Divinity: Original Sin – Review
There are a lot of RPG’s nowadays, some of them with their own distinctive elements. One of these games is Divinity: Original Sin. This RPG returns to the roots as there is a lot of exploring and turn-based combat involved. What other things has this game to offer?
Story
The beginning of the story takes us back in time. In the past, Sourcerers were capable of healing the sick and soothing the wounded. How they were capable of doing such wonders, was by the use of Source. This strange power gave the Sourcerers the chance to make miracles happen. It was bound to go bad. A devastating darkness assaulted the land and Source was fouled, driving Sourcerers mad. Instead of healing people, they were now destroying their own cities. Nothing could stop them, except the Source Hunters. These brave men track down the Sourcerers and make sure that they end their path of doom.
When you start the game, you can make two Source Hunters. These fine fighters have been summoned to investigate a murder in a town called Cysael. It is strange though, why would a murder be interesting for Source Hunters? That’s because there is Source involved. Arriving in the town, it is also very clear that there are other problems as well. The city has been surrounded by an army of zombies and undead, while the beach is overrun by orcs. It is only a matter of time before the town will crumble and it is your duty to help wherever you can without losing sight of the main objective: finding the murderer. After that, who knows where the quests will take you.
Graphics
Divinity: Original Sin has some great graphics, even when you play the game on the lowest quality. The environment is well finished and very detailed. Walking through puddles give quite a nice effect and when it’s raining you’re guaranteed to have some (visible) wet clothes. Changing armor and weapons give your character a new look and this is a nice feature!
Targeting one of your characters, enemies or environmental elements are visually emphasized by a blue or red border around the designated target. This is great way to find the person or item you’re looking for more efficiently.
Every attack has its own distinctive visual effect, which is a great asset and a nice bonus. It is always a discovery to find out how your devastating attack will look like.
Sound
There are quite some soundtracks in the game, but might seem repetitive. When you’re roaming Cysael, you will hear the same soundtrack over and over, which get a bit boring after a while. Each area has its own soundtrack though and fighting enemies gets its own music theme as well. The tracks are mostly loomy and more depressing-like, which fits the state of the country perfectly. You’ll be ready for anything.
There are quite some sound effects and voice overs as well. This really lifts the game to the next level. Every attack has it distinctive sound effect and the voice overs fit the characters completely.
Gameplay
This game is an RPG with a turn-based combat system having both singleplayer and multiplayer possibilities. The difference between the two modes is that a friend can join your multiplayer game, which makes questing and roaming that much more fun. Starting a game will begin by making characters. There are several classes to choose from: tank-like types, healing gurus and different kinds of dps. When you pick your favourite classes, you can alter them to your liking by changing the stats.
When you’re finished with the character selection, you will arrive in Cysael and your adventure starts. You will have to find a lot of the items or the clues by yourself, although you have a nice journal that keeps track of all the quests and the progress. There will be a lot of exploring as well, since you will have to find traces and you will have to conquer all the evil in the world. A nice helping tool is that you can move anything loose in the field, if your strength is high enough though. Next to that, this world is filled with treasure chests just waiting to be found. Be alert though, exploring will get you into trouble, as you get jumped by several monsters or evil zombies.
Running into enemies will trigger the turn-based combat. Every character participating in this battle get an amount of action points. These points are based on your base stats and points you get by your gear. Moving, attacking and spells all need their own amount of action points, so you will need to plan your movements carefully. You can save points by clicking the “end turn” button.
Fighting enemies, solving quests and discovering areas will give you experience. This is needed to gain levels and advance your character. This is quite necessary, as you can level loads of stuff. You can increase your stats, but you can learn your character new abilities and talents. Abilities are defined in several sections like weapons use, defence, skills that increase your damage, personality bonuses, craftsmanship and nasty deeds that are great if you want to venture the dark path. Talents are passive abilities that can improve or destroy your strategy.
Divinity: Original Sin holds other aspects as well. The game is quite fond of the social aspect as well. There are several occasions when you can participate in a conversation and in which you will have to choose your point of view. These actions give you traits. Traits form your character and will give you opportunities during your conversations.
If that isn’t enough, you can sell your items as well. The game contains several vendors but almost everyone can buy or sell items. This is quite fun to do, as some of the people have specific items and can only be found not that often. You can make items as well with crafting and blacksmithing. You will need ability points to make certain item and you can find recipes in several books. The game doesn’t give any more information which makes it hard to comprehend everything to the fullest. Next to the two mentioned skills, there is also telekinesis and loremaster. Telekinesis is used to move items without touching them, while loremaster is used to identify items when you have an identifying glass.
Conclusion
Divinity: Original Sin is a RPG with retro elements that offers an expansive world in which you can venture until you drop. Every nook and cranny have their secrets and it will be your task to stop the evil. The combat system is turn-based and will sharpen your strategic mind, while the graphics will blow you away. Be ready to invest quite some time in this pearl.
Divinity: Original Sin - Review,
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