Video Game Review: Divinity II: Ego Draconis

Divinity 2: Ego Draconis is Larian Studios’ long-awaited sequel to 2002’s award-winning Divine Divinity. Developed by Larian Studies and published by DTP entertainment, the immersive role-playing game introduces the player to the ongoing struggle between the Dragon Slayers and Dragon Knights. As a young Dragon slayer, you find yourself conscripted into the role of hunting down and slaying those warrior mages capable of transforming themselves into dragons. However, in an ironic trick of fate, you find yourself changed into a Dragon Knight. The hunter becomes the hunted as you learn more about the politics and intrigue behind the slaughter of the Dragon Knights.

Certainly, the best part of this rich action RPG is the Dragon form. While much of your time and energy is spent leveling and improving your human character, Dragon form offers a compelling aerial combat option. Your dragon form has its own unique set of skills and spells that must be leveled for improvement. Aerial combat itself is fluid and fast, offering exciting gaming options sure to please those who’ve always wanted to play as a dragon.

Another solid game mechanic is the ability to mind read. Dragon slayers can see into the minds of others. You can use this ability when conversing with NPC’s to learn their true motives and to influence quest outcomes.

Eventually, your accomplishments lead you to obtain a Battle Tower, which serves as your base of operations. The battle tower is the home of different NPC’s who all offer their services to you, at a cost of course. The most interesting of these is the NPC, who will craft a creature soldier from spare body parts you’ve salvaged or purchased during your journey. The creature’s customizability is fun and it proves a worthy ally on the battlefield.

Despite these strengths, Ego Draconis suffers some significant drawbacks. One disappointing aspect of the game is the lack of replay-ability. The different quests and plot scenarios are relatively linear and the options don’t appear to offer the many different story options available in other recent RPG hits, like Dragon Age Origins. Combat difficulty is also very erratic. There is no clear progression to the game, which allows wary players to wander into an area with monsters that are too high to fight. Suffering multiple deaths to a mob you can’t touch isn’t much fun. At times, programming glitches can also interfere in combat. Strategic play can get lost when you can get a boss mob stuck and shoot it safely at a distance.

Nevertheless, fans of Divine Divinity and dragons in general will appreciate the game’s innovative use of aerial combat rendered with an immersive, RPG setting. It’s the same draw that recently drew so many to NCSoft’s Aion in the MMORPG setting, but instead Divinity 2 offers single person dragon-play through the Xbox 360 or PC platforms.