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Divinity: Original Sin 2 Review - Saucy saucy source
8 years ago
One thing I will say this for the series: This is NOT a game for everyone. If you enjoy tactical turn based combat with planning, strategy, and teamwork required for even some smaller fights, in a more Dungeon and Dragons type setting, this will be the game for you. If you're not sure, go ahead and give it a try, in my opinion.
Follow up to the original Divinity: Original Sin, Larian studios took the formula, looked at what made it good, what were the complaints, and took some shoe polish and some passion to turn the next game in the series something memorable.
And they succeeded.
Graphics - 9/10
Once again, the Larian studios did a great job creating a world that as visually stunning. From the character details that almost look like tabletop miniatures, to animated displays of magic and combat, the graphics on the game's engine delivers exactly how it should. There are a noticeable issues from occasional 'cutaways' not working, or the field of view haze not working quite right, but nothing game breaking.
Gameplay - 10/10
Like an online table top game of D&D, the game flows quickly and efficiently, while giving you the feeling you are playing a campaign, alone or with friends. Designed with coop in mind, while also being able to play alone with companions, the game opens up to a multitude of options, strategies, and synergies that you can tap into and enjoy toying with for hours. Every spell, every combo, every combat art is designed to work together, or even against each other in a logical manner, while dialogue and choices come in an intricate web that you easily get lost in. Top that off they have filled almost every corner of the game with content, making sections of emptiness a rare thing.
Story - 10/10
Unlike the first game, which started off rather slow in its first 10 hours, the story of Divinity: Original Sin 2 drops you right into the heart of your story. The action, the reason, and your goals come quite clear early on, and the game is quick to bring you into not just your story, but the story of your companions, and even the world at large. The devs really pulled out the big guns to make the game far more fleshed out and interesting, making almost every corner of the map you reach have something of interest to discover.
Sound - 8/10
To be blunt, the sound and music is quality stuff, but it does have a few short falls when it comes to skipping audio dialogue on characters, to some 'hitches' in sound after loads. The music followed its predecessor, beautiful tunes that give the atmosphere to the story that it really needs, sometimes making you want to just stop for a moment and listen. With the added bonus that your character can have a specified 'Instrument' assigned to them as their turn comes up in combat gives that strongly personal feeling. Voices from the characters interacting, to even the Narrator, now fully voiced, speaking to you like your DM of your campaign, makes the game really come alive! However, there are a few glaring issues, as sometimes the game will 'skip' your character's audio as they talk among each other or to NPCs. Another bug I run into is sometimes after a save, voices will not load before dialogue, leaving you silently reading the text till the game finally catches up. Perhaps something that will be patched in the future.
Replayability - 9/10
From coop playing, multiple difficulties, modding, and downloadable campaigns from Steam's workshop, the game has a promise to have constant replay value for every hour. Even when playing alone, trying new classes, new options, builds, and paths through the story let you see things you may have missed the whole time. Play as you like, how you like, with only a few (reasonable) restrictions.
Overall - 9/10
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the sequel it promised to be from the original game while not making much change to the original system. Music, graphics, and options all upgraded and expanded for an experience that will be a great game to try for veterans of table top and Turn Based RPGs to newbies looking for a great RPG experience. While a few flaws are present, they will be eventually worked out through patches. With modding support, regional language options, and more coming, this game promises to deliver a long and enjoyable experience.
Follow up to the original Divinity: Original Sin, Larian studios took the formula, looked at what made it good, what were the complaints, and took some shoe polish and some passion to turn the next game in the series something memorable.
And they succeeded.
Graphics - 9/10
Once again, the Larian studios did a great job creating a world that as visually stunning. From the character details that almost look like tabletop miniatures, to animated displays of magic and combat, the graphics on the game's engine delivers exactly how it should. There are a noticeable issues from occasional 'cutaways' not working, or the field of view haze not working quite right, but nothing game breaking.
Gameplay - 10/10
Like an online table top game of D&D, the game flows quickly and efficiently, while giving you the feeling you are playing a campaign, alone or with friends. Designed with coop in mind, while also being able to play alone with companions, the game opens up to a multitude of options, strategies, and synergies that you can tap into and enjoy toying with for hours. Every spell, every combo, every combat art is designed to work together, or even against each other in a logical manner, while dialogue and choices come in an intricate web that you easily get lost in. Top that off they have filled almost every corner of the game with content, making sections of emptiness a rare thing.
Story - 10/10
Unlike the first game, which started off rather slow in its first 10 hours, the story of Divinity: Original Sin 2 drops you right into the heart of your story. The action, the reason, and your goals come quite clear early on, and the game is quick to bring you into not just your story, but the story of your companions, and even the world at large. The devs really pulled out the big guns to make the game far more fleshed out and interesting, making almost every corner of the map you reach have something of interest to discover.
Sound - 8/10
To be blunt, the sound and music is quality stuff, but it does have a few short falls when it comes to skipping audio dialogue on characters, to some 'hitches' in sound after loads. The music followed its predecessor, beautiful tunes that give the atmosphere to the story that it really needs, sometimes making you want to just stop for a moment and listen. With the added bonus that your character can have a specified 'Instrument' assigned to them as their turn comes up in combat gives that strongly personal feeling. Voices from the characters interacting, to even the Narrator, now fully voiced, speaking to you like your DM of your campaign, makes the game really come alive! However, there are a few glaring issues, as sometimes the game will 'skip' your character's audio as they talk among each other or to NPCs. Another bug I run into is sometimes after a save, voices will not load before dialogue, leaving you silently reading the text till the game finally catches up. Perhaps something that will be patched in the future.
Replayability - 9/10
From coop playing, multiple difficulties, modding, and downloadable campaigns from Steam's workshop, the game has a promise to have constant replay value for every hour. Even when playing alone, trying new classes, new options, builds, and paths through the story let you see things you may have missed the whole time. Play as you like, how you like, with only a few (reasonable) restrictions.
Overall - 9/10
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the sequel it promised to be from the original game while not making much change to the original system. Music, graphics, and options all upgraded and expanded for an experience that will be a great game to try for veterans of table top and Turn Based RPGs to newbies looking for a great RPG experience. While a few flaws are present, they will be eventually worked out through patches. With modding support, regional language options, and more coming, this game promises to deliver a long and enjoyable experience.
