The short version:
Divinity: Original Sin aims to be a modern day Ultima 7 and is reminiscent of many of the older games in the genre, it will make many of you who did like games such as Baldurs Gate II and Planescape Torment very happy indeed, especially if you also like turn based tactical combat. Players will be able to create a team, make choices and see how the consequences of their actions bear out.

The long version:
This is a game with little to no hand holding and it does not insult your intelligence by making this game accessible to your five year old sister, no this game is a deep tactical turn-based RPG experience. Not only will you have freedom over your choices in the story (consequences and choices, even disagreements, will affect how things go), but also in how you get there.

You will be forced to interact with the world and speak to the people in it to gain information and quests, this is especially true as there are no exclamation marks over their heads telling you that this person is important or that they have information you need. It's also a game that rewards exploration, should you be careless enough you could find yourself completely missing out on certain quests. You can even kill most npc's in the game should you wish to do so (with the exception of a very few plot specific ones), but be careful of what you decide to do, there will be consequences for your actions.

There will be puzzles, lots of traps and mysteries to solve and interesting ways to approach many of the quests, you have the freedom to go wherever you want and the areas/monsters -wont- scale to your level, meaning you could die a very horrible death by exploring too far when you are low level. You could also be very skillful with the items/weapons at hand and somehow actually kill that level four troll while you are just a meager level two knight.

Being a rogue is especially fun as you can steal nearly everything, including snatching paintings off the walls, pick pocketing their weapons or even keys to their homes for a later "visit". Stealth is also very viable when stealing, but be careful, if you are caught people will dislike you and that will affect prices and information you can get, eventually you will be thrown into jail. Once there your partner can either come and bust you out or... well.. i wont spoil the surprise for you, suffice to say that there are more ways than one to get out of jail.

Party-based turn-based combat will encourage players to shape and control the game's environments, and to discover and utilize various skill and spell combos that you can choose for your party members

But the best part is the superb co-op experience, gone are the days when only player 1 gets to decide upon important decisions. You can both talk to any and all npcs and you both take part in dialogues during important events or with certain npcs, and should you two disagree on how to resolve a quest or dialogue you can have your characters argue over it. They will also react to certain things, for example, if you steal something your partner can start up a dialogue with you to either condone your actions or condemn them.

As to not spoil anything in the game this example is merely fiction and not present in the game. (Not to my knowledge at least)

example: You find a valuable gem on the beach and player 1 wants to sell it while player 2 wants to try and find the owner of it, stating that its immoral to take such a valuable object from someone who obviously dropped it.

Player one then gets a few different dialogue options to try and talk some sense into the other player's character, he can choose between a string of diffrent types of retorts and some might be intimidate, persuade, charm etc. After he has chosen his retort player two can choose a counter argument and will utilize the skill you chose and a game of rock, paper, scissors will commence, you will utilize the skillpoints in that particular skill you choose to gain an advantage over your friend in this game.

Depending on the outcome it will either be in favor of your decision or not, this will also give you points in various personality traits such as romantic or pragmatic depending on what you choose to say and these points will net you bonuses to your personality and other skills. Also it can be quite possible to make the two characters hate/love each other in the end.

This went on far longer than i intended so i will end this here by saying that the game is great and hopefully it will stay as amazing as it is now throughout the whole game (currently playing through it). Also, im Swedish so my english and grammar is not perfect, apologies for that.

In a gaming world full of handholding, uninspired battle systems, and just sheer crap, Divinity is a shining diamond in the rough.

Graphics - 9/10:
Loot-based, dungeon-crawling RPGs are never known for their graphics so I will rate it on a level equivalent to similar games like Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3. I'm going to put this simply - Divinity is ****ing gorgeous. The art direction is spot on, the colors are bright and bring the world to life, and the character designs are great too. You won't feel like you're trudging through the same damn dungeon or cave for the 50th time in a row. Everywhere feels unique. You'll traverse vast forests of green, blistering cold mountain tops, firey fields of skeletons and so much more. It's a well-imagined world that makes the game worth of a 9/10 score in the graphics department.

Sound - 8/10:
So don't expect full voice overs or anything like that. There will be spoken dialogue from time to time- particularly from your main characters, but for the most part NPCs' dialogue is all written (but very well written mind you). So why am I giving it an 8 for sound? Because the music is some of the best I've heard in a video game...EVER!

Story - 8/10:
You're a Source Hunter (yeah I know...just another cliche name for a hero that's received his title and known for aboloshing evil magic and foes from the land). But don't let that make you overlook what's an otherwise pretty good story as far as loot-based RPGs go. You start out by coming to town to solve a murder. I think this mystery-style beginning really helps drive the games gameplay. Divinity: OS expects you to listen to NPCs, pick up on subtle hints found in text and side character dialogue, and really just discover, discover, discover to unravel the story and new missions.

It's worth noting that some may as a result get really frustrated by this lack of handholding; I on the other hand think it's great and really helps add to the game's charm.

Gameplay - 11/10:
This is where the game shines. All aspects of this game are fun. As stated earlier, the clue-finding and unravelling of the story are fun. You'll be posed with hints, clues, and puzzles which will lead to scratching your head, yet always persistant on unlocking the next series of quests.

Beyond this, the interactions amongst your party's characters and NPCs is fun. Divinity includes a rock-paper-scissors style mini-game to determine the outcome of conversations. I know it sounds weird, but it's actually really fun. If an NPC is not particularly interested in giving up information to you, then you can try to beat him at a game of RPS.

Where this game truly shines though is in the battle system. Everything is action point and turn-based driven. Depending on speed and initiative, an order to character turns will be determined at the beginning of the fight (similar to FFX). Character's can obviously use special skills and spells to influence their turn postions. You also have action points for each turn which again is stat-driven based on a characters constitution among other things. Obviously different skills and spells take different amount of points to cast depending on their power and your overall skill level.

So far I'm sure this sounds like a pretty standard turn-based battle system. BUT WAIT - THERE's MORE. Truly the best part about Divinity is the unique use of elemental environments. Characters can cast spells, blow up barrles, and manipulate the environment in all sorts of ways to overcome foes.

Group of enemies standing in a puddle of water? Shoot an electric bolt to make them all stunned for 3 turns. No puddle of water? No problem- cast a rain spell first across the battlefield to create your own puddles then shock it.

Of course that's a simplistic approach that you'll learn how to do in the first 10 minutes of the game. I won't mention the other awesome environmental elements you can manipulate 'cause I think Divinity is one of those games where part or if its spirit is the unknown. There's A LOT to learn in this game. There is, for instance, both crafting and blacksmithing skills in the game, that is so deep and complex, that after 40 hours of playing, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface yet.

Overall 10/10: It's one of the best RPGs I've ever played - hands down. You're really not doing yourself any favors by passing on this game. In fact, I'd call you a fool if you did. This game should be played by every and any person that considers themselves a gamer.

Divinity Orginal Sin = Baldurs Gate 3!

Seriously, after i started the game and played it for the first hour i had to shut it down and make sure, that i actualy started Divinity: Original Sin[/b] , because it was just THAT good! :D

Its basicaly Baldurs Gate 3 and it will also be one of the best coop games ever. You can play the wohle game with drop in/drop out co-op with some friend/random guy. You can have a total of 8 Characters (2 starting chars, 2 henchman and 1 summon each). There are currently 4 companions (full story) and 42 Henchmens (hireable for gold). More will be released for free.

On game start you create 2 Chars. You can fully customize em, like gender, class, perks, skills, stat points etc. There are no restrictions and you can actualy make some crazy characters.

Fighter with earth magic who uses 2 hand weapons, crossbow and tanking skills? check.

Rogue with teleport powers, haste, backstab and charming skills? check.

Witch that curses, throws fireballs, heals your party while beeing guarded by a huge lighting elemental? check

Ranger with cooking skill, sneaking, able to talk to animals and trading + crafting skills? check

The visuals Spell SFX are realy amazing. And bloody hell, this game is challenging! No, there isnt any crap like flys or rats to kill. An undead knight is actualy as strong as your own fighter char. If you make one wrong descision or move, youre dead....thats simply it :D.

For example, if you fight an undead army (3 fighters, 1 mage, 2 archer for example) and just one undead fighter gets near your mage, he will kill your mage in 2-3 hits :).

i recommend playing the game in co-op with 2 chars that have the lone wolf perk. This way, its basicaly 2 vs the rest of the world, while each player has a realy strong and epic char due to the lone wolf stat bonuses. Lone Wolf makes the character unable to hire an companion but he gets huge bonuses (like 70% more life, more AP) but you can still summon. So in the end you can have the 2 chars + 2 summons if you play with lone wolf perk.

Combat in this game is turn based. All actions use action points, the faster (dextery + speed stats) your char is, the more AP you get. There is a huge range of skills + spells and not 2 of em are the same. Each spell is unique and you need to decide round for round what skills youre going to use...there is no "press X to win" ;)

Also, the soundtrack used in this game is realy epic...its kinda like skyrim one, with drums and chanting womans and stuff. i just think 130 different soundtracks are a bit to much, but hey...more is allways better, right?

Now to the bad points:

i dont recommend the game at all to casual players. Its like the ultimate anti casual game, because if you just run around, clicking through npc dialoge and run like a chicken into the next fight, you will end up dead, with no way of winning. There is alot of lore around in the game and if you just skip through it all, you will have no clue what the heck is going on around you.

All loot is random, which can lead to some crazy playthoughs. Its perfectly possible to have allmost no chance of winning anymore, because you only found crap or you used all items. Even the merchants have random stuff. On the other side, its also the reason why the game has a huge replayability. You never know what you find around the next corner. The game also has a realy complex crafting system, from cooking to crafting new sword, there is something for everyone.

Edit: Having now played 60+ hours, this game is my new all time favorite RPG. By reading the forum, i found out that, i have finished around 1/3 of the game. Crazy! :)

Overall, i give Divinity Original Sin a 9 out of 10.

If you have any questions just add me in Steam :)

I backed this game on Kickstarter and have had lots of fun in the alpha so far. If the bugs that are currently in the game can be worked out before release, then I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who's a fan of RPG's.

The game has some interesting ideas, and from what I've seen so far I think the experience can only be enhanced by playing it in the two player cooperative mode that will be available on release.

The turn based combat is fun, beyond the generic "villager" conversations that crop up everywhere, the dialog is interesting, and little puzzles keep you from facerolling your way through without putting any thought into what you're doing.

The game doesn't hold your hand, but if you're into RPG's, your so interested in seeing what the next person is doing, or how to solve the next puzzle that you wouldn't want it to anyway.

Have you ever asked yourself, "Man, why doesn't someone make a cooperative fantasy RPG with all the nifty RPG-ism's that I love, like skills and talents and crafting and that I can play at my own pace with my friend and we can decide how we complete quests and treat people in the world and if we disagree then there was a mechanic in place that supported that and NPC characters we could hire and have join our adventures and instead of mindlessly blasting through hundreds of monsters like every other action RPG out there, we could fight in some nail-biting tactical, turn-based combat with spells and abilities that would affect the environment and turn the tide of the battle and the whole thing is wrapped up in a fantastic looking package with great looking characters and animations and some genuinely good and at times humorous writing?"

Guess what? It's your lucky day.

This game is so good I can't even write a joke-y review about it.

Even though it is in early release, it is still one of the most fun games I have played this year. It draws heavy inspiration from older games such as Baldur's Gate and Planescape:Torment , and with its beautiful graphics, the isometric gameplay makes myself (as a fan of those games) feel right at home.

What makes Original Sin so good, is that it fills a gap that has been missing in the past couple of years. Character driven RPGs that don't hold the players hand through the whole ordeal are far and few between. The isometric view gives combat a strategic feel, and gives life to the world as your character interacts with the environments around it.

The combat is challenging, satisfying and very strategic. Using rainspells to create puddles, and then electrifying those puddles to stun opponents is a strategy which the developers try to tout in many of the dev diaries. I went in thinking "great, thats going to be it, oh well." But when I pulled off feats such as teleporting a skeleton with a bomb on his back into a crowd of enemies, I felt a magical little feeling in my belly.

The story is pretty interesting so far, and follows two Source Hunters as they Hunt Sourcerers (Yeah, okay, its a little dumb). But its good.

The game however isn't for everyone. It may not be for those who don't enjoy reading and paying attention during their RPGs, as there is very few instances of voice acting, and even fewer instances of quest markers. Everything is derived from the well-written dialogue between your characters and NPCs, and from exploring your surroundings.

The game runs great. Let me stress that. I don't have a gaming computer, I don't even have a gaming laptop. I have a crappy Dell thats a few years old, and doesnt have a dedicated graphics card. And the game runs smooth as butter on Medium/Low.

It really is a great game, and I urge anyone who is in the mood for a very fun RPG that doesn't hold your hand to pick up a copy.

Oh, and there is co-op multiplayer! I haven't tried that yet, but if I had I'd probably be telling you how sexy it is.

Divinity: Original Sin is a classic example of how old-school RPG is made anew. It is the product of old-school gameplay coupled with its own niche and original features.

- Slow-paced tactical turn based combat
- Widespread treasures in the form of clickable debris and vessels (barrels and the like)
- Multiple non-linear quests completion
- Multiple character builds and party compositions
- Free roam and exploration
- Massive lore and dialogue

- Use of elements and Terrain where they cooperate and collide as a gameplay mechanic (water channels electricity and such): Imagine Magicka meets tactics
- Conflicting opinions of Main Characters determine the outcome of a quest (only applicable if you play co-op).

- Bad interface
- Starts strong with many things presented as well as a variety of quests, but severely diminishes against the end, content feels rushed.
- Story drags out.
- Little or non-existant voice acting for games with pre-made characters (story-wise).
- Certain decisions/negotiations with NPC revolves on the result of rock-paper-scissors match with the NPC, this absolutely destroys immersion where whether the decision of walking away unscathed or ended up massacring them rests on luck.

Overall, I had a blast playing this game with a partner and there are many memorable moments throughout the game. However, I do feel that this game is highly overrated and it is nowhere at the top of my list. It is still a game that I would recommend to RPG fans out there simply because there are not many well-thought out and engaging RPG games that you can play with your friends out there in the market.

I've been waiting since the likes of Planescape Torment and Baldurs Gate 2 for a game to match their sheer perfection, many games came quite close, but Divinity Original Sin just manages to hit so many nails on the head its not funny. It looks great and still plays fine on my aging PC, it has a great storyline, it's two protagonists have some great interactions and dialogue. The voice acting is spot on and it has the most sublime OST.

The combat is turn-based but do not let this put you off, there are so many choices in combat with the interaction of spells with each other and the environment, that the game just begs you to experiment with different tactics.

This game just oozes pure class, it was a labour of love for Larian and it shows in every tiny detail of the game.
If you like RPG games (or even just pure quality games), you need to play this game, it is the benchmark I will use in comparing other games in future.

Well done Larian.

100% worth. Don't look at guides and don't worry about 100%ing the game.

Go into this blind and if possible bring a friend.

You'll like this if you like Banner Saga, XCOM, Dragon Age, or Front Mission.

You'll hate this if you expect it to be: Diablo 2, Titan Quest, POE.

Divinity: Original Sin (Classic) is an outstanding game. But it is not a game for everyone.
I have achieved 100% achievments on this game because I absolutely loved playing it over and over.

The game is a prequel to the Divinity series (Divine, Beyond, Divinity 2, Dragon Commander) so technically the 5th game released. It is based as a CRPG. So players whom remember Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights and such will immediately feel a sense of familiar top/down gameplay without the Isometric style.

The game mechanics are surprisingly new and very interesting. It takes a while to get a handle on how it all comes together but the fact all the rules are blind makes it more interesting.

First thing is this is a true RPG in the sense it's not all about combat. In fact you can bypass most combat in this game and finish it (a little salty there was no achievement for that). You can just fight your way through the game but you will miss out on a lot of XP and will be quite lost without some essential NPCs.

The downside to this; is the newer generations will have little to no idea how to progress. There are no quest markers, no easy to follow navigation, it's all up to you and your intellect. Which I guess is why there are so many bad reviews from players who can't deal with 'how hard' it is.

It reminds me a lot of the older Ultimate games where you are popped into the world and just have to figure it out. If that doesn't sound appealing then best avoid this game.

There are no classes in this game. You do get to choose a starting class if you want or you can just customise but either way it doesn't mean much since it's about just allocating skills & some attribute points, ultimately there is nothing stopping you from playing any number of solo or hybrid fighting/sneak/mage styles.

The sound engineering is sadly the weakness thing about the game. While the music is great and is a throw back to many of the original Divinity games it is a little buggy and can be either repetitive or just stops. This is weird in combat especially in an epic boss fight and sudden it's just quiet except for the voice lines or sound effects.

The story isn't anything to scream about. It's not new and original but it is interesting and fun for those that are interested in Rivellon's lore and history especially regarding SOURCE and why it's tainted.

The process of playing 2 main characters is fun but it's no different from having a party of four in the ultimate series and the teleport pyramids are a fun way to get around some puzzles as well as call in for an immediate assist when one party split ends up in combat.

I highly recommend it to CRPG veterans but I would recommend the Enhanced Edition for brand new players.