@HallowMoonshadow Apologies; seems I missed your specific reply about Ghost of Tsushima from earlier in the week. When I logged back in yesterday, some of my notifications were out of alignment, which suggests that somebody deleted some posts. Wonder who it was.
Yeah I happened to notice that too Rog when I went to reply and found Sol's and Thrillho's notifications out of sync. I'm curious at who it was as well...
You said you were trying to maintain pure stealth wherever possible, so perhaps that gameplay variety kept me from thinking about things too closely? Because the one-on-one duelling did work well, I reckon.
Did I say that? I forget. I remember saying I was looking forward to trying out using a bow (which I actually didn't like very much) but I don't recall saying that. Oh well. I did actually use a lot of standoffs towards the end as it meant I could get through most fights as quickly as possible and typically make them 1 on 1... or as little as possible 😅
@HallowMoonshadow Boy was I way off. So according to my PS5’s statistics, I played a total of 84 hours of Ghost of Tsushima. 😮
So I significantly underestimated. 😅
But I did spend a few hours with the multiplayer expansion Legends. Maybe 3-4 hours or so. So my platinum time was a lot closer to 80 hrs than 60 hrs
Good to see you’re finding enjoyment in DOS I. Maybe one day I’ll finally get around to playing DOS 2. Or maybe DOS 1, depending. I wonder if you’ll end up feeling it a better game than the sequel. Based on how much you liked DOS2 I think that will be hard task.
I'll keep telling you to play DOS II Sol!
As for whether DOS I is better then II?
Do you want the short answer or the long answer? Cus the long answer kinda lives up to it's name
As for whether DOS I is better then II?
Do you want the short answer or the long answer? Cus the long answer kinda lives up to it's name
I am curious, yes. But no pressure. You can feel free to go as in depth or as brief as you want! It’s an oft debated issue but the consensus usually goes with DOSII.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I've sunk about 17 hours or so into DOS I now and I'd say you're definitely right @Th3solution in your assumption that it'd be a hard task for it to top DOS II in my eyes.
I will say most of these coming up mostly just little nitpicks or observations at the moment. Nothing wild.
Music
The music is a LOT worse. Like objectively so. There's no two ways about it. Easily the worst thing in my opinion.
DOS II's Soundtrack was extremely memorable to me (not to mention very unique with it giving you a choice of whether you wanted a Bansuri, Oud, Cello or Tambura to be the main instrument in given tracks) whereas the music in DOS I on the other hand has been rather bland and forgettable.
(Though admitedly I haven't listened to any of DOS I's soundtrack outside the game yet).
Characters
So in DOS II your chosen party members could be changed to whatever you wished class wise once you recruited them (Though they do have a default class) whereas in DOS I they're predetermined classes that you can't change at all.
That's not inherently a bad thing of course as most other games do this (and in both DOS games you can of course put points into other skills and completely change your skills from what you started off with if you wish).
However there are only 4 companions in DOS I and as such I've had to pick the two women (Madora & Bairdotr) to get a more balanced party as the two men start off as a Rogue and Mage (which my main characters already are).
I haven't had anything happen for them yet either.
In DOS II for some party members I had stuff relating to their main questline I could do within the first few minutes of meeting them at Fort Joy wheras Madara and Bairdotr have nothing to show for it so far aside from a few dialogue choices that haven't seemingly meant anything at the moment.
Madora has a southern accent that really grates if I'm being honest and that feels a bit out of place compared to everyone else who typically have english accents. It doesn't help she's also written as a bit of stereotype too with her hating wizards and technology, bit of a conspiracy nut seeing sourcerers in the shadows and the likes.
Bairdotr meanwhile is just kinda there. She's a wild woman having been raised by bears (... Her name is pronounced Bear Daughter) and that's kinda it.
It's relatively early days and my opinion could change but the companions don't feel anywhere near as interesting as the sequel's
Plot/Set up
I will say the set-up is more intriguing for me too in DOS II. It's personal with the whole being a sourcerer and thrown into the hell hole prison "Fort Joy" whereas DOS I has you sent to investigate a murder of a councillor and feels more passive in comparison.
Without saying too much but with a title like "Divinity" you shouldn't be surprised at there maybe being some plot points revolving around a higher calling... And again at the moment DOS II's was more interesting.
Considering it took 130 hours to beat DOS II (Pretty much doing every sidequest) it's still very early days.
I quite like the "trait" system DOS I has mind you that depending on what dialogue options you pick for your two main characters. It'll give you points on a scale between two different personality traits like Pragmatic or Romantic, Bold or Cautious, Compassionate or Heartless and so on.
It does mean you might focus on the extra buffs/stat points more then the dialogue choices for your character though. Why roleplay as a nice guy if being blunt will make you immune to charmed or some such?
But yeah. There are other things I could point out but you can tell they learned a lot between making the two games.
@HallowMoonshadow Good summary there. I hope you’ll drop some updated impressions as you make your way through. Sometimes things change, but it sounds like you’ve got a pretty solid feeling of what this entry is like. It’s possible that the characters or plot line will improve through the latter segments, but you never know.
Either way, it seems like you’re enjoying it a bit more than Ghost of Tsushima. 😄
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Oh for sure. Much easier and enjoyable time @Th3solution. I'll be sure to give some more impressions. Maybe actually write a proper impressions piece on it too
If I recall correctly @kyleforrester87 on the other hand was much more enamoured with Divinity Original Sin I then II and maybe didn't even finish II? I definitely remember him saying he never got past the fort joy map to me when I was playing it... but I think he went back to it too?
Regardless I know he for sure liked the first and'll give you even more positive thoughts for the first DOS 😄
@HallowMoonshadow Strongly disagree that the music in OS is worse than OS2, although it is quite different. Having enjoyed the soundtrack for OS1 I learnt it was scored by Kirill Pokrovsky who did all of the music for the Divinity games and was apparently a bit of a hero as far as the fanbase were concerned, perhaps the equivalent of Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu. He'd have undoubtedly written the music for OS2 but died after the release of the first game.
From the developers:
"Thank you for all the gifts you’ve given us. We each have our own Kirill story and many of us have Kirill presents on their desks. All of them demonstrate how rich a person you were," Larian wrote in the update. "We’ve all hummed your music and we have marvelled at how far your virtuosity went. You were truly somebody unique, a true artist, and we were very lucky to have you as a colleague."
He looked like a bit of a dude, too:
There is a nice interview from Borislav Slavov, who composed for OS2, where he talks about picking up after Krill and his process:
"I had been playing and loving the Divinity series since its start in 2002. The reason I had never gotten in touch with the guys from Larian before was simple – I love the music of my fellow composer Kirill Pokrovsky. He made the music such a special part of the Divinity universe . I was shocked and sad to hear the news of him passing away. It took months before I decided to get in touch with Larian and offer them my heart. Then, I had to ask my self the real though question: How should I approach the music in DOS2? From one hand I had to continue the legacy and from the other I had to make a next step forward in the future of the series.
I thought about it for a while and I told to myself – It would be stupid if I try to mimic Kirill’s music. Kirill was unique and people would be rather disappointed than satisfied with an imitation. So instead, I decided to come up with my own approach, inspired by my love for the music in the Divinity series. I was a huge fan after all. I did my best to remain faithful to some core features of the music in the universe and make it as varied as possible, as well as thematic, playful and quirky. And on the top of it – an emotional and dramatic orchestral part, to give a frame of the soundtrack."
Overall I do think OS2 has a brilliant soundtrack and certainly the main theme (and the slight variations of it) are very epic and it's easy to put the music on and just enjoy it. OS1 feels a little less generic and more personal, though. Overall they are both great soundtracks! I would have loved for OS2 to have had music from both composers.
Otherwise, OS1 has better combat in my opinion - the magic/physical damage shields in OS2 do add a layer of challenge to encounters but can just be really frustrating - and it feels like so many spells and attacks in OS2 have AOE damage meaning you often trigger environmental damage accidently in a combat round and well laid plans turn to absolute chaos. I do struggle to remember aspects of OS1 these days though as it has been 8 years (!!!) since I played it. Perhaps the problem was as much me trying to approach combat in OS2 just as I did in OS1.
OS2 does loads of stuff better, mind you. Story, character, voice acting, graphics. Lots more in-your-face refinements. Just an easier game to like, I think. Still havn't finished it though, I am near the end of Act 4! Stuck on a crazy encounter.
@HallowMoonshadow sick of this yet, "Yellow and green The finest veggies Cyseal's ever seen!" Still stuck in my brain many years later. DOS is fun, but for me it was the rough draft to DOS 2. The system of moving around the teleportation devices was fantastic for solving puzzles and getting around obstacles. Hearing about your journey and myself playing Dungeon of Naheulbeuk now makes me want to go back to play DOS 2. Such a great game and system.
You said you were trying to maintain pure stealth wherever possible, so perhaps that gameplay variety kept me from thinking about things too closely? Because the one-on-one duelling did work well, I reckon.
Did I say that? I forget. I remember saying I was looking forward to trying out using a bow (which I actually didn't like very much) but I don't recall saying that. Oh well. I did actually use a lot of standoffs towards the end as it meant I could get through most fights as quickly as possible and typically make them 1 on 1... or as little as possible 😅
Good grief, you're absolutely right. Where the heck did I get that from, then...?! Apologies for clearly mixing you up with somebody else! I'll go sit in the corner and think about what I've done.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I legitimately forgot if I'd said that or not for Ghost so no worries at all @RogerRoger. I'm pretty sure I said i'd look forward to trying stealth too at some point so yeah 😅
Yeah the repeating overworld dialogue in the market does seer into the brain @Elodin
I've really gotta get back to Pathfinder: Kingmaker after this (Wrath of the Righteous is coming up soon too and I hope it's a lot less buggy then Kingmaker is), not to mention I have Pillars Of Eternity 2 in my backlog but it's also making me wanting to replay DOS II as well!
@HallowMoonshadow Strongly disagree that the music in OS is worse than OS2, although it is quite different.
You know what? You're absolutely right kyle. I'll admit I have a bit of a bad habit in regards to music of saying "it's bad" when it's something I don't personally like.
It's not badly composed by any means and I really should listen to some tracks on Youtube without all the other ambient sounds and the likes from the game and take it in properly. Probably listen to some tracks from the older games too!
Having enjoyed the soundtrack for OS1 I learnt it was scored by Kirill Pokrovsky who did all of the music for the Divinity games and was apparently a bit of a hero as far as the fanbase were concerned, perhaps the equivalent of Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu. He'd have undoubtedly written the music for OS2 but died after the release of the first game.
I was only aware of his death earlier actually both from your post and due to the Watcher Statue questline I played yesterday with the earth demon showing you "your end"... The end credits & seeing the memoriam message for him.
I feel like a bit of an arse now...
He certainly has some locks and I'l definitely make sure to look over the interview in a bit!
Otherwise, OS1 has better combat in my opinion - the magic/physical damage shields in OS2 do add a layer of challenge to encounters but can just be really frustrating - and it feels like so many spells and attacks in OS2 have AOE damage meaning you often trigger environmental damage accidently in a combat round and well laid plans turn to absolute chaos. I do struggle to remember aspects of OS1 these days though as it has been 8 years (!!!) since I played it. Perhaps the problem was as much me trying to approach combat in OS2 just as I did in OS1.
Ah ha for me it's the opposite... I really quite liked the magical/physical armour split in the sequel whereas the "defence" stat and how much attacks absorb doesn't seem to make any sense in relation to it in Original Sin 1😄
It doesn't help I've chose different schools of magic for my mage (Hydrophist and Pyrokenetic) that don't really snyc well and I'm not using the enviroment effects as much as I should either.
OS2 does loads of stuff better, mind you. Story, character, voice acting, graphics. Lots more in-your-face refinements. Just an easier game to like, I think. Still havn't finished it though, I am near the end of Act 4! Stuck on a crazy encounter.
So ready for Baldurs Gate 3!!
Is it the kraken in the harbour? Took me a while to get through that ok. The Doctor messed me up a number of times too. The final battle was real nasty stuff but so satisfying when I finally got to the end.
Baldurs Gate 3 looks so good too. Ugh I need a PS5 cus no way in hell is the PS4 getting that!
Twials Trials of Mana. Playing with my nephew, and he wanted an all-female team, so that made deciding the team composition pretty easy. While it's interesting how the game interweaves the stories of the various characters, the stories themselves are super basic, even for an SNES JRPG. Wouldn't be so bad if the storytelling itself wasn't so mediocre.
I'm trying to enjoy the game for what it is, but between the underwhelming combat (basically Ys combat, except you're primarily fighting things that look like stuffed animals, and combat itself is weirdly stiff), disappointing narrative, stilted character animations, and insanely bad english voice acting, it's a bit of a trial to play (badum-tish!).
I recall playing the demo for that and having very similar thoughts about it @Ralizah.
Especially the voice acting! Goddamn the english voice acting... It's like they just roped people in off the street
I also chose an all female team I think and I thought the sorcereress had the best opening? The Valkyrie's made me roll my eyes and... I don't recall the other's at all 😅
Hopefully your nephew is having fun at least!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@RogerRoger Yes, thank you. The monkey's bored expression really sells it.
@HallowMoonshadow It's really bad. Like, 90s anime localization bad. It's actually a little nostalgic, in that respect: I thought we were beyond the point of companies hiring the janitorial staff to voice characters in a major JRPG release, but I guess not.
The openings were all pretty silly, tbh. Riesz's wasn't too bad (although even my young nephew questioned the wisdom of allowing a small child to waddle around with a device that deactivates the machine protecting your kingdom from attack) until she stupidly ran off and just left her kid brother (who is royalty) with an enemy, and then acts shocked when she discovers he was kidnapped. Literally just grabbing the kid's hand before running off would have prevented that entire storyline. Angela's storyline involves her mother randomly turning evil and trying to sacrifice her to trigger some sort of dark magic, which causes her to run away. Charlotte's storyline... she''s chasing some guy, or something, and runs away from the castle. That's it, lol
My nephew wants to keep playing, but we're kinda just openly making fun of it as we play now.
@HallowMoonshadow I actually gave the os1 soundtrack a full listen after I wrote that in case I was wrong and the soundtrack was actually rubbish but I was surprised that it was even better than I remembered it being 😂
Thanks for the run down of the openings @Ralizah. Ya made me recall that it was Riesz's opening that broke me with the idiot ball being passed around among the cast like there was no tomorrow. That scenario could've been so easily prevented it threatened to make my eyes roll right out my skull! 😅
Good to hear your nephew is still enjoying it, even if it's laughing at it alongside you
... I just realised you have got a LOT of JRPG on your hands at the moment with that, Xen Chronicles 3 by yourself and Soul Hackers 2 coming up at the end of the month too!
Well snap @kyleforrester87! Glad to hear you enjoyed the soundtrack even more then recall.
I've just done the Braccus Rex fight which at first seemed utterly impossible thanks to the firestorm/metor like spell he leads off with that just destroyed my party in one turn.
... But then I completely broke the fight by sending my mage in by themeselves (after juicing them up withbfire resistance) and then by teleporting him in front of one of his minions it blocked them both off from the fight for some reason, allowing me to turn it revive my mage and turn it into two 4v2 fights where I decimated them 😅
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