Divinity II: Dragon Knight Saga (2010) (PC) (Larian Studios)
4I recently found good deals on both Divinity II: Dragon Knight Saga and Two Worlds II, two major third-person action RPG releases which I've been wanting to try out on my new computer. Apart from both having intentionally stupid titles and a light-hearted sense of humor, these European (Belgian and Polish, respectively) action RPGs try to combine huge game worlds and a wealth of character customization options with relatively straightforward hack'n slash gameplay.
From what I can tell, TW2 and DKS have been fairly well-received among old school RPG fans - with more mainstream players being far less enthusiastic about the lack of strong narratives, breadcrumb trails and level scaling - and I think it's going to be very interesting to see to what extent these games differ in size, scope, specific mechanics and overall design philosophy. TW2 has been primarily praised for its extensive crafting mechanics and extremely flexible spell system, whereas DKS's main novelty lies in its dragon-related gameplay elements. Dragon Knight Saga also sports more traditional high fantasy aesthetics with stylized characters and lots of primary colors, whereas Two Worlds II attempts a relatively realistic, toned-down approach (at least as far as the environments are concerned) which can perhaps come off as a little plain at times. The first time I saw DKS last year I got a real Might & Magic vibe out of the sunny, endearingly generic fantasy settings, and that's a good feeling I certainly want to be able to hold on to...