Divine Divinity or Diablo II?

EEVIAC · Jun 15, 2003

For some reason I bought BG II - SOA today - it will be heading back to EB tommorow. Desperate as I am for an RPG, I'm deciding between either Divine Divinity or Diablo II. Divine Divinity sounds a little like Arcanum with the large game world and multitude of quests (time-sapping is a good thing.) I've heard Diablo 2 has an annoying save system, but I enjoyed the original game immensely for what it was. Currently I'm leaning towards DII for sheer hack and slashiness, but am asking for opinions, preferably from people who have played both.

I should point out that I like single character adventures and as neat as the Copperhead mod for Dungeon Siege is looking, I'm not really into squad based rpgs.

<edit> I'll also point out that I hate both BG games and didn't like Morrowind.

Jack_Deth · Jun 15, 2003

I hate to say it but I liked Diablo 2 better than Divine Divinity.

Also, the D2 expansion I enjoyed almost more than the real game.

Astromarine · Jun 15, 2003

Yep. Get Diablo plus the expansion. There is a *reason* there are tens of thousands of people waiting the new 1.10 patch 6 years after the game was created. It is *that* good. The story and quests aren't deep, but the tactics and combat is surprisingly so, for something that looks so shallow on the surface.

morenoise · Jun 15, 2003

Restriced Area seems the one,
but it wouldn't be available before winter

Whipporowill · Jun 15, 2003

If you want an addicting action game, get d2. If you want a nice little rpg with some of the d2 elements - get dd.

Vault Dweller · Jun 15, 2003

I did not play DD, but here is my opinion on D2. The gameplay focuses around building a killing machine and it does it well. Well designed skill trees turn 5 classes into at least 15. And loot, lotsa loot. That's about it.

The original Diablo had a much better sense of action adventure, the items artwork was awesome, and monsters were well drawn and imaginative. D2 has a more detailed avatar reflecting your equipment, but that's pretty much it. Monsters are kinda boring, art-wise. Also D1 was more tactical game (if that word could be applied to a hack & slash game), monsters did not attack in great numbers, and you could use natural covers and narrow places to gain tactical advantage, in D2 most of the fighting happens in open spaces, where you deal with one wave of monsters after another. But I recommend D2 to anyone just for the sake of the skill system alone.

Spazmo · Jun 15, 2003

D2 can be a lot of fun online. I used to play it quite a bit before I got bored of it. Still, there's some fun to be had, so go with D2.

Astromarine, Diablo II has not been out for six years. That's Fallout.

Monte Carlo · Jun 15, 2003

Your dilemma is, IMO, that these two games aren't very similar. Superficially, there are some similarities. Parts of DD are easily as combat-heavy as D2. The skill progression trees are also similar (I think D2 wins by a hair's breadth; the skill trees are elegantly done).

What DD has is interactivity. It plays like an old Ultima; eat carrots and feel smarter, put goop in a bottle and make poison, move furniture to create chicanes in combat and so on. Oh, and a plot.

What D2 has is pure twitchy gotta-get-to-the-next-level addictiveness. I also love the graphics and avatars.

So you pays your money and takes your pick. I've played and enjoyed both a great deal.

Cheers
MC

Sabotai · Jun 15, 2003

EEVIAC, I'm Interested in the fact that you hate both BG games and just today you bought BG2. Why buy BG2 and not play it?

I liked DD better than D2. It's been a while since I played D2 but I'm currently playing DD for the second time and still love it. IMO they both are similar in the hack'n'slah department but DD has a more unique (Ultima VII) feeling to it. I've never liked the randomly generated levels of D2. The DD world is unique and not randomly generated. Everything makes sense. Houses have sleeping chambers and kitchens (with food in it). People will call the guards if you try and steal from them. Plus DD provides some real roleplaying (with consequences). You can miss out on quests if you choose the wrong line of dialogue. You can piss off merchants who will refuse to trade with you. To me the DD world seems more real. While playing D2 I always had a "where-the-fuck-is-the-end-of-the-level-teleporter" feeling, because if I hadn't found it and wanted to quit the game, the next time I had to do the whole level over again.

Major_Blackhart · Jun 15, 2003

I never Played Divine Divinity, but DII is a really fun hack and slash game, especially online. I enjoyed it for the longest time, but after a while got bored and replayed my old fallout games.

Elwro · Jun 15, 2003

I can't vote for DD because I haven't played it. But I can vote against D2 in coparison to D1. Diablo was a game you could replay (in SP) a number of times without getting bored. D2 was plain boring for me. And saving was dealt with in a very bad way, as said above.

Volourn · Jun 15, 2003

DD seemded to have a good story going on; but the awful combat forced me to quit rather quick so I couldn't see if that actually continued.

I haven't played Diablo 2 so I can't comment about it other than to see its predeccesor was ok for what it was.

EEVIAC · Jun 16, 2003

Sabotai said:
EEVIAC, I'm Interested in the fact that you hate both BG games and just today you bought BG2. Why buy BG2 and not play it?

I bought BG a while ago and didn't like it. I just wanted to give BG II a try to see if the combat or character development had got any better. It was like walking back into a nightmare. Other than PS:T its the only IE game I've not played - at least I can say with surity that I really don't like IE games at all. BG II goes back to EB today.

Before I read the wealth of overnight insights (my thanks to you all) I was going to put the money on a pre-order for Gothic 2 (which has already been released in Europe, but I have no idea when it will finally get out to Australia, might be two weeks, might be a month.) I still might.

the mighty stamar · Jun 16, 2003

Divine divinity is great. I would get it no hesitation. Its a real rpg, as many people described its a combination of ultima 8 and diablo 2.

Full of content its very large and very long.

Diablo 2 is more an arcade game vaguely related to gauntlet.

Saint_Proverbius · Jun 16, 2003

If I had to get one or the other, I'd have to go with Diablo 2 with the expansion as well. Diablo 2 may not have a lot of dialogue(or any, really), but what Diablo 2 does, it does better than any other game like it.

Divine Divinity or Diablo II?

EEVIAC

Erudite

Jack_Deth

Augur

Astromarine

Erudite

morenoise

Novice

Whipporowill

Erudite

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio

Spazmo

Erudite

Monte Carlo

Liturgist

Sabotai

Liturgist

Major_Blackhart

Codexia Lord Sodom

Elwro

Arcane

Volourn

Pretty Princess

EEVIAC

Erudite

the mighty stamar

Novice

Saint_Proverbius

Administrator