Divinity: Original Sin

So there they stand, our four brave heroes against a horde of undead archers and a skeleton with a huge bomb on its back. What to do? We could perhaps do a rain dance first to extinguish the fuse on the explosive skeleton. The soaked enemies would then be more susceptible to a few well-placed freeze spells. Or even better: We let loose lightning on the rainwater puddles under your feet and paralyze everyone in one go. But the last kick is still missing somewhere. So maybe no rain magic after all.

Wait, didn't we see a couple of oil drums nearby? We let them fall into the middle of our enemies via teleport magic and then throw a magic spark into the puddle of oil. The burning floor would be devastating enough, but especially the guy with the bomb doesn't get it at all. Bye archers, bye skeleton! There would have been dozens of other strategies and magic combinations, because Divinity: Original Sin is an RPG of freedom.

And not only in turn-based battles: Many tasks can also be solved by persuasion or stealth, and there are countless buried treasures and secret dungeons in the huge world. Above all, however, the game gives us the freedom to discover all of this without taking us by the hand - and of course the freedom to fall spectacularly on our faces.

Custom made co-op heroes

We already have a lot of leeway when creating characters, especially since we create two main characters. In the course of the game we add up to two companions to our group. We control this group of four either alone or we invite a friend and leave half of it to him - Original Sin can be played through completely in co-op. In any case, we develop our heroes without any typical class restrictions. Even if we start out as swordsmen, we can still learn magic and breed a battle mage later. To do this, we increase classic attributes such as strength and intelligence and distribute skill points across different disciplines such as one-handed weapons or the various schools of magic.

We learn spells and other special attacks from books that any hero with the necessary score in the relevant discipline can read. In addition, we should also consider skills such as pickpocketing, charisma or handicraft with a few points - although they do not help us in a fight, they make our way through the world a lot easier. Finally, there are special talents with sometimes serious effects. »Animal lover«, for example, lets us talk to the fauna and »Glass Cannon« gives us twice as many actions per turn in combat, but halves our life points. In short, in Original Sin everyone can work out their dream hero and turn dozens of screws - wonderful!

We are the chosen ones - again

When the hero duo is there, we go to the city of Cyseal. As so-called source hunters, a kind of inquisition for forbidden source magic, we are here to investigate a magical murder case. On top of that, the usual suspects of orcs, undead and dark cultists have spread in the area. In reality there is much more to it than that, it is - logically - about the threatening end of the world and only we - logically - the chosen ones can still avert it. It takes a long time for the story to break out of the fantasy cliché cage anyway, and it never really sweeps us away.

This is also because we hardly ever develop a real relationship with any character. There are dozens of possible companions to choose from for our group of heroes, but only two of them have their own dialogues or personality traits - no comparison to the colorful cast of Baldur's Gate 2 or Planescape Torment. And these two also remain very one-sided most of the time.

The ex-spring hunter Madora, for example, sees nasty spring devilry in every shadow (and every cuddly kitty) and gives almost the entire game little more than one absurd suspicion after the other - initially quite funny, her chatter soon only brings us to the fore Yawning. Later we learn in an extra quest why she trudges through the world so paranoid, but that doesn't make her a really interesting figure either.

World of wonders

While we are groping our way through Cyseal in search of the first evidence of a murder case, we discover the real strength of Original Sin: the incredibly rich game world. It is not a world in which we follow the main story as quickly as possible, but a world that comes to life primarily through its countless side stories. A melancholy clam wants to be thrown back into the sea, a beast of burden begs us to stab its cruel master or a heart-sick troll longs for female company.

As usual from the Divinity series, Original Sin is by no means deadly serious, but indulges in his wacky humor. But just as often as we laugh, we have to make really difficult decisions. For example, we come across a spirit who sank his beloved's ship out of jealousy and now regrets it forever - do we convince the spirit of his beloved to forgive him, or does he deserve his punishment?

In such cases, each of our two main characters can give their own opinion and then have a better chance of asserting themselves with a higher charisma value. These group discussions shine especially in co-op, where every player can have their own mind. But it's also fun to play your two heroes with very different personalities on your own - but if you don't feel like doing it, you can give one of the characters an AI personality. In any case, the decision-making dialogues are consistently written first-class, instead of simple good and bad, both sides usually have plausible arguments.

The conversations would be even better without the occasional translation mistake; if you can, you should play in English. Especially since the soundtrack remains completely in English in the German version - but only background noises like barkers are set to music anyway, so most conversations come as silent text windows. Original Sin can't really shine when it comes to staging, but it more than makes up for it with his clever ideas.

Eldorado for explorers

Aside from the quests, there is much more to discover in the huge game world: Characters with a high perception value may come across hidden treasures, and only those who scan the entire map will find all the secret dungeons. Original Sin never guides us, however, it demands our own urge to discover - if we miss something cool because we don't look closely, it's our own fault. The feeling of elation is all the more triumphant when we uncover a cleverly hidden secret.

In addition, the world invites you to be creative: almost every object can be moved (maybe there is a trap door hidden under this chest?), Almost everything can be stolen and sold if we are clever enough. Or use it for crafting. A makeshift club is made from nails and a branch, and anyone who mines steel in the mines can use it to make a high-quality ax in the forge.

In the same way, different but always comprehensible solutions can be found for most tasks. In the above-mentioned murder case, for example, do we tickle new information from the suspects with our charm or do we steal their keys from their pockets and search their rooms for evidence? Only the clumsy operation dampens the joy of discovery: Our heroes trudge slowly through the world, the confusing inventory quickly overflows with crafting ingredients and other odds and ends, and the camera doesn't always want to be like us, especially when there are great differences in height.

The right strategy wins

The turn-based battles are easy and intuitive to control, just like in the hunt for secrets, nothing is given to us here either. The system is actually deceptively simple: each figure gets a certain amount of action points per turn. They are our only resource and are used for moving, attacking and casting spells. Original Sin unfolds unbelievable depth through the endless possibilities of creatively combining our various abilities and elemental magic. Enemy flank attacks, attacks of opportunity and stabs in the back also force us to pay close attention to our positions. A sophisticated strategy can handle even superior enemies - and the enemies are almost always superior to us.

Each type of enemy has its own peculiarities: Ice elementals, for example, are not only immune to cold spells, they are even healed by it. A particularly fat boss opponent happily jumps back and forth between different elementary types and forces us to rethink every time. And then there are death knights who are completely invulnerable until, with some effort, we put together the only spell that helps.

Divinity: Original Sin makes us work for our victories, which makes them all the sweeter. The difficulty curve could be a bit more balanced: We hardly had a harder fight for the entire game than against the zombie boars in the forest of Cyseal, which we faced as complete beginners without much equipment. Later, after we had conscientiously accumulated experience through dozens of side quests and found our way around the game better, not even the most powerful demon made us sweat as much as the undead cloven-hoofed.

Fairytale

The game world is downright sweet: Original Sin contrasts the usual grim dark realism with a wonderful fairy tale world. Whether it is a busy city, secluded forest or a dilapidated sanctuary, every area is bursting with love for detail and is accompanied by an absolutely fantastic soundtrack. Only the character models look a bit clunky up close, but they shine with an imaginative, wacky design.

We not only fight against terrifying demons and classic undead, but also against jumping snowmen, skeleton court jesters with colorful bagpipes and robot chickens. It may take a bit of getting used to, but Divinity: Original Sin is a game in many areas that you have to get involved with. It is worth it ..

Fans of RPG games certainly have nothing to complain about in recent years - the video game market is drowning in the flood of new productions focusing on the development of the hero, casting powerful spells and fighting dragons guarding vaults bursting at the seams. What's more, more great hits are on the way and will appear on our discs in a few weeks or months. And although the epic adventures we experience while playing the role of Geralt or Dovahkiin can totally absorb them, they have nothing to do with those we experienced in the golden age of classic erpegs. Studio Larian in 2002, when creating the first installment of the series - Divine Divinity - only took the first steps in the industry, but the end result turned out to be surprisingly successful. The production, combining arcade combat like Diablo and the level of openness of the world close to Baldur's Gate, was very warmly received by all fans of the genre, giving the creators the motivation to continue working on the world of Rivellon. After a few years of break, we have the opportunity to be there again.

Although the action of the new Divinity takes place in the same universe, the whole thing takes place long before the events of the first part. Playing the role of two heroes - members of the mighty Order of Source Hunters - we set off to an unknown seaside town to investigate the mysterious murder of a local councilor. As it happens in games of this type, the seemingly uncomplicated matter quickly turns into a much larger plot, the unraveling of which also falls on our shoulders. Looking for more clues, we come across newer and newer clues that ultimately lead us to the trail of a much more serious problem. So we move forward, visiting more spooky tombs, wandering through endless caves, tearing through deserts or even visiting other dimensions. All this to fulfill not only the duty of every Source Hunter but also their destiny.

In addition to the missions closely related to the main plot, our two heroes can also engage in a multitude of side activities. There are a lot of additional tasks, and although most of them only come down to bringing an item to the right person, I did all of them with pleasure. Satisfaction with a completed task - even a trivial one like defeating a crazy snowman - is enormous, especially if you need to solve a complicated rebus to complete it. The puzzles in Divinity: Original Sin can get under your skin from the very beginning . Although with some of them my Source Hunter had to become a Single Pixel Hunter for several dozen minutes, when I finally managed to solve the whole thing, the feeling of frustration quickly gave way to immense pride. Hiding tiny switches behind the bushes that open the door at the other end of the map is a manifestation of pure sadism on the part of the developers, but it should be remembered that the best games of this genre were built on such elements.

If it happens that we are not able to cope with a given puzzle on our own, or we are simply bored with playing alone, we can invite our friends to play together. Although I was initially quite negative about the cooperation mode, it turned out that thanks to the game for two, the title gains a completely new face . It is undoubtedly influenced by the double dialogue system - each of the main characters has an opinion on a given topic, and when he does not agree with his companion, he resolves the conflict with the help of a reliable "paper, rock, scissors".

While in the case of playing alone, it requires proper empathy and sometimes the first symptoms of schizophrenia, it works really well in cooperation and turns any opportunity for dialogue into great fun. Our comrades also quite often throw in their opinions, although this particular element is not particularly successful . Their stories and imposed personalities at the very end of the game turn blushes, but most of the time they throw numb clichés and it's hard to shake the impression that their lines have been written on your knee. Were it not for the fact that they can be useful in combat, my duo of Hunters would most likely travel only among themselves.

Exactly, a fight. After all, it is not just a conversation that a person lives on, so our proteges willingly reach for their weapons in the breaks between subsequent dialogues. Unlike the previous parts of the series, Divinity: Original Sin offers players a fully turn-based combat mode. And not just any, because it puts a very strong emphasis on strategy, character positioning and the ability to properly use the environment and the reaction between individual elements. Although I have not realized it so far, it is probably this element that I miss the most in contemporary productions. The need to plan a fight in Divinity really captivated me, and devising the right spell combinations to maximize damage is surprisingly much fun and makes each fight a completely different experience. If we add a really high level of difficulty to the battles, we get one of the most interesting and engaging systems, which gains even additional points during demanding boss fights.

During these clashes, however, the greatest drawback of Divinity is revealed - the camera work, which makes it very difficult to target enemies, and a clumsy interface . Although everything looks perfect at first glance, after prolonged use of the title, I cursed the creators for the trouble they did in this matter at least a dozen times. The camera often unexpectedly changes its position, and the characters we try to hit jump in a rather random way - this often leads to a situation in which we click right next to the beast, and our hero, instead of dealing a fatal blow, simply starts running towards the enemy. Hundreds of times during the game I also "skipped" my turn due to holding the key too long or accidentally pressing the spacebar twice. The lack of any safeguards in this regard often causes a lot of frustration and ruins all the moves that we managed to plan during the fight. As if that was not enough, the game does not allow you to quickly cancel the dialogues you have started, so when you accidentally click on any of the characters you have to wiggle the mouse furiously across the screen. In fact, these are minor inconveniences to which I was able to get used to after some time, although I must admit that even after nearly 50 hours of play, I still cannot get over the fact that these problems were not noticed during the tests.

Equally surprisingly - although in this case in the most positive sense - the game presents itself from the audiovisual side. Throughout the game, of course, we watch the action from an isometric projection. The locations we visit are extremely detailed and look equally effective even in very close-ups. The sight of undulating, single blades of grass, butterflies sitting on flowers or even the red gilt splashing with blows, are just some of the many details that build a world full of stunning views, at which I just had to stop at times.

The wonderfully composed soundtrack also helps in enjoying the picturesque landscape. It fits perfectly with the events on the screen and perfectly builds the mood of the adventures. Although I listened to it for several dozen hours, I never had enough of it. Compared to the previous parts, some of the songs sound strangely familiar, but considering how high the level of the compositions by Kirył Pokrowski has always been constant, it is difficult to make any accusation about it.

Despite some minor flaws, the game looks really great and I can honestly recommend it to anyone who has missed this type of gameplay. Support for the modding community is an additional promise that even after completing the official campaign, the item will still have a lot to offer fans.

However, I must admit that out of the four great erpegs founded on Kickstarter (apart from Divinity, I mean Torment: Tides of Numenera , Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2 ), I waited for Original Sin with the least enthusiasm. The time spent traversing Rivellon turned out to be wildly successful, making Larian's title arguably the best isometric RPG since Baldur's Gate II . If this is the future of this forgotten species, we are in for some great times.