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Divinity: Original Sin Beta Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO THE NEW THREAD]

Kem0sabe

Arcane
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Mar 7, 2011
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I played the beta release with all the "improvements" last night... fuck that intro is bad, the tutorial dungeon is even worse and the dialogue and characters haven't improved one bit. Larian being Larian i guess, nice world design, interesting game mechanics, shit writing on the level of inmate fanfic rape fantasies.
 

SuicideBunny

(ノ ゜Д゜)ノ ︵ ┻━┻
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May 1, 2007
Messages
8,943
Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Torment: Tides of Numenera
what's your problem with the tutorial dungeon? it can be skipped, has chances to use perks like pet pal and zombie and most of its "puzzles" can be solved multiple ways setting you up nicely to think about object/environmental interactions...
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
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what's your problem with the tutorial dungeon? it can be skipped, has chances to use perks like pet pal and zombie and most of its "puzzles" can be solved multiple ways setting you up nicely to think about object/environmental interactions...

It's pointless, the motivation to go inside and explore is poorly setup and the end of the dungeon is anticlimactic. Take the closest example we have to a tutorial dungeon, Fallout 2's, it has better pacing, a good justification to go inside and a better conclusion.
 

Xeon

Augur
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
1,858
Temple of Trial can't be skipped. SuicideBunny says Dvinity's can be skipped.

Also what was good about the Temple of Trials? Its kinda of a chore starting a new game.
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
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Temple of Trial can't be skipped. SuicideBunny says Dvinity's can be skipped.

Also what was good about the Temple of Trials? Its kinda of a chore starting a new game.

I liked the story aspect of the temple of trials, that's whats missing from Original sin's take on it, the game clearly points out what you can skip or not, but there is little reason to go inside besides "its the tutorial dungeon". I think these are the bits that are missing from Original Sin, pacing, story, good character interactions and C&C, they have those in one form or another, but they lack quality and seem to be an afterthought to the amazing engine they created for the game.
 

MicoSelva

backlog digger
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Temple of Trial can't be skipped. SuicideBunny says Dvinity's can be skipped.

Also what was good about the Temple of Trials? Its kinda of a chore starting a new game.

I liked the story aspect of the temple of trials, that's whats missing from Original sin's take on it, the game clearly points out what you can skip or not, but there is little reason to go inside besides "its the tutorial dungeon". I think these are the bits that are missing from Original Sin, pacing, story, good character interactions and C&C, they have those in one form or another, but they lack quality and seem to be an afterthought to the amazing engine they created for the game.

Temple of Trials is the most retarded thing in Fallout 2, exactly because it makes no sense story-wise. The barely surviving tribe decides to live in the tents for some reason, when they have a huge temple neraby which would have contained everyone, with room to spare, and provide them better conditions (and better protection).

Stupid and illogical.

The temple was added to the game on a last-minute notice, so there was no time to justify it plot-wise. Notice how it is barely mentioned by anyone in the game at all.
 

Gord

Arcane
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Feb 16, 2011
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what's your problem with the tutorial dungeon? it can be skipped, has chances to use perks like pet pal and zombie and most of its "puzzles" can be solved multiple ways setting you up nicely to think about object/environmental interactions...

It's pointless, the motivation to go inside and explore is poorly setup and the end of the dungeon is anticlimactic. Take the closest example we have to a tutorial dungeon, Fallout 2's, it has better pacing, a good justification to go inside and a better conclusion.

Well, aside from the small fact that the majority of people here will probably say that Temple of Trials is by far the weakest part of F2 (and it doesn't work as a particularly great tutorial either), Larian has said right away that the tutorial dungeon in OS is WIP and will change during the beta.
Anyway your motivations to enter it as it is now are: a) find out what the cultists were doing there, b) get some loot and xp, c) learn about playing the game and personally I find a) is better than Fallouts "You have to proof yourself worthy for implausible story-reasons in a boring mandatory dungeon".
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
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I liked it, as a test to your player also the various options at the end on how to deal with the npc. It might have not made sense in the grand scheme of things, but as a trial to test the worthiness or not of your character it did make more sense to me at the time than coming across the tutorial dungeon in OS, having a message pop-up that it is optional and not have any C&C leading up to it or inside, it just felt badly implemented.
 

sea

inXile Entertainment
Developer
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I think one of the worst things you can do in an open-ended RPG is to throw players in a highly linear, drab, boring dungeon with forced combat and zero story justification or payoff right at the beginning of the game, and say "learn!" Sends all kinds of incorrect messages about how the game will be on top of just not being especially fun.

The tutorial dungeon in Divinity: Original Sin, meanwhile, feels true to the game's mechanics and theme, plus it's entirely optional and fairly fun as well. It's a positive and fair/accurate representation of how the game plays without breaking the fourth wall and going "I'M A TUTORIAL DUNGEON!" Pretty well done, in my opinion.
 
Last edited:

SuicideBunny

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Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Torment: Tides of Numenera
Take the closest example we have to a tutorial dungeon, Fallout 2's, it has better pacing, a good justification to go inside and a better conclusion.
if you want to compare temple of trials to anything, compare it to the beach area. both are linear affairs that cannot be skipped and serve as introductions/tutorials to the game, and as far as story integration goes, dos does it better, since it still fits with the rest of the game.
the so-called tutorial dungeon's only purpose is to teach you about traps and object/environment interactions and offer some free resources, and it does a good job. sure it could be somewhat better integrated storywise, but that's hard to do without making it somewhat mandatory and i sure as hell don't see me going through it more than once past release.
 

clemens

Cipher
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Codex 2014 Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2
shit writing on the level of inmate fanfic rape fantasies.

I understand why many people criticize or don't like Larian's particular style of dialogues, it's kinda peculiar, after all. I also understand very well that people might not enjoy their kind of humor, which is also quite uncommon, if not especially bizarre.

But I don't get what's supposedly incompetent about it ? I mean, "inmate fanfic fantasies", really ? I'd like someone to explain that to me. I read and all, but I'm certainly not an expert on literature or media writing, after all.

Dialogues aside, the quest writing seems also quite good to me, better than most recent games, actually. Pacing is nice, they feel involved and consistent with the world, they offer somewhat meaningful choices and variety of action choices. So what's actually wrong with it ? If the problem is only that some mage makes cat jokes, I don't see how it's that terrible... (I'm not trying to defend them at all cost here, just curious as to why some people seem to find Larian's writing so unbearable ?)
 

Stabbey

Learned
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
155
My only issue with the tutorial dungeon is that it offers enough loot to be impossible to pass up, so it's only "optional". not optional.
 

sea

inXile Entertainment
Developer
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May 3, 2011
Messages
5,698
Fair enough, to each his/her/it's own.
Yeah not trying to be rude or anything, ultimately we're still dealing with opinions and you are certainly welcome to have yours. :) I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I like in some games that other people can't stand.
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
My only issue with the tutorial dungeon is that it offers enough loot to be impossible to pass up, so it's only "optional". not optional.
I don't see what the problem is, you won't need that lewt to get through the game at all. Larian can't help it if the average RPG player is a loot-hoarding kleptomaniac.
 

Stabbey

Learned
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
155
It's possible to get 300 in gold alone from the tutorial, not counting items. That's enough for a Rank 1 skill. You CAN pass that up, but it's not the smartest move.
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
13,076
Location
Azores Islands
shit writing on the level of inmate fanfic rape fantasies.

I understand why many people criticize or don't like Larian's particular style of dialogues, it's kinda peculiar, after all. I also understand very well that people might not enjoy their kind of humor, which is also quite uncommon, if not especially bizarre.

But I don't get what's supposedly incompetent about it ? I mean, "inmate fanfic fantasies", really ? I'd like someone to explain that to me. I read and all, but I'm certainly not an expert on literature or media writing, after all.

Dialogues aside, the quest writing seems also quite good to me, better than most recent games, actually. Pacing is nice, they feel involved and consistent with the world, they offer somewhat meaningful choices and variety of action choices. So what's actually wrong with it ? If the problem is only that some mage makes cat jokes, I don't see how it's that terrible... (I'm not trying to defend them at all cost here, just curious as to why some people seem to find Larian's writing so unbearable ?)

Humour is the hardest writing style to get down, just ask every hack who tried to copy Adams or Pratchett. Anyone can tell a dirty joke and get a few laughs, but writing genuinely funny dialogue and characters is something most authors would find difficulty.

Now along comes Larian, with their weird take on Fantasy slapstick, their writing and their efforts to be witty and funny with conventional fantasy tropes just fall face down at every try, their choice of voice actors doesnt help as well... who the hell thought it was a good idea to have that voice over in the intro video to OS? i hope its temp voice over and not final.

Thats my problem with Larian's writing, they keep trying and failing miserably to be funny and come off amateurish for it.
 

Hassat Hunter

Educated
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
70
Probably, they haven't done VO yet.
Personally I think VO is a waste, and silence would be prefferable, and the money put somewhere else... but well, guess not all agree on that.
 

Gord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
7,049
Thats my problem with Larian's writing, they keep trying and failing miserably to be funny and come off amateurish for it.

Now that obviously comes down to taste. I always liked the humor in Larian games and how they don't take themselves too serious, but I can understand that some people don't.
 

ZoddGuts

Augur
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
213
Jun 20th last day of Spring. They kept their word on releasing it in Spring.
 

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