Review: Divinity Original Sin

Gather your party and get ready for a new, back-to-the-roots RPG adventure! Discuss your decisions with companions; fight foes in turn-based combat; explore an open world and interact with everything and everyone you see. 

Pros:

• The graphics are simply gorgeous. Wonderful landscapes, glorious sunny beaches to treacherous cavernous dwellings. The weather in the game is appropriate yet exceptional, You characters get wet in the rain and you can actually see the rain dripping off them. The level of detail in not only the characters but the archetecture is next level. Every area looks so picturesque and vibrant. A proper visual feast that does nothing but delight the player.
• Cut scenes are presented in a motion art style that may seem weird at first but looks so well done that you soon fall for its glory.
• Soundtrack is given the same love that the graphcs bring. Every note is like a ballad of beatiful song. Ok that sounds really corny and not like me so, the music is brilliant and brings so much atmosphere to whole game. Sound effects are comical yet appropriate. The speech, voice work overall is just as good as you would expect from any AAA title. hear peoples conversations, interact with the locals or just listen to the grunts of orcs.
• The story revolves around the mysterious murder of a well loved town figure. you must get evidence,do quests to uncover more clues and bring the culprit to justice. i do not want to give spoilers out so just be assured that it is a truly engrossing story worthy of a best seller. it has humour,lies,intrique,sexual references and deceit. Aside from the main quest you can uncover new side quests which in turn brings more stories to light.
• Options are vast, Pick your frame cap and lock it,resolution,AA, v-sync and much more. Overall graphic settings are displayed as fancy,beatiful and good settings.
• Full Steam workshop integration, Download new mods,skins to add even more to the game. You have access to handy guides and getting started documents so everyone can have a go.
• Steam achievements.
• Keyboard layout can be changed and set up to your liking.
• Character creation is minimal but it does allow you to tweak the basics and even have a pop at the base stats/magic.
• Multiple profiles can be set up and swapped between from the main menu.
• Mod management is easy with its own menu option with a simple on off function.
• Controls are plentiful but easy to learn. Expect to see every key on the keyboard with an action assigned but in reality you only use a few.
• Loot in the game is randomised and can be exploited by saving before opening a chest and reloading.
• The map you have to explore is all covered up and becomes visible as you traverse the land. The map is a huge one and that isnt even counting the warp gastes,Caves and other secret areas. Not only will the map areas become visible from travelling around, But any buildings entered with importance, will be marked on the map.
• Quick save/load function. As well as a proper hard save which can be done from anywhere at any time.
• Multiple camera angles, you can zoom in and out with the mouse wheel, Twist the camera around by pressing a button and moving the mouse, Best one is the overhead camera which will show you the play field better and put coloured lines around each character. This view is especially good in combat situations.
• You can place your own markers on th emap, Used a lot like old school note taking. Mark places and put a brief description.
• Most important button in the whole game is the ALT button. This will show any pickups in the area and can be kept held down. Using this button is usually the only true way to see any dropped itmes or plants.
• Has online multiplayer for up to two pwople. You can get up to four using a mod but its still in its infancy.
• You have a party member with you who if your solo, can be controlled by you. As you progress you can hire more party members and again swap between them. You are in charge of assigning upgrade points and inventory management. One cool feature is you can chain your members together, not in a sex domination type way but in the way in which once chained, you can set formations and have them follow you in a particular way. Multiple formation choices are available and can changed on the fly.
• You earn exp from from fighting monsters, exploration and finishing quests. Each level up you will get the chance to pick traits or the players base stats.
• Huge traits section where you can specialise in many fields from lockpicking to stealing to crafting,blacksmithing,being able to see traps from distance,two/one handed combat. That right there is jjjust a small taste of the options awaiting you.
• Combat is an old school turn based affair. you get assigned Action Points (AP) which dictate how far you can move or what attacks you can do. AP can vary and indeed increase with certain traits/skills and armour buffs. You can bank AP points and use them on the next turn for the more powerful moves. The combat is excellent and is not a simple click attack, You never know where your attackers will come from, how your strategy will pan out, Its all in the planning and execution.
• To aid you in fights, Before you trigger the fight you can sneak around and get an advantagous spot and then kick the fight in. When sneaking you will take the form of your surroundings. So if you are in the woods you will be hid in a bush, in the mountains you will be in a rock.
• Powerful elemental mechanics in play through out the game. Think of it like a sophisticated Magicka. Using electricity in rain will affect everyone who is wet, Use fire on poison to turn it to gas then use water to wash it away. Mix elements together at your own risk as you could conjour up a poison cloud or electric storm. Aside from these you can also attempt to freeze/burn or poison enemies. Blow up barrels to epose chemicals like oil,water or ooze and use them to your advantage. One cool trick is to make it rain and create puddles and them use these as an attack with electricity.
• The game plays very much as a board game without the squares, The combat is intense, The exploring is epic and unkown but the fun never leaves.
• Enemies do not level up with you so you can sway into dangerous fights and get instantly destroyed.
• You can pan around the map with the WASD keys and is important for scouting puyrposes.
• The game easily has over 60 hours play.
• You can play with randoms or invite friends.
• Dialogue is delivered in a unique way. For much of the game you will talk to NPC just like any other game, but you can also have it where you will make a desicion then your partner will make up there own mind. If you both agree it will end but if you both disagree, A game of rock paper scissors will begin. Stats play a huge part in how strong a win a round is and how likely you are to win. In all honesty its a random guess mechanic but still fun. IThis whole scenario can happen with NPC and carries a lot more weight to them as they can make or break side quests. Either way it is a unique and exciting mechanic.
• Gonna say it agin but the atmosphere is just brillinat from the moment you boot the game. Its the game you just want to lose yourself in and that is easily done.
• Best played in co op so you can strategise, plan dialogue responses and generally chat all things Divinity.
• Rolling log down the bottom right will give you a run down on everything you have done/heard said.
• has online chat and can be opened up to the whole community so help is available.
• You have a action bar like in Diablo where your level bar is, and you can place items/magic to use them as hot keys.
• Easy crafting system, Just drag and drop items on top of each other in your inventory and if its a combo it will come up confirming the mix.
• You can unlock a stone that allows you to fast travel to your party memebers and is a must in co op.
• Items can be bought and sold from various vendors. Bartering system allows you to haggle the price down and uses a drag on drop offer screen. Money can be used with items to sweeten or clicnch the deal.

Cons:

• Small font on the UI that some displays may have issues with.
• Camera is a bit jumpy and chaotic at times. unlocking the camera fully will see you being able to go through walls and see things you shouldnt.
• Collecting recipes to craft is good and all but reading the books that unlocks them doesnt actually tell you the recipe! instead you get a crypted short story or poem that hints at ingredients.
• Easy to get lost and confused. The story missions are listed in your log but you dont get any waypoint markers.
• Enemies do not respawn so you cannot do any grinding.
• Random issues of your party losing upgrade points or items.
• Every auto save uses a new slot so in a short time you can build up quite the list.
• Enemy animatations happen in battle, this can cause you to actually miss attacks. It is extremely annoying and very common.
• When playing co op, you partner gets his/her own party member but cannot stay chained to them. To fix it you have to let the follower go and then go re hire them everytime.
• Long loading times through out the game.

In Summary, This is one of the best RPG games around and possible GOTY. The old school balls hard gameplay bring a refreshing feel to the genre. The way you interact with people, the general banter o fit all, its poetry in motion! i have more fun playing it in co op and the best part is the combat. its all such a beatiful love letter to games of years past, you feel stupid, you feel joy you feel loss, Game has it all. i only briefly touched on the many mechanics/options available to you. Its a game you want to go into blind and explore every nook and cranny. Do yourself a favour and get a game that keeps on giving. Absolute gem of a game.