Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition Review
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition
Release: October 27, 2015
Publisher: Maximum Games
Developer: Larian Studios
Genre:
PEGI: M
Comments:
Publisher: Maximum Games
Developer: Larian Studios
Genre:
PEGI: M
Comments:
If you are not willing to put a lot of time into Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition you should probably stop reading now. Don’t bother with this title. It will be your loss, but I also won’t fool anyone. If you don’t have the desire to slog through over 100 hours of content to fully appreciate this masterpiece, I feel sorry for you. Although a lot of time is required to fully realize and understand this game, the resulting 100s of hours of content will be worth the five to ten you put in understanding what is going on. If you make it through that, Divinity is one of the best, if not the absolute best, RPG on the market right now.
Transferring to Console
What makes Divinity so amazing is the really how all the quests really do affect how your character progresses in the game. No choice or decision is an easy one, as these decisions – which seem small at the time – could have huge affects. The game makes you think, plan, and prepare for what is next. It is not a hack and slash. It’s a sophisticated, tactical game.
Transferring the turn based, strategic battle mechanics to the console must have been incredibly difficult, yet the developers pulled it off flawlessly. Leading into this release, I was expecting sub par controls, and overly busy HUD, and – as is the case in many RPG ports – an inability to read anything on the screen. None of my worries became a reality. The developers made sure this wasn’t just a simple port; instead, they recreated a masterpiece.
The game’s story is typical of an RPG, and I won’t get into that here. It is safe to say that this story and game progression has a lot more depth than your average RPG title. The closest comparison in the genre was Sacred 2, a game where I spent more than 95% of the time wondering (and really not caring) what the story actually was because the game play was fun and addicting. Divinity hits both aspects perfectly, giving me characters and a story I cared about, while making sure the actual game play was fun and exhilarating.
Minor Faults Dispel the More You Play
Not everything is perfect in the enhanced edition. Like in the PC version of the game, the inventory system is still confusing and overly difficult. It always feels a lot harder than it actually has to be. After many – and I mean many – hours with the game, this issue slowly crept out of the game. I became more familiar with the inventory menus, learned what to keep and what to sell, and so on. The more you play, the more you understand, and hte more enjoyable the game becomes.
This really is the theme throughout. The more you play, the more you will enjoy it. Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition is a game that requires dedication and many, MANY hours. You will be intrigued by the first few, but probably won’t be sucked in until five or more hours into your adventure. Don’t let the first few hours hold you back. Push through and understand what the game has to offer. It is confusing, yes, but very rewarding.
Additions to Enhanced Edition
The biggest addition to the enhanced edition was the voice work that was given to almost every NPC in the game. If you didn’t think Divinity: Original Sin was immersive enough on PC – and lets face it, it was – than you definitely should have nothing to complain about now. THe best part with the new voice work: it’s all pretty good. Lines are delivered with flair, and not sounding like they had been throw in to add a little spice to the enhanced edition. Again, the dedication of the development team shines through once again.
There are a number of other great additions as well. New areas and skills have been included, and for those who have already played through the game once alone, and would like to do it with another person, they now can. This is one of the biggest reasons to pick of Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition: I can play this with my wife, in the same room, on the same console and TV. That doesn’t happen much anymore in 2015, so when we are given the opportunity, we jump on it!
Conclusion
If you are not patient, there is no point. This is a game for smart people, people who understand strategy and are willing to take the time to learn and adapt. It’s not an easy journey, but not overly hard either. Once you understand the main game mechanics and can wrap your mind around the inventory system, dropping 50 or more hours into this title will be incredibly easy.
Trailer
Article By Adam Roffel
Adam Roffel has only been writing about video games for a short time, but has honed his skills completing a Master's Degree. He loves Nintendo, and almost anything they have released...even Tomodachi Life.
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