Divinity: Dragon Commander
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This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it. |
Dragon Commander is a vidya set in the Divinity setting. Straddling between political simulator, waifu simulator, real time strategy, and flight simulator/rail shooter, the game is quite in it's own category.
Story
The world is a world in constant warfare (which never changes). Until one day, it changed.
A powerful wizard named Maxos trapped a powerful demon named Corvos, and used his knowledge of destruction to design powerful weapons including giant robots resembling something out of War of the Worlds. He brought on the services of an architect (known only as the Architect) to actually build the damn things, and enlisted a powerful and regal warrior to lead the armies. Together, they conquered the races of the world (Lizardfolk, Dwarves, Humans, Elves, Undead, Imps, and Orcs) and finally brought peace to it.
The capital was moved to the human city of Rivellon, where the warrior became king and the three friends dwelled in hard won peace.
Dragons, having long left the world of mortals for a higher plane (basically Tolkien Elves), had become increasingly interested in the events of the world. One particular dragoness adopted the guise of a noblewoman and entered the court of the king. The three friends all fell in love with her, and each competed for her affections. The king won her heart in the end, and conceived a child with her. The child was hidden. The Wizard humbly accepted his loss, and became the guardian of his friend's son. But the Architect, jealous of the success of his former companion, conspired against him. More and more he listened to the words of Corvos, convincing him the king had used him as a pawn, had stolen what was rightfully his, and was a wicked being. Eventually, the Architect allowed Corvos to inhabit his body and together they poisoned the dragoness. At her death rattle, Corvos's corruption caused the Architect an orgasmic surge of emotions that caused him to have a heart attack and die on the spot, freeing Corvos from captivity and allowing him to wreak havoc on the world. The king grieved her, and buried himself in hedonism in an attempt to escape his pain. He sired many, MANY illegitimate sons and daughters and spoiled them rotten.
Meanwhile, Maxos had managed to track and trap Corvos again, imprisoning his spirit within the hull of a massive flying aircraft carrier called the Raven. There he secretly began plotting for a second great army after realizing what was soon to come.
Years later, the bastards of the court had maneuvered themselves into different positions of authority across the land and together killed the king. Thus began another military era, with a multitude of men and women controlling massive weapons of destruction and bringing death and destruction to the land once more.
Que you, the player. Your draconic heritage is not a template, and instead you are the same as your mother; a full-blooded dragon who assumes mortal form. Maxos finds you and informs you that you are the son of the Emperor of Rivellon and the Dragon Queen, and the only legitimate claimant to the throne. This gives you the loyalty of the bulk of the human kingdom, and everyone still loyal to the late king. In addition, politicians from each of the major races come to your mobile fortress to help you govern.
You also early on get to choose from a multitude of brides, princesses from each race (other than the Imps, who storyline-wise blew herself up accidentally on the way to meet you and in the real world was cut from the game due to lack of time, and the humans who you don't need to woo with a political marriage). You then follow your bride's storyline between combat missions, influencing her along different paths. You also follow the plots of your Generals, branching their stories as well.
Corvos himself is also a character, giving schematics to your engineers for weapons of war. You can sacrifice your wife to him (and get another shortly after, until none are left) if you feel a bit evil and in return get more powerful.
After vanquishing most of your siblings in the first act, Corvos breaks free from his restraint and possesses the remaining siblings. The more brides you have fed him, the more powerful he is as their hate for you contributes to his own for the world. Of course if you have not sacrificed any wives then he's still quite powerful.
After defeating him and conquering the world, you and Maxos dispose of the great weapons of the era, and all knowledge of them; never again will there be a fuckhuge war on that scale. You then retire to your palace with your bride (if any remain that is), to enjoy an era of peace (and sire many dragon children).
In the next game, in another era, you find out that the player-brought peace lasted many generations and you sired a line of Dragon Knights, although in time complacency set in and power decentralized leading to another era of conflict. Luckily, the secrets of the past remained buried (although they still exist in myth) so rather than World War 3, it was instead more classic medieval.
Generals
You quickly assemble a team of military experts to help you run your military campaign, each of whom has his or her own personal journey of character development and self-discovery to go on as the game continues.
Henry
Boisterous, lower-class type, with a half-cyborg body, a daughter he loves very much, and a self-reliance complex that threatens her safety. Better with armor units, so his power scales up as you get more.
Scarlett
Sexy chick with a flirty streak and a punk haircut. Also a closeted lesbian. Better with defensive tactics and light units, making her good in the early-game turns.
Catherine
Well-dressed lady from a nation where traditional medieval gender roles were flipped. Kind of a bitch about the whole "female superiority" thing, but she mellows out if you push for gender equality and meet her halfway. Naval expert who reduces enemy numbers, and has the potential to gain the most skills.
Edmund
The only non-human among your generals, and the only one to wear a classy suit-and-monocle combo. The lizard's genius is matched only by his arrogance, and he starts the game with a very low opinion of pretty much everyone who isn't him, though he liberally mixes in some racism, and classism for good measure. An offensive specialist with a powerful starting skill, falls off a little late-game but never enough to make him useless.
Races and Ambassadors
Elves
Elves are presented as both nouveau riche and old upper-class liberals in the game, being in favor of "Drudanae leaf" which apparently has both medical applications as a sedative and for recreational use, being for amnesty for illegal immigrants, and being defiantly against anything that harms the environment including deforestation and factory farms. They are also not as morally upright as they'd have you believe; your ambassador asks for an Imperial pardon for an Elf that lead a dictatorial government in your name simply because it would be a talking point against the Elves were he to be recognized as having committed crimes against humanity/sapient beings.
If you pursue the ideals if the Elven race to the fullest, you end up implimenting labor reforms like establishing minimum wage, outlawing child labor, giving holidays off, and setting up a regulated work week.
Imps
Imp politics are complicated simply because most Imps don't care about issues unrelated to their interests. They support anything that expands industry, supports scientific research, and are against any form of social control including a limitation on the amount of children one can have and of breastfeeding bans in public. At one point, their ambassador simply flips a coin to decide his position, and is angry when you go against the result.
Maxing out their favor ends with you allowing them to dig up ancient Elven cemeteries and dump the bodies in landfills to get uranium to build atomic bombs.
Lizardfolk
Lizards, as they are usually called, are probably the closest race to modern liberal-centrists. They generally support reasonable, moderate options, and are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Their senator is a grand, cool-headed old lady who will generally be much more cordial about you disagreeing with her than the many angry, angry old people that surround her, and she generally comes out as the most principled of them all.
Maintaining their favor will lead to the institution of a democratic government, to massive popular support but the abject horror of every other race's governments and, depending on how one interprets the "Luck" stat, the gods themselves. Heh.
Dwarves
The dwarves, as one can probably expect, are basically the Republican party. They are both socially and fiscally conservative, being in favor of both deregulated big business and old-tyme "family values." Their senator is, naturally, never not wearing a top hat, fox-fur ruff, and about ten pounds of bling. He also has a thick Scottish accent, because some things are unavoidable.
Toeing the dwarf party line will lead to smoking being taught in schools to children. You'll be rolling in dosh from all the money tobacco taxes bring in, but population will drop like a rock from all the cancer going on.
Undead
The undead, hilariously, are the hyper-religious faction. They are all super-uptight, generally in favor of horrifyingly medieval punishments for criminals, and reproduce entirely via alchemical processes that grow new skeletons. Their senator, Yorick, is... well, he's probably exactly what you're picturing.
Sticking with with the undead will generally lead to old-testament treatment of enemies, giving morale penalties to enemy troops but turning public opinion against you in a big way.
Princesses
After your first few battles, you will be given the chance to select a monstergirl princess to marry from one of the other races in the game. You recieve a boost to reputation with that faction, and after every battle you can visit your bride in your quarters (which has been redecorated to her tastes) and engage in dialogue which will advance her story as well as provide effects to your reputations, morale, and coffers.
What's that? Where's the human princess? We don't take kindly to your type around these here parts.
You can also be a dick and sacrifice them to Corvus for more power by leading them to him and trapping their souls in a constant state of agony for his pleasure. Don't do this. It's just a bad idea in the short and long term.
Lohannah, The Elven Princess
Probably the most generically good-looking of the four, and the one I don't actually have first-hand experience with.
Camilla, The Lizard Princess
Camilla starts out as the only princess who actually has a job; namely, a supreme court judge. Her story fork boils down to the age old question of whether to be lawful or good. Of course, she's also a huge ice queen and getting her to pick good is the best way to thaw her out, so it's rather obvious which one the game designers are incentivizing here.
Aida, The Dwarf Princess
Aida is, naturally, a buxom beauty who can chug enough booze to kill ten men and crack walnuts with her bare hands. Her story revolves around her rotten relationship with her nasty, abusive father, and her attempts to take control of the kingdom. It also rivals Ophelia's for sheer complexity and number of outcomes. To make a long story short, so long as you keep her from desecrating the old bastard's mortal remains with horny pigs, you'll make out alright.
Ophelia, The Undead Princess
Ophelia is the shy, blushing skeleton girl who, you learn after marriage, is dying (again) from an as-yet uncurable illness. Potential solutions range from transplanting her soul into a gleaming robot body with skin stitched over it, making a deal with a demon to turn her into a vampire, engaging in magic shenanigans to draw her a body on a canvas and animating it with magic, to just being a dick about the whole thing and letting her die. Probably the most complex of the four, story-wise, and almost every outcome causes her to change models over the course of the game. Also, the in-game newspapers mock your skeleton fetish right after you pick her.
Unnamed Imp Princess
Originally planned as a princess to marry, she would have come to you already secretly pregnant. Your plot with her would have involved your treatment of your illegitimate son, who (being an Imp) would grow up fast.
She was cut as the release deadline neared. Her lack of presence is explained by the Imp adviser at the princess lineup as she apparently was passing the time on her transport zeppelin on her way to meet you by playing the classic Imp game of "Hide The Fuse" with her handmaidens, and they lost. His demeanor suggests this isn't an uncommon type of event for his race, with a "true imp's death" apparently involving perishing in a gigantic accidental and self-inflicted explosion, and he only laments that you hadn't met her.
Generals
Gameplay
Gallery
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Lohannah as you first meet her. -
Camilla as you first meet her. -
Aida as you first meet her. -
Ophelia as you first meet her.
