Divinity: Original Sin – Preview
The last game Larian Studios presented us is ‘Divinity: Dragon Commander’. This RPG with RTS elements had some refreshing features and achieved quite a nice score (read the review here). Larian saw that it was good and went even a bit further. They now offer us another epic RPG, namely ‘Divinity: Original Sin’. Read on if you want to find out if this game will be as good as its predecessor.
Divinity: Original Sin starts at the coastline of Cyseal where you and your companion are assigned to investigate a murder. When you venture the beach and get closer to your destination, you’ll get the idea that this might be more than just a normal quest. Be prepared for some nice plots, weird but funny side quests and a lot of nasty enemies like trolls with their nice undead friends.
Original Sin takes place in Rivellon, a world familiar from previous games, but this game takes place before Divine Divinity and even the Dragon Knight Saga. This means that diehard RPG-players might recognise some characters from the mentioned games.
Larian Studios returns to the RPG roots but with some great additions. This game is a 3D single player and co-op multiplayer RPG with tactical turn based combat. As this is the Alpha phase, the co-op multiplayer modus wasn’t available at this point.
Fighting in single player takes you back to those good ‘ol days. You get a few combat points you can use during your turn and each attack or move has its specific cost. When you run out of points, the turn will end and your companion/the enemy gets the chance to utilise his/her points.
Even more, they implemented an innovative co-op dialog system. The answers you give during incidents increases or decreases certain values and has consequences for further events or situations. This means that there are several possible situations and events and that every player will have his own unique storyline.
This isn’t all though, you play in a highly systematic and reactive world. You can click on numerous interactive items, which you might use or pick up. If you want to be badass and check some of the cabinets and steal some items, why not? Don’t complain afterwards when you’re not welcome anymore. Another really nice addition is the possibility to move the different interactive items. You can focus on one item and you can drag it around with your mouse. This might give you the opportunity to gain access to previous unreachable areas or to make yourself a nice tower of wooden boxes. Hooray!
Last but not least, there is a classless character development. This means that you can choose a class but that you can change the stats to your liking, giving you a ton of possibilities. Unique characters for the win! Next to altering stats, you can also change the appearance of your character(s).
As stated before, you can complete the game solo or co-op, but Larian didn’t forget the creative ones. You can make you own single player and multiplayer fantasies and publish them online so everyone gets the chance to enjoy your little gem.
Although the game is still in Alpha phase, the graphics are already quite stunning. The beach, town and forest areas are really detailed and seem quite realistic. The characters are nicely done but especially the protagonists really stand out.
The game doesn’t have that much music or sound effects but the ones that are available are top-notch quality. The soundtracks change when you enter a new area or when a battle starts and fit each situation. Sound effects occur sometimes, most of the times when you attack, but I’m sure that Larian Studios will add quite some more as icing on the (musical) cake.
Conclusion
Divinity: Original Sin is an old-school 3D RPG with turn based combat. The game offers a deep storyline but with a lot of possibilities and alternative routes. Combine this with the beautiful graphics and audio and the several nice features, we can say that Larian Studios is developing a game that is worth waiting for.
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[…] Even more, Larian released a sneak preview trailer. They want to show that the world is growing and getting more interactive. Enjoy the scenery! For more information regarding this game, visit the review here. […]