The Divinity series is a big deal for Larian Studios. To date the series has only made an impression on mainland Europe, but they will be hoping to make a dent in either the UK or US market with this release. So will the launch of the Ego Draconis on a next gen console put this dragon slaying RPG high up in the ranks with the likes of Fable, Final Fantasy and Diablo? Or will it find the bargain bin in your local game store by Christmas?

In Divinity 2 you play the role of a silver-eyed dragon slayer - courtesy of a "dragon-memories" implant you receive early in the game as part of the "know your enemy" routine. Dragons - once a regular presence in the world of Rivellon - have mainly been killed off thanks to the sterling work of your dragon slaying predecessors. But hold on a minute - some more have turned up for some unexplained reason, so it's time to start killing goblins, doing quests and levelling up for the ultimate battle with a few storyline twists and some mind-reading along the way.

Gameplay:

The game plays like most RPG's with the focus to develop your character's skills and attributes, but it does have a couple of fresh ideas. The spearhead is being able to transform into your dragon form - whose skills are completely unrelated - and must be developed separately. The mind-reading is also a new idea which comes in very useful for lowering traders prices and finding out passwords but it does come at a cost of losing valuable experience points.

The movement of the character doesn't seem to be very fluid, and they seem very wooden and hard to control especially when jumping, which is particularly pathetic. The combat is the same as most RPGs but with one very annoying drawback - the fact that you can't block or parry enemy attacks, only roll from side to side when you are locked onto an enemy. This gets boring after awhile, and it's very hard to avoid close combat as most enemies seem to rush you as soon as they see you coming which only gives a chance for a few ranged attacks before they are on top of you.

A good point is that you can map your weapons, spells and food to 8 different controller buttons. The only problem is that after you finish talking to another character you have to hit the A button to finish the dialog ,and whatever is mapped to that button is activated as soon as you get back to the 3rd person view. I found myself firing a few arrows at some innocent bystanders

Graphics:

Divinity is most definitely a looker with a good attention to detail. The landscapes are great, from the water running down the streams and the sun glaring through the trees. Some of the characters do look a little off, as if they were rushed to finish the game in time which is a bit of shame. The cut-scenes are - in one word - amazing, especially when they involve dragons - they look as if they're almost real.

Sound:

The sound has variety to it but there also seems to be a lot of filling music in the background, which for the most part you won't really pay much attention to with your knees deep in goblins. The environmental sounds could be better and the same goes for the dialogue, sometimes it will be blasting out of the speakers and then the same character will say another line that you'll miss, so it's lucky they put subtitles into the game.

Longevity:

You will need a lot of patience to see this to the end, with hundreds of quests to do, from lengthy and serious to short and funny there is plenty to keep you occupied in the game. With a completion time of over 40 hours looking for dragons to kill and 3 different classes to play as, it will keep the hardened RPG fan happy.

Overall:

If it wasn't for the poor battle system and movement this would be an absolutely cracking game, the stories are reasonable (apart from the ending), it looks beautiful and it has a good sense of humor. If you can put up with its flaws and want to lose yourself playing a game for hours then this is for you but if your the kind of person who gets annoyed easily and who wants a truly immersive RPG then stay well away.