Review: Divinity: Original Sin II

Divinity Original Sin 2 offers many different choices in selecting abilities and creating builds for characters and parties. It can be overwhelming for beginners. While players who want to get down to business should go with a physical damage party, they should remember to have fun experimenting with different abilities and skills to find out what results in the most fun for t

The player is free to create a custom original character to fit their own design as was the case in its predecessor, but the option of selection a premade character with an origin story is available. These characters come with their own unique background that are closely linked to the main narrative. Origin story characters not selected by the player can still be encountered as NPCs and possible join the character's party. The origin story will be an evolving element of the character that is shaped through completion of origin story quests. The specific origin stories will influence how the inhabitant of Rivellon react to the player and will provide additional dialog options. There are currently four origin stories available in the Early Access with the plan to add more as the game continues to develop. To give an example of what makes origin stories unique, the character Lohse has an entity that communicates with her, something akin to demonic possession mixed with schizophrenia. It is possible for Lohse to enter a state of temporary insanity if she fails to win a challenge against this thing that dwells within her.

Players are given points at the beginning of building their custom characters. They are automatically assigned to specific Attributes or Skills depending on what Preset was selected, but the player may reassign them. There are three points available for Attributes, and two for the Combat Abilities section, which also includes Weapon and Defense Abilities. There is one point open to assignment for Civil Abilities. Based on points assigned to the player's Combat Abilities, the player will have different Skills available to them. They may choose three of those available Skills to st

Dwarves have the Talent Sturdy, which gives a +5% to Dodging and a +10% max Vitality. Dwarven Guile gives players +1 in Sneaking. The Skill innate to this race is Petrifying Touch. Lizards have the Talent called Sophisticated, which gives them +10% Poison Resistance and +10% Fire Resistance. Spellsong gives dwarves +1 to Persuasion. The Skill built into this race of beings is Dragon's Blaze. The Undead are the living-challenged version of the four races. They will have the Talents of whichever Undead race they choose. In addition, they have the Play Dead Skills. The Undead can also heal from poison and will take damage from standard heal

The player's character is a Sourcerer who has been captured by this organization and on a ship traveling to the island prison, Fort Joy. A humongous Voidwoken Kraken attacks, and then sinks the ship. The player survives and must now discover what destiny has in store for them by seeking out the Divine Or

Instead of being limited to being human, Divinity: Original Sin II gives the player the option to also be an elf, dwarf, lizard, or undead, though that last one which is personally the most interesting option is not presently available in the Early Access build. There are also optional origin stories that the player can use for their character, four are currently available but more will be included in the final release. Origin stories not selected by the player will be seen in NPCs met during the Slg Game Beginner Guide that could join the party. These different origin stories add an extra dynamic to both single and multiplayer modes. Not all characters will have the same objectives they want to achieve, which can lead to some conflicts. With their being freedom to play the game any way a player decides, how conflicting goals among party members are addressed is entirely up to the player's imagination. This can be even more interesting in multiplayer, especially since the option to have four players simultaneously is now included. Playing with three other people who all have conflicting objectives can elevate the role playing element beyond what can be achieved in most video game RPGs.

The first thing a player must do in the campaign for Divinity: Original Sin II is either select an Origin character or create a new character. There are technically eight races to choose, though that number is slightly inflated because of the Undead. The options are Human, Elf, Dwarf, Lizard and the Undead versions of each of these classes. Dwarfs are sturdy and begin with talents that contribute to vitality, dodging and sneaking. Elves gain bonuses to lore and may gain the memories of the dead by eating their corpses (yum!). Humans gain bonuses to critical chances, initiative and bartering. Lizards gain resistance to heat and poison and persuasion and have a useful function of being able to dig up secrets without a shovel. All Undead have the undead talent which causes healing items to harm them and poison to heal them and one of the other traits associated with their race when they were alive, plus they can also attempt to pick locks with their bony fingers and no other tools.