Everytime I play a new RPG it seems to impress me in some weird, unexpected, and extraordinary way. I bought Octopath Traveler when it first came out back in 2018 with very low expectations due to, how it was, your stereotypical JRPG. It drew me in faster than I thought it would. It had a colorful cast of characters, a shiny world to explore, a combat system with tons of depth and build variety, and writing while not perfect kept me pushing forward to see what happened next. It wasn’t a perfect game, but personally it was my Game of The Year for 2018 and possibly one of my favorite games of all time. Early 2019, I sat down to play the challenging lovecraft inspired Bloodborne developed by FromSoftware. The same developers who made Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. It was intense, had a lot of good design choices, was filled to the brim with compelling lore, and grew to be one of the best games I have ever played. Later that same year I tried out Persona 5 and realized just how amazing JRPGs can be. It had stylish animation, a killer soundtrack, and one of the funnest stories I experienced in a video game. Yet another one of my favorite games of all time.
So three of my favorite games of all time now are RPGs or related to the genre in some way, and it thanks to them that my love for RPGs grew. One game I really want to play right now is last year’s hit gem Disco Elysium by Studio ZA/UM. It is a narrative driven experience that strays towards the design of classic RPGs. I’m not talking about old JRPGs like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, I’m talking about really old fashioned titles like Planescape Torment, Baldur’s Gate, and the original two Fallouts. The more I look into Disco Elysium the more I want to play it, but sadly though I am a console player and while Studio ZA/UM plans to bring Disco Elysium to consoles they haven’t done so yet. So here I am complaining to my friends that I can’t play Disco Elysium even though all I have to do is man up and buy it on PC. Then one of my friends recommended a game which follows a similar format and which is not only one of his personal favorite RPGs but he also finds it to be extremely underrated, Divinity: Original Sin 2.
While I have heard quite a lot about Divinity: Original Sin 2 before I didn’t know much about it, so I asked my friends about their experience with the game. They didn’t explain much and told me to figure it out myself. I was concerned at first because they were being vague, and when I went to look at footage of the game it looked like a WOW clone which is not a good sight to me. Then I saw the glowing review scores for the game and how Fextralife chose it as their Game of The Year back in 2017. Giving it a near perfect review score. This changed my opinion and soon I bought the definitive edition of the game on the PS4, installed the latest updates, and was blown away after exiting the first area. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the most important RPGs to come out in recent memory, as it demonstrates the pen and paper style of play has aged beautifully and still works today. Let’s start back at the very beginning.
In 1996, a man named Swen Vincke forged his own game company known as Larian Studios. One of the first games Larian ever made was Divine Divinity, an isometric RPG where the player was tasked to bring divine order back to a land full of magic and monsters. Divinity stood out at the time mainly because of how interactive the world was. The player had multiple ways to solve a single problem and the things the player said to characters actually mattered as they can be brought up later in the story. Divine Divinity wasn’t as successful as other games at the time, but it would be the foundation for Larian Studios’ future projects. They then followed Divine Divinity up with an expansion, a full fledged sequel, and even a weird one where you controlled dragons to unleash hellfire on fields of enemies. These were good games, but they weren’t as successful as you would think they’d be. After the release of Dragon Commander in 2013, Larian Studios decided to take a step back and plan out what to do for their next game. They fled to Kickstarter and started crowdfunding for their new project.
They wanted to make something similar to the game design of classic RPGs and they decided to take the advice from those online. The Kickstarter gained twice the amount of funding it needed and Larian Studios set off to develop their next big project. In 2014, they released their new game known as Divinity: Original Sin. Larian probably wasn’t expecting much since their past games were received okay or described as mediocre, but Original Sin ended up being one of the fastest selling games they ever released. During the time of release, the design of classic RPGs were beginning to fade away. Gone were the days of forging your own personal adventure through, letting discovery and mystery drive you forward, and knowing your choices had consequences down the line. Now you could technically be good at everything and the game won’t punish you for murdering basic city folk. So basically what I just described is Fallout 4 or Bethesda’s basic design philosophy. Divinity: Original Sin received quite a bit of praise and was considered one of the best games to come out in 2014. It even holds up today with all it’s rough edges. Larian Studios saw how many people loved Original Sin so they decided to begin development on the sequel.
They went back to Kickstarter to fund for their next game yet again, and funnily enough the sequel met its funding requirements within under a day. Larian also decided to ask the community for feedback on Original Sin, because they wanted the sequel to improve upon all the awkward problems that made the first game flawed. It took more time to develop Original Sin 2, but it shows how dedicated the team at Larian were to make a near perfect game. Flash forward to 2017 and Larian Studios finally released Divinity: Original Sin 2. I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but 2017 was a phenomenal year for games. So many genre breaking titles came out. From big budget hyped up Triple A releases like Horizon Zero Dawn to smaller independently made games like Hollow Knight. You’d think Original Sin 2 would be overshadowed by other bigger releases, but the sequel to such an acclaimed RPG blew up bigger than the first. Critics acclaimed how well designed the game was and how it separated the ties with the rough edges the first game had. The writing and world building was more grand, the world itself was teaming with color, and the amount of content was jammed in like a coconut stuck in a wine bottle. Divinity: Original Sin 2 received near perfect review scores and is considered one of the best modern RPGs of recent memory.
The developers are even working on a spinoff entry reminiscent of the XCOM and have now been tasked with making the ambitious Badlur’s Gate 3. I just wonder why it didn’t get nominated for that many awards. So back to me and how I just finished my first playthrough of the game. What did I think about Divinity: Original Sin 2? Well at the beginning I was expecting the game to be okay due to how slow the opening hours were, but I ended up absolutely loving it as the world opened up and the main story got more rambunctious! It’s so well designed and intriguing that I ended up playing longer than I really should have. That's why you haven't seen that many reviews recently. It may not be for everyone, but I can certainly say I heavily recommend this fantastic RPG. Today we’ll be talking about why I loved Divinity: Original Sin 2 and why it deserves your attention. So gather some unlikely friends and prepare for ascension.
Story
The game takes place in the magical world of Rivellon, a fantasy world composed of several mythical races. These races include humans, elves, lizards, the undead, dwarves, and wizards who hide secretly in the shadows. There are also orcs and imps, but trust me they don’t really matter because they are almost nonexistent in Original Sin 2. What does matter is that these races established several kingdoms around the land and gathered together to share their ideologies and knowledge. One day out of nowhere the Seven Gods gifted the people of Rivellon a magical substance named Source. Those who are able to wield Source effectively are known as Sourcerers, and they use Source to increase their physical capabilities and perform different kinds of magic. From bending natural elements to channeling their inner spirit. However with Source came a place called the Void, and dark monstrous creatures known as Voidvoken began to pop-up around the land led by a fierce being known as the God King. The Voidvoken started tearing down villages, murdering anyone around them, and are attracted to wherever Source may lie. A divine being, Lucian, was suppose to handle the control of Source and Voidwoken, but he died before the main events.
A group known as the Divine Order were followers of Lucian, and not knowing what to properly do they started assuming the Voidwoken are attracted to Sourcerers and their Source. They started gathering Sourcers from around the land, boarding them up onto boats, and sending them to the rundown and poorly managed concentration camps of Fort Joy. Depending on your preference you can either create your own character or play as one of the six original characters the game has set up for you and will engage with the story. I was going to make my own, but decided to choose one of the six origin characters to get more acquainted with world and story. I started out as Ifan Ben Mezd, a Lone Wolf who once served for the Divine Order and believed he was fighting for a good cause. Only to soon realize he was tricked into killing innocent elves and the Divine Order is more corrupt than he thought. He then becomes a lone wanderer and drinks his sorrows away at a tavern, but suddenly he mysteriously unlocks the power to wield Source and is soon captured by the Divine Order and sent to Fort Joy.
For the rest of this story paragraph I’ll explain what happened during my playthrough. Ifan wakes up to find himself on a Magister’s ship and soon meets other Sourcerers. Lohse, a musician who onced traveled across the land with what was basically he family but somehow gained the ability to bend the elements that compose storms and has a demon inside her head. The Red Prince, a tall red lizard who was destined to rule his own kingdom, but made some terrible choices which got him arrested. Sebille, an elf who was enslaved and is now hunting the people who tortured her. Beast, a mighty dwarf who once roamed across the raging seas. And Fane, a scholar from ages ago who was turned undead and seeks the many secrets Rivellon may still hold.
While exploring the ship you encounter an old woman who tells you have some weird destiny planned ahead. She summons an army of Voidwoken and a kraken to tear apart the ship, forcing you to flee to safety. However, Ifan doesn't want to leave any survivors behind so he saves the other Sourcerers he met earlier and flees to the lifeboats. Ifan gets left behind and the ship is torn apart from the tentacles and crashing waves. You're floating towards the bottom of the sea slowly losing air, but a godly voice reaches out towards you and pulls you out of the water. You wake up on the shore of Fort Joy, puking out water and trying to figure out what the hell just happened. You meet up with the five Sourcerers you met on the ship and it turns out you are all planning on escaping Fort Joy. With the help of other Sourcerers imprisoned in Fort Joy, Ifan and the gang escape and begin exploring the island they are trapped on.
They discover a shrine known as the Sanctuary of Amadia and find a group of rebel Sourcerers who are planning on leaving the island by hijacking a Magister ship. You decide to help them by finding their leader Gareth and exploring more of the region. While doing so you encounter a weird object that transports you to a mystical realm. Ifan finds himself in the Hall of Echoes where he meets one of the seven gods. In Ifan’s case it’s Rhalic, the God of Human LIfe. Rhalic tells Ifan that he and his unlikely companions are Godwoken and they have to prepare to become the next Divine. Only one of them can be Divine, but others seek to become the next Divine as well. Rhalic specifically wants Ifan to become the next Divine and wants him to get rid of his companions as soon as he can. Rhalic believes they may try to betray Ifan and become selfish over who becomes Divine. Once you leave the Hall of Echoes you regroup with the Sourcerers, fight Bishop Alexander who stands in the way of your escape, and meet a tall woman named Malady waiting by the shores to greet you. She knows you and your new friends are Godwoken and plans to help one of you become the next divine. You board onto a ship known as The Lady Vengeance and sail towards your next location. The ship is attacked by members of the Divine Order led by a woman named Dallis. Dallis seeks divinity as well and won’t stop until the Godwoken are beaten. Depending on who you have equipped at the time, two of your party members will die leaving you and three companions to explore the land. Together the four travelers will explore Rivellon, help out those they encounter, and prepare for ascension. Hammers and fire combine. Purging the curse! Rising into the divine. History moves in reverse!
Gameplay
Dear god man. Divinity: Original Sin 2 has a lot of stuff going on and I mean a lot. I don’t even know where to start off with this section of the review! Let’s start off with the basics, your character. Your characters can be customized to whatever liking you may have in mind. There are multiple stats and perks to choose from and picking specific stats may increase their efficiency in certain categories or performances. By pouring more time into certain playstyles you can create a team that can tackle any situation or are practically hard to kill. The game goes out of its way and says to you that your team play styles they center around, but they are fine with whatever you make them
For example, the game wants you to go for a ranger build with Ifan and during the beginning stages of his questline they hand you a really powerful crossbow. I didn't want that though. Instead my Ifan opted out for a strength build that’s capable of eating away at enemy health two slams of a mace. I ended up pouring a ton of points into strength and the two handed perk, and gave him a sturdy set of iron plated armor to turn him into what was basically a walking tank. For Lohse, I realized she had a ton of abilities dealing with ice and lighting damage, so I poured points into the hydrosophist and aerotheurge perks which increase the damage of lightning and water attacks. Which transformed her into a summoning witch of death. The Red Prince which I made had a mixture of strength and pyromancy attacks, and Sebielle was a scoundrel who could move quickly and attack the weak spot of enemies with critical hits.
How do you get stronger to achieve such levels of power and magic? By completing quests assigned by characters you encounter and fighting enemies along the way. The quest design is very unique in Original Sin 2, because the objective isn’t always straightforward. You may run into some “problems” while doing certain quests or offered choices that change the outcome. Depending on what you decide to do you may end up with either a peaceful solution or a more chaotic ending. Some choices you choose in vertain quests may even affect what happens later on down in the story.
The combat takes awhile to get used to, but once you do understand you'll have one of the most compelling/complex combat systems seen in an RPG. Each character takes turns moving around the battlefield and attacking enemies. Your characters have three bars: a health bar, physical armor, and magic armor. Physical armor will block physical damage, and magic armor will block magic damage. If one of these two types of armor are fully depleted your health bar will begin to drain with one of two types of damages. If your health is depleted you will die. You can be resurrected during or after a fight, but if all your party members die then you have to reload a previous save.
Each of your characters have action points, and they dictate how much you can do during a turn. Attacking requires action points and moving around also requires action. You can save action points for later turns to perform more stuff at once or create certain strategies, but you can only have six action points at once so plan carefully. You can also spend action points on special abilities. These abilities include hitting your enemy with a special attack, shooting magic from your hands, buffing your allies, inflicting ailments, teleporting objects, and much more. Once one of these abilities are used you have to wait a certain amount of turns to use them again. You can make certain characters learn new abilities if you find a book that teaches said ability, but make sure your character has the stat requirements and memory slot to use them. Once they do use the book, the character will have more powers to use.
Fights can get pretty intense if you don’t know what types of attacks to use, but once you do cut down an enemies defense try to target them with certain types of damage. You can loot gear off of enemies and this includes crafting material and new armor. Armor is important, because depending on the rarity level, your armor can give certain stat bonuses. Crafting is important as well, because you need to stock up on healing items for future fights. That and potions to apply buffs and resurrection scrolls.
Another thing to mention is how interactive your surroundings can be. By knowing how certain elements of the world work and where strategic advantage points can be made, you can gain the upper hand and make a difficult fight much easier. Attacking from a higher area with a ranged weapon like a bow may deal more damage. Shooting lightning at a foe will stun them, but electrifying an entire pool of water may stun multiple foes at once or anybody who dares to traverse it. You can instead freeze pools of water to create ice for enemies to slip on, but these effects don't just work with water they also work with pools of blood! Lighting up an area with toxic gas with fire may make it explode similar to lighting an oil canister. Then there's lighting blood which creates necrofire which is extremely more devastating than normal fire.
Final factor I want to mention is Source. Your characters can carry three Source points at once and when used they can perform very powerful abilities. For example this includes Ifan’s ability to summon a wolf companion to fight alongside the team, or Red Prince’s ability to instantly drain a single enemy’s magic armor no matter how powerful they are. Source is rare so use those abilities wisely during fights. I like to remind again that your choices have consequences and the relationship you form with your companions will affect their trust in you. If you treat them respectfully and help them on their personal quests you will form a strong bond. If you do the opposite then you may run the risk of them hating you and leaving the team to embark on their own adventure. I love the companions and their backgrounds in this game, so I made sure to give them the utmost support and did whatever it took to help them.
Side quests have consequences as well and they carry over to the final act of the game. One quest involves you helping someone aboard The Lady Vengeance and uncovering tomes buried within monster infested caverns. Then there’s this other questline which involves the woman who blew up your ship at the beginning of the game. There's the fate of the Elf Kingdom, the Dwarf queen who is secretly smuggling goods and planning a rebellion, the Advocate questline which eventually ties in with the demon lying inside Lohse's head, and much more. All of these quests are very engaging and get you to explore more of the world. Not only that, but it also fleshes out a world that would normally be conceived as stereotypical fantasy. Besides that there really isn’t much to explain about Original Sin 2. With your new best friends you’ll bring justice to Rivellon and become the next Divine! Echoes of light, drink from the well to ascend, and god are awoken! Echoes of light, tearing the threads of the veil again!
Thoughts
Divinity: Original Sin 2 was a game I found both hard to play and review. There is so much love and effort put into it that the product overall is near perfection. The combat was very difficult at first. I was walking in expecting a very consistent learning curve, but what I got instead was a challenging experience. Don’t come into Divinity: Original Sin 2 and hope it offers you a warm welcoming hug. This game will whoop your ass if you don’t come prepared or refuse to understand the several mechanics it throws into your face. It got so challenging that I ended up playing the game on the lower difficulty settings and it was still pretty challenging! There are so many systems that it felt overwhelming at times, but the combat does make up for it by being really satisfying.
When all the systems and mechanics finally click the combat transforms from bearable to satisfactory. Planning out each move, repositioning your characters to advantage points, learning when to unleash powerful attacks, and forging the right team who can work together. The amount of build variety is also what contributes to the rock solid combat as you want to see what does what and how could help you going forward. Killing powerful enemies will oftentimes drop very useful loot and even if you find something you don't want you can sell it for items you'd rather have instead.
Another factors that kept pushing forward was the world building. Even the smallest of quests have very intriguing storylines. One of the earliest quests in the game is to help a blind elf named Sahelia figure out what happened to her people and it extends out towards the end of Sebille’s questline where you must decide what fate lies for the future of elves. I helped a dwarf named Lohar deal with his associates, helped a succubus Sourcerer named Almira gain her freedom, let a hunter named Jahan help us track down Lohse’s demon, and they were all very enjoyable adventures to embark on. Speaking of companions, they have to be my most favorite characters in the game! The game does a great job making you connect with them, understand the struggles they have to push through, that you may be the only friend they ever had, and wanting you to see what happens to them next. You can even romance them if you like! Just for the record I ended up romancing Lohse cause she was cute. Not cute as in a hot way. I mean cute as in an adorable way. Like she was the most positive person of the whole group and she would do whatever it took to make us happy. Which is weird because she has a demon in her head which could take full control of her body at any time.
The amount of options and branching paths the game has is bigger than I imagined. A simple conversation can turn awry very quickly, and while you may make mistakes from time to time the game still finds a way to make you play past your mistakes. Most of the time. The world is actually more colorful than I thought it would be. A beautiful world is what I have to say. I journeyed through tropical shores, farmlands, undead crypts, ancient temples, elven kingdoms, a spiraling academy, and many more. The graphics are beautiful, but the game does tend to have framerate drops when too much stuff is happening on screen. This may mainly be due to my end since I was playing on an original Playstation 4 and the game was clearly designed to be played on PC or consoles with strong performance. There is an infinite amount of replay value thanks to the amount of content packed into the game.
The main quest for Divinity: Original Sin 2 is mostly memorable, but it’s the story you make for yourself that stands out. The world is brimming with history and it’s up to you to discover it. I do have a few more minor gripes with the game. Quests have multiple paths which I love, but sometimes they give you the vaguest direction of what to do. Sometimes you’ll end up running around the world not knowing what to do, only to step into a high level area and get killed within a few turns. Another complaint I have is that quest descriptions should probably give you level recommendations. Sometimes you’ll be given a quest that is three or four levels higher than your team and the only way to tell if it's higher leveled than you is the enemies you end up fighting. Kind of a waste of time to make the player walk into their own death and lose progress quickly, but it can also be a good thing as it allows players to discover information by themselves without having it being spewed in their face. It also creates an incentive for the player to come back later when their party is much stronger. That’s the design philosophy that New Vegas approaches, and I absolutely love New Vegas and how the game creates incentives for the player to explore and work towards becoming better.
The amount of freedom, choice, and reward there is what makes Original Sin 2 an RPG player's dream. Kinda like how my love for Bloodborne grew once I got better at the game. I had no idea what I was doing my first playthrough, but by spending more time with the game I began to understand it. Overall while Divinity: Original Sin 2 may not be appealing to every gamer out there it appeals to a specific niece and achieves about everything it sets out to do. An extraordinary game that I can strongly recommend to several RPG fans. It will probably take most people fifty hours to beat the game, but that long runtime is justified with the payoff at the end. There are one and done games, and then there are games you wish you could spend more time in. Like this masterpiece. In the end I give Divinity: Original Sin 2 a 9.5/10 for excellence at best.
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