Divinity: Original Sin 2 Review

Known for tasty waffles, shiny diamonds, awesome beer and delicious chocolate, Belgium is a small but popular country. As a Belgian myself, I am very proud to say that on the list why Belgium is a well known place is one brilliant gaming developer from Ghent, Larian Studios! This independent studio has released a streak of great games and Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the newest addition on Xbox One. 

THE GOOD

• Over 150 hours of content: It has been since The Witcher 3 that I have seen so much content in an RPG game. Five characters races, lots of sub-quests, a deep and satisfying story and a wonderful world. The content in Divinity 2 is really diverse and remains fun even after the 90 hour mark. 
• Spoken dialogue: Mind-boggling how much spoken dialogue this game has, it is absolutely crazy. Main characters and NPCs have terrific voice actors, never in all the hours that I played was there a miscast or weird voice choice. It is really remarkable how much spoken content this game has, it must have been an organising nightmare to get everything ready on time, much respect for Larian to undergo this task. 
• Controls: The first Divinity was a great game on Xbox One but it had a few kinks for managing all your inventory and controlling your attacks. This has all been solved by some smart control design, especially the combat is really quick and easy. For such a complex game full with menu’s and lots of different options it is astonishing how basic and user friendly it works. 
• Great explanation of new controls/options: Not all classes are easy to use with lots of combat options, it really helps a lot that each and every feature or combat tactic is well explained. You will always get a really decent explanation about how things work and you can read it again in your tutorial menu. More importantly the tutorial parts never feel forced and are perfectly integrated in the story and gameplay. 
• Awesome visuals: What a fantastic looking game! This is by far one of the better looking Xbox One X games available. Highly detailed environments with great use of colour and effects, from charistic ships to huge forests or dark scary looking caves, the art-design is unmatched, giving lots of personality. 
• Local and online co-op: If playing alone isn’t your thing, Divinity 2 still has you covered with local split screen gameplay and a drop in and out online co-op mode. Playing in split screen is easy and while graphics are a little downgraded it still looks really good. You are not forced to stay together, so each player can freely discover the impressive world. 
• Make you own fighting style: Not much is different when you compare Divinity with similar games but the combat system works perfectly and is highly customizable. Fights aren’t easy either, so prepare for some challenge. Everyone will have a prefered style of fighting enemies and the choices are almost endless. The artificial intelligence uses the turn-based combat almost like a real life opponent would play, seeking advantages around every corner. 
• Music and sound: As I previously said, the spoken dialogue is what they call perfect performance but in general the sound and music is good on the ears. With some impressive musical choices that give bone-chilling feelings. 
• Addictive unexpected story: An emotional rollercoaster with some excellent storytelling! Divinity 2 is in my opinion one of the best videogames when it comes to meaningful, surprising and believable stories. The fact that you can fail a quest and still continue really makes a difference in the bigger picture, never before did I see this kind of effect in a main quest story. Even the so called “your choices make a difference” games from the former Telltale developer, for example never had the same huge impact on story related stuff. 

• Frame rate: When all hell breaks loose and lots of enemies and effects come together the game sometimes struggles to keep up, it doesn’t happen often so you don’t have to worry. 96% of the time the game has perfect performance on Xbox One X. 

• Real-life issues: Prepare for losing your work and facing relationship issues. Divinity 2 is insanely addictive and you don’t want to stop playing this masterpiece. 

Divinity Original Sin 2 Score: 98/100

I’m so proud about this Belgian developer, Larian truly made a fantastic roleplaying game. Such talented people, they released one of the best RPG games of all times! Please, I beg you readers. Do yourself a favor and buy this game immediately!!