GB Feature: Divinity II: Ego Draconis Review

We took advantage of the calm before the holiday storm to go back and review Larian Studios’ Divinity II: Ego Draconis. We’ll have much more to share for the game and its Flames of Vengeance expansion pack in the coming months, but for now you’ll just have to settle for our impressions:

Unlike Larian’s first two games, which used 2D graphics and an isometric view, Ego Draconis uses a 3D engine and an over-the-shoulder camera. As you might expect with such a set-up, you control your character using the WASD keys to move, the spacebar to jump, the mouse to direct the camera, and the mouse buttons to attack and interact with objects (or at least that’s how it works on the PC, which is the version of the game I played; the Xbox no doubt uses standard Xbox controls). You can also assign up to eight objects or skills to hotkeys, and you can can configure the keys in any way you like, and so the interface is versatile and functional.

Unfortunately, the combat mechanics aren’t nearly as effective, which is a problem because the game is roughly half combat. You can’t attack and move at the same time (making it more difficult than it should be to finish off retreating enemies), the visuals don’t always agree with what the game thinks is happening (for example, you might see your weapon hit an enemy, but it’s considered a “miss” because the game doesn’t think you’re close enough to connect), you’re always forced to sheathe your weapon for conversations and cut scenes, giving enemies in important battles a few easy shots at you, and you’re frequently teleported after killing an enemy, sometimes nearby but sometimes far away, which is just bizarre.