Divinity: Original Sin II (2017)

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.