Divinity: Original Sin II is the fifth game in the Divinity series, featuring high difficulty and a turn-based combat system. Similar to the first game in the series, the second game was re-developed by the Belgian development studio Larian. It's also worth noting that the development process was partially funded by a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. At the time, over 2 million dollars was raised.

Although the story takes place about a thousand years after the events described immediately after Beyond Divinity, the player is again transported to a fantasy world known as Rivellon. This time, however, the player takes on the role of a character who wields the power of the Source. The previous game put the player in control of two hunters who were after the masters of this forbidden magic.

The conflict between these two factions is still ongoing and the character controlled by the player is on the run from the representatives of the Order who are trying to pursue them. At the same time, the protagonist struggles to put an end to the crisis caused by the invasion of monsters from the Void that resulted from the death of the Divine. This entire setting also brings a different atmosphere than the first Original Sin offered, as it's noticeably heavier and more serious here.

This time the player begins to create a character representing one of the several races available. Another important innovation in the character creation process is that the player can add a background to their character's picture. They can also be male or female, depending on the hero's background, the inhabitants of the game world react to their presence in various ways and can even give them different tasks. As a result, the role-playing layer of the game is deeper than in the previous game and the problems put before the protagonist can be solved in more ways.

The second game further develops the mechanics from the previous games. The biggest changes are in the combat system, as the ability to climb platforms or towers has been added and the effect of heights on the characters' fighting abilities has been taken into account. Action points are calculated in a somewhat simplified way here, with most actions costing between 1 and 3 points to perform.

Also, the developers have added new skills and item combinations. A good use of these can tip the balance in favor of the player's victory in battle. The powers of the resource are another novelty worth mentioning. Although the player needs to find and refill special resource points to use these powers, the time invested in this is worth it as it gives you access to extremely powerful and dangerous abilities.

As with the previous game, the adventure can be experienced by up to four players. The relationship between groups of players can easily turn into individual rivalries as well. Apart from that, Larian Studios includes a separate online mode that places groups of four players against each other in creatively designed arenas. Participants take on the roles of predetermined characters and compete against each other in different variations of classic modes with names like capture the flag or king of the hill.

The second game uses an improved version of the engine used to make the first game, namely the Divinity Engine 3.0. This technology provides significantly better graphics than the previous Divinity game, apart from more advanced physics and DirectX 12 support. The game offers over 100 hours of gameplay with all side content. It also has different endings depending on the choices made by the player, so there's a good chance you'll play it again to see it all.

(This review copied over from Steam, initially written June 7, 2021)

I started this game during some of the initial months of COVID in August 2020, when a couple friends suggested that it’s like a tabletop RPG (“TTRPG”) and might be fun to play together weekly. Admittedly, I couldn’t get into it at first, mostly due to distraction, but once we got a good third of the way through the first act, I was intrigued. I then became more hooked each session and by the fifth or so, I was loving the game and actively looking forward to our game nights. Once we were roughly halfway through, I started a solo save to catch up to where we were, more thoroughly following the story on my own. It took us about 6 months to finish the game, but we never missed a week of playing in all that time and I completed my solo game soon after. While it was partially the social aspect of hanging out with friends online, it’s not an exaggeration to say that this game helped me stay sane during one of the craziest times of my life thus far and it will always hold a special place for me because of that. But that was also in large part because this game is simply awesome. It’s probably the only game that I ended up loving despite not enjoying the first solid 8 hours or so of gameplay.

OS2 is essentially a TTRPG adapted to a fully realized digital world. While it has mechanics you might expect for a game going for that feel such as dialogue options, it does several other unique things to achieve that feel. For instance, one of the appeals of a TTRPG is that you can do whatever you want within the logic of the game, not just narratively, but with how you maneuver in combat. Considering the limitations of a finite game, OS2 allows for a multitude of combat options that never feels limited, even though obviously it is to some extent. The environment is highly interactable and can be used to your advantage with dynamic and creative environmental conditions. Skills like teleport and various battlefield-warping abilities also do much more clever things beyond just dealing damage. There’s also the system of physical and magic armor that prevents conditions, adding a layer of complexity that encourages strategic play, even though it’s deceptively simple on the surface. I still felt like I had the variety of options available in a TTRPG, even if it was limited to a finite combination of options. It says a lot when being stuck on a given fight could be solved by a better approach rather than simply trying to level up.

Other TTRPG elements deal with the world-building, story, and tone. There’s a rich world with lots of peoples with their own rich histories and varied proclivities, interacting with internal and external factions and nations with their own agendas. I like that the different peoples and factions aren’t the usual monoliths common to fantasy and demonstrate internal diversity. There’s plenty of lore to be explored in Rivellon that makes the stories and locations you encounter come to life.

The tone achieved by the narrative is also on point. One commonality to a lot of TTRPGs is a serious story that inevitably has some silliness as the players get up to some mischief or another. This leads to dramatic and intriguing storylines that are willing to step back for a moment of humor that (ideally) doesn’t break you out of the story. This is exactly how I’d describe OS2. The story is fairly serious and involves some dark themes at times, but at numerous points, especially side quests, there are amusing NPCs and conversations galore that never quite break the narrative but add a good deal of clever humor and even some laugh-out-loud moments without straying into the just plain goofy territory that pulls you from the narrative.

This isn’t the prettiest game I’ve played for its time, but still looks great and I think it’s balanced very well with the playstyle, offering vivid, immersive, appealing scenery that isn’t too confusing to navigate. The audio design is amazing. Sound effects are fine, but the soundtrack is superb. I generally dislike the sort of generic DnD folksy tavern style music that this soundtrack mostly fits into. But for whatever reason, these songs just click with me and never blend together like much of that kind of music usually does to me. If I hear a song from this game, I’ll recognize it immediately. Some tracks are better than others, but overall, they all work quite well. The vast majority of the massive script is also competently voiced, which is incredible.

I found the story pretty strong. There is a main quest full of twists and turns, personal to your character that you must progress to move on with the game. There are a number of side quests as well, a staple of RPGs that can be really hit or miss. While not quite as good as some of the best side quests like Witcher 3, I think the side quests are generally very good. OS2 dodges dull fetch quests and “please kill the rats in my cellar” quests. Even the simplest quests often are made more interesting in some way, such as an early quest in which you have to fight a trio of saltwater crocodiles who have swallowed a pair of teleportation gloves that will be super useful once you get them. The quests are almost always engaging in some way given the strong writing of NPCs and the worldbuilding features that makes these quests entertaining in their own right even aside from the consequent exploration and challenge. None of the quests did I feel like was just some random bullshit I was doing solely to get experience.

There are 6 pre-made characters to choose from. I’ll call these “canon PCs.” Each canon PC has a continuing personal quest such as Lohse’s quest to rid herself of demonic possession or Sebille’s quest for revenge. These quests are a great way to flesh out the main characters, even if they’re not super long and only come up intermittently. Through several playthroughs, I played through the story quests of every canon PC. While my favorites are Lohse, Fane, and Sebille, none of the personal stories fell flat and I can’t imagine playing through the game with one of them in your party without doing their personal quests. Beware, if you make a custom character, you don’t get a personal story.

The gameplay is great. This is almost definitely my favorite combat system for a pure turn-based RPG. The combat is in a lot of ways closer to “turn-based strategy” than purely “RPG,” but this fits the TTRPG style with line of sight, distance, range, positioning, area of effect, enemy weaknesses, and build diversity all being important to your success in a given battle. There’s a wealth of options for each of your four party members to invest in and combine. Even after three playthroughs, there are still styles and skill combinations I’m interested in trying out some time.

This game can be played in a group or solo. In a solo game, you get one main character and fill your party with up to three of the other canon PCs. As a group, each of you plays their own main character, filling any other slots with side characters. It was really fun experiencing, commentating, and poking fun at the story’s events as a group of three. I enjoyed my group game a bit more on balance, but that will depend on your group. If you have a hard time following the story when communicating with your group, it may not be as enjoyable but we mostly were able to follow it despite talking the whole time on voice chat. The gameplay is solid, but you’re really missing out if you can’t pay attention to the narrative this game has to offer so I’d prioritize that. I found solo play easier as it gives you more control over party synergy and coordination and I was better able to engage with the story and learn the basics of gameplay and strategy. The other major difference is in a group, you have to make sure to listen in on conversations with NPCs or you simply miss story, so you have to coordinate.

Ultimately, this game rocks. On the whole, I loved it and would have to look for things to complain about, the majority of them very minor.

My group and I finally did it, we beat Divinity Original Sin 2!

I want to start with what really worked with the game.

This game takes a very open approach to building your character. You can dip and choose from different styles of play, some things work well with just a splash, but you get rewarded with better damage and abilities by investing deeper. What works particularly well with this system is after act 1 you have access to free respeccing for your character. So if you don't like how it works at higher level, boom go visit the mirror and change it. You still need to buy new equipment, but this is much better then just being stuck in a 100+ hour campaign with a bad build.

The combat is amazing here, with great interactions between elements, status, and armor. Combat is challenging, and you will fail if you don't take time to have a plan. What is nice is there isn't just one way to do things, you could focus on bruising in melee, blasting at range and with magic, summoning and stunning foes, or a mix of the above. It really shines once you start to get more abilities to work together, and planning for the entire team is essential.

The balance of character builds is solid, but not completely the same. I found Summoning to be particularly overpowered. So if you are struggling, just pivot a character into a summoner.

Exploration is really neat in Divinity, there is a lot to see, with puzzles, interesting NPC interactions, and rewards (or traps) around every corner. It isn't quite open world, because you are stuck in a region based on the part of the game you are in, but within that region you can freely explore, but be warned, areas levels are pre-set, so you can stumble into areas too challenging for you (and frequently will).

Divinity doesn't hold your hand with guiding the party, if you aren't paying attention to NPC and quest dialogue, it is very easy to lose the thread of where to go next. This is both a strength and weakness, it rewards players who want to put a bit more thought into their progression, but if you have a gap between playing it can be tough to figure out where to go next.

The cast of characters you can pick from all have great backstories, and since you can only have 4/6 it does give great replayability to the game. (More on NPCs/ Story in a bit)

All of these things make the game a great single player experience, however, it really shines in multiplayer. Managing the team of characters can be a lot, not so bad during combat, but when interacting with NPCs, exploring, trying to use skills, it can be overwhelming. Letting each player control one or a few characters helps this a lot. Even better, people don't need to be at every play session for the game to work!

My group and I had a lot of fun exploring and creating our own situations and stories. The game is so free form that we got in a TON of hilarious moments, based on bumbling social encounters, very similar to a D&D play session.

I highly recommend playing this with friends, it makes it that much more exciting.

The game isn't perfect, I think the story is a little convoluted, some players will have a hard time following it. I don't think it is the strongest core story, which is odd since at its root it is about people fighting for divinity. But, each of the players characters have really amazing backstories and unique interactions with NPCs that I think helps balance this. Sebille and Red Prince were two I really liked.

NPCs have an impressive amount of personality and amazing voice work, even the animals! However, I don't think the flow of quests and interactions always rewards these relationships as well as some RPGs I play. With a few exceptions a lot of NPCs sort of disappear into the background as just Merchant X, or guy who does blank. I think this could be due to some of the gaps in play sessions I had, as well as the wide variety of choices that could be made. It does have the benefit of putting players and a few key NPCs at the core of the game.

Overall, I'm really happy to have played this game, and am eyeing up a second playthrough already!

This game is a fun time, but is long and the combat instances don't seem to get weaker as you go along. The kowledge of how to enjoy this game will be important:

We got halfway into the second area. In standard RPG's you have a gruelling first few levels, but as you get stronger less of the world is a threat to you. In this game, the encounters are long and arduous in each major area you head into (especially at the start). This can burn people out, and if you play with friends, the first friend burnt out will end your campaign.

Loot is also a massive problem as a group. You have a few choices, arduously communicate what you find and share, or play first come first served. Both will be annoying. My recommendation is to all pick separate weapons (1) and Armor types (2), and attribute (3) that you will have priority in obtaining, meaning that you won't get blocked from progressing because your friends sold key items for your characters build.

Playing with friends also means that your understanding of the story may be limited. And thus, long term enjoyment inhibited.

You will also have a bad time if you don't understand effective RPG character building. You will need to specialise each character so that when they do a thing it is done well. Jack of all traits master of none is a bad idea. Alternatively, look up broken builds if you want to have fun moreso than a challenge.

Side quests will get easier the further into each area you get, as you unlock more fast travel points. Just exploring and talking to everyone will complete you a large portion of side quest and main quest activities.

This game suffers from the same annoying problem that made me not like D:OS1 very much; it’s an open world game that punishes exploration. I actually started it on Switch years ago and gave up on it pretty early because every fight even as early as Fort Joy was way too difficult. Then I came back to it on GOG and went much further this time.

However, much as I did with D:OS1, I gave up before finishing. In the first game, it was because I simply could not get myself to try and collect the items needed to access the final level when I discovered that my normal playthrough meant I hadn’t acquired enough. This time with #2, my saves got corrupted and I didn’t care enough to go back to a much earlier save and replay significant portions of the game.

I did enjoy it a bit more than 1. I’m not sure why. I’m single now and have more time to devote to gaming; important for a game that’s difficult to play casually. I was more willing to turn to walkthroughs due to the lessons I learned in the first game; namely, that the game ultimately punishes you for skipping optional quests or completing quests in the wrong way.

Still, this definitely wouldn’t make my recommendation list. I’m glad to say that BG3 turned out to be an amazing game. Playing these two games first gave me some concern.

Divinity: Original Sin II is a masterpiece in every way. It has been a long time that I played a game so unbelievably beautiful, well made and fun as this one.

In Divinity: Original Sin II, you are pulled in into a massive story, full of lore, past events and former rules. The story is huge and detailed, but if to sum it up, you play as a Sourcerer who has been captured by the Magisters, an order that wants to rid the world of source. Sourcerers command divine like powers that make them really powerful, something that the Divine Order wants to wipe out or contain where possible. You escape the ship in which you are transported to a prison island, called Fort Joy, because a Kraken attacks the ship and you fall into the water. A mysterious voice, calling you “Godwoken” apparently saves you. You wash up at Fort Joy, in which your journey begins.

The world is being infested with Void Woken, monstrous creatures from another dimension. You learn of your Godwoken status and what it means and your destiny to become the next divine. You need to travel through different continents to reach Arx, where Lucian the Divine is buried. On your journey, you meet various characters, complete many different quests, increase your Source powers and defeat numerous foes. Lucian’s tomb is the key to reach divinity and restore balance to the world, all while stopping the Void Woken from consuming everything and everyone. When you finally reach it, a massive plot twist unfolds that is too good to spoil. This is something that one has to experience for themselves.

Divinity: Original Sin II is the ultimate definition of an RPG. The combat is turn based, you earn XP and gold, can invest in many different skills that help you on your adventure and you can have a party of four characters. Combining different tactics and skills is essential and you are free to fill this in however you want. Each character is not bound to be a fighter or mage, and with the right skills and attributes, you can create whatever party you like.

You are free to roam the current island/map in every way you like. However, multiple quests, enemies and scenarios on different skill levels are present and there might be a situation in which your level 7 sorry ass is trying to take on a level 10 boss for a side quest, that outright destroys you. But complete some other quests first, level up and try again afterwards, and you will note that it becomes much easier this time around. What you do and how you approach it, is all up to you.

You can craft your own stuff, like potions, food items for healing, arrows and many others. Just collect enough garbage and stuff in the world around you and experiment with the items by combining them. Alternatively, you can find many recipe books that teaches you new crafting recipes. Although most of the times you are better off with just finding items instead of crafting them, combining shoes with nails for example, grants you immunity to slipping over ice, a crucial and very helpful feat.

I like the fact that you can interact with everything in the world. You can pick up everything, drop barrels and crates on your enemies, use the terrain, and talk to animals. You want to fill your inventory with buckets or dirty dishes? No problem, you can do that. The only limit is your creativity. The game also lets you take different approaches to certain situations. If you are not skilled enough to pick locks, and you really want to enter that nice looking room or open that wooden chest, you can always just bash your way through it. Does a vendor not want to corporate? Just murder his ass and take all the shiny goodies (or a certain key item that he refuses to give you) off him.

When you talk to NPC’s, everything is possible. You can convince them to give you something or to do something for you, they can hate you, love you or outright attack you. Nothing is scripted and whole side quests and later parts of the story can be dismissed or failed because you decided to plant a sword between Gareth’s eyes on Reapers Coast. That is the beauty of this game. It adapts to every situation, no matter what you choose or did in the earlier levels. You got full control of the story and how it will unfold and there are four different endings, depending on how you played and who you left alive. The most XP can be earned by completing all the side quests, assuming you let NPC’s live.

The best thing about Divinity: Original Sin II is the way combat is played out. A higher level enemy does not necessarily need to be invincible. There is always a way or tactic to beat the situation. Use the terrain, use teleporting powers, telekinesis, healing and buffs to get the upper hand. There were so many battles that I won by being creative, and one time, one character stayed behind, resurrected my fallen teammates, teleported them to safety, geared up again and then rejoined the battle, winning it in the end. You can experiment endlessly with this game and that makes it so great.

Divinity: Orignal Sin II is hard, really hard. The difficulty is legendary. It is kind of unforgiving to new players and requires some serious strategy and planning. If you made some all-round characters and just “go with the flow”, you are going to have a bad time later on in the game. However, it can be stupid easy when you know what skills and attributes match up pretty well. If you create “the perfect party” in which everything is exactly balanced, you will have no issue blazing through this game.

The graphics and music are beautiful in this game. It looks stunning, alive and detailed, and combined with the excellent fight tracks and the calming ambient music, you really feel like living in a fantasy land, far away from the troubles of everyday life. It is just glorious.

There are just so many things you can do, try, or experiment with in this game, the possibilities are almost endless. You never get bored and there is always something new to discover. The battles are amazing, the humor is spot on, the story is solid and I can do nothing else than praise it.

Divinity: Original Sin II is just perfection in every way and there has yet to be a game that matches it.

Absolutely recommend this work of art to everyone.