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Divine Divinity

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Divine Divinity
The CD insert for Divine Divinity.
Developer(s)Larian Studios
Publisher(s)CDV
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release2002
Genre(s)Computer role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Divine Divinity is a single-player fantasy computer role-playing game created by Larian Studios, released in 2002. It has a spin-off[1], Beyond Divinity, and a sequel, Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis.

The game was re-released in 2004 along with Beyond Divinity as a part of Beyond Divinity: Deluxe Edition.

Gameplay

Divine Divinity is a computer role-playing game. There are 3 character classes—Fighter, Mage and Survivor (similar to the Thief class archetype common in many RPGs), each with a special move. However spells and skills of one class is available to all other classes. The choice of gender, except for defining the starting skills for the characters, offers no significant difference in gameplay experience.

Divine Divinity takes the player on a fantastic quest in a land torn apart by corruption and dark magic. Throughout their journeys the player will get the chance to develop their character as one of six character types, and meet a variety of people and fantastical beings. By combining the best features of the RPG genre, and introducing many new features, Divine Divinity aims to appeal to both hardcore and new RPG players[citation needed].

Synopsis

Many thousands of years ago, those who sat on Council of Seven in the magic land Rivellon sacrificed themselves in the fight against a group of treacherous magicians, who had passed over to the dark side of magic. To remember the Council of Seven, the "Divine Order" was founded to pass on the knowledge of the wise men to the next generations.

Two thousand years later, signs such as civil unrest, war, hatred and greed indicate that the dark side has become strong again and that they're preparing a new attack on Rivellon.

The prophecies of the wise men had mentioned a divine saviour of the Seven Races. This person shall be found and blessed in a secret ceremony before he or she falls into the enemy's hands, but it all happens in the Land of Divinity.

Key Features

There are four huge maps totalling over 20,000 screens, with a wide range of environments such as elven forests, a demon wasteland, farmlands, towns, fortifications and extensive sewer systems. The world is extensive, and includes numerous details such as epitaphs on tombstones. There are more than 150 non-player characters, many with detailed background stories and depth, and a large number of varied villains.

While exploring a dimly-lit sewer system, the male warrior character runs into a massed attack of lizardmen warriors and assassins. The character statistics and equipment windows are open. In the upper left is the auto-map window.

For the player's choice of character, there are three character classes and two genders, totaling six possible starters. The three classes are Survivor (a rogue-like character), Warrior and Wizard. They have slightly different conversions of statistics. For example a warrior gains 6 health points per constitution point, whilst a survivor gains only five points. Each character class has a unique movement form, such as the sneak ability for the Survivor, switch places ability for a Wizard, and the Warrior's special skill is an attack that damages enemies of all angles within the attacking range.. However, any class can use any of the other two skill paths, which each have 36 separate skills. The six characters have distinct appearances that can be modified by placing equipment on them, such as armour or helmets.

A random equipment generator allows a wide variety of items, similar to the item system of Diablo 2. Items can be upgraded using objects called charms, as well as the enchant item skill, allowing further customization. There are also slightly more than 50 (relatively) fixed items, with varying powers.

A very extensive and adaptive soundtrack was written by Kirill Pokrovsky for the game. RPG Vault gave Divine Divinity the award for Outstanding Achievement in Music. They said, "It very proficiently supports the changing moods and locations in the game, never becoming either overwhelming or repetitive."[citation needed]

Development

An early version of the isometric game engine was used by Larian Studios for its very first project, Unless: The Treachery of Death, in 1996. Larian Studios was about to sign a publishing deal with Atari, but it didn't come to be as Atari announced its departure from the PC platform.[2] Soon after Attic Entertainment Software joined Larian and Unless was turned into The Lady, the Mage and the Knight, a game set in the The Dark Eye-universe. Due to financial problems between the two development studios and its publisher, Infogrames, The Lady, the Mage and the Knight was canceled in July 1999.[3]

Divine Divinity development started in early 1999[2] codenamed Project C and later Divinity: The Sword of Lies.

References

  1. ^ MobyGames entry
  2. ^ a b "Divinity, The Sword of Lies Interview". interview. IGN. 2000-03-22. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  3. ^ Swen Vincke (2001-04-30). "The truth about LMK". statement. Larian Studios. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
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