Divinity: Original Sin 2 is an adventure role-playing game made by Larian Studios. The game allows for a single-player system where a player controls multiple characters or an online co-op system where each player controls only one character. The two main aspects of the game are the interactions and dialogues with in-game objects and non-player characters (NPCs), and the tactical turn-based combat. I personally think the x-factor of the game is the complexity of the game and the freedom of the players, which means there are many different ways that the players can progress the story, each providing a different experience for the players.
link: https://divinity.game/
demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ4SVSm1ARQ&ab_channel=PlayStation
Elemental Tetrad:
Mechanics
- Exploration & Interaction
In Divinity: Original Sins 2, the players explore the world from a bird’s eye view perspective by clicking on where they want to move to. There are also skills that the players can learn to navigate the world in more interesting ways, such as telekinesis to move objects around, or teleportation to get to seemingly inaccessible parts of the terrain. The players can interact with objects and NPCs through a dialogue box, where the players can choose the different dialogue options.
- Combat
The game uses tactical turn-based combat. The players have a set amount of action points they can use each turn, and every attack, skill, or item-use costs action points. As items and skills usage is limited by action points and cooldowns, the crux of the combat is planning effective combat strategies.
Story
The setting of the game is a fantasy world where the world is under attack from the “Void”, and the “Divine” (a person with God-bestowed powers), who is supposed to hold back the “Void”, is dead. The player(s) role-play as characters who are “Sourcerers” (people who have special magical abilities) and fight against the “Void” and try to become the new “Divine”.
Although the background story is the same, the players are able to choose different characters and customise to their liking at the start of the game, which changes the players’ dialogue options and behaviour of some NPCs (e.g. some NPCs are hostile to only some characters), hence changing the story. On top of that, the players’ decisions can also drastically change the story based on their action choices.
Aesthetics
The game has beautifully crafted terrains and environments, as well as well-made combat animations. However, I personally feel that the aesthetics in Divinity: Original Sins 2 especially excels in the characters, from the unique designs to the expressive voice acting, the game was able to make the characters come alive and feel easy to connect with.
Technology
Larian Studios made Divinity using the Divinity Engine Toolkit, which players can use to create their own modifications to the game that they can play with their friends. The game is cross-platform and is available on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, Nintendo Switch, and iPadOS. With the same Larian Studios account, the progress can also be shared across platforms.
Other lenses:
Lens 79 – Freedom
While playing the game, the biggest thing that struck me was the seemingly unlimited degree of freedom I had as a player. Right from the beginning, when interacting with NPCs, the players can choose from many different options on what to do or say to affect how the story progresses. For example, the player can choose to befriend or make enemies out of almost all the main NPCs. The players have so much freedom that if they so choose, they could kill all the NPCs. This freedom makes the choices made by the players very meaningful, and gives the game very high replay value for me, as I would want to know how the story would progress if I had chosen another option.
On top of that, unlike many role-playing games, the skills and weapons in the game are not limited to specific characters or classes of characters. This means that players would be able to freely experience all the different skills and weapons throughout the game even in a single play-through.
Lens 8 – Problem Solving
While playing the game, I found the battles in the game very challenging and had to strategise very carefully to beat the enemies. This was an aspect that made the combat very interesting to me, as every combat would feel like solving a problem you are faced with. One example is how different combinations of skills have different effects on different types of enemies. For instance, water skills make the enemy wet, and wet enemies become more vulnerable to ice and lightning attacks. However, there are enemies with different types of elemental resistance, so the strategy needs to be varied for each enemy. Another example is how high-ground attacks are more effective than low-ground attacks, so positioning is also an important strategy aspect. These complicated aspects of the combat make the combat very puzzle-like, which is fun and rewarding for players who are able to put the right pieces together.
Lens 44 – Cooperation
Although the game can be played by a single player, I personally enjoyed the cooperative mode more, as it feels like going on an adventure with your friends. Coupled with the complexity of the combat, synergising your skills and moves with your friends is a degree of difficulty in cooperation that can bring fun and challenge to the players. In addition, the freedom of each player also allows for more randomness in the story, as your friends may choose different dialogue options that cause the story to progress in unexpected ways.
Lens 85 – The Avatar
Like many other role-playing games, Divinity: Original Sins 2 allows players to customise their character’s appearances and skills to their liking. On top of that, Divinity also allows players to customise the type of person their character would be. For example, the players can choose “origin tags” for their character, which mainly affects the possible dialogue options the players will have in the game. For instance, a character with the “scholar” tag will have different dialogue options from a character with the “outlaw” tag. Another example is the ability to learn civil skills such as persuasion and bartering, which also affects the possibilities in the gameplay. I feel that these extra ways in which the players can customise their characters can really help them feel more connected to their avatars in the game.