Er, sorry, got a bit carried away there. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin these weeks Hidden Gems, boys and girls.
Divine Divinity is our focus this week, and it's a quality little PC action RPG by a group of Belgians collectively known as Larian Studios. Imagine Diablo, but with a much deeper range of conversation and more thoughtful puzzles, and you're almost there. Throw in better graphics, an utterly amazing musical score and a mind boggling attention to detail and you will begin to see just what a steal this game is.
You are one of the three Marked Ones, chosen to be the mortal embodiment of the Divine one's powers. You must travel through Rivellon, helping people and slowly putting together the bigger plot. Several times during the game I was strongly reminded of The Lord of the Rings, such as when you have to meet up with your wizard friend at a seedy pub, only to find he didn't make it, and having to gather a Fellowship of all the different races. This is no bad thing however, as the story is well told and the voice acting is quite adequate. No one is in any danger of winning an oscar for their performance, but you won't be cringing either.
The music most certainly is oscar worthy though (or BAFTA, or whatever the gaming equivalent is). Beautifully orchestrated, at times rather sad, and at others upbeat or foreboding, the score will keep you playing just so you can hear it. You will be playing for quite a time too, as there are plenty of quests and acres of land to explore.
The best bit is that Divine Divinity can be found for £4.99. I would recommend going for the original box with the paper manual rather than the Xplosiv rerelease though, as it's a lot less hassle than printing .pdf they stick on the disc. If RPG's are your thing, and this one slipped you by, now is the ideal time to dust off a copy and get stuck in.
2 comments:
Looking forward to playing my copy of this, Davey! Hopefully I'll finish Return To Castle Wolfenstein, and then it's time for this one to be loaded on.
Is this your first comment?
It certainly is!
Div Div is well worth the time and effort to play it. I've heard mixed reports about Beyond Divinity though. It's not a true sequel anyway, so maybe we're better of waiting for them to make the real Div Div 2.
Post a Comment