There are some RPGs that hold the player's plan, at least through the beginning parts of the game. Divinity: Original Sin II **** is not one of these games. The player is given objectives and some hints at where they might need to head to accomplish them, but nearly unlimited freedom is given to the player in how they wish to go about it. This freedom on top of proverbially being thrown to the wolves level of hand holding can be overwhelming for players not used to it, but this means how the game unfolds is entirely up to how the player wishes to accomplish the myriad tasks. For example, if you have ever played an RPG and wished you could just hack everyone to death and not have to attend to the errands of an annoying NPC, that freedom exists. I am not suggesting that killing every NPC in the game will lead to the optimal experience with this title, but the freedom is there for anyone who wishes to try it. The barbaric blood path is a choice, the numerous dialog options as well as other behavior choices could make completing the story a very cerebral experience.

While many changes and updates have been discussed, this is not a complete listing of all the new features and improvements present in Divinity: Original Sin. As the SLG game missions continues to develop, more information will be provided leading up to the release of the final product. For those who cannot wait until its completion, this title will be available on Steam Early Access September 15. Stating definitively that this is an improvement on the original is impossible based on only playing a small portion of an early build, especially since the original set the bar to some lofty heights, but it's safe to say fans of Divinity have every reason to be excited about Original Sin II.

Divinity: Original Sin II pulled off the impressive task of taking the kitchen sink approach to game design by cramming as much into it as possible yet somehow making it all work, making it a fantastic title for solo or multiplayer gaming. Playing the Divinity: Original Sin is not required to enjoy this title or its story, though having played the first game will make the experience more rewarding. Everything about Divinity: Original Sin II is of the highest quality and any negatives that could be said are basically nitpicking, such as the camera angles might obscure characters one percent of the time or the inventory set up isn't as nice as you've seen in some other games. No game is perfect, but this one comes closer than most. Larian Studios created a masterpiece with Divinity: Original Sin and using that as a template and listening to player feedback during the development process, they challenged themselves to create a superior successor and accomplished that goal. Divinity: Original Sin II is not only a contender for best game of 2017, but one of the best RPGs ever created. The game could easily take a hundred hours to complete and the interplay between the well-constructed story, gameplay mechanics and player freedom creates a world I could see myself revisiting with different parties just to watch the story unfold differently. Simply put, Divinity: Original Sin II is truly divine.

Set roughly a thousand years after the events of Divinity: Original Sin, the story begins with all the Origin characters along with the player and other NPCs on board a ship taking them to the prison island of Fort Joy, guilty of all being able to use the power of source like Rivellon's equivalent of a witch hunt. Source was declared an evil force, and all sourcerers have been rounded up and fitted with source muting collars to prevent them from unleashing their powers, which is quite a reversal of circumstances from its predecessor where the player took on the role of a source hunter. The time on the ship serves as an introduction, a way for the player to get comfortable with the mechanics of the game and get a sense of the story. They are free to explore the ship and get a feel for interacting with NPCs and combat. This sequence will end the same way regardless of the player's choices, and that end is unfortunately on Fort Joy, possibly the most ironically named place in Rivellon. Escaping from Fort Joy is the primary objective, but the speed at which this task is completing and how exactly the player goes about this is entirely up to the individual.

Upon starting the game, players may choose to select pre-built characters with their own story in Divinity Original Sin 2, or they can build a custom character. If the player chooses the latter, they may select from Human, Lizard, Elf, Dwarf, or Undead as a race. Race selection has unique combat benefits in the form of Talents and Skills, and also affects conversions with NPCs. All custom characters' races come with Dome of Protect

Original Sin II is an isometric PC RPG that plays beautifully with mouse and keyboard but also offers full controller support. Perhaps this was a result of how well the controller worked for Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition on console or maybe just a preemptive move with plans for this to go to console, but either choice for control input works well. The music is beautifully composed and accompanies this fantasy setting splendidly, along with the impressive voice acting, and having this title be fully voiced was no small feat. The graphics will not push higher end graphics cards to the limit, but the design of characters, environments and monsters look great as do the cutscenes that possess a painting-like quality. The overall tone of Divinity: Original Sin II is dark and serious, but somehow manages to maintain an element of lighthearted fun and levity. There are a few humorous, sarcastic quip dialog options that pop up quite a bit and the Pet Pal talent can lead to a lot of interesting side quests and humorous dialog. The greatest moment of silliness is when the player enters stealth mode and assumes the form of a shrubbery walking around. While one probably wouldn't file this title under the humor section, it's clear the development team had a sense of humor while creating this.