Divinity original sin 2 review gambling addiction. Divinity: Original Sin II - Review. A game for the brave or why do I need so many cups

Playing on a console or on a personal computer has many differences, but perhaps one of the most important of them is the existence of such game genres, which most often gravitate only to one platform, and not to another. So more recently, it was safe to say that on the PC there are more opportunities to spend time playing classic RPG games of the "old school". But, at least this fall, such a statement will be very far from the truth. And the reason for that is role play Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition from the developers of Larian Studios, released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on the last day of last August.

What is a classic RPG? In fact, we will not be able to find an unambiguous definition of this concept, except for listing such common features usually inherent in it as the presence of a well-thought-out model of character development, a combat system rich in tactical capabilities, and so on. The genre itself came to us straight from the world of board games, taking with it not only a whole palette of interesting features, but also a number of limitations. And, perhaps, many have heard names such as Baldur "s Gate and Icewind dale, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and Planescape: Torment other. It is possible to recall with nostalgia the tens and hundreds of hours spent on the Sword Coast and in the world of Arcanum, but it is difficult to imagine that in 2018 you can play something that will be able to give similar emotions, especially on modern consoles. Difficult, but, as it turned out, possible.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 was released on PS4 and XOne as the Definitive Edition, an enhanced and enhanced edition of the original 2017 game. It is worth noting right away that the project is in many ways a continuation of the ideas that were laid down by its predecessor - Divinity: Original Sin, and progress and development were made by the developers where they really needed to think out and improve something.

Genius and villainy

The plot in classic role-playing games often obeys the conservative laws of the genre. And even if we start the game with a simple nameless peasant, almost certainly by the end of the passage, our protagonist will have to save the world from the misfortunes of truly universal proportions, while being "chosen" or some kind of demigod. The project from Larian Studios is not lagging behind in this regard. So the action in Divinity: Original Sin 2 takes place more than a thousand years after the events of the first part: the hope and support of the world of Rivellon - Divine Lucian is dead, his fallen adopted son Damian is exiled, and in the world of the game, persecution is gaining momentum against everyone who shows any - the ability to master the magic of the Source (the main magical energy of Rivellon). Lucian's own son, who stood at the head of the Sacred Order, Bishop Alexander, becomes the driving force in the struggle against the manifestations of the Source and, together with the faithful masters of the order, creates a prison-reservation for magicians with the derisive name of Fort Joy, where those sentenced to exile are put on their blocking abilities collars and carry out inhuman experiments on them, trying to "cure" the Source defilement. Of course, our protagonist and his future companions turn out to be one of those “lucky ones” who got a ticket for a ship bound for the prison island. By the way, this connection reminds a little of the asylum for magicians Spellhold, where all dangerous wizards in the world were sent. Baldur "s Gate 2 and it immediately allows you to relax, feel at home and get ready for an exciting adventure!

A game for the brave or why do I need so many cups?

The screen for creating a game protagonist meets us with the opportunity to choose one of the six so-called "characters with a story" that we can observe on the cover of the game, or completely generate our own hero, manually defining his gender, race and origin. "Characters with a story" have a personal storyline and destiny, which is just as interesting to watch as the main plot, but if you still prefer to start everything with a clean face, then three "ready" characters will be able to join you almost immediately after the completion of the prologue. Finally, heroes of both types will need to determine the class, starting qualities (attributes), skills and talents, reminiscent of the famous "perks" from Fallout.

Why would you need courage in the world of Divinity: Original Sin 2? Isn't it to embark on a truly epic adventure, decide the fate of the world and fight the most dangerous opponents that can be found in the fantasy world of Rivellon? Oh no, it's much simpler. Courage will be needed in order not to get lost in a sufficiently large game world, which offers simply colossal opportunities for passing! This will be especially true for those who have never played large role-playing games. I confess that at one time I could not take up the passage for a long time The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind when I saw that I could go anywhere, fill my character's inventory with cutlery and candlesticks to the brim, barely leaving the first dwelling I met, and climb into the pocket of every passer-by. In the case of Divinity: Original Sin 2, the situation is the same, but, in fact, you should not be afraid of it. And if you have already created a character (and this can take up to ten minutes) and have completed optional training, which can take up to several hours of unhurried passage, then consider that you are accepted into the world of Divinity and are now definitely ready to play!

Corpse-eating elves, talking to animals, killing furniture

And yet we must pay tribute to the developers, because we have not seen such a wealth of opportunities in an RPG for a long time. After passing the prologue and finally finding ourselves on the coast of the island where Fort Joy is located, then we are free to do whatever we want. But not like in a low-quality "sandbox game", but almost like in real life. Our protagonist, and later his companions, has a common journal, where all the important information about the plot is entered, details of the main and side missions, and so on. But how we will move towards our goals depends only on ourselves, our imagination, and, of course, the features and capabilities of the gameplay that the developers have provided us with. A prime example of how this works is the very first story quest, which requires us to escape from the prison fort. There are about four options to carry out an escape, and this is not counting the fact that many decisions and storylines leading to escape can be combined with each other.

In fact, all of this will definitely come in handy ... someday.

An important element of good RPGs is usually an interesting combat system, and this project is no exception. All battles take place in turn-based mode, where the order of the characters' moves is determined by their initiative. And, by the way, the available difficulty levels greatly affect the severity of the battles and the behavior of the artificial intelligence, but no matter how serious the enemy is, the player's capabilities in battle will be no less rich than in more calm moments of the passage. For example, various combinations of effects from spells and abilities can lead to the most interesting results. It is not at all forbidden to use all the means at hand and your imagination to win: to extinguish the burning allies with the "Rain" spell, while creating steam that impedes visibility and shooting; bleed the enemy, and then hit the resulting puddle of red liquid with magic lightning; teleport a powerful enemy away from your mage and throw him from a height into a flame burning on the battlefield, and so on.

My magician made it rain to minimize harm from fire slugs

Or here's another example of non-standard tactical capabilities: creatures and characters with more than 100% resistance to any element do not receive damage from it, but, on the contrary, are healed at its expense. So the undead restores their "health" with the help of poison, but gets damaged when using healing potions and healing magic, which your enemies can safely use on you. But what if you run out of bottles of poison, and your inanimate comrade-in-arms is about to fall on the battlefield? Just order another member of your squad to cast a spell with a poisonous effect, or blow up a barrel of poisonous mucus found nearby, and then blissfully settle in the resulting puddle. But do not forget that incendiary arrows or fire magic may be available to the enemy, and then your "healing pool" will turn into a blazing hell! In the same way, many other situations can be played to your advantage, or you can be inattentive and harm yourself - and this is the beauty of the gameplay capabilities of the project.

They wanted to find a treasure, but they dug up a revived dead man, well, who doesn't happen to?

And some moments can even be compared with legalized cheating and legal "cheating" in the game, but why not, if it works, and it was intended by the developers? And the following situation happened to me: at the very beginning of the passage, I thought about how I could quickly and painlessly get rid of the sleeping guard. As a result, it was decided to put a barrel of flammable oil next to him and blow it up. I chose the appropriate action, began to move the explosive object and ... accidentally hit the guard with a barrel, smashed it and, along with it, the head of my enemy. And this happens in the world of Divinity: Original Sin 2!

If you do not want to fight, prefer to resolve issues peacefully, or simply met too strong opponents, then you can try to speak their teeth and pass a conviction test, choosing such a demeanor and answer options that correspond to the most developed attributes of your character, which are called here "Qualities". So a thief caught at the scene of a crime can still avoid punishment if he manages to talk his victim away by blurting out something about how embarrassing it will be if they start feeling him for a search or that his bag contains not a stolen ring at all. but a gift for a friend who will be very upset if the surprise packaging is damaged. Well, if the enemies do not want to talk to you, and there are no obvious ways around, why not use teleportation gloves and move your character over there to that cliff on the opposite side of the crevice? Could be so.

And finally, a few more examples of seemingly quite incredible opportunities that the game world is ready to offer us. How do you, for example, the ability of the elves of Rivellon to eat parts of the dead, after which they have short visions, broadcasting the last thoughts and feelings of the deceased to the head of the sharp-eared character? This skill is indispensable both in the course of investigations of murders and in the search for the caches of the rich dead. Another interesting ability allows you to talk to most animals, including even some of those who would otherwise simply attack you. And considering that all the dialogues in the game are voiced, imagine what a pleasure it is to listen to the amazing emotional voice acting of a mongrel bored for its mistress, an arrogant crab who considers herself a great sorceress, or a fussy rat advising you on how best to escape from prison. How about an undead thief who opens locks with his bony index finger? True, for this he will still need the skill of "theft", but he will not need a master key. And there are many such examples, and we can talk about them endlessly.

"It" s dangerous to go alone! "

It's dangerous to go on a big trip alone, isn't it? So the developers from Larian Studios believe the same, and therefore the game supports both online and offline passage in split screen mode. The project also has an additional independent network mode "Arena", which allows players to choose one or more powerful characters from the world of Divinity: Original Sin 2 and fight each other in a kind of analogue of Death Match. Before the battle, you can set some parameters and basic rules, as well as choose one of the cards available to clarify the relationship. This mode does not represent any rich features and great value, but it can still become additional entertainment for players.

Tarkin. I must admit that I am used to a slightly different image of him.

And now we finally got from the gameplay experience to a more tangible, but still important graphical component of the project. For some reason, I suddenly remembered my ambivalent attitude towards the first truly three-dimensional role-playing games. Of course, in the days of Neverwinter Nights, there were completely different graphics and other technical possibilities, which ultimately even scared off some players who were in no hurry to wean themselves from the artistically rendered pixels of previous games. And today the developers from Larian Studios have completely different conditions, and in the face of Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition we got a very beautiful RPG, with great-looking visual effects from the use of magic, stunning interiors and facades of majestic castles and mysterious ruins. Of course, we can say that the models of some enemies and characters are imperfect and even angular in places, but these are trifles, and there is usually no time to pay attention to them. And another small drawback, I would call some lurid chaos that occurs when a large number of effects (fire, steam, acid, etc.) and fighting characters are present on the screen at the same time - you can see everyone, this does not affect the convenience of control, but everything is mixed into one pile and does not look so beautiful anymore that there was a desire to take a screenshot of this battle. Nevertheless, the project has good performance: we can move through huge spaces, enter rooms, caves and ruins without reloading (except for especially large locations) and even switch between characters located in completely different places on the game map, and all this happens quickly and without any problems.

Diviniy: Original Sin 2 is a turn-based party RPG with single and multiplayer modes from Larian Studios, announced on August 12, 2015. Immediately after the announcement, a Kickstarter fundraising campaign was launched on August 26th. The project raised $ 500,000 in the first 12 hours. More than $ 2 million has been raised so far, and all player reward campaign boards have been unlocked, including new game modes. Divinity: Original Sin 2 was released to Early Access on September 15th with a single location that will take over 12 hours to complete. The game is scheduled for release in 2017 on PC.

In the manner of yesteryear

The previous game in the Divinity series was released two years ago and became a real success for fans of the genre, which I cannot understand at once for several reasons. Let's start with the fact that Original Sin 2 is not a new game, but the first part, tightened up in many aspects. The game could still be called outdated back then, and it's true that Divinity: Original Sin 2 has a lot of mechanics that modern developers are trying to avoid: map exploration, complex "crafting" (creating items), and most importantly, turn-based battles.

What is this? A turn-based mode is activated in the battle, your character can wave his hands on his turn within the limits of the available action points, each action has a cost, if the points are over, the turn goes to the enemy group. It also makes sense which side you strike from and who your companions are. Very similar battles of "Heroes of Might and Magic", and strongly in favor of the Heroes, because there is no huge army and various "spell books" from the outside.

A pair of carnivorous caterpillars! They are also waiting for their move.

At the beginning of the game, you have a choice between characters that already have a backstory, and created "from scratch" by you personally. The world of the game will react to you in different ways, depending on who you decide to play. In the dialogues, you will have special lines for your race and class. During adventures, special effects will be applied to you.

In this case, the characters that you have not chosen are played by the computer, and in multiplayer they can be played by another player. The developers report that you can even play on opposite sides and harm each other. In words, it seems incredible.

Classes
• Cleric - heals allies and fights in melee.
• Battle Mage - combines magic and physical strength.
• The Enchanter is a mage who prefers to maintain distance in combat.
• The fighter is a melee warrior.
• Inquisitor - risks health and life for the sake of battle.
• A knight is a military tactician who not only fights, but also rallies the troops.
• A ranger is an archer who concentrates on his target.
• Rogue - counting on his skill more than luck. The robbers see the world as an open treasury.
• Blade from the Shadows - A powerful assassin, armed with blades and fearsome techniques.
• The Wanderer is a survivor on his own instincts.
• The witch is a sorcerer who frightens enemies and allies alike.
• The Sorcerer is an apprentice who starts and finishes battles with a wave of his hand at a distance.

Races
• Human - inspires surrounding units. Very strange, usually people in science fiction try to portray greedy and selfish.
• Serpent - Dragon Breath AOE.
• Dwarf - "Stone Form", which allows you to remove most of the negative effects.
• Elf - additional action points in battle.

When creating a character, be sure to listen and select one of the musical instruments, it will accompany you on the way.

Detailed customization offers 5-6 types of faces, hairstyles, hair colors. Much nicer than drawing curves for an hour in Fallout.

Abilities, characteristics, character traits

Also, the game has thought out character traits that will radically affect your passage and the attitude of the rest of the characters.

New abilities can be learned by purchasing the desired book from the merchant or by finding it as a loot. Some abilities actively interact with the environment, that is, if you set fire to a puddle of flammable substance, it will do everything right.

Memory is how many abilities you can use at the same time. You won't be able to overwhelm the entire panel with the most powerful abilities.

Combat characteristics are calibrated against everything else.

A long and strange journey

As soon as you face the open world, a bunch of secondary tasks begins to fall out on you. You simply cannot figure them out, while you are doing one, you may have ten more, and I am not exaggerating. At some point, you get discouraged to understand them, and you start to "click" these tasks, and then they hang in the magazine and are of no interest. Things with loot are exactly the same as with tasks, a huge amount of some kind of chests, bags, boxes falls out on you. You can follow the path from box to box, collecting loot along the way.

Inventory. All of your loot is, oddly enough, stored here.

You can experiment with your loot and try to collect something useful.

General perception

There is a positive moment in the picture, it has been tightened up compared to the Divinity: Original Sin prequel. There are not enough stars from the sky graphics here, but let's not forget that this game is not about anything else.

Sound tracks like tracks. In February 2016, Larian announced that Borislav Slavov, who had previously worked on the soundtracks for Crysis 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome, was hired to replace the deceased Kirill Pokrovsky.

The controls in the game are poor. Most felt problems: high response and mismatch of visible textures and collision textures. Hopefully this is for Early Access only.

Conclusion

At the mention of this episode, fans start to salivate profusely, where did all these praise and videos on the network come from? As a person who somehow managed to skip the entire Divinity series, I did not understand the authors of these reviews and videos. RPG game, lots of content, very rich multiplayer. This is all in stock, but why do you need Divinity: Original Sin 2, if you first hear about this series, the developers did not think. "Default" Diablo with turn-based battles, in a nutshell. The price on the Steam platform is 799 rubles, and in general I cannot but say that the price is 100% justified.

It was not perfect, but it was not so difficult to endure small absurdities for the sake of smart battles and cunning puzzles. It is clear that we were talking about fresh impressions from a bird rare for the current industry: a turn-based isometric RPG with very nice graphics and solid variability. Therefore, to be honest, at first it disappointed me by the excessive resemblance to its predecessor. The originality seems to have disappeared.

An important novelty in the storyline is characters with backstories. Each of them can be chosen as the main character. In meaning, it reminds, even though the latter offered special options for the prologue, and flaunts giant quests that run like a red thread through the entire narrative. For example, I liked the artist Lowse, accompanied by a mysterious voice ... in her head. To whom it belongs, of course, for the time being they do not say, but the prospect of bringing a lady possessed by an evil creature to divinity looked very tempting. A nice bonus is the playful character, because of which Louse can throw out something like that in the already great dialogues.

Anyone who for some reason really wants to miss out on a significant part of the fun can fill an entire squad of four with ordinary extras of different races and classes. In fact, it is better to pay attention to the unique satellites from among the created six adventurers. Sincere conversations between them, alas, do not arise, but the lizard, planning to become an emperor, and the elf Sebilla may have completely different things to do with the same NPC. The undead stand apart, including the grumpy brainchild. Avellone by the name of Fein, whom the local public does not really like. If something lies in the area covered with the "fog of death", then it is the walking skeleton that needs to be sent there. Poisonous puddles heal him, but the usual "healing" spells - cripple.

Many probably remember how in the second half it was gradually blown away, replacing unusual situations with fights, battles and battles, as well as our main task, which was more annoying than intriguing. According to, divided by the scriptwriters into 7 chapters, and the designers - into 4 (there are so many large "sandboxes" connected in a certain order, and each can be explored as you please), interesting events and meetings are evenly distributed. The final map is a big city full of scandals, intrigue and investigations. It looks like there is little resemblance to, where there are candidates for gods everywhere, and then even if not Baldurs Gate, but also a spacious and densely populated location with gloomy basements, sewers stuffed with traps, and answers to all questions.

Typically, pressing problems can be addressed in a variety of ways. The main thing is to understand that dilogy Original sin still cannot compete in nonlinearity with either: to complete the game with a merchant who did not hold anything heavier than a spoon in his hands (as in the first one), or a chatty thief with a spear, who runs from the start to steal cool machine guns and armored suits (as in the second), not will succeed. Nevertheless, you will not be punished if you kill “someone wrong”, you can complete the assignment before you receive it (and this is normal - why go back and forth twice ?!), and many places can be infiltrated from unexpected sides. My favorite example since the first part is a wooden chest or door, which can be unlocked with a key or a master key, broken with an ax, or simply burned. It is a pity that obstacles are still fireproof ... And protected by magic.

Kondrat's hut was burning, and Kondrat was burning with it

Another thing is that it will not work out easily to disperse the opposition. Almost any NPC or monster has both magical and physical armor that protects against the corresponding types of damage and special effects (freezing, knockdown, turning into a goofy bird, etc.). Fighters usually withstand blows with swords and clubs better, and sorcerers can stand in the fire longer and not burn. Because of this feature, the authors of many negative reviews on Steam grumble, they say, forcing players to form highly specialized squads.

At times, there really is an imbalance in the balance: the first half seemed much more difficult to me (in some places - unfair) the second, and the Source points are often so small that they perform the function the same potion from some: we save it in case of emergency, safeguard, safeguard ... dragons will die, demons will fall, and we save everything, safeguard ... and then the game ends. A more delicate approach to such things would not hurt. However, the number of combinations of skills in the already inspires sincere respect, so there are no hopeless situations with sufficient "pumping" of the squad here. Nothing prevents an amateur from setting fire to everyone around him from learning the spells of the school of transformation - he will also be given a free point for the development of basic characteristics for each level of the corresponding skill! The Tentacle, which deals physical damage and disarms enemies, is a great argument for variety in the party.

The necromancer will unleash a swarm of mosquitoes on the men at arms (they also inflict physical damage, and then also heal their master), the summoner will create a small elemental, whose damage type and abilities depend on the surface on which he appears. The arsenal of tricks that are often not found in other RPGs is truly overwhelming. If this is not enough for you, then you can try to combine textbooks of different skills. They probably won't be able to bring out the "super-poisoning mega-cloud of universal destruction", but something will definitely work out. Hand-to-hand fighters are also not limited in "pumping", and a variety of "spontaneous" grenades from defeated enemies fall out for a reason. In terms of tactics, it gives you as much freedom as you can carry.

The brightest and most memorable battles last for a long time. Endless flashes, explosions, rain, hail, demons desecrating puddles and flames, blessings that remove this damage ... Such a riot of colors, such a high price of error is now rarely seen. As in the first one, it deserves applause, if only for the impressive implementation of spectacular and deep turn-based battles in a fantasy setting.

The dreadful mystery of an empty room

Despite some straightforwardness, he constantly offers to puzzle over the snags of a completely unexpected nature. Dilemmas arise all the time: who to play, which companions to choose, pet a stray dog ​​or kick with a boot, which side to stand on, whom to believe, whether to prefer a weak glove with a "sewn-in" teleportation spell to a new arrow-proof mitten without any magic tricks inside ... The most difficult thing is refrain from unnecessary murder, for which you will surely be rewarded with experience! Here, even over the promises given to the goner bastards, sometimes you think. However, she often left my sins unattended, which is why I got the impression that she doesn’t follow p (r) sins very closely. Nevertheless, the adventure was not without periodic references to the events of bygone hours.

The most common problem is also familiar from: well, I came to where I was sent (well, if I was sent at all), and then what? "Puzzles" are still represented by all categories of problems from "click this big button" to "now guess what we have invented for you." In the latter case, after standing senselessly for half an hour in a small "empty" room, where something must obviously be there, since mountains of gold are piled up in the adjoining room behind a massive door, I imagined a radiantly smiling Sven Winke, who again circled the arrogant player around his finger. No problem. In Rivellon in 2017, I was able to reveal many secrets, but he still hid some secrets. Well ... All the more pleasure it was from what I still managed to figure out.

The inability to immediately explore the world 100% (after all, at least 2 out of 6 starting characters with their skeletons in closets will be superfluous at your celebration of life) is good not only because it gives an incentive to go through again. It creates a desire to thoroughly examine every stone, bush, pocket and bookshelf in search of clues and revelations. The feeling that this world is believable is one of the most important virtues, which in the sequel has become even more significant thanks to unlimited freedom in decision-making and the close intertwining of NPC destinies. Not yet a level, and the scale is more modest, but already close.

The game does not lead us by the pen and does not draw an optimal path to treasure with a dotted line, but when hiring a character, it asks what class we need a ward. The age-old problem of many RPGs - "an interesting person, but why do I need a third paladin in the squad" - was easily and gracefully eliminated. Moreover, almost at any time you can run to the magic mirror on your personal ship and redistribute the points of characteristics, skills, etc. On the one hand, this is legalized "cheating". On the other hand, I myself have adjusted the parameters only once and I am very glad that there was such an opportunity at all.

The developers have considerably refined the interface: when an important trinket, a key or a sum of money is needed, the comrades-in-arms automatically transfer them to the active character, all four duffel bags open on one screen, it is convenient to ask the price for new clothes, useless junk is easily marked as a product for sale ... this does not help, although what else can you expect from a game in which you can steal most of the active objects and then combine many more of them? In fact, there are no incurable diseases. The technical part is decent: I had only one "crash" already in the final credits. There are enough errors of a different kind, periodically perplexing. Let's say a quest log. The assignment has been completed, but not marked as completed. Or marked, but hanging among the active. Or I have reached an important stage of its implementation, and for some reason the NPC does not react to it. Or the diary entry is not true. This happens relatively often and spoils not the passage, but the mood.

Divinity: Original Sin II didn't just prove talent again Larian Studios, having collected excellent press and a huge number of new fans, but also became the most important game on PC Last year. Now the classic RPG is available on PS4 and Xbox one.

Acquaintance with the project begins with the creation of the protagonist - and already at this stage, the first innovation awaits the players. The developers have expanded the character customization and now you can choose your race. Human, elf, lizard and gnome are available. Moreover, each of them can be undead.

Race affects the attitude towards the character, gives additional skills and opens special lines in dialogues. It is easier for representatives of the same race to find a common language, and various stories and myths related to the origin of the hero can serve as an additional frightening factor for NPCs. For example, playing as an elf, representatives of other races will consider him a cannibal: in this way, you can intimidate interlocutors in dialogues. On the other hand, elves sometimes have to convince panicking citizens that these myths are greatly exaggerated, and you should not be afraid.

Besides, Larian made it possible to play as a ready-made hero with a prescribed background, but in this case it is impossible to select some additional attributes. It is important to note that these characters are also encountered during the passage of the game and can become allies of the main character.

The story tells about the events that happened to the world 1000 years after the first part of the game. Fiend of the Void is about to destroy the world, and the gods cannot prevent this in any way. Emperor Alexander, along with the Sacred Order, whose members have turned into cruel inquisitors, catch all those who are even a little like a magician. The unfortunate are sent to a special prison on the island "Joy". Actually, the main character is one of these repressed.

The first quest involves escaping from the prison fortress. This is a chapter-wide global mission, and other related quests will appear as you complete it. is arranged in such a way that by performing this or that action, you open up some possibilities, but close others. The game provides a wide variety of options to achieve the goal. In approach to solving various problems, it is very similar to the cult Fallout 2 and other correct RPGs. Almost every mission can be accomplished with brute force or more subtle methods, using stealth or persuasion mechanics.

The global storyline develops through various quests - both main and secondary. Stories in Original sin ii very interesting, and some tasks in the end may turn out to be interconnected, and some small assignments often turn into big adventures with large-scale battles.

In addition to epicness and humor, the plot contains touching scenes and soulful conversations. The world of the game captivates with its elaboration. It is interesting to follow not only global events, but also the stories of completely ordinary people and even animals. Quests from fellow party members at first seem stereotyped and simple, but in fact they turn out to be fascinating novels that are successfully intertwined with other tasks and, as they progress, reveal the heroes and their motives. After a few such missions, you start to worry about the character and try to carry out these assignments as quickly as possible.

The dialogue system is one of the key ones in the game. Often in the course of a conversation, you can try to convince the interlocutor that you are right. The list of the hero's skills provides a corresponding skill, and the better it is pumped, the easier it is to resolve issues peacefully. However, a lot of other parameters of the character can also affect the conversation, including reputation, race and gender, as well as a number of other characteristics, such as pumping strength or memory. Depending on the decisions made, the character can receive additional tags, which are like perks from the same Fallout... For example, if you always stand up for others, then sooner or later the character will receive the “Hero” tag, and those around him will react to it accordingly, opening new lines in dialogues.

The main character will discuss some questions with his companions. However, the mini-game, in which it was possible to convince a colleague of something, was removed. IN Original sin ii party members will adhere to exactly those views that are spelled out in their profile. Despite the fact that the character of the characters remains the same throughout the game, their attitude towards the main character changes as they complete their personal quests.

Why leave home when you can become Divine by sitting at your computer?

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Well, we've finally finished the story campaign. As promised in first impressions, we are rolling out a full review of Divinity: Original Sin 2... Even now, after the end credits, we find it hard to believe that all this was not a dream.

Plans Larian for the sequel to his unexpected hit, Divinity: Original Sin were almost utopian. New races and features, voice acting, a well-developed world, several game modes - and all this should at least not be inferior in quality to the first part. And as a maximum - to surpass it.

An army of fans trusted Larian and fully funded the game on Kickstarter in just twelve hours, with an initial goal of half a million dollars. Within a month, users collected more than two million by unlocking everything additional campaign objectives. But the project seemed too large-scale. We doubted to the last: well, everything cannot be so good, this does not happen. Something must go wrong.

Trailer about gameplay features

Event horizon

The first Original Sin still captivates with incredible freedom of action. It was more than just a classic RPG-style tactic. Both in battle and in conversation, there have always been several ways to get out of a situation. Banal persuasion, spontaneous effects, and unobvious tricks were also used. For example, it was possible to build a "house" of explosive barrels around the boss and blow up the reptile before he decides with what sauce to eat us.

Fans of tabletop role-playing games also found something familiar here: that forgotten feeling when you act according to the same rules with the game. Anything that is not prohibited is allowed, and no one bothers to violate local prohibitions if the opportunity presents itself. It's not always easy, but that was the beauty of Original Sin - she invited me to study the principles by which she works.

Apparently, Larian appreciated how much the audience liked “tabletop” freedom. Therefore, Original Sin 2 not only resembles an NRI - it is completely designed as a board game. No, you don't have to roll virtual dice and look for something in the spell list every couple of minutes. It's about the philosophy of development and the principles on which the tabletop role-playing is built.

At the origins of fantasy

A good campaign in the same D & D starts with a competent plot. Ironically, it was the plot that was the weakest part of the previous game. He provided an excuse for adventure, but was completely uninteresting. Sometimes bright characters appeared in it, like the magician Arhu, but they did not make this apotheosis of fantasy clichés any better.

The second part also drew inspiration from many sources, from Martin and Tolkien to all the same Jordan and Pratchett. But literary texts no longer look like a commercial product. Now they were supposedly written not by a team of screenwriters, but by one game master. And not to sell the game, based on statistics and focus groups, but to make it interesting for him and the players.

Rivellon's world is almost unlimited. A myriad of situations await us: difficult, funny, dark and simply unusual. The tone of the story is also constantly changing. At one point, we (no kidding) try to help the turtle win the heart of a nimble rat, and immediately after that we think about genocide, the fall of morality, nihilism and fate. At the same time, both events are spelled out equally well. Larian plays with the tone of the story so skillfully that the transitions and mood swings do not cause any rejection.

And D: OS 2 elegantly bypasses one of the most annoying cliches of fantasy - the division of the world into black and white. At first, everything is very clear: there are obvious "villains" and "heroes", we and them. But the deeper we plunge into the web of intrigue, the clearer we see that there are no rightists in this story at all. Only the guilty.

The plot involves many characters, factions and historical events. But their number does not tire, but only arouses curiosity. The names and places are remembered, the plot twists are really capable of surprising. And from the grains of information, a clear trail is formed, and we follow it voluntarily. Not because there is no choice, and not from annoying exposure, but because the story is truly intriguing.

The scriptwriters have seriously worked out the background - and not for show, but so that everything secret becomes clear. So that the player is keenly interested in the plot background. Hats off - in our case they succeeded. But due to the volume of the script, tiny miscalculations sometimes occur. The game occasionally forgets our gender or race, does not know that we already have this or that information ... Developers are slowly fixing these little things with patches.

We didn't expect D: OS 2's storyline to be that good. In addition, all the characters have found voices. The voice acting is obviously budgetary, but it surprises in a good way: the actors sound very lively - probably because they were allowed to interpret their characters in their own way. Special thanks for the Storyteller's appearance - his presence enhances the atmosphere of the tabletop gatherings. And in voice and intonation, he is in no way inferior to the same Logan Cunningham, who plays this role in projects Supergiant games.

Our partners have also changed, and for the better. Each of them has something to talk about, and their personal stories are directly related to the main plot. Now they are not just an appendage to the main character, a knight in shining armor. They become independent personalities. Brothers in arms' side quests not only reveal their personalities, but also echo the fate of Rivellon - and sometimes in a rather unexpected way.

What goes around comes around

The most controversial feature of tabletop RPGs is that they require huge investments from the player. Time, attention, effort, money. We sacrifice all these things dear to any adult for the sake of an exciting pastime.

It's funny, but with its exorbitant size and tons of content, Divinity: Original Sin 2 respects the player's time. She understands that the efforts invested in the passage should pay off and bring dividends in the form of pleasure. She elevates to the status of a credo a simple truth: "Nobody wants to waste precious time on boring nonsense."

First of all, there is no passable content in the game. Quests that added "so it was." Any, even the most insignificant situation will one way or another reward for your attention to yourself. Valuable loot, money, information, funny dialogue or a memorable scene. Anything, just so as not to make you feel wasted energy.

The game uses two more tricks to reduce downtime when it is not clear where to go next. Firstly, amusing opportunities and tasks are scattered almost everywhere - you don't have to go far for adventure. Secondly, enemies in D: OS 2 still don't respawn. This means that you will not be able to farm the experience.

For players have to look for problems on their own head if they want to become stronger. It's a little brutal, but almost all of the quests are worth it.

The paths of heroism are inscrutable

The main success of the first Original Sin was the interactive world, and it hasn't gone anywhere. The freedom of action has only grown, and D: OS 2 tries to accommodate all possible scenarios. Anything with a health bar can die. Everything... And the game remembers this.

We can get the information we need in many ways. Talk to people. Ask animals if we have the appropriate skill (and conversations with them are even more pleasing than in the first part). Rummaging through the chests. Read notes. Talk to ghosts ... including animal ghosts.

Characters of different races can solve the same problems in different ways. Physiology is also implemented here for a reason: unique racial properties play a role in combat and in social interactions. For example, lizards can dig out caches without shovels, and elves devour other people's remains and thus receive important (and not so) information from the memory of the dead.

Puzzles also delight in variety: often, for the sake of a solution, you even have to look closely at the interior details.

Larian created a world in which even building pyramids from boxes is not boring. True, sometimes the developers go too far: some puzzles or key actions for quests can be mind-bogglingly non-obvious. Especially in the last third of the game.

And because of the detailing of the world, the pace of the story suffers a little. There are a lot of little things that you don't want to miss, but the plot, on the contrary, often rushes events in the name of a spectacular denouement. And if the transition from Fort Joy to Driftwood is painless, then the departure to the Nameless Island, and then to Arx, does not seem so perfect anymore. Perhaps Larian tried to apply shock therapy to the players. But this move did not particularly hook us.

Another caveat: in many situations, D: OS 2 relies on metagaming. In board games, this means that the player solves the problem using his own knowledge gained outside the game, not the thoughts or knowledge of his character. With due diligence, a good third of D: OS 2 quests can be "broken" by simply bypassing the path conceived by the developers with the help of some trick. Most often - teleportation or disguise. Such permissiveness certainly has its own charm, and Larian themselves urge to exploit such loopholes. But it seems to us that not every role player will like this approach.

Constant wagering does not work. We plunge into the role, then we move away from it in a fit of furious munchkinism.

By the way, in battle, you will not need a competent role-playing of the character, namely the knowledge of the combat system. Without this, no Divinity can be attained.

Throw the initiative!

The turn-based tactics from the first part in D: OS 2 haven't changed much. Fights are still difficult, require good preparation and competent decisions. The role-playing engine works on the same principles, but has become a little more neat.

Leveling up characteristics and skills now brings noticeable and understandable bonuses, and not abstract points in the random number generator. We pump strength - we hit harder with heavy weapons. Agility - we better shoot and wield daggers. Skill schools also received bonuses, so now they need to be developed not only in order to learn certain spells. Hydrosophistika increases the effectiveness of healing, military science - all physical damage, and necromancy gives "innate" vampirism.

We have already talked about new schools in "First impressions"... Necromancy, as the name suggests, attracts with deadly charms like immortality and bloody rains. The call allows you to create, pump and control useful creatures in battle, and polymorph - to physically rebuild oneself, comrades and enemies for the sake of advantage in battle. Turning an enemy into a chicken can be more enjoyable than you might imagine.

In addition, the spontaneous and status effects in the sequel have increased several times. As well as the skills that trigger them, try combining two blank skill books from different schools at your leisure. As if that weren't enough, almost everything around you can be blessed or cursed, which radically changes the basic properties of the treated surface.

Let's say a cursed oil gets the wonderful property of exploding for no reason. "Damned blood" sounds brutal, looks disgusting, and the effect is generally disgusting. Just do not get carried away: the engine can withstand a large number of impacts. Keep yourself in control if you do not want to "drop" FPS to 20-22 frames.

But do not look forward to fireworks from special effects and a dozen statuses on one enemy. An innovation has appeared in the combat system, about which you can say a lot of good and even more bad.

Trial and error

From now on, all characters have physical and magic armor. The mechanics have been in the series before, but in Original Sin 2, armor is actually an additional health bar. Every piece of clothing affects her in one way or another. It decreases when a character takes damage of the appropriate type, regardless of the specifics. And as long as the armor is not depleted, this type of damage will not harm the health of the enemy.

It doesn't sound so bad, but there is one "but": armor wholly protects against status effects. Forget about permanent stun and control chaining. As long as the enemy has magic armor, all your tricks will be lost in vain.

On the one hand, this adds a new variable to combat tactics. It is not just important to have all the necessary abilities - it is even more important to use them at the right time. Save your trump cards to the last or start the battle with the most powerful moves and wait until they recover? The chances will have to be judged from a completely different angle. On the other hand, armor harms the very versatility of fights that we prized so much before. All your crowd control, elemental play, and resourcefulness will go to waste if the enemy is wearing armor. Statuses seem to be supposed to add variety to the process ... But you forget about them when most of the battle is spent on knocking off the enemy's defense.

Build diversity suffers from this same mechanic. You can still build beautiful hybrids of magical and physical skills, but from now on it is simply not profitable. After all, if a magician and a fighter fight the same enemy, then he will defend himself with two different bars of health. Previously, mages were death machines, but now spells take a long time to recharge, and it only comes to effects at the end of the battle. Warriors and robbers come to the fore - their blades hit harder than lightning.

The balance of difficulty levels is also a little feverish. As before, if you come somewhere on the level earlier than necessary, the boss will roll us out with a roller. A level later - the battle will become boringly easy. There are several potential forks in the story campaign, but each has its own level. Of course, you can go wherever and whenever you want. But enemies can also show you how wrong you are in this decision.