At last, the hunter becomes the hunted...and the hunter...at the same time. There's definitely some hunting going on, that's for sure. Your character's transition from Dragon Slayer to Dragon Knight is one of the key focuses in the game, raising it above your standard action RPG fare.

Look for Divinity 2: Ego Draconis in stores next week for the PC and Xbox 360.

Divinity II: Ego Draconis is a fantasy role-playing game where users start out in the shoes of a novice dragon slayer and eventually wind up becoming an actual dragon. That's probably going to cause all kinds of dilemmas and hunter-becomes-the-hunted cliches later on in the game. But, hey, you get to mind read. And fly.

Fun fact: when developer Larian Studios was first planning for the human-to-dragon transformation sequences, they wanted to have a half-dragon variant you could use in dungeons. Sadly, this was feasible due to time and money — but maybe they'll get around to it in Divinity III.

Unlike other fantasy role-playing games with branching plotlines and dialogue trees, you see, Ego Draconis emphasizes choice over morality. Choosing one action over another doesn't net you any karma or change your appearance over time to reflect how good or evil you are.

There is, however, an immediate consequence for almost all of your actions. So when it comes to those branching plotlines and dialogue trees, it pays to pay attention – or at least have a quick-save at the ready.

Take, for example, the story of Derk and Dana. Dana loves Derk, but she's married to Carl. Talking to Dana nets the player a sealed love letter they can take to Derk wherein Dana begs him to take her away from her unhappy marriage.

Now, if this were Fable II, you'd probably only be able to take the letter to Derk or maybe take it to Carl. But this Ego Draconis and they don't care for dichotomy. Developer Larian Studios says there are about 20 different ways this quest can play out and no one solution is the "right" one.

For example, you can open the letter and then take it back to Dana to blackmail her. Now, if this were The Witcher, she'd sleep with you – but this is Ego Draconis and evidently, they care not for sex. Instead, you can get money from her… and then rat her out to her husband anyway. Or you can take the opened letter back to Dana, Mindread her thoughts to find out about Carl's secret study in the basement of their house, go down there to find Carl's diary wherein he admits killing Dana's previous lover. Then, armed with this new info, you can blackmail Carl into giving you money and then rat him out to the guards anyway.

The worst thing that can possibly happen to you in this whole chain of events is a non-playable character deciding to attack you. And this is Ego Draconis – you're an effin' dragon. Who cares if a puny mortal comes at you with a knife?

Anyway, this is what actually happened during the demo Larian Studios gave me: We blackmailed Dana and mind-read her (which costs a sum of experience points) to find the diary. After finding the diary, we first told Carl about his wife's infidelity – he threw her out and she fled to Derk's place, which raised the blacksmith's prices because Derk's the blacksmith and our character's name is now mud in their house. However, we now had an opportunity to talk to Carl and get an enchanted amulet he'd intended to give to Dana. Then, the demo driver blackmailed Carl anyway, causing him to snap and attack us, whereupon we offed him.

See? Choices without a good-and-evil split. Carl was a bad guy and now he's dead; Dana's with her lover and totally spit in our cereal by having Derk jack up prices and we walk away with one of the best items in the game. Nobody's a saint and nobody gains bad karma that turns your face ugly.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Ego Draconis. Even running the Xbox 360 version on my standard definition TV was a smooth (if less vibrant) experience, and it looks to be a solid RPG experience. And without that pesky good-and-evil dichotomy to worry about, I'm really looking forward to tearing around the fictional world as a dragon to see how many things I can wreck or upset with my fireball breath.

Too bad you can't turn into a dragon inside of most buildings.

Look for it on Steam, Impulse and shelves (in Xbox 360 form) January 5.

You could seriously injure somebody without even unsheathing this thing. The only thing it's missing is jeweled eyeballs. Now all I need are letters to open...

Oh yeah, here's a Divinity II: Ego Draconis trailer:

Ego Draconis takes place a couple of years after the last game, and a war between dragons and humans is in full swing. While the two races once lived in harmony, mistrust and fear have blossomed, and an order of Dragon Slayers is now tasked with hunting down and slaying the massive beasts. Your player starts as one of these dragon slayers, but an ironic twist in the story soon has you joining the ranks of the legendary Dragon Knights, humans with the power to transform themselves into dragons at will.

I sat in on a demonstration of the game at E3 2009, and everything started well enough. The PC in publisher DTP's tiny booth launched the game smoothly, and the graphics were crisp, smooth, and vibrant. Intrigued, I leaned in closer, only to have the PC sputter, stutter, and die.

Then my demo pilot switched to the Xbox 360 version, where the graphics were noticeable darker and the frame rate nowhere near as smooth. Now I know which version I'll be picking up.

Ego Draconis is a 3D action roleplaying game, much like Fable or Gothic, only with a twist. After a certain part in the story, the player gains the ability to transform into a dragon, covering long stretches of terrain in minutes, while having to face off against much larger foes.

The character-driven section of the game is rather nice. All NPCs in the game are fully voiced and animated using motion capture, giving the world a very lifelike feel.

While on foot, the player engages in combat, leveling skills from several different classes - mage, warrior, and ranger, to name a few. While there is a main story to follow, players can also embark on quests, with every quest having some sort of impact on the story down the line, even if you don't accept it. For instance, refuse to help a soldier kill a few goblins, and later you'll find that soldier dead in the goblin camp, having gone it alone. And boy if his lootable armor isn't nice...

The high level of polish didn't quite carry over into the dragon section of the game, unfortunately, with much of the character of the title falling away once the player transforms, losing some detail in order to affect a sense of scale, no pun intended. In order to keep the player from moving too far in dragon form, certain areas are warded by dragon-proof walls, which are as transparent a means to keep the player's power in check as they are actually see-through. If humans have so much power over dragons, why bother with the war in the first place?

The game also features a Dragon Tower, where players can store their items, send NPCs out into the world in search of crafting materials, and even seek the aid of a necromancer to help build a summonable monster out of parts you gather during your travels.

Divinity 2: Ego Draconis is a truly ambitious sequel to the 2002 action roleplaying game. Developer Larian Studios is looking to far outdo themselves in terms of storytelling, scope, and quality...let's hope that they are up to the task. I'd love to see what the dragon portion of the title looks like on the PC instead of the 360. Perhaps the polish the game lacks on the console is made up for on PC.

I'd also like to see Venetica, but I'm not bitter. No, no.

Divinity II: Ego Draconis is due out later this year for the Xbox 360 and PC.