It’s an amazing cRPG developed and published by Larian Studios with a high emphasis on the interactions between the two main characters. You can play this game either alone or with a friend. The player is free to explore the world and all its secrets however they like. A troll blocks your way and asks for payment? Kill him or pay him, or maybe you can find him a girlfriend, or simply find some other way to get to the other side. You get what I am saying.
Combat is turn-based. Each character gets a number of Action Points each turn and can spend them to cast skills, use items, walk or interact with environment. Sounds simple, but in reality every second battle turns into a bloodbath where everything is on fire and everyone is going to die, yourself included.
There are no classes in this game. The «class» you choose at the beginning of the game only determines your starting gear, aside from that you are free to experiment with your build as much as you want. Want to become a powerful pyromancer? Sure, just don’t burn yourself. Want to use explosive barrels to blow everything into pieces? Sure, just don’t kill yourself in the process. Or maybe you are a big fan of gravity and want to smash bosses with an overweight chest? You can do even that!
Although I have to mention that some of the hitboxes are a bit clunky and a new player might have a hard time getting into all the mechanics, especially if its their first cRPG. But once you start to understand the game, you won’t stop until you finish it!
You play as a Source Hunter, a person who dedicated their entire life to rid the world of the malevolous power called the Source, the power that was once used for good, but now only creates destruction, and all its users, Sourcerers. To be more precise, this tale has two protagonists and their first mission is to investigate the murder of Counselor Jake in a town of Cyseal. What looks like an easy case at the first glance, turns into something way more complex down the road.
The story is good, I wouldn’t call it «Amazing» or «Perfect», but it’s not bad either. However, where the game really shines are the side quests. You can organize a wedding for a pair of cats, steal a talking head and help it find its body, do a troll revolution, help a ghost with his relationship problems and much-much more.
There is a total of 4 recruitable companions, all waiting for you in Cyseal. Each with different goals, world views and unique quests.
Madora, ex-Source Hunter. Once a famous Source Hunter, now a guardian of a village. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, she couldn’t protect her town from orcs, so now she seeks your help in avenging the fallen villagers.
Jahan, a mysterious wizard. Long time ago he was a powerful, and handsome, king, everyone loved him, but he didn’t love anyone. Until he fell in love with a beautiful woman, they were inseparable, but his happy days weren’t long. He fell sick to an unknown disease. No cure could save him, so he made a deal with a demon. Now the entire point of his life is learning everything about demons and hunting them down.
Bairdotr, woman-bear. She was brought up by a bear in the Homeforest. Once a man found her and taught her how to speak and write. He told her lots and lots of different tales about all different kinds of people: from peasants to kings, from villains to heroes. But one day the man disappeared and she intends to find him.
Wolgraff, a mute thief. When he was a child a Sourcerer took his voice from him and since that event, his life became quite troublesome. He couldn’t find a job nor become a Source Hunter, because everyone thought he was wrong in the head, but young Wolgraff didn’t give up, so he did what he could best. And that’s stealing.
Divinity: Original Sin has quite a unique vibe. The game has that feeling of a fairy tale where everything is over exaggerated, but in a good way. Sometimes it doesn’t take itself serious, sometimes you just laugh at what’s happening on the screen, sometimes the game is more than serious and can explore some quite dark themes.
It looks good, especially for a 2015 game. The world is full of colours and locations differ quite drastically. From sunny beaches of Cyseal to frozen mountains of Hiberheim, from cursed forests to volcanos, your adventure never stops.
I have to mention that character customization, in terms of appearance, is not that great. You have a few face presets, a few haircuts and that’s basically it. Personally for me, that didn’t matter much.
The sound effects are impactful. You can hear your enemies screaming in agony as a rain of meteors is about to crush them. You can feel the pain of your character when they trip on ice and fall on their ass (that hurts).
The voice actors did an amazing job as well. The entire game is voiced, you can hear every single line of dialogue. I especially liked the performance of Emma Gregory, who voiced the main antagonist of the game. You may recognize her voice quite quickly, because she is also the voice of Minthara from Baldur’s Gate 3.
Divinity: Original Sin is a cRPG, meaning you can roleplay as anyone you would like. Want to do good in the name of good? Or maybe you would like to become a sort of egoistical hero who doesn’t care much about anyone? Or just a goofy human being? Pick your poison. Same goes for your build. You can be a water wizard this time, an archer the next or maybe even a witch.
The game is a sandbox with toys and you just have to use them to have fun.
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Story: 7/10
Visuals: 8/10
Audio: 8/10
Replayability: 9/10
Time: 50-60hours, heavily depends on your pace.
It took me around 50 or so hours to finish my first playthough of Divinity: Original Sin and I will be sure to come back to this wonderful game in the near future.
Overall: 8/10