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Divinity: Original Sin 2
PC (Steam)
Still Divine for a Second Time
4.5/5 stars
After thoroughly enjoying the first Divinity game as a two-player experience at home, it was time to expand things online with all my friends. Larian Studios have really shined with Divinity and it continues with Divinity II, which is pretty much bigger and better in about ever sense of the word - and not just in size, but in quality. And while some of the changes may not necessarily be for the better - nothing was broken along the way and the scope of the story, characters and the world has been greatly expanded making up for any questionable mechanics in my eyes.
Looks and Stuff: It's not that the first game looked bad - it was just a bit rough around the edges. Divinity II smooths all those edges out and presents a truly and fully fleshed-out game, both in environments, enemies and characters. But the visuals aren't the only thing improved, with a truly impressive vocal cast and a sweeping score to go along with the action. If you want an immersive experience, this is the perfect game to get lost in - even moreso than something like Witcher 3 or Skyrim - and that in of itself is an impressive result.
Story: Epic in every sense of the world - the game takes place in the same world, Rivellon, as the first, but we fast forward quite a bit. In this future time, our Divine Order finds itself rather adrift after the death of Lucian the Divine (kind of like the pope - but with more direct contact with the gods) and the rather underwhelming replacement who is trying to hold things together. To make matters worse, it seems that people who can harness Source (aka magic) are suddenly attracting creatures known as Voidwoken - who tend to kill everyone in sight when they appear. Thus sourcerers of all stripes are being rounded up and taken to Fort Joy (aka magic prison island), fitted with source-cancelling collars and kept under a tight watch by the Magisters. The rather robust introduction lets you take on the role of one of the six origin characters (each with their own in-depth story) or you can create your own from a variety of options including races and whether or not you want to be undead or not. Then it throws you on a ship bound for Fort Joy and lets you explore the myriad mechanics of the game you will be spending the better part of a year playing.
Fort Joy itself is really just an extension of the introduction - and it can be a bit overwhelming at first to realize this huge starting area is just a really long tutorial. You soon learn that your (chosen) characters is one of a handful of Godwoken - that is, an analog to one of the gods in the Rivellon pantheon and can ascend to the Divine if they so choose. Of course, this means escaping Fort Joy, figuring out the issue with the Voidwoken, confronting the current Divine Order and all manner of side quests along the way. In addition, the six origin characters each have their own stories - from dealing with a demonic entity in their head to confronting many shadows of their past - and while you don't have to play as each of the characters to explore their stories (single player can control up to four - if they don't royally piss them off), it provides plenty of incentive for replay.
Gameplay: As in the first game, the large world is presented in a top-down perspective with the ability to wander as you will - talk to every person (and animal, if you have the right perk), take everything in sight (though stealing will get you in trouble) and kill anyone you feel like. Many characters will give you various side-quests and it is advisable to do as many as you can because, as in the first game, enemies are finite and if you will need every drop of XP you can get to improve your stats or you can get in a pickle with later battles. Speaking of stats, you have many - base stats like strength (tank's favorite), finesse (archer's delight), constitution (hp for the win) intelligence (better magics), memory (learn more skills across the board) and wits (spotting secrets, going first in battle and hitting harder). You can also choose from a wide variety of preset classes that let you really dig deep into how you want to play the game. On top of that, civic points let you be a thief, a persuasion machine or identify items. Usually you want to focus on just a couple of these for the best results. Finally you have the rarer talents - including the likes of Pet Pal (talk to animals), Opportunist (attacks of opportunity) and Leech (heal while standing in blood). Talents can both affect combat and the game in general and offer a wide array of combinations to try out.
If you played the first game, combat is going to feel a lot different this time around. That is because the game has decided Physical and Magic armor are now separate things - you have to whittle one or the other down (using physical or magical attacks) before actually doing any real damage. In addition until that bar is consumed, your physical and magic abilities will also not take affect (thus things like knockdown or elemental affects are null and voided). This mechanic does take getting used to and it also seems to nerf some of the best attacks from the first game. Likewise, your own character has their own bar based on the equipment they have on and often you must balance things out because going full physical or magic is recipe for disaster in the long run. That also means your character builds must be taken into account as you must strike a balance with magic, unfortunately, proving somewhat underwhelming compared to a full-on physical assault.
Replay value: Off the charts, provided you want to sink several hundred hours into this world more than once.
Final Verdict: If you enjoyed Divinity or any of the other games like it, this is a home run and despite some changes to the mechanics, manages to be a bright, shining light among the crowd.
Presentation: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replay: 5/5
Overall (not an average): 4.5/5
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