Divinity Original Sin 2 Review

Released on September 14, 2017, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the latest in the long running Divinity series of role-playing games. The sequel to 2014’s incredibly well received Divinity: Original Sin, Original Sin 2 seeks to expand and improve on what many consider to be one of the greatest RPGs of all time. But does it succeed? We’ll take an in-depth look and find out in this Divinity Original Sin 2 review.

The World of Divinity: Original Sin 2

Divinity: Original Sin 2, like many RPGs, sets out to create an interesting and lived-in world for the player to immerse themselves in, and a story that pushes them forwards without limiting them. Most critics seem to agree that Original Sin 2 succeeds in these aspects, based on the game’s astronomically high review scores, but let’s take a closer look at these important aspects.

Atmosphere and Location

From the moment the player awakens in the grimy dungeon of a boat at sea, they are fully drawn into the world of Divinity: Original Sin 2. The game’s spectacular attention to detail in the design of its areas fully immerses the player in the world it creates. The world of Original Sin 2 is, for the most part, a relatively generic fantasy world, inhabited by many of the cliches players have come to be familiar with through other fantasy games.

However, the game world is designed with such an impressive eye for detail and consistency that it feels like a real, lived-in space. The bright, colorful art style gives the game’s medieval-inspired architecture a distinctive and vibrant look, and the large amount of detail in the surroundings, on top of factoring into the complex gameplay, makes the world feel far more immersive than any of its contemporaries.

The soundtrack never draws you out of the experience, always providing a fantastic match to what is on screen, be it a sweeping orchestral track for a large battle or a more laid back ambient piece during exploration. Though it may not be something you ever listen to outside of the game, the soundtrack is the perfect companion to the Original Sin 2 experience.

Yes, Divinity: Original Sin 2 may not present the most original fantasy world, being clearly influenced by almost everything that came before it, but it presents itself with such a degree of success that its easy to forgive its lack of originality.

Main Characters

Divinity: Original Sin 2 presents a unique take on character creation. You can choose to create your own character, as in previous games, and the game offers a robust set of tools for doing so. Visual customization is surprisingly in-depth, allowing you to create a character that looks exactly how you imagine them. How your character plays is also customizable to an incredible degree, tying in to the game’s in-depth role-playing elements.

However, Original Sin 2 also allows you to play as one of a set of characters known as “Origin Characters”, which would otherwise be members of your party. The options are wide and varied, from a member of a lizard-like species’ royalty to a human performer possessed by a demon, and each and every one of them is extremely compelling.

These characters all have detailed storylines through which you can progress in any way you see fit, greatly altering the final outcomes. You can also witness each of these storylines from another perspective if you choose not to play as an Origin character and instead simply recruit them. Players who choose to create their own characters will be given plenty of opportunities to make their own stories by interacting with the world and those who inhabit it, as well as being able to follow the game’s main storyline.

Whether you’re playing as one of the amazing Origin characters or creating your own ideal adventurer, Divinity: Original Sin 2’s novel take on character creation greatly enhances the experience and adds an incredible amount of replayability to an already long and compelling game.

Storyline

Original Sin 2 casts each of the playable characters as “Sourcerers”, magic users feared and hunted by society. Having recently been captured by the Magisters, the military arm of an oppressive government, the player finds themselves imprisoned on an island with other Sourcerers.

After escaping the island in the game’s lengthy opening,you find yourself gradually unveiling a conspiracy with massive implications, all the while hunted by the Magisters. The story expands from simply surviving to unraveling a massive conspiracy, going toe-to-toe with everything from bandits to the gods themselves. The story is presented in a way that keeps you interested, never dumping too much expos ition on you at one time and, most importanly, ensuring that you always have control over what happens next.

That’s not to say that the story is completely open-ended, but every choice you make has consequences. The result of this is a game that makes you feel as though you are truly a part of it. By giving you so many choices within an extremely well-written and compelling story, Divinity: Original Sin 2 succeeds at making itself almost impossible to put down. Even if the gameplay doesn’t hook you, the desire to see, and perhaps change, what happens next in its story will keep you going.

DLC and Expansion Packs

Divinity: Original Sin 2 currently only has one piece of paid DLC, “Divine Ascension”. At $14.99, Divine Ascension does not actually add any sort of playable content, simply being a way of purchasing a digital map, art book, soundtrack, and art pack. This is a fantastic value for those interested in the unique audio and visual design of Original Sin 2, and comes highly recommended.

Though lacking any sort of DLC that adds playable content, Original Sin 2 has a very robust set of mod tools and full integration with Steam Workshop, which makes downloading user-created mods easy. This is a fantastic way to add hours of content to the game for free, and makes the lack of DLC far less of an issue for those who wants more of what Original Sin 2 offers.

Verdict

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is more than just a fantastic step up from the games that came before. It’s a resounding success, a game so successful at almost everything it tries that it will be the metric by which role-playing games will be judged going forward.

Its spectacularly complex world and story provide a perfect companion to its rich, tactical combat, and the interesting suite of character creation options allow you to inhabit this world in any way you see fit. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is truly a masterpiece. What did you think? Whether you loved or hated it, feel free to share your opinion, or any thoughts and questions you may have.

8.9

Summary

Pros

• Spectacular scope and depth
• Could easily keep you playing for over 100 hours

Cons

• Confusing journal makes it hard to keep track of individual quests and the plot

Buy Divinity Original Sin 2 from Steam

7.5 Game Story/Plot

9.5 Gameplay and Controls

9 Graphics and Sound

9.5 Replay Value