You just won a like and a subscribe.

[@tytanowykarol]

You have raised some good points. Source mechanics and how underwhelming it is. There is some balancing that needs to be done still, I think there is just too much happening with surfaces and especially flammable ones, it's almost impossible to have a fight without setting the ground ablaze, which makes pure geomancer build just not viable. Also the skills should have more higher requirements, because at some point you have access to most of the useful skills. On the other hand most of the other points are either nitpicky or just your preference. Especially the armour mechanics, I think it is the best aspect of the game and it add a lot of tactical depth to each fight, I have that any day over 20% chance to resist stun mechanics. Also I really like the mixed tone of the story, because it doesn't make it depressing and it gives me a chuckle sometimes. There are couple of games that do it right.

[@reagenlionel]

As far as the combat, I can live with most the changes compared to o OS1 but one major thing I disagree with what was done was the consolidation and removals of physical damage types and resistances. The damage potential of magical damage was more variable, which made it more fun. Where physical damage felt more static. Piercing damage had a bit more distinction but that rarely came into play. When fought a skeleton, its weakness used to be blunt damage and healing magic and sometimes fire if it still had some flesh, but resisted cold, poison and piercing. You had more options with physical or magic. Now the interesting interactions are mostly magic based, for you and enemies due to no physical damage variance. Another thing related to combat that could help the stale nature of encounters is some randomization of enemies and enemy types. Just playing through once you pretty much get the best course of action for each encounter, which in itself can be fun on a second go round, but ends up negating challenge and experimentation even more. That and how source was required for a lot of skills, but turned out not to be even worth using, and felt like wasted source. Kind of summed source as a whole really for how pivotal source is supposed to be in the plot and the series.

[@rateater1857]

the thing you said about feeling like you're missing out whether you play as one of origin character or a custom one really resonates with me. I have no idea why larian made it this way. Isn't making several pre-made characters with divergent quests and stories more work than just letting the player make a custom character like literally any other RPG? The characters they got are really great but I feel like they would work just as great as party member while the main character is the a custom. The story could possibly work better too, just giving the custom character some reason as to why they're the party leader and not one of the others. This is my main complaint, I actually liked combat way more than in DOS1, it just flowed better for me, and the enviromental damage was a great little quirky flavour that didn't decide the outcome of battle. But the characters... idk, the immersion with one of the origin character as a PC wasn't as good as either with a custom character, or as with one (1) template character as it happens in action rpgs (lara, witcher, asscreed and so on). It just felt like Larian is making an awkward full split over an abyss, one leg on the ledge of "let players build their own PC" and one leg on the "the PC is set from the start" ledge. I still love their games fiercely, but I wish they just picked one approach ;P

[@rateater1857]

fuck the cursed necrofire though. that was a nightmare. that goddam cursed fire embassy mission.........,

[@NeverKnowsBest]

I think the reason Larian did it was because of co-op. Having the story revolve around one custom character won't work as well in co-op as only one person will get to be the _real_ main character, and I guess they didn't want to do the same as dos1 and base the story around two custom characters again.

[@tommyinthewell]

@@NeverKnowsBest Frankly I liked it for solo play. It's hard for me to role play as anyone but myself when I'm playing games like this (unlike when I'm playing D&D), so being able to be Ifan or Fane was a really interesting way to play the game.

[@tubejanmi]

Amen, what a great compilation of the problems of the battle system in DOS2! It made the battles tedious.

[@dempa3]

Interesting, I haven't played the game, just seen some trailers and read a couple of rows, and I assumed that source was the same thing as magic and that magic was forbidden, because it is so powerful. I'm surprised that no one on the team pulled the break on that one and declared that it isn't well though through.

[@f.m848]

Thank god, Finally, someone talked about how useless Initiative is in this game. Also, there are so many situations where enemies have a ridiculous amount AP or how so many times they can attack through walls and obstacles but your ranged player is always blocked by vision and obstacles!

[@knavenformed9436]

Initiative useless? I don't know man, getting two turns in a row using delay makes it very possible to end fights really early.

[@ConnerCanatsey]

It's ironic that the video complained about fewer tactics being viable when it seems like he just didn't really explore the available tactics.

[@AndrewTheFrank]

One of the only important things in this game is initiative. That is who goes first, you or the enemy. It also allows for a member of your squad, who has low initiative, to not be total punished and put behind 10 enemies. But then again the enemies shouldn't be taking a turn.

[@samithonjames370]

@@knavenformed9436 Round robin nullifies any advantage you'd have by investing in initiative.

[@knavenformed9436]

@@samithonjames370 What round robin? My friend who invested in high initiative was always first in any turn.

[@TheCivildecay]

I hate the addition of NECROFIRE! Also my biggest issue with Dos2, was that my questlog got overloaded with different quests, and I quicklu lost track of what I was doing , and where the story was evolving towards.(this especially was the case in act2)

[@gearhead417]

Really? Act 2 feels very solid it what it wants you to do. From minute 1 they give you a goal and that is basically what Act 2 is about. Its just Act 2 has so many ways to complete itself that it feels very open ended.

[@EinFelsbrocken]

Yeah I didnt like Necrofire either. Felt as if a fire breaks out; and some dude just says "FUCK!" to the fire and shit goes wild. Hate it.

[@HookahOtaku]

Necrofire is great to counter trolls and healer enemies. Dont stand in blood or fire then lol

[@-pressxtostart-]

@@gearhead417 for some reason i always just start over in act two, i get to the town and just dont feel like continuing for whatever reason. Love act 1 though ive restarted over 10 times and love it just as much as the first time

[@janisir4529]

I played DOS2 before 1, and while I had some issues with the armor system, when I first saw the saving throw nonsense, I was really pissed at all the RNG I'll have to endure...

[@MrSmoore77]

I'm doing the same thing now, saving throws are bit too reliable for the enemies, that and the good old one way visibility through smoke etc and my archer missing about 8/10 shots are both annoying. The worst bit is market traders dialogue in cyseal though, that Is some proper hammy shite. On the positive no twin armour nonsense is nice

[@janisir4529]

@@MrSmoore77 Trader dialogue is nowhere near as bad as it is in driftwood

[@MrSmoore77]

@@janisir4529 I think driftwood chatter is more constant and is definitely annoying , but the voice work is much nicer, cyseal vendors just make me cringe, the voice acting in 2 Is just alot easier on the ear I reckon.

[@adriac1291]

@@janisir4529 The driftwood chatter is hilarious though. It all sounds good, but its repeated over and over again. Nothing sounds annoying, but it drives you insane. It is extremely well done, it makes you insane every time you are out there buying items and makes you question your moral choices. Do you kill Brie when leaving for the nameless isle, just out of frustration? Playing as a morally good character is all fine until you get to driftwood. Not killing every single fucking short midget there requires extreme restraint. I have also learned every single line of dialogoue and can memorize it peferectly. HEAR YE, HEAR YE, still plagues me in my sleep. 10/10- drove me insane.

[@janisir4529]

@@adriac1291 the first thing you to do is kill brie, not the last

[@Mesjach]

I completely agree. DOS II is still one of my favorite games of all time but it surely has it's own set of problems!

[@Laezar1]

Honestly the combat was great, to me the main problems came from it being a bit slow, which is fine, but combined with the fact that you know way ahead of time if a battle is already won (once ennemies lose their armor) and it makes the end of every battle a slog. I didn't mind for the first 3/4 of the game, but once I started not really unlocking any new abilities to toy with for every battle that's when the battles felt slow and too similar. The abundance of curses was also very annoying as you pointed out, cursed fire is just not interesting, it just means everyone is taking damage every turn and that's about it. (other cursed effects are alright tbh, but fire is so common and locks the terrain so much it really made some battles annoying).

[@lainrivers901]

I never understood the complaint about CC being the primary deciding factor in most fights for this style of game. How else would you overcome unfavorable odds in an outnumbered/overpowered situation if not through manipulating the terrain and utilizing tools that efficiently give you the advantage by denying the enemy their ability to surround you? The only other option is a good ol' slug fest DPS race and hope you have enough healing resources to out-sustain. Whoever has the bigger numbers wins...which I think is what DoS2 did, and it wasn't very fun or engaging. A lot of older CRPGs basically fall into this category too, where the most efficient strat is to simply hold a choke point and let the AI ram their body into you repeatedly until you win or run out of resources to sustain and die.

[@janlappalainen]

Spot on. While the story in DOS2 is better, the first game is a lot more fun to play. Another thing that should be addressed is what a grind it is to find level appropriate content in the sequel. For me the game ended when I simply could not find things to do at lvl 11. I cleared all the level 11 content I could find, but this had not given me the necessary levels to move on. After several hours of searching, doing absolutely nothing, I decided I had better things to do with my time. The perfect reviews for this game were not deserved.

[@franzpattison]

Your voice is very soothing and I like the analytical content so I have subscribed. 😊

[@tebogotwala5185]

This is why i always prioritize having the escapist trait on everyone at the begining of the game. i always play honour mode. I beat the first game after 6 restarts coz i wasnt planning ahead enough or sending one person to scout an entire area sometime. Im still playing the second game in honour mode on my 4th restart. When my scout gets ambushed i just use escapist and then come back to that area with my party knowing the enemy's weaknesses and their levels.

[@pc6864]

This man deserves more view.... Ha well at least he gets to read my comment =D. I have done the 1st but not the 2nd yet. I can understand why Larian took those directions. Seemed to be the right thing to do...even if it is as you say. I rather see a different game slightly under than the same game with just new graphics

[@christineherrmann205]

Oh, my sweet summer child, the obvious choice after you finally remove physical armor is clearly turn everything into a chicken. For the humor if nothing else.

[@No-One.321]

I'm happy you made a long video on this. But man i disagree heavily on the whole first part and combat.

[@ikaruga24]

It's true that by removing the dice roll factor from an RPG such as this means a whole lot of other issues to deal with. I had the same idea at the begining of the game that it is too much focused in damage stacking and mass focus fire to get some results. However later in the game there is a selection of a skill that allows you to bypass armor and deal directly the status effect of the attack you did. This skill i gave to two of my party members and it made a hell of a lot of difference in how the fights went on from that point onwards. My archer/geomancer built was able to pick pot shots at anyone and cripple them in a consisntent manner as my main who was specced like a battlemage (Warfare/aerothurge/summoning) and he did a lot of stuff but was somewhat lacking damage he became in an instant a true asset to the entire party by teleporting left and right and providing support both offensively and defensively.

[@1CJMac1]

If you want to have a complete playthrough with all origin characters get the max party size increase mod. So long as all members are in your party during the first Dallis fight they all survive the first trip to the hall of echoes. Just swap them around afterwards to keep your party at 4 as you help each of them with their individual missions

[@davidkubik537]

i do agree with the most of your points,esp. the loot/leveling system caused to abandon the game.. what i dont agree with is your last point - the TONE , this is purely subjective and really not well placed. critics based on something being "sudden" really doesnt make up for an argument, anyway good work

[@Maethendias]

you can make a hybrid mage if you scale your damage via intel instead of the class specific damage (aka leveling polymorph and then specing into intel)

[@TheSlammurai]

I like the zig zagging of the tone. I learned quickly not to get attached to anyone since half the people you meet end up getting murdered and that started to make me apathetic towards new characters. Without the jokes and the laughs, the story just gets too dark.

[@hondshoven8477]

It's kind of my biggest problem with the story... Everyone is an ahole, or will be revealed to be one or just die. But hey, we threw in a few jokes !

[@ringovski1980]

Amazing job and criticism, I think your observations are right on the money keep up the good work. New subscriber.

[@Thestorbob]

I agreed a lot more with your criticism than I thought I would. Good video

[@TheArnoldification]

For those concerned/put off the armor system in dos 2 there is a big mod that reworks reworks the system, while also attempting to address the problem of just cc spamming to victory with a sort of diminishing returns effect. It isn't perfect but it's pretty well thought out all things considered IMO

[@ariloulei814]

The Leveling system bothers me so much. I dislike every physical class needing to level Warfare. It just doesn't feel right. Overall a great review. Oddly enough what got me into the game and ruined it for me was co-op. Specifically my friends wanting to restart the game over and over and over. I went through Fort Joy 4 times before seeing act 2 and at this point that file is gone too (I can't remember how many times I've done the prison ship). What bugs me more is that there is a respec station in act 2 so it all felt very unnecessary to keep restarting. That's probably more on my friends than the game though.

[@aliciaaltair]

I so agree with you on the co-op thing! On paper it's great but in practice it's like he said, you really need to play with people who have a similar playstyle as you. My husband and I didn't even make it past the fort, lol. I like to explore, he rushes through and misses probably a third of the content, then we're separated and he's annoyed as I stop to do the things he missed but then I'm waiting as he feels compelled to come all the way back so his character doesn't miss anything vital. So now it's a single player game. Regards the leveling system: check out the mod "Divinity Unleashed" on the steam workshop, it makes the game near-perfect.

[@zealgaming8161]

I wanted to love this game, but could not. You really pointed out most off the issues i had with the game, especially the armor and itemization progression. I quit somewhere in chapter 2 once the game started to feel like a mmorpg.

[@dellirious13]

I think the suddenness of the writing is perfect. Not many things are better than laughing at a bit of speech only to cut that short with the grotesque thing that stuns me right after.

[@budlikycz2445]

I am not a fun of these games. But I am looking forward when Baldur'sGate 3 releases and you make a vid on it if you make one :-) Keep up the good work. Only few for subscribers and you make that sweet mark!

[@knavenformed9436]

I just can't buy into how enemies one or two levels higher can be so hard. Sure I've played with the old Lone Wolf levelling on, meaning skills are not capped to 10, but on my build it really ended up buffing my Incarnate, other than that my friend could nuke anything with me being a shacles of pain battery. The first thing we did in Arx at lvl18 was beta the Kraken, we beat Hannag at lvl13, I've killed Slane without letting my physical armor being reduced to Slane. Sure base difficulty only, but if you chose a higher difficulty then that's a challenge you accepted yourself, not a negative of the game.

[@Rob526]

And to be honest if you play semi viably, or use your head the harder fights can still be pretty easy on the harder difficulties. IE my character could 1v1 and dick on slane since I would use the tyrants gear and be cursed with burning or whatever so I couldn't be frozen by him, and I just beat the shit out of him and made him a chicken

[@Priestofgoddess]

The main problem was: Leveling up was more important than putting points in your attributes. The stat change from leveling had a huge impact and one level difference could make a fight into a piece of cake, at least on tactician.

[@hidaroot2282]

I only play honour with cheat table because yes the AI is fucking awesome that i admit myself im suck at it and i just want to blast everything and enjoying the game without much thinking. Otherwise the classic/story difficulty is really enjoyable and manageable.

[@trengilly01]

Finally watched this video having played DoS2 and I tend to agree with everything you said. With the exception that I feel pretty much everything about the DoS1 story was superior to 2. The entire story in DoS2 is confusing, has the tonal flip/flops, and well pretty pointless. DoS1 may have had a pretty predictable story but at least it was coherent. The only areas where DoS2 is better than 1 is in graphics and companion story/depth. And the companion vs origin thing is a mess, I also felt left out and confused about what to do . . . create my own character or play as an origin one. For me DoS1 was hands down the superior game . . . but I can understand how others preferences would choose DoS2. Its going to be very interesting to see how Larian handles Baldur's Gate 3. The D&D ruleset should be a nice addition and should make the combat very fun. Cut scenes will allow for more cinematic storytelling. But I hope Larian really ups their game with the story, otherwise its likely to be a letdown for me.

[@TigeriPlaysGames]

from the perspective of someone who started with 2 and then went back to 1, a lot of this rings true for me too as playing the old game definitely made me notice a few flaws in what i'd previously found near-perfect. nowadays, i love them both for different reasons, and i'm honestly kind of glad they both offer pretty different experiences while still both being great CRPGs, because i have reason to go back and play them both. but anyway, great vid!

[@R0B1NG5]

I can agree with a lot of this, I think the larger maps really suffer from poor layout and a quite rigid, but unintuitive progression of difficulty/levels of encounters. The gear churn is a bit too high and no items feel special. But in terms of combat I really disagree. I don't think the combat is something amazing in 2, but saving throws in a CRPG with quicksave/load just feels archaic to me at this point. I wish more people were coming up with alternate approaches to how and when statuses can be applies instead of just shoe horning in a bacterized version of something from a table top game designed decades ago. I love baldurs gate and games like that, but one of my least favourite things about them is reloading and trying a lock pick/trap disarm/pick pocket/ dominate person/ petrification ect ect ect again because its at a pivotal moment and it didn't go my way. It doesn't make sense. I just keep time travelling until I get the outcome I want. You don't do that in table top with a DM, you have to live with the outcomes and the risk and thats why it works. You talk about trying new things to win in DOS1. Logically, its the opposite in games when you have randomized success of debuffs and status effects. You just do the same thing again, but this time your dominate mind or aoe stun or whatever works first time, and you roll the combat. Your input didn't need to change to win, the randomly generated input of the system did. At some point, that is less satisfying to me, because I'm barley playing a game at that point, I'm pulling a lever until I get the parallel dimension where I win the encounter. Its not perfect, but I prefer games using refinements of the armour system, or something else new, going forward and at least attempting to innovate rather than still abdicating considered game design in favor of randomization.

[@lainrivers901]

Have you ever tried just not reloading a save game? DOS1 is excellently designed in the fact that you have so many powerful options that if something goes south you can always just flee the fight and re-engage later or whip out an item to buy you time to get re-set up. Try living with consequences for a change instead of saying "oh I missed that's stupid guess I lose now".

[@R0B1NG5]

@@lainrivers901 I understand the sentiment in relation to some games but even though BG2 is one of my favourite games, it's quite punitive and nothing interesting comes from say, a characters death if they botch a save. You just lose the scripted quests they are needed to trigger and all there dialogue and specific interactions. You just lose content. You might have to pay for an expensive res and be unable to use that money for something more interesting etc. In the original tabletop format the DM can improvise and find an alternate route to or through a quest. The collaborative effort can make unexpected magic. Video games currently are less good at utilising that kind of mindset. Rogulikes are built to try and lock that mentality in the mechanics for example. It has to be kind of intended and forced. If the game design doesn't support it, there is little appeal in doing it for me. But regardless, I just think randomisation is over used in gaming and particularly in the free to play era it's just a lazy stop gap for considered game design and innovation. My main point was I don't mind devs experimenting with systems that don't use it it as much.

[@KinnArchimedes]

After BG3, I'd wish Larian do something new. Not another DOS game. This whole source user/godwoken is a bit cliche for my tastes. Dos2 half the time it feels the narrator is being overly descriptive for the sake of it. I know I don't encounter people in my actual life that I would describe in the ways the Narrator describes these so-called regular people of rivellon. Every person you encounter has to be like: Narrator: The small-town cashier looks up with a wry twitchy smirk, almost dancing around her smoke-addled teeth that chatter, itching for the next break. She has seen the condoms. Cashier: Got a big night planned eh? Narrator: Her eyes still bloodshot from that all-weekend binge. She bags them discreetly as any other of your purchases, with a twirl in the air, like a gunslinger showing-off. Player: Yeah Narrator: She poises her purple-lashed nails for the next moment. Cashier: Cash or Credit? Half the time all this unnecessary description irks me with this game.

[@knavenformed9436]

An Arcanum sequel could be really damn cool

[@wofuljac]

I think the narrator is there for the lack of animations. Next game should be a bit more cinematic.

[@TheArnoldification]

pillars of eternity 2 writers' eyes got explosive lens flare eyes reading this comment

[@rabbittaylor3609]

"Worse combat than Original Sin 1" I beg to differ heavily, lol Good video otherwise though!

[@thecopercoper5533]

Both were bad in their own way.

[@joedatius]

@@thecopercoper5533 no not really

[@fixpontt]

he was on point with the fights, it is much more unifacial and knockdown is the best CC because oters are unreliable, i did everything he said he did before i watched this video, there are one or two optional strategy and everything else is subpar compared to them, and he is also right that raw damage output is king in the second game (maybe that changed later, i played the original 2017 version of the game and that was bad)

[@rabbittaylor3609]

@@fixpontt Playing as an Aero/Hydro mage specifically, I found that both freeze and shock were very easy to pull off. I was able to CC lock just as well as any warrior/rogue/marksman I've ever played with knockdown.

[@rabbittaylor3609]

@Uliani i still disagree. The action point economy in the first game felt miles worse than in 2. I understand how you might feel that way. But CC was always an invaluable tactical choice for my playthroughs on Tactician.

[@Baraz_Red]

Interesting. Reminded me I should play the 1 before the 2. / I hate it when our gear becomes gimp only a level or two later (prefer the PoE dynamics). ( and thanks for the spoiler warning :P )

[@gandalorerathnos3003]

@18:00 Loremaster is irelevant in Divininity original sin 2 since vendors can identify for you at a small fee. this also means that bartering basically becomes the neccesary skill instead of Loremaster. I'd also argue that lucky charm is the beast extra option since getting a strong or valuable item out of a random barrel is a considerable advantage

[@Pixeldragonfly]

The first two levels of loremaster (which give you full access to enemy info when examining them) are probably the two most important civil ability levels you can allocate, but past that, yeah, pretty pointless. I like that it helps you examine enemies better, but it's funny how a sub-function of the identification skill is its most powerful aspect.

[@gandalorerathnos3003]

@@Pixeldragonfly You are correct

[@beckym3430]

Hey NKB, Love it :) keep up the great video! I found it a very interesting video on the game :D

[@irlshrek]

mostly perfectly legitimate criticisms. Despite this, though, D:OS2 is still one of my favorite games ever which really speaks to how great of a game it is. Not perfect, but great.

[@Malouco]

Eran Boodnero they fixed the damage traps do. Makes me wonder if they saw this video.

[@thenotoriousbusinessman5045]

Just found your channel and it's suprising you don't have more subscribers when you put so much effort in your critique videos.

[@bruhbruh4329]

I *think* source in the setting allows you to channel the power of the dead, but don't quote me on that.

[@haloa92]

Ok, let's like the video. Now I can watch. EDIT: Ok watched, and loved it. This is a really honest review, which I like. This is a really good game, which is far from perfect. I agree that the combat was better in the first one, I personally didn't like the armor very much. This doesn't mean that didn't have fun with this one, on the contrary. The fact that irks me most about armor, is how it is just used as a scale of difficulty. More difficulty often just means more armor on enemies, which feels really unfair. I'm not forced to make better choices, I'm just forced to do just more damage. It is a slight difference, but a difference it is. Also I concur with the tone problem. I love the fact that DOS 1 and 2 don't take themselves too seriously, and I love the whimsy, but in this one the tone difference is really jarring. Also what I really didn't like is that the game just love to make everyone suffer. For no apparent reason. Also, it particularly hates animals. Seriously, there are a lot of examples of animals who get killed, suffer or things like that for no reason, and you can not do anything about it. The same problem can be said for the endgame. No matter what you do, how you play, something with your choices will cause someone else to suffer, and you will definitely screw someone even if you don't want it. I don't like this so much, but I might be in the minority: if I work hard, and play it right, I want to be able to fix things, at least to a certain degree. I agree that there must be some kind of bittersweet ending, and not everything can be under your control, but in some parts of the game the events feel just like a "fuck you, the world is bad and everybody hurts" despite your best effort. Despite this, I clocked over 200 hours on this game, simply because it is HUGE. It has shortcomings, but you can see that it is made with love of the craft and the fans in mind. I hope they can create a new blend of these two games with a new one, which will be even better than these two. P.s. I seriously love your content. Do more. EDIT 2: Jesus, I used way to much full stops in my previous paragraph, it is a pain to read, excuse me, I'm not good at this english thing it seems.

[@NeverKnowsBest]

I had no problems reading your comment, and thank you for the continued support.

[@haloa92]

thank you for your reviews!

[@aliciaaltair]

Late to the party as usual but maybe this comment will still be helpful: there's a mod called "Divinity Unleashed" that fixed all my combat complaints and another one called "Happily Emmie After" that modifies the Buddy quest so at least you can get them the ending they deserve.

[@haloa92]

Thank you! will try it when I go back at it!

[@dungeonmaster217]

I don't agree about tone. I really enjoy this high contrast between silly humor and edgy grimdark,this makes game feel unique and something I never saw before. This is warm and happy fairytale with unspeakable horrors, violence and suffering. I do also really enjoy combat. Yes, it's not as reliable on oneshot wombo-combos, but it's very tactical - target priority means a lot, positioning means a lot, it often feels like you're really outsmarting the enemy.

[@stanleya.8805]

Why doesn't this guy get more views? His critiques are sound and he actually plays and explores the game unlike... you know who

[@AtreyusNinja]

This video should have double the views, even more

[@AAJillSandwich]

I found out you can cheese 95% of the fights in DOS1 using oil barrels. Goblin village for example I set up about 10 through a choke point. Once they had reached the middle of the choke I set them off. They couldn't see with the smoke which lead to them to skip there turns more often than not. Those who didn't were forced to burn themselves alive while they wandered through the fire and flames. It works with most of the other fights as well.

[@delphidelion]

Magic CCs require slightly more setup. Throw rain or hit an enemy in water or on ice to cc in one go. It counteracts the nuke like function of spells.

[@BastosFC2]

I know i'm late but 10/10 review, gotta say the ending was very very disapointing. The entire act 4 feels rushed and linear.

[@saberaxe]

DOS:II is easily one of my favorite games in recent memory but the critique was definitely fair, though I disagree on some points, mainly about combat. Specifically I mean your point about when enemies outlevel you by one or two levels that the game feels almost unbeatable. This just flatly is not true if you know what you are doing with the combat, I've personally beaten the game on honor more with a mod that allows you to scale every enemy encounter to match or exceed (in my case I use +2 levels as well as other more to increase difficulty further). There is also another guy who does silly things like soloing the game on honor mode without lonewolf and with various difficulty mods. If anything my problem with the combat is that at unmodded difficulty even the hardest fights become trivial past the early game once you get more options. There are hilariously OP combos that are beyond overkill for any encounter, with enough initiative you can reasonably make it so no enemy ever gets a turn again. Even aside the silly combos involving apotheosis, adrenaline, AP cost reduction mechanics, time warp, and of course the extremely silly barrelmancy build though the damage eventually just went off the charts. The first game shared the same problem with the combat becoming a total joke in the lategame, again with enemy groups rarely getting a chance to do anything at all except waste some of your time. I also have a bit of a problem with Fane being objectively the most powerful character by an absolutely massive margin, not sure what Larian was doing there, compare the ability to summon a fairly useless wolf for significant cost vs just taking another turn immediately. Overall though great video and you definitely got a sub from me, stings a bit to hear Divinity get beat on so hard but I'm confident Larian can take the lessons from this game and surprise us all with their next (non-BG3) game. By far the most interesting part was your focus on how Larian learned from DOS:I and applied those lessons to the sequel for better and worse.

[@Crashed131963]

To many fights end up in a curse fire mess. Then you need blessed rain to make curse into normal fire then you need normal rain to put that fir out. What a pain.

[@svendays]

SPOILER WARNING: The main competitive challenge in DOS2 is the great arena. Only one person can "ascend" to Godhood. Not much, but they did deliver.

[@ReaperCet]

Yeah, I played with a buddy and they did a pretty good job of making it seem like you'd have to fight each other one day.

[@Meese12]

I think the story isn't really talked about enough in this game, because it has an incredibly strong theme to it: little guys suffering. The NPC that made me realize that is the blind magister in the swamp outside of fort joy. His friends are dead, he's permanently blind, he has no hope of surviving and is essentially panicking, but he still attempts to arrest you. That goal to detain sourcerers is so deeply imbedded in his brain that, despite his incredibly vulnerable state, he still attempts to arrest you. He even attacks you after you're assaulted by skeletons, flailing around and hitting whoever is near. He only calms down and talks to you if you keep him alive and fend off the skeletons, in which he simply thanks you and tells you to leave. He's a victim of the system he's been drafted into and only considers you human after you directly save his life. All the villains perform brutal acts to those under them in the name of progress. Braccus Rex curses and experiments on his court and prisoners to defend his throne, Dallis creates the silent monks in a weak attempt to reduce attacks from voidwoken, the Doctor actively makes human sacrifices of those assisting him, and so on. Even the main story is the story of your character's god grooming them to be the perfect successor. They don't care about the bleak state of the world or the massacre of the other sourcerers, they simply want their legacy to be carried on. They know they are dying, so instead of attempting to right their wrongs, they attempt to make your player character into an effective clone of themselves. The main character is a pawn in a petty proxy war between literal gods, ignoring the world below them in favor of carrying their name into the future. Every character in a place of true power cares more about a legacy or twisted mission than they care about lives, which is incredibly appropriate for a game where you carefully craft and follow a small party of 4 individuals through their own narratives. It does have those tone issues you mentioned, but i believe its main theme of individuals being lost in massive systems is strong, appropriate, and rings very very true.

[@tatianaes3354]

The video is from five years ago almost. How did the game improve through patches, comparing to the video?

[@Meese12]

@@tatianaes3354a lot of his issues were intentional design choices, so not a lot was "fixed with patches" per se. For example, i can see where he comes from when he says that there arent many super strong crazy spells to look forward to getting. A lot of the spells are pretty basic variations of each other that have different elemental flavors, and the few that have additional effects are pretty isolated and have questionable utility. However, i see that as an opportunity to explore the surface system. The biggest difference between magical classes is the kind of surfaces they generate and several can be either a benefit or hindrance to each other. Fossil Strike and Fireball are near identical spells whose only real difference is the type of surface they create, but because of that surface they have completely different uses. Fossil Strike can immobilize enemies, clear water surfaces, connect small pools of oil together, or detonate an already burning enemy. Fireball can ignite existing oil pools, turn water into steam and use it as cover from ranged attacks, or use it to block an enemy's path to you. Additionally, there are other factors that determine how you use spells. For example, when levelling your Pyromancer talent you'll only get extra fire damage, while levelling your Geomancy talent gets you earth damage AND additional physical armor rating, supporting a more hybrid battlemage playstyle. In that case, Fireball would more likely be on a high INT backline mage as an AOE nuke while Fossil Strike would be put on a melee unit as a low-damage ranged option primarily used for setup and area control. So, even if a lot of the spells are pretty basic and "boring", they're so flexible that you'll be putting them on different units and using them in different ways across playthroughs. Another thing he has a problem with is the new initiative system, which he says is worse and makes initiative "useless". The way i see it, initiative is a pretty passive stat. The only way to permanently increase initiative is by levelling wits. Wits also increases your Crit chance, and i see THAT as the main draw of the stat. Therefore, initiative seems to me more like a passive benefit you get while levelling your crit chance. As for staggering turns between your party and enemies, this makes it so 1 you can't go all in on initiative and nuke enemies before they even get a chance to swing back and 2 the game doesnt force you to level Wits just so your whole party won't go last in every single battle. I prefer the more balanced approach, but i can get how others would want more extreme options. So, i guess not much? A lot of it is just down to preference and perspective. He didn't like the big gap between levels cuz it streamlines the game, but i like how it was handled. He doesn't like the jumping between tones, but i think it strikes a nice balance. Etc etc.

[@tatianaes3354]

@@Meese12 thanks. Which game you are talking about 1/2/Inquisition? BTW, when Dragon Age 4 (or whatever) will be released? Or was the series abandoned?

[@tarissa5780]

The only time DO2 completely lost me was in the last act. I dont know about anyone else but I just completely lost interest in the game there. Mainly due to a ton of fights with what felt like infinite adds and like you said in the first part; it just felt like there was no strategy and all I was doing was bursting down mobs infinitely. Maybe a weird complaint to some but I felt like the fights dragged on so much in Arx that I completely forgot about the story.

[@KaiSaeren]

No you are right, the structure of the last act is just all over the place and its hard to keep straight what is what and who is who.

[@barryh97]

Late reply but I agree with you. I gave up in Act 4, I felt the difficulty spike was massive and became just hack n slash

[@remenencenda768]

I usually gave up in the reapers coast because there was no fucking story unless you went to the oily hell of the blackpita

[@aetherblackbolt1301]

You're not the only one. But it seems to be rare. A lot of people seem so scared of scaring off new players they won't admit that Act 4 is a mess. Even the ending can be unsatisfying. The quality fell apart, and it hurts to see it or admit it because Act 1 is so amazing and Act 2 is still good.

[@chloevan40]

loving the game, well done Larion

[@adammusia9527]

I agree with most you say, and you're one of the only two youtubers I ever watch (the other is Strat-Edgy, you mostly like and play the same games with some exceptions, but seem to have a bit different characters), I'm a boomer gamer who started in the 90s, so YT, let's plays and all that stuff usually seems to me like kids skateboarding on the crpg sidewalk and I want to scream at them with rage (same happens on reddit, when I go to sites about Fallout or TES and almost no one remember what came before F3/Skyrim, it's not so bad when iso-rpgs are involved, but still boomer's fists of rage are always ready), but I got side-tracked, to the point! Strat said something that I think applies here too - characters with chosen histories/backgrounds don't feel like you're playing yourself, you're playing a role of that character, which actually might be good for RP. Most players, when they create a character, they end up playing themselves and that sets additional boundaries, like morality for instance, but when you play an origin character or a character with predefined history (vide Tyranny where you choose your background and what happened during conquest) you don't feel weird playing evil for example, because it's not you, you're playing a role without constraints of your own morality, I felt exactly like that while playing Tyranny and origin characters in DOS2 also made me roleplay someone else than myself, I think that was beneficial for rp.

[@byakazyaka]

Unfortunately, what tactician is now is still easier than what was initially planned before the game released in 2017. I was one of the playtesters and later one of the QA and pre-release tactician was absolutely ballbusting. There is a reason to choose huntsman because it's multiplicative unlike warfare and others (at least it was, I'm not really sure anymore since it was nerfed). Larian's main audience is very much casual players who've never played any CRPGs and the only RPG that comes to their mind is witcher. That's why there is an easy and a very easy difficulty, that's why they've all been tuned down, that's why there is a general low-commitment approach to the skill-system, and that's why in fact there isn't a proper system implemented in the first place. In fact the tactical depth ends up lacking because of how easy the game ended up. Playing competitively is still in the game, it was always gonna be suboptimal though and you still end up co-operating in the end anyways. You have actually missed some more ways to get out of the Fort Joy, but unfortunately it's probably the most developed part of the whole game. The place of source in the narrative isn't reinforced by the fact that source spells are pretty weak considering their costs.

[@4ll3sb4n4n3]

The items system you mentioned around 19:00 is the reason I stopped playing at the beginning of the last act. The amount of time I spend at vendors after each lvl up, how all of that divine stuff becomes useless scrap metal, no item sets are worth looking for except for collection's sake; all of that makes the game very boring to me. Besides, how does a basic random vendor get his hands on divine items, yet doesn't wear any? Really challenges my suspension of disbelief

[@yodeano4368]

Excellent and fair opinion based content my friend. Keep it up would love to hear more. It greatly helps me when choosing to purchase complex games which scratch an all too familiar itch.

[@doomtrain7754]

Worse combat? Any game where I can put a chest full of chests in a chest full of other chests full of chests and drop it on a boss's head to one-shot them has perfectly balanced combat!

[@AtreyusNinja]

Dos1 was silly but in the right way. I love both, but damn i love more the first one.