TEST of Divinity Original Sin 2, the RPG that borders on perfection.

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Larian Studios comes back to us with Divinity: Original Sin 2, who was like his eldest very well received on Kickstarter. Of course it already implies that the public for the old-school RPG inherited itself from the paper RPG, still has many fans. However, the game does not move away from modernity and succeeds in being both deeply innovative while keeping a DNA that an old rogue Donjon and Dragons appreciate.

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A RPG worthy of the name always begins the creation of the character. A fundamental step and cement of its kind, Divinity Original Sin 2 is no exception to the rule and will soon have plunged us into its vast universe from the first moments. In total, we have the choice between 5 races. Each obviously has its own specificities and will involve once in play different relationships with other characters. Men, Elves, Dwarfs, Lizardmen, and Undead are available to you.The game, however, gives you the opportunity to create a character from scratch or choose an "original" protagonist with his own story often very complete but totally prefabricated. Obviously, the second choice will allow many elements of roleplay over the course of the adventure but it is towards the first option that we turned to the occasion of this test. In any case, no worries, because in Divinity 2 you are never alone and you will have the opportunity to recruit these famous characters "origins" in your team.

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Choices and flexibility on the menu

Because yes DOS II allows you to order a group of 3 additional characters in addition to yours. Knowing that the game is more fully playable in cooperation, it always leaves the possibility of having at least 1 or 2 characters under your orders. The game is obviously also fully playable solo, but the cooperation can open you to new horizons and it really brings a more undeniable. The whole game is anyway a matter of balance and choice. So even your role at the beginning of the game can be freely modified later.

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If you decide to turn to chivalry when creating your character, nothing will prevent you from becoming a Pyromancer or Hunter. DOS II is part of the tradition of paper role-playing but also reinvents the classic RPG codes. For example, when one goes up a level, new skills cannot be learned "by magic" via a dedicated menu. No, you have to get a skills book before you can learn a particular skill. Thus, nothing prevents a warrior to learn skills in necromancy or a summoner to fight with the sword and the shield. You can create the character of your choice, even if it involves contradictions and therefore builds that make no sense in practice. So you have to think about your choices if you do not want to end up with an under-exploited character and not be overwhelmed by the great flexibility of the system . Especially since the difficulty will be very quickly right in many ways.

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Who's next ?

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4 modes are possible: Exploration, Classic, Tactical and Honorable. If the exploration mode is almost no challenge, it's not the same for the Classic that we really recommend at first even for those who have already played the first game. Even in cooperation, it happens very often. be in a real tactical impasse and have to turn back to level before attempting to re-face the tough opponents. A fight (trick-and-bust operation), even if it's smoothly executed, can sometimes last 10, 15 or even 20 minutes depending on your starting location, your skills, your opponent's skills, your equipment... After a failure it is sometimes necessary to analyze the topography of the field to understand the reason for your defeat which can from time to time be explained by simple things. An archer or a mage who gets high via a ladder, a barrel of flammable oil that explodes under your feet ... D OS II is a game where the universe remains logical and coherent and where it is possible to interact with virtually everything around you . And this is clearly not the game of precipitation or rush, the title you will quickly understand. Fighting just like solving a quest can be child's play like a real "ordeal". Always with the aim of sticking to the closest of a paper role play, In any case, there are always several solutions for one and the same problem.

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1 problem, 36 solutions

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Are you stuck in a prison? Why not try to destroy the door with a powerful fire spell. Or maybe it's better to steal the key from a guardian? If one of your companions or yourself has the talent to talk to animals, why not ask a rat to help you find the exit? Always in this Larian spirit, the game is filled with humor and subtleties. Talking to animals is always a great time and it can even give rise to great rewards such as the key to a safe or the discovery of a hidden area. It's not counting on the teleportation fate that can sometimes lead us to places that we would not even have imagined accessible before. Which gives rise to small problems where our hero can find himself in an impractical area.

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Exploration ... my love

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Moreover, exploration is always put forward and everything is done to arouse your curiosity. Looking well on a beach will eventually find a buried treasure, but to be able to dig up it will be equipped with a shovel. And when you start looking for a shovel, you may meet an NPC who will give you a quest, which will give you the opportunity to find another treasure ... In short, it's a multi-game -connections to deep roots that extend to all components of the game. Exploration leads to quests, quests force exploration that can also lead to combat. The universe is incredibly rich and it'sA simple area the size of a tavern can eat you 1 hour of your time so the possibilities are many, everywhere, all the time. Especially since micro-management is omnipresent and it forces you to take care of each member of your team with the utmost care . A different weapon or piece of equipment can have a significant impact on the course of a fight. The interface has for the occasion, received a very nice facelift since the previous game, even if it is not yet quite pink especially in action where it is sometimes difficult to understand what is happening, especially when it's the enemy's turn.

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What will impress especially those who have never touched a game Larian is the coherence of the world around us. Water conducts electricity, the fire goes out in his presence, the ice melts ... In short you discover all the subtleties of the fighting, they are many and you are left with the pleasure of surprise.

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The quintessence of Western RPG

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The dialogues are still of great interest, with many answers that depend on your race, your origins ... If you are a man of noble origin, no doubt you will have opportunities for very different dialogues than those of a common dwarf or outlaw. A single discussion can lead to 3 or 4 different conclusions depending on your narrative choices. Side translation, if the texts are fully translated into French, it is not the case of the voices. But the original cast is so good that it's not a big problem. Even with a very good ear, it is very difficult to hear the same voice several times. Each character seems unique both in his character and in the tone of his voice which reinforces the living aspect of the universe. So much so that one can sometimes feel pain for a character, which is a rather rare thing in Western RPGs with the possible exception of Obsidian titles.

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A game out of category

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For all these reasons, we can not say that Divinity Original Sin 2 is indulgent and accessible to all. We can quickly find ourselves lost without knowing what to do if we do not take the time to get involved and we want to do everything too fast. The game is incredibly rich that can place it at the level of paper RPGs, with its own rules and methods. We can not ask DOS II to do Elder Scrolls. Because if it has an incredible universe with its own components, Divinity is of incomparable depth and it has no direct opponent.The game is simply out of the box and that's why it works. Once again, the only RPG-rated studio that can boast such depth for its RPGs is Obsidian. One could even speak of a certain fraternity between the two teams (Larian-Obsidian) because they both have the same desire: to keep alive and put back on the scene the old-school role-playing. To prove to the video game world that the genre still breathes proudly and that it still has a large and loyal audience.

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A faultless

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DOS II is the kind of game in which we take pleasure to search ... Searching every corner for clues, discussing with our desires a brave guard leaning on an old wooden door or a dwarf repairing frantically an ax on a workbench. A paroxysm of the RPG genre, the game offers players freedom for too long lost. The icing on the cake, the universe in addition to being vast and alive is of an incredible beauty. In 1080 / full ultra it is sumptuous, and in 4K it is simply majestic.

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A good old GTX 770 or R9 280 (100 euros) will be enough to run the game without any worries in 1080p in very good conditions. Finally, musically it's faultless, the game even offers the luxury of offering the choice of the main instrument that will be played during the combat phases! The attention to detail you are told.

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Finally, and here we can only bow to Larian studios: the introduction of GM mode that we had the opportunity to talk about a few months ago. To put it simply it is the stricto-sensu transposition of a paper game in video game format. You have a map editor, you can create everything via a very simple tool and you can tell the story you want. Either you are GM or you are the player. Obviously, the whole system has the compatibility of the Steam Workshop which ensures a lot of content for years to come. Hat down the artist!

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Divinity Original Sin 2 is undoubtedly one of the best RPGs for a long time. Of a tiny richness and an unfathomable depth, the title of Larian Studios swims calmly out of category by proposing what is done of the kind of the kind. So much so that we had to dig our brains to find defects, because even if it is not exempt, none is up to counterbalancing the astronomical sum of positive points. In terms of technical, visual and mechanical beauty, DOS II is to the RPG what Swiss watchmaking is to watches. Goldsmith work.

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WE LIKE	WE DO NOT LIKE
* A very many choices of "classes" and specializations.	* Sometimes a little rough in the clashes.
* A rich and varied universe.	* Some bugs (during the teleportations especially).
* A deep and complete story.	* We are still looking for.
* A game that is teeming with details.
* Tactical and difficult battles.
* A high-quality dubbing.
* A haunting soundtrack.
* Visually without fault.
* Technically flawless.
* A GM mode in the purest tradition of paper role-playing.

All image
CREDIT

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THANKS FOR READING, ALSO CHECK OUT MY PREVIOUS TEST ON TEST. Bound by Flame (PC)!

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