After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Divinity: Original Sin turned out to be a sleeper hit. It gave the old school cRPG (Computer Role Playing Game) a new lease on life, with excellent writing that's full of humour and wit as well as an addictive-element-based battle system. Now, after several months of being in a playable beta state, Divinity: Original Sin 2 (DOS 2) has been launched, and it's even better than the first, but by a very slim margin.
What's it about?
Sourcerers are those gifted individuals who are able to use the Source for magic. So they have been hunted, outlawed and imprisoned by the Divine Order, an organisation that believes that the Source is only for themselves and their righteous magisters. You play as a party of four Sourcerers who escape the clutches of the Divine Order and journey to confront and destroy it.
In the first DOS, you selected two main characters, but in the sequel it goes a more traditional way with you selecting one. Except, taking a page out of Dragon Age Origins, you can play as one of a few hero characters, you will encounter and can recruit to join your party throughout the game. You can select and create your own character from four distinct races too, but with the hero characters you do get an additional personal quest line. This also adds a whole new level of re-playability, as you can always restart the game with another origin story to explore.
The story of DOS 2 is a lot more dynamic this time around with greater momentum. It follows a more linear path initially, whereas in the first game it was more focused on finishing quests. The story is engaging, especially the side quests. However, the real hero of DOS 2 is the battle system.
How does it play?
DOS 2 is all about discovering and finding your way through the game. There is no hand-holding here. From the very beginning you can choose between pre-rolled characters with their own interesting backstory or you can create one of your own. However, most players may find it frustrating, especially later when you realise you have made a mistake in creating your party. A lot of the charm lies in restarting the game and taking another path. Either follow the personal storylines of the pre-set hero characters or select a skeleton undead hero of your own and carve out your path through the game.
One downside is that many of the quests have no palpable markers, but there is a positive to this. Like in one early quest, I had to find the real thief to save a wrongfully imprisoned elf. In most games, they mark a few likely suspects. Yet here, there was an entire village of people to interrogate with no clear direction. There was an old-school fun in seeking out the villain. This is the same with all the quests, as DOS 2 forces you to play the game in the most organic way possible.
What stood out the most is the quality of writing and the sheer scale of the voice-acted dialogue, with every hero character having their own dialogue tree based on their backstory. The humour is subtle and slapstick, but it always hit home with real heart, sticking its tongue out at high fantasy tropes. The second aspect which is extremely well done is the battle system. This is a more streamlined version of the first game, letting you use elements to your advantage. Create a puddle or vapour cloud and you can electrify it, the same way you can burn oil or certain gasses. Trapping and tricking enemies into your environmental mischief will have you replaying battles just to experiment with different methods. To say it's brilliant is an understatement.
Despite being a top down cRPG, DOS 2 looks stunning, with every screen packing in an astounding amount of detail in textures. Whether it’s the sandy beaches strewn with debris to the scraggy rock holds and architecture of the ruins. There's even an opening scene with a massive sea monster emerging from the depths to pull down your ship. Intense and very beautiful stuff.
Should you get it?
If you want a game that's deep in story with a fun tactical battle system, then look no further.
Julian Almeida is a tech and gaming enthusiast who hopes to one day finish his sci-fi novel