Divinity: Original Sin II

 PC
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2570 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,223 out of 2570
  2. Mixed: 165 out of 2570
  3. Negative: 182 out of 2570

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  1. Sjalka
    Sep 17, 2017
    7
    A little mixed for my taste.

    The visuals of the game are nice. Rich colours and good environmental models create a nice scenery - that does however look a little dated compared to some other modern games, despite having a lot of detail. Character models are on the cartoonish side, but - in my opinion - quite creative and original. Dialogue options are classic and nicely done -    A little mixed for my taste.

    The visuals of the game are nice. Rich colours and good environmental models create a nice scenery - that does however look a little dated compared to some other modern games, despite having a lot of detail.

    Character models are on the cartoonish side, but - in my opinion - quite creative and original. Dialogue options are classic and nicely done - although i had some conversations where i was only allowed options that i felt - were all bad, while other much more realistic ones were simply missing.

    The sound is alright but not remarkable. Environmental sounds felt a bit on the simple side - hardly contributing to the scenery at all. But dialogue is fully voiced (minus the protagonist, who is a mute)

    On to the meat of the game - questing, exploring, progressing....

    Quests are - well... ranging from boring fetch quests, to story progression with a bit more complexity. So i would call it rather average. I have not come across any surprising twists and turns or outstandingly creative quest structure. It is as solid in terms of questing as any RPG 20 years ago - sort of.

    Combat is still like Divinity 1 - with the environment playing a substantial part in combat tactics ... along with a turn system based on action points. While such combat should be exciting - and it does look pretty good in theory. ... i actually did feel a bit underwhelmed with a lot of combat situations in the game ... VERY similar to Divinity 1.

    While it was not just possible - but utterly a cake walk to get to a specific point ... slashing ones way through some trash mobs - I was suddenly confronted with bosses or mini bosses that utterly wiped the floor with me.
    While tough mobs is not a bad thing per se - trash mobs leading to such bosses should - in my opinion - reflect what is to come - and possibly act as at least a sort of indicator of what difficulty was to be expected.

    Some bosses turned out to be way too difficult to beat by just doing the main quest line and maybe the occasional sidequest - and required a lot of luck (a lot of quicksave/quickload) to beat - a sign of rather bad design. I mostly refer to enemy skills that simply feel way overpowered and two-shot - sometimes even one-shot my heroes.

    Enemy AI is not bad - and even smaller monsters can be perilous when the AI successfully makes use of environmental advantages - but it could be much better if the AI consequently exploited it even more. (that is a kind of difficulty i do not mind - when the enemy plays smartly - but by the rules ... )

    Other than that - the game could be a bit better optimized i think. Although it runs well on a low end system, there was some slowdown at times (they tended to fix themselves after a short time) - maybe bad memory usage or i don't know.

    This game is well above average for sure - and worth a lot of hours of enjoyment. But it is not among the best due to its rather conservative quest structure and the strange difficulty spikes in combat.    … Expand
  2. pankowecki
    Dec 30, 2020
    7
    I had fun playing the game and going through the story but the ending was so terrible and meaningless that I felt cheated.
  3. Thothistox
    Feb 18, 2018
    7
    I know this seems like a low score considering all the praise this game gets, but hear me out. DOS2 is a pretty unusual sequel. It certainly feels like it was made by people who know how to make RPGs, but they're not the same people who made DOS1 and they have a completely different set of strengths and weaknesses.

    On the bright side, the writing is better in this one. Even though your    I know this seems like a low score considering all the praise this game gets, but hear me out. DOS2 is a pretty unusual sequel. It certainly feels like it was made by people who know how to make RPGs, but they're not the same people who made DOS1 and they have a completely different set of strengths and weaknesses.

    On the bright side, the writing is better in this one. Even though your character is quite special, the storytelling feels less smarmy and more gritty. You're force to eat some humble pie before you earn your place as super special, with no unctuous imps jaunting around your sparkly coattails. The dialogue is better too. No more of the belletristic and melodramatic expositions the original DOS was full of, and the writers (usually) know the correct use of "and I". (If you think "we came here for Dave and I" is a grammatical sentence punch yourself right now.)

    Yet, too much of what transpires is just not memorable. Granted, it feels like it might be if you knew the whole story and appreciated the full depth of its C&C. But, on the second iteration the game feels more or less the same as the first. I chose different characters and made different decisions, but I now see the breadth of the corridor and it mostly leads in the same direction. The only forks in the road are things that feel worse than on my first playthrough: not achieving my goals or having party members leave. So I'm giving up two thirds of the way through.

    Why? Well, the other aspects of the game certainly aren't keeping me in. The combat is a step back from DOS1, which had some of the most enjoyable combat I've seen in an RPG. DOS1 had a large array of skills and more than 80% were useful. I found myself using almost every ability I had, wreaking havoc amongst my enemies, charming the one in a dozen imps, freezing them in their tracks or blowing up oil barrels. Not DOS2, which feels contrived and sloppily designed. Only nearly dead enemies are affected by anything interesting. Worse still, many skills affect only one of the two resistance bars, so a skilled--or cynical--player will use some party members to grind down one bar on one enemy and the other kind on a different enemy. The end result is that only a fraction of skills are genuinely useful and combat tends to remain the same for the entire game. Where is the wonderful balance of DOS1? Where is the variety?

    I know that you might argue that I've only played the game on "classic" mode and that it's more interesting on harder modes. Maybe, but those harder modes are passable only because of "hack" builds players will learn about when playing classic mode because the game doesn't give you the freedom that it promises. You feel like being a powerful mage early on? No skill books for that. Tough. Your skill points are wasted. You think that particular skill is useful? Maybe. Some are resisted by armors and some aren't, and on tactician mode the armors are mercilessly long.

    It doesn't help that the game seems designed to flip you the bird. The area of effect spells have friendly fire on the harder modes, and quite often by using them you'll be harming your party more than the enemies. Making thing worse, the areas aren't well defined this time. You can try to predict where that ray of fire will go, but it might be ever so slightly off and burn your party by mistake. The game seems to encourage you to hurt yourself. Poison potion? One click to drink and (usually) hurt yourself. Health? Two clicks. (Wouldn't want to heal by accident now would we?)

    The armor bonuses are also annoying. I have a designated looter with high "lucky charm" skills that are magnified by "lucky charm" gear. It's not her fighting gear though. I have to go through a clickfest to equip those before every fight. I was thinking of having designated persuasion gear, wits gear, identification gear and bartering gear but I decided I didn't have it in me. Not fun, Larian. Nauseating is the better word.

    Speaking of nauseating, the opening theme is horrible. Slavov is generally a pretty good replacement for the late Pokrovsky, but his pieces are too short for something as repetitive as DOS:2. Don't get me wrong, a few tunes are brilliant. The fact that your PC has his own theme on a chosen instrument is a wonderful idea. The "Listen" song was the best moment in the game. But all of that is drowned in dull monotony that, if anything, "Listen" is a catharsis for.

    Speaking of catharsis, I wish someone would purge the quest logs of nonsense. Sometimes I feel like they belong to a different game, especially when it comes of how the quests are resolved. Are these bugs? Or are the devs hiding the other potential resolutions?

    Over all, the high user scores say more about the horrible state of RPGs in 2017 than anything about DOS2. Here's hoping for a better 2018    … Expand
  4. Zhael
    Dec 3, 2017
    7
    Pros: much better graphics than the original, much better story with real involvement from other party member which makes them both more interesting and more useful, excellent narrator

    Cons: some quests are so obscure you need to have Wiki constantly on alt-tab, talking of alt-tab I find the battles so boring I'm often checking email and FB during them. There are times when the    Pros: much better graphics than the original, much better story with real involvement from other party member which makes them both more interesting and more useful, excellent narrator

    Cons: some quests are so obscure you need to have Wiki constantly on alt-tab, talking of alt-tab I find the battles so boring I'm often checking email and FB during them. There are times when the party is possessed by the enemy which means you miss all your goes for three turns, so the computer essentially plays against itself. boring battles where the people you just killed magically reappear to be killed again, and again, game breaking bugs (even in Dec 2017) much the same spells, skills,    … Expand
  5. LagTheKiller
    Oct 24, 2017
    7
    So mixed, so unsure. I write this as starting from 10/10 then go down.

    I like: combat (literally 8/10) ,storylines (so many, almost every one with potential then somtimes abruptly ends), relative freedom (sometimes freddom of being raped by 2 lvlel higher mobs), graphics (just awesome), first 2/3 very entertaining storyline (then derp tend to accumulate), game is HARD even on 2/4    So mixed, so unsure. I write this as starting from 10/10 then go down.

    I like: combat (literally 8/10) ,storylines (so many, almost every one with potential then somtimes abruptly ends), relative freedom (sometimes freddom of being raped by 2 lvlel higher mobs), graphics (just awesome), first 2/3 very entertaining storyline (then derp tend to accumulate), game is HARD even on 2/4 difficulty, on 3/4 i can barely advance.

    I dont like:
    Combat: rogue is quite useless, full strength two handed is easily worth 2 characters. AI mobs are buffed so always better armored than ur party, yet they dont capitalize on it sometimes going full suicidal or playing pick with omnipotent knowledge on whose ur most puny member. Confusing af. Also throwing items like there is no tommorow.

    Relative freedom ends when u encounter miniboss on a level higher. Tends to kill one of your character in one turn (usually so high initiative that always starts first and even if they cant u still cant nuke them in one turn). Later in game 3 source skills can easily nuke all your magic resist/armor and leave your party in half strength the other half being knocked/stunned/frozen.

    Graphics are still awesome.

    Most of the side quests abruptly ends, only few (thank god including companion stories) carry to thenext location much less next act. Such a waste. U could easily chain them more. Or maybe i dint find em all.

    ANd final flaw. U are chasing godhood in most grimderpy/cheesy universe to ever existed. EVERYFCKING ONE in this world is tragic/passive/psychopat. There is no in between. Every line includes derping like so hard. Barring mad chief of the cult there is no excuse for citing evil overlord for the half of the enemies. Next half wants u dead for no obvious reason. And gods are sounds like fcking gollums, yes kill'kill u must my precious u must be the one for every moment u hear them.
    After 80 hours u are bored to tears, u just want them to end the lines just to kill them and dont hear their babbling. Goddamit, and even if u hook yourself in the sidequest it is 90% possibility u have to kill something. Although most of the main characters are still decent/not cheesy, but after 80 hours the cheesy ones tend to cause rage.

    Protip: dont roleplay nobleknight.    … Expand
  6. TheWaffle
    Feb 13, 2019
    7
    This game teeters back and forth between brilliance and awfulness.

    1. The plot offers minor glimpses of depth, but in the end you are the chosen one who must save the world and become the messiah. The regular baddies give off a Spanish Inquisition vibe and hate sourcerors, but they use magic constantly. It's really dissonant to hear them rant about how dangerous you are for your magic    This game teeters back and forth between brilliance and awfulness.

    1. The plot offers minor glimpses of depth, but in the end you are the chosen one who must save the world and become the messiah. The regular baddies give off a Spanish Inquisition vibe and hate sourcerors, but they use magic constantly. It's really dissonant to hear them rant about how dangerous you are for your magic using, and then they throw a fireball at you. The fact that every playable character can wield magic really cheapens the specialness. There is also a turn in the plot that I must have missed since I'm now apparently friends with all of the magisters who were attacking me during the first act, I don't remember why that changed. They also really leaned into the High Fantasy stuff, which means you get rescued by deities and demons and fly a ship into a nether realm, and none of it really seems earned.

    2. Combat has a lot of potential depth, but the game doesn't really lend itself to really tactical play. The free movement system (as opposed to a grid) has a lot of quirks, and it's soooo easy to misclick and have your character saunter over to an enemy instead of launching a lightning bolt. Despite 5 different elemental schools, enemy resistance/vulnerability is quite inconsistent, with most serious baddies having resist-everything, and even mobs having weird mixtures of resistances that require you to inspect each enemy carefully (skeleton A has -20% damage from earth, but not skeleton B). And the myriad of conditions require endless mousing over, for instance I had to mouse over a character's profile anytime I wanted to heal them just to make sure they didn't have "decay" which would reverse the healing effect (the condition had no obvious visual cue). Despite a number of environmental effects, the battlefield inevitably is covered with a mass of burning fires, since pretty much everything and everyone in the game will blow up without warning (especially if you have the Sir Lora DLC, since he'll run around in real time activating every trap).

    3. The graphics are quite lovely at a glance, but the game stutters and slows during saves (which will be often), and without the highlight button it's almost impossible to see most items.

    4. The inventory system is a mess, and the awkward highlighting system makes it very difficult to evaluate your characters' equipment, since switching characters doesn't change the highlighted object until you mouse away and back. The rune crafting is also difficult since there's no marker showing which items in your inventory are equipped or not, requiring more mousing over.

    5. The difficulty (on classic) is aggravated by the really weak tutorial system. I didn't even realize that the bedroll item was the magical cure-all and heal-up item until about 15 hours in.    … Expand
  7. Rrichard
    Nov 24, 2017
    5
    Great story, great mechanics, great graphics. But... what's the point if you don't want to play it? The whole game just takes way too long, combat animations go on and on, so that even a simple battle against an easy enemy goes for 5 minutes. The journal doesn't show you waypoints on where to go, so there is a huge amount of backtracking and guessing. Look on Youtube - there are zeroGreat story, great mechanics, great graphics. But... what's the point if you don't want to play it? The whole game just takes way too long, combat animations go on and on, so that even a simple battle against an easy enemy goes for 5 minutes. The journal doesn't show you waypoints on where to go, so there is a huge amount of backtracking and guessing. Look on Youtube - there are zero complete walkthroughs from known Youtubers because of these problems. 20% of the length of the game could easily be carved off by shortening combat animations and giving waypoints with a proper journal.… Expand
  8. falifax1202
    Oct 16, 2017
    7
    would be a 10 out of 10 but i encountered numerous bugs and i'm not satisfied with all of larians quest building, many details too small to notice really got me to giving up on the game sometimes, also, some quest and enemy design is kinda **** generally a good game worth its money, but not the holy grail some reviewers want me to believe it is.
  9. Titannet2k
    Nov 11, 2017
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Tagline: Not a 10.

    I don't understand why people are hyping this game so much. Best RPG ever? No.

    Compared to the first DOS game this may be bigger but it isn't necessarily better. The story is pretty much the same as Divine Divinity, Divine Divinity 2 and DOS: your character was chosen to save the world, you just have to jump a lot of hoops first so you can become powerful enough to do so. That includes doing a lot of good guy stuff (saving stolen eggs for chickens!) but also working for genocidal maniacs.

    The combat system is more complicated and more difficult by stacking most of the fights against you. Best example is how the enemies are always all over the place while your party stands neatly together. There is a "party planner" since one of the patches where you can choose where everyone stands. But as far as most AoE spells concerned your party still starts every fight neatly together. Unless split your party and have you characters enter combat one by one. Which is just dumb.

    The UI is still a bad joke. Want you best bartering guy to sell things? Prepare to spend a lot of time in inventory cleanup. Want to use the crafting system? Bring a lot of time and patience!

    Role playing is also rather thin. Most of the conversations just railroad you into one path. Except for skill checks which usually force you to reload and pick the right character for this conversation. FUN!

    Long story short. If you absolutely need an RPG and you liked the first DOS you could do worse. But I would recommend you wait until it is a lot cheaper. Maybe play Divine Divinity I and II. Except for the graphics (and the final part of Divine Divinity I) they are better games.    … Expand
  10. hayenne
    Nov 30, 2017
    7
    I'll give it a 7. I *really* loved the first game, it was such a refreshing discovery, but the second installment does not seem a true follower of the same course to me.

    First, what I liked: - characters are new and inspiring - plot is pretty fun, at least to the point where I played (chapter 1) - voice acting is top notch - graphics is also pretty decent Now, for the cons: My    I'll give it a 7. I *really* loved the first game, it was such a refreshing discovery, but the second installment does not seem a true follower of the same course to me.

    First, what I liked:
    - characters are new and inspiring
    - plot is pretty fun, at least to the point where I played (chapter 1)
    - voice acting is top notch
    - graphics is also pretty decent

    Now, for the cons:

    My main gripe is gameplay.
    I really could not appreciate the simplification of all skill cost down to 2. It really removed much of planning depth. And the physical/magical armour blocking CC? Also a questionable choice. I liked the old one based on stat vs bodybuilding/willpower better and more believable. Skill icons do not differ that much, I think they used to be way clearer in the first game.    … Expand
  11. Wiebe
    Feb 25, 2020
    5
    Just like the original, I just didn't feel the game. I love RPGs but I don't understand the critical acclaim of these games. They play like a B title, story and characters are subpar and its gameplay is nothing new.
  12. raadoo
    Oct 26, 2017
    7
    i'm about 20h into the game. firstly, the camera is awful, luckily there's already a mod allowing a bigger zoom out and camera tilt. there are some ui problems, inventory, looting and highlighting items could be improved and it can get really tedious, but generally it's ok. there's a lot of info regarding skills, abilities and so on missing and you have to google it. quest journal and mapi'm about 20h into the game. firstly, the camera is awful, luckily there's already a mod allowing a bigger zoom out and camera tilt. there are some ui problems, inventory, looting and highlighting items could be improved and it can get really tedious, but generally it's ok. there's a lot of info regarding skills, abilities and so on missing and you have to google it. quest journal and map should be better organized providing more info, it feels like you have to remember everything or note down yourself, if a new marker appears on the map often the description is cryptic and you have no idea what quest it is related to or how it even got there. fights are ok, even if at first you may have no idea what's going on. as for the world and story, npcs seems interesting and intriguing, there seem to be many possible ways of achieving things and completing quests, which is great, and the world seems to adapt to your choices. writing is good with good balance between important info, quality humour and "filler". the main story itself seems quite average and cliche so far, but that may change along the road, the amount of times you are told in the beginning that you are the chosen one who is supposed to save the world suggests that there may be a twist here later. ;) overall, i wouldn't call it a masterpiece but seems a very solid game, nothing new and revolutionary, certainly better than some of the latest rpg releases, though. i didn't really get into the story but so far i want to continue playing.

    [edit: changed from 8 to 7, after a few more hours i somehow lost interest in the game and don't really feel like continuing, perhaps i'll return to the game some time later to finish it; inventory management became a real chore (and it's a problem of 99% rpg games), though i'm only playing with a party of two. also "quest reward items" become worse than standard items in shops very quickly, as shop items upgrade regularly relative to your level, which means you have to reequip quite often... ]    … Expand
  13. BezrukovVA
    Feb 19, 2018
    5
    Game has good story, graphics. But battle system is awful. All "difficult" fights are scripted - enemies always have first turn and 6 AP. For example: if you character can cast only two spells, enemy "suddenly" cast 5-6 spells on single turn. So all difficulty of the game is to survive this first turn.
  14. Pannon
    Dec 24, 2017
    7
    I can see people giving 5 stars and I can see the game selected as GOTY on many sites. I have no problem believing, that this game is better than other games this year from all genres. But for me, it doesn't mean, that this game is absolutely awesome above very great games. No, it means, that the competition from all genres were mediocre at best, and this game is above mediocre. So why amI can see people giving 5 stars and I can see the game selected as GOTY on many sites. I have no problem believing, that this game is better than other games this year from all genres. But for me, it doesn't mean, that this game is absolutely awesome above very great games. No, it means, that the competition from all genres were mediocre at best, and this game is above mediocre. So why am I not giving 10 stars but only 7? Well, I'd love to give 7.5, but that's not an option on this site. It's almost hitting 8 stars, but definitely not 10. Let's see the positives: 1. Great atmosphere. There is a lot, i mean A LOT to do and whether or not the player is gonna do everything or not, it depends how long can someone fiddle around on an area. Despite some people claiming, that it can be difficult, there are some redundant side missions here, that actually won't really raise nor give any significant loot, especially if you happen to stumble upon a mission, that has 1 or 2 level lower opponents. 2. Great graphics and sound. While the birds eye view camera may not be everyone's cup of tea, the environment is drawn beautifully and the music is top notch, along with special effects and sound effects. 3. Great depth of gameplay. As I mentioned already, there is plenty to do, and nearly infinite combinations of gear and mixture of skills to be learned, as well as party selection and party training. The game can be also very long, depending how far the gamer will go to try and check everything. Ok, so here comes the reasons for 3.5 score: 1. Inventory/loot/equipment management. I can't think of a game, that I spent at least 50-60% of my time fiddling with my gear and equipment. It's now. literally 5 minutes travel -> find a book or a gear -> 15 min. switching gear, switching spells, identifying, selling, buying, dropping, adding, mixing, combining, cooking, experimenting, repairing comparing. It totally pulls the halt on the gameplay.
    It's just gets annoying and boring. Just to progress along and get that extra edge from gear and spells and potions to beat a superboss or 1-2 level higher npcs, I have to carefully pick-and choose what gear I'm wearing and what spells I'm knowing and also my 3 other companions.
    So it's a lot of dress-up-Barbie game going on, and it gets tedious after a while.
    Also, the game feels like, you do have to reload that fight area at least once, because you got no clue what is about to hit you. There are perma-deaths ( you may turn into a cow, or insta-killed along with your party) with no warnings. You can easily walk into a super boss and get massacred.
    Fights - Some fight can last an hour! And it isn't just because a lot of enemies to kill, but they are slow and taking their time, and I'm just sitting back and staring at the zombie slowly edging toward my character. So I'll go get a sandwich. Then I forgot, that the game is running, and 2 hours later I sit back to the computer and trying to remember what is going on.
    Oh yeah, and the mission structure.
    People like me, who doesn't have a lot of time to play many hours/day will loose track what they are doing or what they are supposed to do.
    I just simply walk around now, trying to kill NPCs and pick up books and letters and see if I can get out of the area. I have completely lost the thread, all I know some bad guy want to kill me and I supposed to kill some bad guys. That's the main mission in a nutshell.
    so the game is definitely not 10, but not even 8. I still recommend it to hardcore RPG players. Others, casual players shall be warned. People who have never played one of these type of RPGs, - should watch some let's play youtube videos first and decide later!    … Expand
  15. georgio
    Sep 29, 2017
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Divinity 2 is by no means a bad game but in my eyes it is far from "masterpiece" as many people say. Some beef I have with the game

    - Story arch: the story is one of the most ordinary stories you will ever see in RPG - called "Ascension to godhood". This is a washed up theme repeated ad nausea before. But fair enough, maybe they will make it an interesting story.

    - Interaction with the world: There are some illogical leaps that you have to put up with in the game. An example early in the game you encounter magisters who run horrendeous experiments on people only to be asked to help them as if nothing happens. So you put on your roleplaying shoes, refuse to cooperate and kill every single one of them. Few screens later a magister greets you as if nothing happens. The story execution is poor in this way, it does not pull you in enough. If you want to have a look of how it is done correctly look no farther than Tyrany

    - The combat/equipment and mechanics. First, what is with constant patches and reworks? This is a pure singleplayer game. It can easily happen that you have a build only for it to be nerfed the next patch. I really do not understand. Second objection is for the power curve of items. It can very well happen that on level 6 you will find item set that belonged to former emperor and one of the most powerful beings in that world. Only you can gather a stick and beaver intestine and crafte more powerful item yourself two levels later. This is ridiculous and breaks suspension of disbelief for me. In Baldurs Gate if you managed to beat a Lich in the cellar you could bet that he had a powerful item that will last until the end of the game.

    However to not just throw on criticism, I think that the game is polished and quite fun to play. I personally love to see that it has quite a success. However we still should be fair judging it.    … Expand
  16. arg23
    Nov 19, 2017
    6
    its ok. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  17. bokri
    Mar 8, 2021
    6
    Игра супер, но добавление магической защиты делает мага в команде бесполезным, много глупых смехуёчков, а головоломки делают происходящее в игре нереалистичным
  18. naiper
    May 3, 2018
    7
    First half is 9, but the rest only 5, if you do too many side quests, then beginning from about half of act 2, the battle will be meaningless. The numeric aspect should be polished better.
  19. michaelb1928
    Dec 1, 2018
    6
    character has a story to tell. In an RPG landscape where dialogue options are dumbed down, and quests have become package delivery to a specific map coordinate, Divinity: Origina
  20. ElderRobot
    Nov 3, 2019
    6
    D:OS2 is a great game, but it isn't an RPG. It might have been better as an arena-style or X-COM type game, because it's brand of environmental combat tactics are its chief selling point. And they are pretty good. But it isn't a game where you play within the story, it is a game that pits you against the game and its system. This is great when I am playing Super Mario Brothers or aD:OS2 is a great game, but it isn't an RPG. It might have been better as an arena-style or X-COM type game, because it's brand of environmental combat tactics are its chief selling point. And they are pretty good. But it isn't a game where you play within the story, it is a game that pits you against the game and its system. This is great when I am playing Super Mario Brothers or a similar title. But not so much as an isometric-style RPG. The writing, story and voice acting are okay. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either.

    If you love turn-based fights that force you to exploit holes in the engine, you'll love this game. Now, I think that is what the developers set out to build, and they did a great, great job. But if you want a deep, immersive RPG, look elsewhere.    … Expand
  21. Renovatia
    May 30, 2019
    5
    The games strikes me as amazing but I un-installed it nevertheless after having landed on the first Island and having explored a bit. What ticked me off were the long winded narrations/conversations.

    Also the written dialogues/narrations were presented in a clumsy fashion. My eyes were constantly searching to distinguish dialogue from information. Very tiring. Before a dialogue    The games strikes me as amazing but I un-installed it nevertheless after having landed on the first Island and having explored a bit. What ticked me off were the long winded narrations/conversations.

    Also the written dialogues/narrations were presented in a clumsy fashion. My eyes were constantly searching to distinguish dialogue from information. Very tiring.

    Before a dialogue starts, often some narration occurs first. This involves a lot of verbal padding. I.e. too much words are used which were entirely irrelevant. It drove me insane. Just get on with it.

    Not to mention the manlet voice. I simply couldn't take it anymore. This voice is reused many times in DOS 2 and was also used in DOS, most notably as Headless Nick.

    This was the only reason I uninstalled it. The senseless narrative padding, this guy with his unmanly voice and clumsy presentation of dialogue-options.    … Expand
  22. PlayorNaygames
    Oct 13, 2017
    6
    Let me start of by saying I love RPGs. "RPG" can mean so many things and elements are in most games today. Divinity Original Sin 2 (DOS2) tries to be a classic "RPG" for PC in the mid to late 90s. It succeeds in emulating what made those games great, however, is that something that is still fun to play today?

    For me, while the voice acting of all dialog is great, the lacks any    Let me start of by saying I love RPGs. "RPG" can mean so many things and elements are in most games today. Divinity Original Sin 2 (DOS2) tries to be a classic "RPG" for PC in the mid to late 90s. It succeeds in emulating what made those games great, however, is that something that is still fun to play today?

    For me, while the voice acting of all dialog is great, the lacks any animations or facial expressions. The narrator will describe the littlest thing (even laughing, when they could just have the voice actors do it, why have the narrator say "the character laughed"?). One of the great things about RPGs like Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic, Fallout 1&2, ect. is seeing the characters react to your decisions. In DOS2, you have to use your imagination, or the impact of the story is severely diminished. It's basically a book read to you aloud.

    That said, the combat is very similar to DOS1. It feels like you have to be at or above the level of the enemies you're fighting or you'll have a rough time. The stats system is broken, however. The only stat you need is your classes' main stat (strength, finesse, or intelligence). Constitution does not matter (when does it even really :p) because armor scales very, very quickly with each level, making the HP bonus not needed. Wit used to matter a lot, but they nerfed it in beta because it made the game too easy, so now it on affects the turn order of your highest-wit character (really lame). It's still the second best stat due to a passive 1% increase to crit chance though. Finally there is memory, which increases the number of skills you can use at once and that's it. This is only needed for some casters and even then only a couple points. You can see there isn't a whole lot of choice in what stats you choose.

    That's what this game comes down to, window dressing. For me, I simply want a more interactive experience and I feel like older games like Fallout are better balanced for combat and tell a better story. You can do a lot of bad things, but nothing comes of it, no one notices. That makes it less fun to me.

    Graphics are serviceable here, about what you'd expect for an isometric game and dated by many other genres standards. The UI is okay in that it is functional with a keyboard and mouse, but it is poor with a controller. There is not a lot of loot in the game, you'll buy much of your equipment from the shops. However, you find a lot of crafting recipes, but finding useful ones is difficult.

    You can play this game co-op with up to 3 others. It's not my cup of tea, but you can do that if you want. There's also a dungeon master deal where you can create your own adventure. Could be fun, but again, not what I bought the game for, so I don't have an opinion on that.

    The game did not appeal to me as much as the original game did and I really had to force myself to finish the first game. I was hoping for improvement here, but gone is the quirky music and dialog from the first game that I liked. You may want to wait for a sale if you're curious about this one.    … Expand
  23. Chadpowers
    Oct 18, 2017
    7
    Quick review:

    Graphics: 8/10 Good enough. Nothing special. Sound: 8/10 Again, nothing special. Story: 7/10 Standard stuff with some extra embarassing and cringy dialogues, lots of unnecessary rambling done by many characters. Gameplay: 5/10 The combat and overall game mechanics would have been nice 20 years ago, by now they are just outdated. Games should be way more    Quick review:

    Graphics: 8/10
    Good enough. Nothing special.

    Sound: 8/10
    Again, nothing special.

    Story: 7/10
    Standard stuff with some extra embarassing and cringy dialogues, lots of unnecessary rambling done by many characters.

    Gameplay: 5/10
    The combat and overall game mechanics would have been nice 20 years ago, by now they are just outdated. Games should be way more interactive. Especially the many scenes were the player is just told what is supposed to happen by some narrator, while the characters are just standing still, are a huge disappointment and one would be better off reading a book instead.
    It still gets 5 points for gameplay because it has some good puzzles and exploration.

    Overall: 7/10
    Could be a 9/10 if you like that kind of old fashioned game, though still not as good as Baldurs Gate.
    For everyone who doesn't live in the past it would be a 7/10, they can accept the old school stuff.
    If you expect actual action and interaction from a game - this game is not for you.    … Expand
  24. Gardenhose
    Sep 22, 2017
    5
    This game is way overrated. Its an old style turn based game. It's completely BORING if you do not like turn based game. You run into enemies you push a button to use a skill, then you wait for every enemy and ally to use their skill and then its your turn again you can press a button to use another skill if need be. The story line is good and the voice acting is ok. The graphics are goodThis game is way overrated. Its an old style turn based game. It's completely BORING if you do not like turn based game. You run into enemies you push a button to use a skill, then you wait for every enemy and ally to use their skill and then its your turn again you can press a button to use another skill if need be. The story line is good and the voice acting is ok. The graphics are good for the type of game it is. The camera view and angles are annoying even though you can move the camera around. IF you are used to MMORPG's like WoW or Guildwars or even games like Witcher3 etc etc. This is NOT like those games. It's much slower paced like a board games basically. Your turn.… Expand
  25. Yosa
    Sep 16, 2017
    6
    About the game, it is a turn base battle rpg, there is crafting, loot and corridor style exploration; this game worth trying if you like these things; what it does well is the rpg side of things, I enjoyed the dialog, the history and developing my character.

    Now onto something that pissed me off, line of site; this was a game mechanic introduced a decade ago in games, this game makes a    About the game, it is a turn base battle rpg, there is crafting, loot and corridor style exploration; this game worth trying if you like these things; what it does well is the rpg side of things, I enjoyed the dialog, the history and developing my character.

    Now onto something that pissed me off, line of site; this was a game mechanic introduced a decade ago in games, this game makes a real point of it; to the detriment of every combat. How fair is it when the you cant target the enemy after they just attacked you, smoke stops line of site even from an area attack aimed close, hell I can shoot a bow through smoke at a guess on the range,but steam in this game can ruin your fight. Larians Idea of line of site is an eyesore on there game and it is broken in its implementation, it sucked in the first one and its worse in this one when they emphasize high objects and cliffs in the open corridor phsuedo open gameplay.

    Inventory bloat is a problem with games in general, this stems from containers being put everwhere and we need a list of just stuff to justify them, this game makes looting a chore, you will quickly fill up your inventory space with junk that your not sure what to keep due to the piecemail crafting that is ill put together.

    Game ending for me(breaking, mabey), when you get to the ship after the island, your presentted with a protection type battle, your package dies game over; normally I would say this is a spoiler, but not when it will end you game and make you start over just to be able to get past it; it more of informative look at what the game does.

    Ive played far worse and this is a decent game, but it rates mediocre.

    As far as bugs, I encountered few, nothing that could not be fixed with a reload and redo.    … Expand
  26. Spined
    Oct 13, 2017
    7
    I am never sure if there is much to be gained from a wall of ratings which consists "10 - wow".

    This game is well done. It has a GM mode which is a great edition - if anyone uses it. Anything that is a return to yesteryear and the period of gaming where people actually used their own imaginations is always going to be good. It's just , I can't actually see many people actually using it.    I am never sure if there is much to be gained from a wall of ratings which consists "10 - wow".

    This game is well done. It has a GM mode which is a great edition - if anyone uses it. Anything that is a return to yesteryear and the period of gaming where people actually used their own imaginations is always going to be good. It's just , I can't actually see many people actually using it.

    The problem with games that hearken back to the past (and for mind this is a copy of Baldur's gate, a great game from the past) is that one thing you quickly realise is, how far games have actually come.

    I enjoyed this game at first but somehow the desire to keep playing expired after leaving the first area of the game. The story was interesting enough. The lore was great and very new and imaginative. So why did I have so little desire to keep going?

    Was it because there were so many little things I didn't complete properly? Was it because the combat was starting to grate on my nerves? Was it the Monty Haul of stuff I had to micro manage?

    In truth it was a combination of all. For me a game is a measure mostly of how long I want to play it. So I have to mark this one down because, unfortunately, the answer for me was , about a week, or nowhere near long enough to warrant what I paid for it.    … Expand
  27. night4
    Oct 16, 2017
    5
    I was absolutely LOVING this game... until the bugs. It was in Early Access for a whole year, and yet, they launched it without localizations, broke multiplayer with the first patch, and Act 1 is a complete bugfest.

    I'm really confused as to what they were doing in Early Access.
  28. Jenne
    Feb 23, 2018
    5
    It looks great and the combat is just as excellent as in the prequel but everything about this game is super safe. Again an ancient evil is waking, we fight skeletons and goblins, go through swamps, cast spells and rescue princesses. I feel like I'm playing something I've played 100x times in my life. When you reach your 30s and you've been a gamer since your childhood you start toIt looks great and the combat is just as excellent as in the prequel but everything about this game is super safe. Again an ancient evil is waking, we fight skeletons and goblins, go through swamps, cast spells and rescue princesses. I feel like I'm playing something I've played 100x times in my life. When you reach your 30s and you've been a gamer since your childhood you start to appreciate RPGs that are more quirky, different and innovative like Dark Souls or Kingdom Come: Deliverance. This is just a competent rehash of a tired formula from the 1990s and I've had my fill with those.… Expand
  29. Emeralds
    Dec 17, 2017
    6
    Beautiful looking game I really wanted to love. Maybe it's too hardcore for me; I just didn't find enough explanation for the mechanics of the game and missed basic things like quest markers that I've got used to. Also it ended up being a case of having to manually save and reload so many times that it felt like a necessary chore.
  30. TroyNT
    Apr 18, 2020
    5
    Would normally be a game that I like, but for some reason it's completely boring to me:
    The UI is kind of awful.
    The controls are mediocre.
    It makes me wish I was playing D&D with my friends in-person. Not on a computer.
  31. bonsai
    Jun 9, 2022
    7
    The game is somehow fun played with friends, me and the homies spent a lot of time playing together.
    The only problem I have is how slow it is sometime, like I could go smoke a cigarette and after I came back 10 minutes later my friends were still playing and my turn didn't come up yet.
  32. BlackWidow
    May 31, 2021
    5
    DOS2 is a very overrated game. it's not a bad game, but could have been much better if the DEVS would have taken a little more time on it. Here is my Good and Bad points for the game...

    ----- THE GOOD Multiple Endings Great Character Creation/Customization ----- THE BAD No Day/Night Cycle No Weather Effects Many Bugs/Glitches Insanely Long Battles Lag Even On Top-End    DOS2 is a very overrated game. it's not a bad game, but could have been much better if the DEVS would have taken a little more time on it. Here is my Good and Bad points for the game...

    -----

    THE GOOD

    Multiple Endings
    Great Character Creation/Customization

    -----

    THE BAD

    No Day/Night Cycle
    No Weather Effects
    Many Bugs/Glitches
    Insanely Long Battles
    Lag Even On Top-End Systems
    No Actual Class System
    -----

    That's about it. Everyone has his/her own opinion, and I have given mine. DOS2 is just not up to par with your classic RPG. Many elements are missing, such as the day/night cycle and weather effects. In closing, I give DOS2 a 5 for effort, but that's it. If you want some "true" classic RPGS, skip this and grab the best RPGS ever made... BG2, PS:T and NWN. Cheerio.    … Expand
  33. robomartion
    Aug 7, 2022
    5
    I mean its just kind of boring. This is not how you do turn based combat. Every turn should feel like your making some important decision and you have to strategise whether to heal or reload or run away. It just feels like real time combat but instead they decided to make it turn-based add to that you have so many characters you have to tell what to do it just gets tedious. Fallout 1 and 2I mean its just kind of boring. This is not how you do turn based combat. Every turn should feel like your making some important decision and you have to strategise whether to heal or reload or run away. It just feels like real time combat but instead they decided to make it turn-based add to that you have so many characters you have to tell what to do it just gets tedious. Fallout 1 and 2 or HOMM or MTG is how turn-based games are supposed to work. Or Warhammer. This is just tedious and feels like a waste of your time.… Expand
  34. Panzerbjorne39
    Jun 4, 2020
    6
    This game has a passionate and loyal fan base that skews review statistics. The game has some interesting and creative elements that help it stand out from other isometric RPGs. But it also has a number of flaws that hold it back from being a great game. First off, the difficulty level and damage NPCs is much higher than most games. I’m a long time soulsborne enthusiast and I definitelyThis game has a passionate and loyal fan base that skews review statistics. The game has some interesting and creative elements that help it stand out from other isometric RPGs. But it also has a number of flaws that hold it back from being a great game. First off, the difficulty level and damage NPCs is much higher than most games. I’m a long time soulsborne enthusiast and I definitely enjoy a challenge but I found DOI combat to be a painful experience to be avoided when possible. On the normal difficulty level I was constantly low on health potions and Rez scrolls. Every battle was against groups of foes with extremely powerful spells and attacks who’s AI positions them perfectly while you scramble to use your first couple moves to position well you’re already getting destroyed by devastating attacks. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that every battle was barely one by the skin of my teeth and with my crew half dead and needing expensive Rez scrolls. I had to constantly use the quick save and load to get through party wipes and for any small mistake made. It’s extremely punishing and if you don’t excel at battle tactics and strategy you won’t progress. Period. Even in the easy setting the difficulty is still ridiculously hard and it takes all your effort to make it past minor groups of mobs. All of this is mind made me NOT want to explore for fear of getting wiped and losing my hard earned currency and items. It’s not fun. Now to the story. It’s a very stereotypical “you are the one” story. Entirely unoriginal and boring. The writing borderlines from eccentric and interesting to straight cringe. The characters are bland. There isn’t a single memorable character that I could tell you about. That I cared about. I add this game to the long list of over-hyped games that are overrated and have a small vocal minority that champions them every chance they get. It’s just OK. Not great by any means and most importantly it’s often not fun at all and a slog to get through.… Expand
  35. BoomerZoomer
    Jan 21, 2022
    6
    Decent rpg compared to masterpieces like baldur's gate or PST
    Why such low rating?
    Here's an example: You arrive at second island (LVL 8-11) and at the start you get quest from chickens when you go to complete it five lvl 15 monsters appear out of nowhere and destroy your characters in one turn no matter how good you are at the game Here's another example: You decided to go right from    Decent rpg compared to masterpieces like baldur's gate or PST
    Why such low rating?
    Here's an example: You arrive at second island (LVL 8-11) and at the start you get quest from chickens when you go to complete it five lvl 15 monsters appear out of nowhere and destroy your characters in one turn no matter how good you are at the game
    Here's another example: You decided to go right from where you arrived and you get killed by lvl 14 monsters again
    Here's another example: You enter sewers and there are death fog monsters (AOE instakill on death) so if you don't have ranged characters that can kill them from far or skeleton characters(immune to instakill aoe effect) you die
    1/3 of game battles is you getting ambushed and enemies throwing aoe skills in your stacked in place party
    The game is designed around making you save scum and cheese
    The lore and story are very weak aswell    … Expand
  36. sulaco426
    Jun 24, 2021
    7
    It is just okay, nothing more. but is has a Coop mode, thats nice. On a Sale its worth it.
  37. nosTeD
    Jun 16, 2020
    5
    Игра явно не для всех. Однако если вы фанат игр, в которых разбираешься гораздо больше, чем собственно играешь, то вам однозначно зайдёт.
  38. Yaav13
    Apr 7, 2022
    6
    My truthful honorable incorruptible conclusive rating of this considered game: 6.
  39. Pmstz
    Jan 30, 2023
    7
    Nice RPG game

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  40. realWhiteMan
    Apr 9, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My rating is based on my impressions of the game. This is not an objective review. I play quite a big number of titles per year and decided to review them as a peace of art and not as a product.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 2017
7
#7 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 72 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 72
  3. Negative: 0 out of 72
  1. Easy Allies
    Mar 1, 2018
    95
    If Divinity: Original Sin 2 had only been an enormous single-player RPG, it would still be far better than most of what you could compare it to. The fact that it has such well-implemented co-op and a user-friendly game master mode gives it a tremendous amount of value at a time where such a thing can feel like a rarity. Even if you never touch all of its various components, you'll still be left with a role-playing game that exemplifies the best aspects of its genre.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 16, 2018
    100
    From a great story to a difficult fight, from a beautifully created world to an excellent multiplayer, Divinity: Original Sin II is a unique game offering an unforgettable experience. Despite some mistakes, another RPG giant was born. [Issue#279]
  3. RPGamer
    Jan 22, 2018
    90
    For those looking to get into cRPGs, and even for those just searching for a great RPG, Divinity: Original Sin II is heartily recommended. It has all the virtues that fans of the subgenre have extolled and wraps them up in a way that is much friendlier to newcomers than every other title I've tried. Combine that with fantastic writing, a highly engaging combat system, and great design, and you have another standout RPG in a year packed full of them.
    Read full review
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