Divinity: Original Sin is both old and new, combining classic RPG gameplay with an attractive modern look and feel. It might not be for everyone--your patience will be tested, and there are a handful of issues--but fans of the genre should find Larian Studios' title to be an unexpectedly high-quality package.
Divinity: Original Sin Sells 160,000, Nears Profitability In First Week
The game puts you in control of a party of heroes (two of which you create yourself) called Source Hunters, tasked with tracking down and destroying the mysterious energy, Source. Your investigation of a murder quickly explodes into a much larger affair, drawing you into the greater events of Rivellon. You can add and drop new party members as the journey goes on, and balance will be essential to your success through the game.
The setting is somewhat standard fantasy, with medieval-style towns, lush wilds and fanciful enemies, but everything looks great. The environments are appealing and some gorgeous: you'll travel through varied, brightly colored (or fittingly gloomy) areas on your journey, and the lay of the land definitely impacts the combat.
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Gameplay happens in real-time out of combat, looking perhaps like Diablo with its aerial view and ability bar along the bottom, but the battles are what help Divinity: Original Sin stand out. Encountering enemies (which can happen suddenly as you're walking) transforms the game into turn-based combat, during which you issue movement and ability orders to your characters.
More importantly though, playing cooperatively is a lot of fun, even with the shortcomings of the system. You can strategize together (I played with someone I know, so you might talk less with a stranger) and settle disagreements in rock-paper-scissors, which feels like much more high-stakes than it probably should when it's against a friend.
Only two people can play together at once right now, but Larian shipped Divinity: Original Sin's editor with the game, meaning we may see some fan-made modules allowing more players to join in the future. It also means there should be plenty of additional content down the line, such as you see in the Neverwinter games and other titles, as fans continue to create their own areas and stories throughout the lifetime of the game.
I also want to give special mention of how good the music is--there are a few very good songs (you can listen to my favorite below) mixed in to a generally pleasing ambient soundtrack with appropriate battle tunes. Between the audio and attractive graphics, the game is a treat to experience, all of which will help calm you down as your characters inevitably meet brutal ends time and time again--but that's part of the fun.
The gameplay is unforgiving and there are some mechanics that irked me, but the overall experience in Divinity: Original Sin is great. Truly difficult games are not too common--Dark Souls is praised just for this reason--but Divinity offers a challenge without feeling unfair. If you try different tactics against what seemed to be impossible odds the first time, you might succeed with relative ease. Doing so in great-looking environments with a fairly interesting story and compelling mechanics is rewarding, and this title is a surprise worth playing if you're at all interested in the genre.
