Divinity: Dragon Commander Preview

After offering an extremely frank interview with Swen Vincke (who later confessed he wasn’t completely aware all of the content of the interview would end up online), PCGMedia doubles down with some hands-on impressions of Larian’s upcoming Divinity: Dragon Commander. Here’s a snip:

A racist Lizard in 19th century clothing; a feminist with a stiff upper lip and frown; a boisterous, bald fighter and all the bickering in between. I’m laying so much emphasis on the RPG elements because, really, they’re quite unique. Each of these characters help you to shape the world depending on how you react to them. You’re asked questions that actually mean something, and questions that should literally shock you. The first question I was asked was along the lines of: (there’s a gay Dwarf couple from X town who demand the right to marry, should we allow them to marry?) I heard the plea’s from every race, and all their objections objections that were, sometimes, direct political quotes from global parties and then made my decision. Based on my decision, certain parties affiliation with me would either increase or decrease. This allows me to unlock certain abilities and upgrades from parties in my favour. There was no way to know what decision would unlock what, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was making important decisions that I recognized from real life. It wasn’t (gay marriage is okay,) so much as (what do you think about gay marriage?) Larian Studios had taken the time to cover all angles, and this is why the RPG element, with the unique and richly characterized factions, is wholly impressive.

My decline or acceptance of gay marriage would go on to spark another debate later in the game. Given that I accepted the Dwarven plea, I’m told I would later have to decide whether or not homosexual soldiers in the army is acceptable.

Alongside the council decision making comes discussions with your generals. As I mentioned before (one of them is a Lizardy racist, as racists so often are) the generals are equally characterized, and will often bicker between themselves. I can listen to their plea’s and either accept or ignore them. Befriending generals will unlock powers for them to use in battle. Whilst there’s no repercussions for pissing any of the characters off, the aim is to work with what you get from basing your decision making on a mix of ethics and tactics just like reality. Taking a libertarian stance on X might not be as morally right as taking an ethical stance, but it’s not as bad as Y and could unlock Z so that’s what I should do, etc,. I’m told that, for instance, I can either bring the racist Lizard into tolerance, or embrace his racism, therefore causing all sorts of diplomatic problems: (If you make him even more racist, he might go to another faction on a mission and just punch the king, or something.)