After Divinity: Original Sin proved to be a huge hit Larian desperately needed, they returned to Kickstarter to ask if the fans wanted them to improve on what they had achieved. After gathering together over 2 million dollars, it was obvious the players wanted to see more of the world of Rivellon and its battling god wannabes. The original version of Original Sin 2 was released to critical acclaim in 2016, a game I did play relatively far before stopping when I heard Larian was to release a definitive edition of the game, improving what there was even further.
It took me a bit longer than I expected to actually finish Original Sin 2, despite I did like it fat more than I did of the first game. That said, I do think OS2 is genuinely a better game. It's paced better, the combat feels more fluent, the writing is, all in all, better and I do like the idea of being able to play the game as either pre-set characters, who all have their own agendas in the world, or with a completely custom hero of your own choosing.
The main story beats haven't changed from the original release. The world, and the story, has been divided into 4 distinct chapters, the first being the escape from the sourcerer concentration camp Fort Joy, where you can experiment with all the pre-made companions and decide whom you like the best. The second chapter takes you to a trip of learning the tricks of handling the source powers you need in order to become divine. 3rd chapter sets you to the Nameless Isle, where you actually attempt the trick of becoming a new god and the finale throws you at the city of Arx, where the story is bowtied after your choices during the way after your manage to find out the bastards that have caused you troubles you've been in.
On your way to the finish line, you can treat your companions nice or be an asshole. Depending on your choices there and if you help them with their problems or not, they might give you a helping hand in the final stretches as well.
On my playthrough, I decided to go with the elven assassin Sebille. For her companions, I chose the demon-ridden bard Lhose, king of the lizards, Red Prince and the mercenary Ifran. All of these characters can cause some complications during the journey. Ifran, for example, is a well-known character among the magisters. In chapter 2, this causes issues in the city, when the magisters recognize him and try to capture him unless you find a way of disguising him. But he does have a soul wolf, which can be summoned during combat.
As with the first game, the beef of the game is the turn-based combat system. Now instead of one armour type, your characters, and the enemies, have separate armours for magic and physical damage. These can be pecked down with various means, even by using environments against the enemies, like setting ground on fire or sending shocks through pools of water. The damage can be made more severe by setting a curse upon the elemental or if you are in fire yourself, there's the possibility of blessing the fire in order to turn it a source of healing instead.
It's not all fighting though, as there are puzzles as well, some of which are even pretty clever. Often you just have to take the right items to the right place and use them, but some puzzles do require some real thinking and the use of source powers as well.
And speaking of skills, you do have some which are used during the combat and some that work outside it. Pet Speak gives you the possibility to talk to all the animals of the world and thus gain some new insight. This can even help you with some of the puzzles, just like using the spirit vision, which allows talking to the spirits of the dead.
Besides other skills, like lock picking, persuasion is a useful skill to have, as it is used during dialogue skill cheeks, allowing different approaches on situations, at times even helping you to avoid combat. These skills can be beefed up either during level up or by wearing magic items that provide the wanted boost.
Good equipment is another part of the equation and OS2 has a fair load of it. Weapons, for all kinds of character, builds, armours and trinkets are aplenty. You'll find them from the fallen enemies as well as from the stores, some rarer than others. The drafting system allows you to tinker with your own stuff, provided you have found the needed instructions. Of course, crafting isn't mandatory, but it does provide a good way to make consumables.
I don't really like the crafting system OS2 has though, but that is mostly because of how many items it is possible to build in it and how you need to do it. Instead of just checking the option from a list, you actually have to select the ingredients from your inventory, which can get quite big after a while, before you can craft. This means you have to remember recipes or constantly check the list, which can be quite extensive as well. But, like I said, it's not mandatory and that's why I rarely did bother doing anything with the crafting system.
Original Sin 2 is a massive and quite satisfying game. The main game itself has enough content to last for 100 hours if you rummage through everything. Even if you cut some corners, it is more than enough game. If you are into multiplying, you can play it with a friend as well. This way both can control a character of their own, either joining forces or doing things of their own.
Then there's the game master mode, which allows one player to act as a dungeon master for a selected group of people. What it basically means is, that you can create your own story and setting and invite friends to play it through while you set the pace for them. I haven't tried it myself, but I can see that being a thing for people.
I do think it is easy to call Divinity: Original Sin 2 one of the best CRPG's that has come out. It has a massive amount of content. it has replayability and it offers some relatively unique aspects beyond simple multiplayer modes as well.
In other words, if you are looking for an RPG to keep you busy for a while, Original Sin 2 is a pretty good choice. I mean how many other games out there let you play as an undead adventurer looking to be the next god?
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