Series went from slightly above average diablo clones with mild C&C to rpgkino, and masterpieces that sometimes surpass cherished old classics.
divine Divinity is always more than a diablo clone imo. They tried so much making the simulation part it ended up working in most places. I always hated diablo esque arpg but i endured it for DD because hwo great the game is. I can divide the game into 2 part, dungeon crawling and combat part where it take place in the wild, or caves. The most boring part of the game filled with banal combat and useless trashmob and diablo esque loot (another mechanics that i hate so much too)
Then there is social interaction part in towns and settlement when you do wacky quest. Talk with wacky people, steal from shops and get whacked by wacky guards. That is where divine divinity shine.
Then there is beyond divinity. Such an interesting concept bogged down by shitty mechanics. I just stopped halfway because of how boring it is. The combat is even worse and there are less civilization and more fighty crawly.
Divinity 2 is such an odd gem. Great quests, great social interaction and lots of interesting character. One of the best use of mind reading ability. That mind readinv mechanics is what the watcher ability in pillars of eternity should have and could have beenToo bad it kinda fell apart in the end when we just assault flying fortress 90% of the time.
Flames of vengeance brought back the civilization exploring by making it take place in a city and it was awesome.
Never played dragin commander
Original sin is where it shines in mechanic. But fell short in humor and writing. Despite never been a serious company, dd and d2 had a great part here and there, or wacky scenario that somehow work amd turned out pretty good. Few good one liner joke etc. I almost dont see anything like that in original sin. The story started out interesting with a murder investigations, but ended up in your usual saving the world from evil magic and your characters are the chosen one stuff.
Overall, combat is great, but still bogged down by swen's insistence on having color coded random, level scaled loot. I widh he would change his mind about that in future games.