Divinity: Original Sin II is the fifth game in the Divinity series, featuring high difficulty and a turn-based combat system. Similar to the first game in the series, the second game was re-developed by the Belgian development studio Larian. It's also worth noting that the development process was partially funded by a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. At the time, over 2 million dollars was raised.
Although the story takes place about a thousand years after the events described immediately after Beyond Divinity, the player is again transported to a fantasy world known as Rivellon. This time, however, the player takes on the role of a character who wields the power of the Source. The previous game put the player in control of two hunters who were after the masters of this forbidden magic.
The conflict between these two factions is still ongoing and the character controlled by the player is on the run from the representatives of the Order who are trying to pursue them. At the same time, the protagonist struggles to put an end to the crisis caused by the invasion of monsters from the Void that resulted from the death of the Divine. This entire setting also brings a different atmosphere than the first Original Sin offered, as it's noticeably heavier and more serious here.
This time the player begins to create a character representing one of the several races available. Another important innovation in the character creation process is that the player can add a background to their character's picture. They can also be male or female, depending on the hero's background, the inhabitants of the game world react to their presence in various ways and can even give them different tasks. As a result, the role-playing layer of the game is deeper than in the previous game and the problems put before the protagonist can be solved in more ways.
The second game further develops the mechanics from the previous games. The biggest changes are in the combat system, as the ability to climb platforms or towers has been added and the effect of heights on the characters' fighting abilities has been taken into account. Action points are calculated in a somewhat simplified way here, with most actions costing between 1 and 3 points to perform.
Also, the developers have added new skills and item combinations. A good use of these can tip the balance in favor of the player's victory in battle. The powers of the resource are another novelty worth mentioning. Although the player needs to find and refill special resource points to use these powers, the time invested in this is worth it as it gives you access to extremely powerful and dangerous abilities.
As with the previous game, the adventure can be experienced by up to four players. The relationship between groups of players can easily turn into individual rivalries as well. Apart from that, Larian Studios includes a separate online mode that places groups of four players against each other in creatively designed arenas. Participants take on the roles of predetermined characters and compete against each other in different variations of classic modes with names like capture the flag or king of the hill.
The second game uses an improved version of the engine used to make the first game, namely the Divinity Engine 3.0. This technology provides significantly better graphics than the previous Divinity game, apart from more advanced physics and DirectX 12 support. The game offers over 100 hours of gameplay with all side content. It also has different endings depending on the choices made by the player, so there's a good chance you'll play it again to see it all.
