Divinity II: Ego Draconis Preview

Game Revolution has provided us with what appears to be a hands-on preview of the Xbox 360 version of Larian Studios’ Divinity II: Ego Draconis. A quick sampling, as usual:

While you’re in dragon form, the gameplay turns into a three-dimensional shooter, where your goal is to take out everything from poor, hapless soldiers to one of the many defense turrets surrounding an evil floating fortress. While you bob and weave around anti-air projectiles and waves of magical bullets, you can invoke special draconic spells for stronger attacks and healing powers.

However, there are some areas with anti-dragon fields that will force you to turn back into a human and destroy the source of the field using your skills as a Dragon Knight. Sometimes that means having to complete a straightforward puzzle in a cave or a platforming challenge in a tower, but that almost always means you’ll need to vanquish some foul beasts or ghoulish fiends. Try stabbing.

Upholding the new standard of branching conversation trees and quests set by Mass Effect and Fallout 3, Divinity 2 allows you to not only complete quests in more than a handful of ways, but also lets you read the minds of any NPC at the cost of some experience points. (Don’t worry about losing a level when using this power; you will just accrue (experience debt).) Mind-reading can also give you the location of a special mace or lower the prices of a merchant. Coupled with the dragon who has been fused with your soul (it’s a part of how you become a Dragon Knight) and who can speak to you, provide helpful comments, and imbue you with otherworldly abilities like seeing the dead, you are indeed a one-man wrecking crew.