Divinity: Original Sin II - Review @ PC PowerPlay

PC PowerPlay reviewed Divinity: Original Sin II:

Review: Divinity: Original Sin 2


Yet another game of the year contender arrives!

WILDGOOSE: I took your advice, Wilks. When I levelled up I took the Pet Pal talent. You said it would let me speak to animals and I’d reveal a bunch of new quests I couldn’t otherwise access. I knew I’d regret this choice as soon as I met the baby bear. I’d just met its mother moments earlier, you see, and I knew I’d have to tell its child what had happened. Tears welled in the baby bear’s eyes. It sobbed. I didn’t kill the mother - it was those cruel Magisters, and I made them pay, believe me - but I had now made a baby bear cry. And it’s all your fault.

WILKS: I couldn’t be the only miserable one. For every crying bear though, there’s a very good dog, an overly officious fire slug, a crab that thinks he’s the greatest sourcerer (the whole kludging of source into words does grate a bit) in the land or a rat that wants you to come back and visit often so you can tell it the stories of your adventures and it can co-opt them as its own stories. It’s these little moments that make Original Sin 2 for me. The overall plot is a bit naff but the moment to moment events and the characters you interact or travel with make it constantly engrossing and often very funny.

[…]

Verdict:

Old-school charm with modern mechanics makes for one of the best RPG experiences in ages.

Score: 10/10

More information.

Once you find the teleportation gloves it’s impossible to want to wear anything else.

Yes, they should have made it a ring instead.

Why not 11/10?

Originally Posted by luj1
Why not 11/10?

RPGFool would probably complain.

In favor of RPGFool, the discussion he initiated made us (RPGWatch team) go back to the rating discussion again and finally change it to, in my opinion, something better.

I agree, it's easier to describe using words than numbers. The number will only apply only to the reviewer and gamers of a similar mindset.

Any word on a Mac port for this yet?

AvoidWare Junk. More like 5/10

5?
That's perhaps too generous, don't you think?

The vanilla experience so far is a solid 8 for me, with some mod tweaks it's definitely a 9.

Edit: I'm not past act 2 yet though, restarted after about 30 hours with a bunch of mods that takes away my biggest gripes with Vanilla.

Chapter 1 is probably a 9, possibly a 10 if you're feeling generous. But I find it hard to believe any site giving such a score to the entire game actually played further than that. There are definite flaws that lessen the experience, coming to full prominence in the game's latter half.

Overall, the unmodded game is a 7.5/10 for me.

Originally Posted by luj1
Why not 11/10?

It will get there eventually

Originally Posted by purpleblob
It will get there eventually

If they add the Imp race origin I will give game 12/10

My brother, a mutual friend and I are still on our first playthrough. It's hard to find time for longer sessions, unfortunately.

I think we're 30-40 hours into it - and it has been uniformly excellent. The closest to real PnP sessions I've ever tried in a computer game, including all my time with NWN and MMOs.

We use Skype for communication, btw.

I have a few issues with it, but overall they're pretty minor. It's a very strong contender for GotY for me - though I have to finish before being sure.

If not, then Prey will probably be the one.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Chapter 1 is probably a 9, possibly a 10 if you're feeling generous. But I find it hard to believe any site giving such a score to the entire game actually played further than that. There are definite flaws that lessen the experience, coming to full prominence in the game's latter half.

Overall, the unmodded game is a 7.5/10 for me.

I might agree with you when I'm done, still only on act 2 and I hear it takes a quality dive in act 3-4.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Chapter 1 is probably a 9, possibly a 10 if you're feeling generous. But I find it hard to believe any site giving such a score to the entire game actually played further than that. There are definite flaws that lessen the experience, coming to full prominence in the game's latter half.

Overall, the unmodded game is a 7.5/10 for me.

Originally Posted by tomasp3n
I might agree with you when I'm done, still only on act 2 and I hear it takes a quality dive in act 3-4.

Yeah, the first half is a full score for me. It's fantastic. The second half isn't bad though, not by any means, but it's just not as rock solid.

I rate the game very good but in the end I didn't last. I was about half-way through Arx and the turn-based combat finally did me in. Just did not have the patience anymore for those long drawn out endless battles. Then when a glitch caused me to reload and lose a lot of process I just deleted it and my saves. Maybe next year I will give it another go. But right now the thought of redoing all that slow turn based combat just makes me wince.

That being said I did enjoy the game. Loved the companions and their quests a lot. The story was awesome and enjoyed the scenery and style. I also enjoyed a lot of the combat (otherwise I would never have gotten 76 hours played) but it wore me out. Enjoyed TBC when I was younger but for whatever reason I don't that much now.