Divinity: Original Sin 2 Review - Do not play, This is really a sin

The attraction that western crpgs (computer role playing games) have over their Japanese relatives is freedom. Freedom to behave in a fantasy world as you like. Unfortunately, in Western games this is at the expense of the story and, at least, of the characters. Only rarely knows a studio that combines two elements to something that is larger than its parts. Divinity: Original Sin 2 does this masterfully by not only simulating the game world and the players forces in detail, but also by designing the characters and their interactions in a dizzying number of steps, making just about everything you want to try, can really also. And has an effect.

Divinity 2 starts aboard a ship where you are one of the prisoners. Soon it appears that a murder has been committed, and even though you are not a free person, you are able to snuggle a little and talk to the various other figures on the ship. It helps you to have an alibi at the time of the crime, because you were still stuck in a lab at the moment, where you turned a magic-limiting necklace.

The first hour is actually a tutorial that introduces you step by step with the basis of the game. However, it does not feel like a tutorial. This is especially true of what the rest of the game holds so fascinating: the density. There is so much to discover and conversations feel so lively that the first hour feels like the prologue of a sublime, fist-like fantasy novel.

This density of details and possibilities continues to dominate throughout the game. But (and this is a plus), the game has a slightly higher pace than its predecessor, making the plot and side missions fascinating, despite the natural inertia of a turn-based game.

Fighting

Like his predecessor, there are a lot of nods to overcome, and again these battles are reversible. That is, the various characters (friends and enemies) do their actions in turn, and at the time of decision you have all the time to determine your strategy. As we are used to, you have a number of action points at the beginning of each turn, and cost each action (attack, use a spell, move) some AP. Are you through your points then your turn is over.

The good thing is that the fights feel like a simulation. The game world is very interactive, with not only all kinds of destructive objects, but also solid "laws of nature" that can work to your advantage or disadvantage. Thus, water is an excellent conductor of electricity, so if the enemies are in a puddle and throw a lightning blast on it, hit the whole group at once. All this was in the original, but it has been further elaborated and ensures that every confrontation feels almost like a playground where you can try out new effects and chain reactions.

Personages

Hereby the role of the various characters naturally determines a large part of your options. You can choose from the start of the game to design someone completely from the ground, or you choose one of the "origin characters". The latter is actually advisable if you want something more profound in the dialogues. Origin characters have a clearly defined background story and this plays a role in the dialog options in the rest of the game. Dialogues are multiple choice menus where you are where you come from, and what your skills are, can generate additional options marked with a special tag. For example, if you play with a human, one of the additional dialog options may appear with the tag '[human]', which means you can only say this because you are human.

The advantage is that you crawl in the role of an existing character. But whoever really wants to play his own story can design his own character, or missing some extra options.

Party

Fortunately, you are not only assigned to yourself and collect some of the companions in the story. Very nice detail is that at the meeting you get a choice in what class the new acquisition must be. This way you can avoid duplication and build a well-balanced team. Teammates are also well-developed characters with their own drivers and personalities, giving you not only an extra amount of skills, but even complete quests. Characters sometimes get an exclamation mark above the head indicating that you can conduct a reflective conversation with them. This system is a huge improvement on what Divinity 1 did. In that, you got the uncomfortable task of conducting a conversation between two characters, with each of you having to choose the dialogue. This system was actually meant for co-op and if you played alone it was quite awkward. This problem is not in Part 2, in solo mode you never get out of the imagination.

Co-op is still possible, with four players each having a character and having each character as much influence on the world. Not only that: because characters have different motives, this inevitably leads to conflicts and derailments. Exactly as in a good role-playing game.

This dynamic is so important because choices in Divinity 2 can have enriching effects. NPCs can die and halt entire questlines. Or stories suddenly go a lot different than you expected. This is solo a very interesting challenge, but in a group you must be sure that you are playing with people that you can take good care of. Playing the game with unaccountable strangers? No, thank you.

D & D

But this game is also not intended. Divinity is actually a simulation of the old board game Dungeons and Dragons, in which the story, game systems and a special world were controlled by a Dungeon Master. The single player (and co-op mode) feels very much like an old-fashioned D & D session, including a narrator who gives important additional information in the fully-featured dialogs. That this feeling is not coincidental is evident from the very extensive Game Master mode, with one player designing scenarios with the included editor and other players trying to complete this story just like in D & D. This means, therefore, that you do not design stand-alone missions because the game master is required to lead the game.

But even without this original multiplayer mode, this is not a game you play in an afternoon. The main story is already very similar, but it also applies to the many optional missions. Some of them could also serve as main story, they are so extensive. Because your actions really affect the good or not, and because the type of character and your moral choices can open or close quests, it's worth the real fans to replay the game with another character. Since Divinity 2 has been playing for over sixty hours, it is of course only interesting for the most fanatical players.

Divinity 2 knows all over its predecessors. From the even more beautiful graphics, to the full-featured dialogues and the much more elaborate choices and quests, this is one of the best rpg's that exist. If you were ever a fan of Baldur's Gate 2 and thought it could not be better then this proves to be a step higher.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is now available on PC.

Conclusion

The excellent Divinity: Original Sin has already shown that Larian Studios knows exactly how a crpg should be. And part 2 is even better. The sense of freedom is perfectly in balance with the excellently written story and the countless side missions. If there is anything like the ideal crpg, then Divinity 2 comes very close. Unfortunately, the world itself is less original, but you could see it as a homage to classic D & D. The various multiplayer options may also make this the best computer version of Dungeons and Dragons.

Pros

➕ Deep, strategic, well written, great fighting system, interactions go very far

Negative point

➖ World is standard fantasy, despite recent patches still bugs here and there

Thanks for your precious time.

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