It’s been many years since I’ve cast spells in a deep, complex, and fully packed RPG tale like Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition. The world of Rivelon is brimming with expansive lore and hours of exploration to put under your feet. Any old-school RPG fan will find their calling awaiting them in the mystic lands developer Larion Studios have created. That is to say, even with all of its heavy text-based story and convoluted menus. Without many of the modern features the genre sees today, Divinity: Original Sin can still muster potential to enchant players.
Your tale begins by taking on the role of two Source Hunters sent to solve a mysterious murder. Source is explained to be a corrupted form of magic, and “Source Hunters” are the ones who set out to rid the world of its misuse. Divinity: Original Sin has an open path story mechanic allowing players to choose their dialogue and opinions. This creates interesting and unique ways your story can progress and how your choices can impact your character.
You can brave your adventure either solo, local co-op, or online. Most of my playthough I spent in local co-op with my fiancé. It was a warm welcomed option, but unfortunately camera splicing dampened the experience. When the two players distance between each other grow too far, the screen will cut in half. This becomes troublesome when they return to the same area and it cuts back to a single screen view. Try to picture exploring your scenery, and the screen constantly cutting in and out as your distance from one another changes.
One thing Divinity: Original Sin gets spot on is its loot system. It’s bountiful, never repetitive, and really sells the addictive component to playing. Something it gets wrong though is how you’re expected to manage all of this sweet, glorious loot. The inventory and menu system is tedious. It constantly requires time and patience to execute inventory management. Still, it doesn’t sour Divinity: Original Sin entirely.
Controls in Divinity: Original Sin are not the tightest, but not sloppy either. Your character moves a bit clunky in my opinion and definitely too sluggish. It should be mentioned though these are things that can be tweaked through character stats upon upgrades. It just consumes too much time to finally get there. Divinity’s turn based combat system is flawless and very well designed. Even though I am not a fan of this particular style of combat, I can still appreciate when it is developed well. Positioning my characters on-screen and controlling where my spells were to be cast felt clean and fluid.
In terms of visual fidelity, Divinity: Original Sin demonstrates that a PC port can still transfer quality graphics over to console. The color palette is bright and crisp, constantly filling the screen with a flaring display. The textures are sharp and carry a surprising amount of clarity as well. I do wish that the character models were given a little more attention, but that is not a discredit to the overall presentation.
I give Divinity: Original Sin a lot of respect when it comes to sound design. There is a ton of voice work here. Numerous lines of dialogue and story, are jam-packed from start to finish. This had to be a huge undertaking for Larion Studios and they did not disappoint. The dialogue is amusing and engaging, making it easier to really involve the player with the story being told. The soundtrack behind the gameplay is subtle and pleasant. It’s not as remarkable as the other audio feats, but does blend well with the game.
Whether you’re an RPG fan of gaming’s past, or new to the genre, Divinity: Original Sin is worth a look. It captures all the key features a great RPG needs to succeed. It’s equipped with a deep story, expansive world, and an impressive loot system. It may get bogged down with heavy text and finicky menus, but this is still one to recommend.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
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