In 2014, Divinity: Original Sin took the PC gaming world by storm, and has been recognized – along with Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2 – as one of the most important games in the current renaissance of classic RPGs. The Enhanced Edition of this surprise hit is now out for consoles, and players who already own the game on PC can download the new version for free. After this last bit of fine-tuning, there’s little reason left for any fan of the genre not to get this game.
CSI: Rivellon
Original Sin is not the first game in the Divinity series, but actually the fifth installment overall. Nevertheless, it’s set before the events of the previous games. In the fantasy realm of Rivellon, two members of the order known as the “Source Hunters” set off for the coastal town of Cyseal to investigate a murder in which forbidden magic is suspected to have been used. The investigation uncovers a mysterious – and shocking – conspiracy, and that’s just the beginning of sweeping storyline full of dramatic twists and turns. Once again, as the player it appears that you hold in your hands the fate of the universe – in this case, a vibrant fantasy world filled with the usual suspects like orcs, undead, cultists, and even dragons.Despite all the typical fantasy clichés, the latest Divinity game manages to bring something new and fresh to the genre, mostly thanks to the excellent way in which it tells the story, which also includes countless side plots in addition to the main one. The denizens of Rivellon have a lot to tell you and are extremely eager to spill their guts when it comes to their desires, their concerns, and their lot in life. Right at the beginning of the adventure you’ll run across a talking clam shell who longs to return to the bottom of the sea. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to fulfill its wish or try to capitalize on the situation – just one of the many consequential decisions you can make in Original Sin. And it’s always interesting to see how characters react to certain actions.
The Divinity series is known for its particular brand of humor, and Original Sin is not exception – the world is in dire straits indeed, but that doesn't mean there’s no time for clever references, funny situations, and sundry absurdities to lighten up things up. Depending on how much you like to explore and how deep you like to dig, the game can take up to 100 hours or more to complete. Of course, if you just focus on the main storyline, it’s going to be over a lot quicker. But if you just run around aimlessly, you’re bound to come upon some locked doors sooner or later.
A Multifaceted RPG There are several different difficulty modes to choose from, which should appeal to new players as well as veterans. When you compare the Enhanced Edition to the original PC version, it’s obvious that they’ve done some work on them, as the balancing between them is noticeably better. And if you’re a real glutton for punishment, you can set the game on Honor Mode. Be careful, though – once you do so, you will have only one save slot available, and if your whole party dies, you’ll have to start over from the very beginning.
After choosing a difficulty mode, you can choose from an extensive list of character creation options for the game’s two main characters. Later in the game you’re able to add two additional characters to your party. These aren’t mute NPC companions, either, but real characters who you can actively control. There are twelve characters classes in all: Witch, Fighter, Cleric, Battlemage, Wayfarer, Knight, Shadowblade, Rogue, Enchanter, Ranger, Wizard, and Inquisitor. And since they give you an enormous amount of freedom to decide how to use ability points and talent points, the possibilities for character development are practically limitless. The standard classes can be blended together – for example, there’s nothing stopping you from combining magic with conventional swordsmanship. From my own experience with the game, I would say that a team composed of a melee and a ranged fighter, a Wizard, and a supporting healer with some combat ability stand a good chance of making it to the end of the adventure. I hate to say though that compared to this tremendous amount of diversity in character builds, they don’t really give you all that many options when it comes to your character’s appearance.
Divinity: Original Sin features an open game world where you follow your characters from an “isometric” perspective, and the Enhanced Edition also makes it easier than ever to see what’s going on, thanks to an expanded field of view. You can move about through the vast regions at a leisurely pace, encountering tons of NPCs and animals to talk to. You read that right – a particular talent allows you to speak with cats, dogs, sheep, cows, crabs, rats, etc. This is something you don’t want to miss out on, as they can often provide you with important information or even reveal secrets that might otherwise remain unknown to human creatures. All in all, the fantasy realm of Original Sin is thoroughly believable. You can enter almost every structure in the game, and if you can’t, there’s usually a plausible reason why not. They also go without obtrusively blinking arrows and other indicators for the most part. There’s tons of information and lots of hints and secrets that you’ll only be able to discover by reading books you come across in the game. Books can be especially helpful when you’re trying to solve some of the trickier puzzles you’ll encounter, most of which are really well designed, except for a few near the end.
There are several other factors that enhance the impression that the developers put a lot of thought into the game design. Homeowners and other characters are very sensitive to theft. They did an especially good job with how elements like fire and water react with one another, which far from being a pointless gimmick can actually play an important role in combat or when solving puzzles. More on that later. Almost every single object in the game can be picked up, moved, stolen, sold, or combined with other objects in useful ways. And just so you don’t miss out on anything, there’s also a feature where you can see all possible interactions in a given area. This saves you the work of having to check everything on the screen like you do in other games in the genre. The inventory system is well arranged, allowing you to organize the objects you’ve picked up, divide up stacked objects, and easily pass things on to your other party members. Oh, and of course it’s really funny how your character takes the form of a bush or a rock whenever you’re in sneak mode.
And of course, what would an RPG be without a wide range of possible ways to complete the various tasks set before you? While the consequences of your decisions might not be as drastic as in The Witcher or Mass Effect, they still make you think before you act. In dialogue you can be at odds with friends, foes, and even your own companions, and if all that talk doesn’t do any good, you’re going to have to come to a decision using the classic rock-paper-scissors method. Depending on your powers of persuasion, you might arrive at a peaceful compromise – or it might come to blows.
In the latter case, the game quickly switches from real-time to a turn-based, tactical combat mode. Each character or creature involved in combat receives a certain number of action points per turn, which they can use to move, attack, perform magic, etc. It’s up to you to choose which order you want to do things in. Proper positioning is very important, but it’s also important to know how to make effective use of the elements. For example, you might be able to use a certain cold spell on a water cask to create an icy surface; rain slows everyone down, but a well placed “Winterblast” can use it to freeze the enemy. Oil, fire, air, and other elements can all have an influence on combat, and there are countless combinations that can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Divinity: Original Sin: Enhanced Edition is not just a nice-looking port of a popular PC game, but is actually a prime example of how other ambitious titles can make the successful move to consoles. Nowhere is this more evident than in the game’s intuitive controls and smooth interface, which has been adapted for consoles from the PC version. While players who played the original version on the PC might find the controls to be a little bit odd and even cumbersome at first, it doesn’t take long at all to get used to things, and after a little while they’re positively smooth. You can press the analog stick to switch between a direct movement system and one that uses a mouse cursor of sorts. The camera is fully rotatable in all areas and can zoom up really close, which combined with the expanded display area ensures that you’re never left without a good overview of what’s going on. It also means that you can do without certain awkward perspectives altogether.
Co-op Adventure
As we’ve seen, Original Sin is a pretty impressive game as a pure single-player experience. But there’s also a co-op mode that only increases the fun factor, allowing a human companion to step into the adventure to fight at your side, and step out again at their leisure. Co-op works either online or locally on a single machine. In local co-op, the screen splits if the characters move too far away from one another. This means that you can explore Rivellon either together or separately. Also, each player gets their own menu options, and the co-op dialogue system is even more interesting – if both heroes are participating in the same conversation, they can come to a decision together or agree to disagree. The latter case results in the same kind of roshambo from the single-player version.
df
nice guys :D
op
ta xevere
k