Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition

 Switch
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 360 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 291 out of 360
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 360
  3. Negative: 43 out of 360
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  1. Bnois
    Sep 7, 2019
    4
    The game itself is a masterpiece. But the port - isn't even close. On any other platform I'd give the game 10/10, but in case with Switch, we are scoring the port, and not the game. I brought my countless saves from Steam version to check how it works, and so:
    Handheld:
    - Graphics: 7-9, depending on a situation. - FPS: 7, constant drops, mainly in towns. - Controls: 7, even after    The game itself is a masterpiece. But the port - isn't even close. On any other platform I'd give the game 10/10, but in case with Switch, we are scoring the port, and not the game. I brought my countless saves from Steam version to check how it works, and so:
    Handheld:
    - Graphics: 7-9, depending on a situation.
    - FPS: 7, constant drops, mainly in towns.
    - Controls: 7, even after playing the game on PC with XBOX controller something doesn't feel right about it on Switch.
    - Music: 5, there is a 1-2 sec delay between the sounds and skills you use.
    Docked: Well, docked mode is a tragedy. I know Switch serves as a handheld for many of us, and they don't care about the look of it on a TV, but that doesn't mean that it can look like a *something* unpleasant on it.
    And well, yeah, no hot-seat campaign.
    I bought it (3rd time for a full price) right after it got announced and now I regret there is no way to refund it. The game still needs a lot of work to be done. And I hope that Larian Studios will inform us on this matter.    … Expand
  2. Yanny
    Sep 7, 2020
    0
    I was expecting a proper RPG besides The Witcher for Switch, but I was gravely disappointed. The game itself is not bad, but the bad switch port makes me lose all my appetite, it was a disaster...
  3. Hikage
    Sep 8, 2019
    4
    Love this game. I have put hundreds of
    Hours into it. I have purchased it 3 times and I have platinumed it on PS4. This port is a travesty. I love these developers but the way the game looks on the switch was done TERRIBLY. The entire game is a blurry mess. The text is crisp. The audio is great but none of that matters if you can barely make out the characters and area around you. If you    Love this game. I have put hundreds of
    Hours into it. I have purchased it 3 times and I have platinumed it on PS4. This port is a travesty. I love these developers but the way the game looks on the switch was done TERRIBLY. The entire game is a blurry mess. The text is crisp. The audio is great but none of that matters if you can barely make out the characters and area around you. If you try it on the dock hoping that you’ll see things better , you’ll regret it. Man I’m bummed. This should have never been ported if this is the best it could be. Depressing. And to the reviewers giving
    This 10 because you loved it on another platform and you also find fault in it, WHY ARE YOU GIVING IT A 10?! You are letting your biased influence your review and are LYING to people. You are committing a disservice and have garbage standards    … Expand
  4. TruckHeck
    Sep 23, 2019
    2
    A TON OF HARDWORK was poured into this game by the dev, but unless you use your Switch portably while sharing Steam cloud saves and primarily playing the game on a PC, man is it an ugly and choppy looking experience.
  5. MrTusks
    Jun 29, 2020
    0
    The combat is miserable. Every enemy can one- or two-shot you at every point of the game. They always go first, so you will always spend your first turns putting your characters on life support. Enemies can all teleport around the map at will. They all get to make "attacks of opportunity," which is basically a free half-turn--you can have this ability too, but your attacks miss about 50%The combat is miserable. Every enemy can one- or two-shot you at every point of the game. They always go first, so you will always spend your first turns putting your characters on life support. Enemies can all teleport around the map at will. They all get to make "attacks of opportunity," which is basically a free half-turn--you can have this ability too, but your attacks miss about 50% of the time. Environmental effects exist only to cancel out every one of your strategic choices. The first encounter is always a wash, so that you can use your second to give your characters the high ground and set target priorities so they can have half a chance. You will never be able to do either on the fly the first time around. It almost feels as if save scumming is an actual gameplay mechanic, which is tragic.

    The item menus are a wreck, but eventually you will develop the muscle memory for them. You'd think they could translate the click-and-drag functionality of the PC to the Switch's touch controls, but they...just didn't.

    I liked the writing and acting well enough, and I normally hate voice acting in these games. You can RP in the conversations a little bit, but not so much in the combat, where failure to properly min/max from the jump will lead to a lot of wasted time.

    This was on my list for a long time, but something held me back until I took the jump just now. Maybe I was feeling my future disappointment ripple back in time. I should have listened, and never bought this sadistic pile of junk.    … Expand
  6. Thwompthing
    Oct 18, 2019
    0
    I actually feel sorry for people who pay full price for these ports on Switch when they perform so badly....Witcher 3, Original Sin 2, Wolfenstein, etc. These games all run like trash and look terrible on Switch. Stay away from this and get it on PC, Xbox One X or PS4 Pro. Nintendo really needs a "pro" version of the Switch to even remotely try to compete in quality with better systems.
  7. ogre86
    Nov 20, 2019
    4
    Gran juego en todos los aspectos pero nefasto rendimiento en switch. Desde la última actualización sufre numerosas actualizaciones y se cuelga el juego frecuentemente.
  8. Darocoth
    Jan 12, 2020
    1
    Do NOT buy this game on switch. It is a rushed port and missing features. Optimization is poor, so get used to jagged models and muddy textures. NO LOCAL CO-OP on the switch, and obviously no refunds if you bought the game specifically to play with a friend. Every other platform is charging 10 to 20 dollars less for the same game with all its features. Please play this game on any otherDo NOT buy this game on switch. It is a rushed port and missing features. Optimization is poor, so get used to jagged models and muddy textures. NO LOCAL CO-OP on the switch, and obviously no refunds if you bought the game specifically to play with a friend. Every other platform is charging 10 to 20 dollars less for the same game with all its features. Please play this game on any other platform because it is supposed to be a very beautiful game and the switch does not do it justice.… Expand
  9. Nintendist
    Jun 30, 2022
    0
    this game is not good. i really dont like it how far i play. i wish it has more challenges
  10. lucinhagamer
    Aug 26, 2022
    0
    another bad game with no good content, the gameplay lacks a lot of goof features
  11. Thwomp
    Jul 3, 2023
    3
    Switch ports are so terrible, LOL. i have no idea how people can settle with hot trash ports on a hot trash, extremely outdated portable console.

    Do yourself a favor and buy a better machine.
  12. honest_rev7
    Sep 24, 2020
    1
    Cognitive overload.

    Just an unpleasant world to be, with unpleasant rotten people.
  13. Terrax
    Jul 22, 2021
    1
    Update: It only gets worse, the further in the game you get the more it keeps crashing. I am at what is likely the final act and I have to repeat every fight at least once because of the constant game crashing. The Switch port is utterly miserable version of an immensely miserable game. Go play it on anything else, if you dare. It is utterly astounding the switch edition was so wellUpdate: It only gets worse, the further in the game you get the more it keeps crashing. I am at what is likely the final act and I have to repeat every fight at least once because of the constant game crashing. The Switch port is utterly miserable version of an immensely miserable game. Go play it on anything else, if you dare. It is utterly astounding the switch edition was so well received in spite of the game being this broken.

    I am a longtime fan of crpg and jrpgs, and don't get me wrong, this game is fun to play. The combat system is fantastic, the social skills are fun. But a looming shadow over this entire game is the absolutely miserable and edgy writing.

    Where Divinity: Original Sin the first had humor, 2 only brings *Multiple* sad animals begging you to kill them. Any character you probably want to bond with is going to die or betray you, typically merc'd in the first round of combat before you can act. The plot is a spiraling tragedy of mini-horror stories, the sheer amount of misery and hopelessness makes me wonder if this game was written by sociopaths. Any humor or kindness in the game is deeply insignificant compared to this relentless onslaught of abject misery.

    The only saving grace is enduring this game with a friend. But god help you, look elsewhere for any kind of writing, read a god damn book or anything.    … Expand
  14. Vide0gam3s
    Mar 28, 2021
    4
    I'll divide this review into two parts: content and performance.

    1. Content: As far as CRPGs go, this pushes pretty much all my buttons. A big explorable world with lots of interesting lore and in-game mythology? Check. Relatable (or insufferable) characters with interesting backstories? Check. Lots and lots of loot? Check. The art is beautiful and has a fantastic personality to it;    I'll divide this review into two parts: content and performance.

    1. Content: As far as CRPGs go, this pushes pretty much all my buttons. A big explorable world with lots of interesting lore and in-game mythology? Check. Relatable (or insufferable) characters with interesting backstories? Check. Lots and lots of loot? Check. The art is beautiful and has a fantastic personality to it; virtually no location in the game feels like it's been phoned in with just some patterned textures and copy-pasted assets. It all looks and feels lovingly and painstakingly handcrafted (because it has been!) and gives you a sense of immersion in the world. I also appreciate the choice to have literally *every* line of dialogue voice acted.

    The turn-based combat is fun, though with a relatively limited set of abilities (compared to, say DnD), especially towards the end of the game combat began to feel just a little bit monotonous. It often comes down simply to the difference in levels between your party and the enemies. A single level can and does make a tremendous difference, which can be very irritating as the progression of the game sometimes puts you in a position where there isn't much to do in order to level up. The locations in the game are all decently big with a good amount to do, but it's not an 'open world', and there is a finite set amount of experience to be had. At several points in the game, especially in the second act, I found myself going back and forth between opposite corners of the map just chipping away at different quests until I had just enough experience to level up and progress further, which I don't think is idea. I think it should be easier to focus on a single quest line, in a single area. This could have been addressed with some tweaks to the experience points or perhaps the inclusion of some randomly respawning enemies or something. But this is a relatively small gripe considering that there are several difficulty settings including a Story mode which allow you to bypass particularly difficult fights if you so desire.

    The lack of any traditional well-defined classes is an interesting upending of RPG tropes, and I like that there is a lot of possibility for completely unique custom builds. On the other hand, this lack of constraints can sometimes lead to suboptimal distribution of character points which you only discover down the line. This also carries over to loot; as far as I can tell, the ability bonuses on equipment are completely randomly generated, which is I suppose what you'd have to do to accommodate the possibility of players putting skill points into any arbitrary combination of things. What this means though, is that it's sometimes difficult to find equipment that's well suited to your characters because they may have one thing a character needs, say strength, and several other things they don't, say various elemental magic enhancements. It can often feel like you're wasting equipment bonuses.

    Now you may be wondering, why I gave it such a low score given the above assessment? That brings us to,

    2. Performance: The switch version of this game, as one might expect of a title originally developed for PC, suffers somewhat in terms of graphics and framerates. The environments probably haven't lost too much, but the character models look a little muddy especially when zoomed far out. There is also quite a lot of very noticeable texture pop-in especially when loading a new area. It will sometimes be a good 30 seconds or more before everything is fully rendered. It usually runs smoothly except in densely populated cities where frame skips can become noticeable.

    The biggest problem though, is the fact that the game crashes *constantly*. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but -without exaggeration- I have experienced more crashes with this game than perhaps every other game I've ever played on every platform combined. It seems especially prone to crashing when loading autosaves, but that is hardly the only instance. I've had the cursor get stuck on the main menu, requiring me to force quit the game, I've had a few instances of the dialogue interface freezing up again making me force quit, and I've even had it crash when I was just walking around. Considering I've only ever had one other game crash on my Switch, I tend to believe it's the software and not my system. A few odd crashes here and there might be more acceptable - again it's ported to a completely different architecture - but these have become just frequent enough to be legitimately distracting.

    Overall I thought the game was very good, but based on my experience I must recommend against playing the Switch version which seems to be a very badly optimized piece of software. Play the PC version if you can.    … Expand
  15. theUglyCasan0va
    Apr 10, 2023
    4
    Real fun if you enjoy every drunken bum wanting to kill you (and easily doing so with maybe 3 hits?) I around every corner when you're just trying to find some semblance of a story in this game. Such a blurry turd.

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Switch Game of 2019
28
#28 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. GamingTrend
    Sep 20, 2021
    90
    If you can’t play on PC, Divinity: Original Sin 2 on Switch is a perfectly fine way to play. It has its issues and quirks that make it more of a companion to the PC version, but being able to play wherever you want makes up for it.
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  2. FNintendo
    Nov 12, 2019
    90
    Divinity: Original Sin II is one of the best games available on the Nintendo Switch and a heaven-sent for RPG fans. With its in-depth gameplay, freedom of exploration and an involving and detailed plot, this is an excellent adaptation to the Nintendo Switch and one which will reward the investment of time and energy that any player puts into it.
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  3. Nintenderos
    Oct 25, 2019
    100
    Divinity: Original Sin II is a masterpiece and a dream come true for RPG fans. This game takes us to a world in which our decisions will influence completely throughout the secondary plots, without forgetting to maintain excellent quality both in storytelling and in combat and personalization. One of the best role-playing games ever created.
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