Divine Divinity

The Good
Ultima VII remained an unsurpassed champion of 2D role-playing games in my eyes. Even after Fallout and Baldur's Gate gave a tremendous kick to the RPGs of the West a few years later, I always regarded Ultima VII as the Holy Grail of delicate balancing: it had a vast world and incredible interactivity, and yet was scripted and character-driven. Elder Scrolls games always went only for the first, while Bioware focused mainly on the second.

A decade or so later, an unknown game created by modest Belgian developers challenged my definitions. Divine Divinity is a fantastic RPG that valiantly took upon itself the gigantic task of converging different sub-species of the genre. The developers have obviously studied the classics: Ultima VII was clearly the main source of inspiration for this project. For the first time since that milestone, a large, detailed world of similar magnitude has been realized in a 2D RPG. Tighter Bioware-style scripting was added to ensure smoother pace. On top of that, they added another important component: the addictive system of Diablo II with its action-oriented combat, skill-based character development, and abundant variation of randomized items.

I don't know about you, but the mere idea of such a game almost made me drool. Unfortunately, Divine Divinity was constantly marketed as a "Diablo clone", and my ambivalent feelings towards that series made me skip the game when it first came out. Regardless of anyone's opinion concerning Diablo games in general and its second incarnation in particular, it's hard to deny that wealth of items coupled with a skill system was a positive contribution to the development of the genre. Divine Divinity retains it but does away with the repetitiveness and lack of proper RPG features that distinguished Blizzard's creations. The game offers a wide variety of equipment to try out, as well as a large number of skills divided into three classes with four categories each. Each class can learn any skill with certain penalties applied, so the system is extremely flexible and will keep you starting at skill trees for a long while every time you consider where to invest your precious points.

Combat is handled the same way as in Diablo games, with a somewhat slower pace and noticeably lower frequency. I never disliked action-oriented combat, I just thought that Diablo games went over the top with the quantity. Divine Divinity is a great alternative to those who liked the uncomplicated joy of clicking on enemies but also wished to combine that pleasure with some other kind of gameplay. For a fan of serious RPGs Divine Divinity is indeed "Diablo done right", but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy it even on the simplest level of gameplay mechanics. Walking through wilderness or exploring twisted dungeons and whacking enemy after enemy on the way while watching how your experience grows is a primal RPG sensation, and Divine Divinity captures it very well.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Divine Divinity has a large open world you can explore right away. You can start the game, exit the first house, go out of the gate and just start walking. Yes, Ultima IX (and later Gothic and Morrowind) also had vast worlds and they were much more impressive visually because they were done in 3D. But none of these games managed to combine the sheer size of a world with both detailed interactivity and believable characters. Divine Divinity, on the other hand, triumphantly succeeds in presenting a breathing, believable, enchanting world you'll want to explore to your heart's content.

Everything you see can be interacted with. You can blow candles, rearrange cutlery in other people's houses, stack boulders on a road, and make improvised beds out of straw. The glory of Ultima VII is back: you can once again march through towns, fields, and dungeons, and steal, move around, or simply poke everything you see. The world of Divine Divinity is beautifully busy: there is stuff everywhere, things you can reach out to and touch. You can literally forget everything the game tells you to do and just explore and collect items. I tried to delay plot-related activities simply because I wanted to be my own master in the game, and it allowed me to feel that way. Only few games have ever managed to captivate me in such a manner.

While Morrowind failed to simulate life-like situations with its robotic, sad NPCs, Divine Divinity once again gracefully brings back the natural liveliness of Ultima VII. Basically, no two characters are alike, and even the most ordinary people you encounter will tell you something that distinguishes them from the rest. The game is chock-full of side quests. Already in the first town you'll quickly meet people who will ask you to do something that has no relation to the main story. The quests range from simple delivery missions to fairly complex situations that can be tackled in different ways and require you to make a moral judgement. In its wealth of optional content and individualization of NPCs and quests Divine Divinity is close to Baldur's Gate games.

Divine Divinity has plenty of something I value so much in games: attention to detail. For example, in the first town there is a tombstone of somebody who, according to the inscription, didn't like flowers. Taking advantage of the game's marvelous interactivity, I took some flowers and placed them on the tomb. I never expected anything to come out of that, but, amazingly, the game reacted and I was invited to a side quest of sorts. This is the kind of thing that shows how much heart was poured into the game. The developers' passion can be felt in every location, every aspect of the world's design. There is so much to see and to do, and the game is always generous to you. You won't see clearly cut-out, "streamlined" content, formulaic structuring, or lazy attitude that has plagued so many games, especially in this millennium. Divine Divinity is full of life and love, and it makes you love it simply by being what it is.

The game's story is not the most original tale out there, but it is kept fresh by all those sub-plots that add their own pieces to the puzzle. There is a sense of coherence and depth in the game's world and its lore, so discovering and learning more about that world prevail while the main plotline takes the back seat. There are a few neat twists in the story, and the lively supporting characters pull it out of the schematic mediocrity it sometimes deteriorates into. In any case, the meat and potatoes of the game's narrative-related content is not the main story itself, but the side quests and the characters associated with them. You'll plunge into a net of intrigues, romantic relationships, organizations, and all sorts of other stuff that make up for the old-fashioned "chosen one" storyline.

Divine Divinity also has plenty of humor. In fact, while trying to take itself seriously in appropriate situations, it never passes on an opportunity to insert jokes and bits of amusing dialogue here and there. I was compelled to talk to every NPC simply because I expected them to say something funny. Humorous elements pervade even the main plot, with some eccentric characters such as the fabulous talking cat Arhu, and situations that bring the much-needed freshness and originality to the otherwise standard procedure: for example, the very first quest in the game involves curing a mad healer who seems to be frightened by cabbage. Even the description of your current primary character attributes manages to be funny.

On top of all that, Divine Divinity has lovely, warm 2D graphics and fantastic music. Just wandering through peaceful rural areas while listening to the sweeping symphonic soundtrack is an experience that should not be missed. Divine Divinity presents a familiar medieval fantasy world in soft, pleasing, dreamy colors, and I was enticed by that interpretation. Even the dark dungeons are cozy rather than terrifying. This kind of atmosphere is hard to realize, and I was glad this game allowed me to plunge into it.

The Bad
The title. I saw this game in a store when it was first released and refused to buy it just because this Idiotic Idiocy was staring at me from the cover. Okay, title is really not an essential component of a game, but it is the first thing you see before you begin to learn anything else about the game. And there is no way around it, Divine Divinity must be the one of the worst titles ever forced upon a great game.

The game's tendency to syncretism is quite obvious. Divine Divinity excels in everything it tries to put together, but doesn't really bring truly original ideas to the mix. This must be the reason for its lack of popularity and impact. By the time it came out RPG fans were already divided into several unpacified clans. Devoted Diablo adepts would be annoyed by the game's slower pace and complexity, while followers of Bioware tradition would frown upon its simple combat. The combination worked for me because I appreciate both styles and I loved the way the game was experimenting with them, but its ambitions probably worked against it as it was trying to satisfy everyone at once.

The Bottom Line
Divine Divinity is more than just a pleasant surprise. The highly talented Belgian developers succeeded in blending venerable and popular RPG traditions in one titanic game. Marvelously interactive large world reminiscent of Ultima VII, addictive Diablo-style character-building, lively dialogues and story-driven structure similar to Baldur's Gate games - Divine Divinity has it all. It is a product of love and hard work, and a sumptuous dish for RPG gourmets across the globe.