The past couple of years have brought upon a bit of a renaissance when it came to the cRPG genre thanks in large part to the crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter. The likes of Wasteland, Shadowrun, and Torment have all seen very successful campaigns thanks to help of a very hungry player base whose needs have not been met in the better part of a decade that coalesced around the timing of Black Isle Studios’ original closing.
What Divinity offers up more than many games of the genre in recent memory is player choice in the truest sense of the word, promoting the practice of role-playing especially during conversation. You can decide whether to work with your party or against your party while talking to NPCs, and their feelings towards you will change as a result and affect the rest of the game. The developers also seem to encourage bending the rules, whether that means attacking enemies before a proper encounter or wiping out entire towns to satiate your bloodlust.
The turn-based combat is incredible. There are so many ways to manipulate the environment to work against the enemy to create some fascinating combination attacks. There is also a fun dynamic where one can mix and match the different base elements to do things such as create traps in order to capitalize. It’s easily the best part of the experience and provided plenty of incredibly tense moments with a nice sense of accomplishment.
By pulling the best parts from the classic titles in its genre to build its own modern interpretation while also paving its own path sure to help the series grow into something fun and exciting that’s accessible to both veterans and newcomers, Divinity: Original Sin is an easy choice for our Overall Game of the Year award of 2014. Plus, there’s a full-scale editor (the same one the devs used) and the Steam Workshop waiting for you once the game is over.
