I think playing a custom character is not necessarily a worse experience that playing an Origin character, just a different one. As a custom character, you're basically a total stranger to the land. No previous connections or relations, and no part in the stories of the Origin characters besides that which they share with you. It is such a drastically different experience seeing the stories of these characters first hand, knowing what they know, and seeing them from the outside. From a role-playing perspective having that freedom and lack of baggage can be very fun. I would personally recommend doing your first playthrough as a Custom character with your 3 favourite Origin characters in your party, then in future playthroughs choose them as your character. It's very much like rewatching a movie and noticing all of the details and plot hints you missed the first time. It's an experience you can only get with the game once. Playing as a character who is going in just as blind as you.
About to download the game from freah purchase and research into it, and you helped me decide to make a brand new char first play through and an Origin one second play through. Why? "I want a charector as blind to the lands as I am", of course! Cheers! Have a pointless TH-cam thumbs up, lol.
@@Dana-cb7vk I made the same decision after reading this post and I do think it is the way to go. It makes sense that I don't know what is going on more than it would me being an eternal or someone with scores to settle. I have no scores and know very little about the world except for the general overview of the gods and the history of a couple of source hunters centuries before. Second playthrough, after I have the full lay of the land, I will pick one...maybe one of the current ones on my team and have the last 3 as brand new companions.
@@fcold9402 it warms my heart and makes me even more excited for the day off tomorrow~ knowing avid/experienced RPGers are out here validating that being the way to go. LOL I may have to start it tonight after my mandatory watching/review videos I do for any A/MMO/RPG prior to playing it. Ironically, I had ended up purchasing Disciples: Liberation micing the games up initially (then waiting till my next payday to justify buying yet another game). Wasnt a bad mix-up at all, that game is pretty amazing (by a LOT)- but it is assuredly not the depth I was going for with aiming to buy Divinity. But lo-and-behold the reviews for that gake do bot stack up to Divinity- NOR would I reccomend full price for it (unless its no big deal for you)- not saying it isnt a great game- but I feel its more like $30 worth of great, personally- so cannot be a hypocrite on how I reccomend it/not. :) Though now that I am starting this game, I feel it will preoccupy me until Starfield releases (hopefully)- juding by its reviewed depth it may give me *more* than enough time for them to fix/patch any issues with Starfield and still not experience all Divinity has to offer, anyways! LOL. Thats my kind of RPG right there! (But then I also miss playing SWToR, too 😂🤣).
@@Dana-cb7vk How have you been enjoying Divinity? I just downloaded, and plan to start it this week. I've heard alot of hype about the game, and honestly I'm stoked to dive in. Just finished my first PC the other day, and this was one of the first games I wanted to play on it.
I actually agree with pretty much everything you said. Humans are dumpy, Ifan is badass, Fane is life (or rather, undeath), Lohse is bae, music both ambient and battle are sweet if a bit repetitive but that's most games. Add in weather and day night cycle and it'd be a perfect game for me. That said, it's damn close.
@@TheKrensada funny seeing this after a few years. I still hold the game in high regard, but ultimately lost interest because I just couldn't get over this one huge immersion breaking issue.
My favorite aspect is there is always atleast 3 ways to go about a quest and very rarely is any solution blindingly obvious. I remember I got around the maze using a teleportation spell and the gargoyle calling me a cheater, was great.
This is only true in Act 1 & 2. The game gets extremely linear in Act 3 and 4, and in Act 4 especially the game isn't coded to react to you properly if you do things in the "wrong order", so you'll get voice lines asking you to do things you've already done or say you need to wait until you've done them. So you exit and re enter conversation just to make them update. Act 2 suffers from so many side quests with different ways that it seems many people just quit before they finish Act 3.
To everyone I leave this information. There are many charm effects in the game, but none come close to being able to rival Mind Maggot Grenades. To make one, you need jars of mind maggots and an empty grenade, and the result is a 4 TURN long charm over a grenade size area of effect. There is a jar in Kniles torture room in fort joy.
Barrel. Now i dont like fanboying game-companies and larian is no exception, but i cant help but respect their passion/detication to the games they create and the fans that enjoy Them. To but it as best as i can word this. Larian feels more like a game-developer than a game-company.
You can also tell they all want to play and enjoy their own games as well. Many crappy modern developers don’t understand the issues with the games they make because they do not play them (Blizzard)
@@Ghostcharm indeed, the focus seems much more on the aspect of growing the company than the games they develop. A damn shame too. Therefore the distinction between "game-developer" and "game-company." Also, seeing Sven Bicke energetically find an excuse to wear his medieval armor in the blog posts for baldurs gate 3 is always a blast to see.
Once had two lonewolves with pyro as their main build... the fight took almost an hour, luckily my characters also had summoning on the side which helped a little
On my second playthrough I teleported Gwynne to the ledge on I think the Northwest corner of the battlefield, then blocked him from climbing down by packing my characters in front of the vines. From there, ranged attacks and adding buffs to a champion incarnate in the field carried my team safely to the end. The magisters had to fend for themselves.
On my first play through now and jst finished that n now down in the cave. Those damn oil monsters and fighting on the platform was super frustrating. Basically the whole area is engulfed in flames. Jst hit lv 13 btw.
@@Nomadith soul mate and shackles of pain to the enemy, then u drink a healing potion as undead, make sure u cast living on the edge first so u dont die, stoneskin and force of will potions to be imune to most statuses even if u dont have armor/magic armor. Idol of Rebirth just in case :) u will never struggle!
Right, I had no idea that the dynamics in the party where that deep until I picked up Sebille with the Red Prince already tagging along. After that whole escapade with the dreamer, I realized things weren’t exactly as cut and dry as usually just picking out your party. I really like that aspect so far.
@@APRBaller this is my favorite party with Lohse as my main. Fane is really overrated imo, specially as a companion. It spoils so many secrets that are best revealed later or as Fane as you MC.
You're all sleeping on Fane, architect of the void and, as me and my mates joke, 'the actual main character'. Just because A) his voice is amazing and B) he's so deeply entwined with the antagonists and history of the world. So playing Fane, with Red Prince, Lohse and maybe Ifan as a punching bag? Beautiful.
I completely agree with the character ranking. Fane IS the main character, everyone else's story arc somewhat ends at different chapters of the story, some earlier than others some is very personal and doesn't matter much for the state of the world. But Fane's story is directly tied into the main plot, it doesn't end unless you finish the game and the fact that one of the ending is an ending that's made specifically for him is very telling. The story basically revolves around him, and playing as an origin character other than him really makes you feel like a side character. Even when Fane acts like your companion and lets you decide major decisions it still feels like you're overstepping and interfering in HIS business.
You forget that Fane is just so based that he accidentally helped create the Divines and simultaneously fucked himself and his people so, so bad. (But yes, it was a massive surprise going from a party without him on my first play-through, to playing as him on my second)
I would disagree to some degree. If Fane is not in your party, and you play as Ifan, you realise the story changes to "Fane is the villain, and Ifan is the sinner that steps up to be the Hero." Ifan is in the centre of this whole thing almost as much as Fane. If Ifan didn't cause The Elven Incident (TM), which then caused that issue with Tir Cendelius (trying not to spoil), then a lot of the current story wouldn't happen. Fane even turns to the big GK daddy if he's not in your party.
Ifan was my first choice for main character but I messed up the build and had to restart, and picked Lohse. Anyways I still took him with me to experience his arc. I agree he's an amazing companion. One of the best. Fane is great as well lots of choices and lore to learn about. I love how his character develops through the story based on your choices, even as a companion.
8:52 - I think your critique of Sebille is spot on and I think it's totally legit to relegate characters like this to the supporting role. This gives you (the main character) the chance to witness and participate in the plot without feeling like it's forced on you if you were to start with them. I think sometimes you can grow to care about the character more when they're in a side role because they develop a relationship with your character, which gets you more invested in their revenge/redemption arc. Imagine if Canderous was your main character in KotOR. His face-turn and side quest with Jagi just wouldn't feel as significant.
The best RPG I have ever played. I put 100 hours into my first playthrough and 140 into my second. 4 years later I am about to start a new game. If Xcom 2 and its mods did not exist, I would have dozens of Divinity playthroughs.
I’m about halfway through, and from the very start, your enthusiasm, energy, and editing had me hooked. The level of polish to this video makes me feel like you’ve been making TH-cam videos for years, and not A year. And I’m a lot more interesting in this game than I was before: it gives me real Disco Elysium vibes. (If you haven’t tried DE, it checks many of the same boxes this game seems to, except it’s main plot is really engaging.)
"The hardest part is the character creation" wait until you see Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous character creation. 35 different classes, 5-8 subtypes for each, and thwle Mythic Path system that changes the story a lot for each one you choose. Plus a whole bunch of other options. As a newcomer it is quite overwhelming
Could not be more correct on that LOL. I am reinstalling DOS2 atm because I got SO OVERWHELMED from WotR. Still an awesome game, just very overwhelmed currently with it.
All RPG games are "clunky" by nature, that's kind of the point, if you can't understand that then perhaps you should never play RPGs and stop being a contrarian
The battle music also evolves over the course of the game. It sounds almost desperate in act 1 when you are weakest, becomes more brutal (more percussion instruments) in act 2 and nameless isle, then bombastic in the final arc, by which if you have a good build, it fits your godlike power at that point.
An important tip I offer: nearly every skill school has an action that lets you place your character at a different location on the map (teleportation and nether swap for air, tactical retreat for ranger, Phoenix dive for warfare, wings for polymorph, etc). Make sure each of your characters has at least one of these abilities as early in the game as you can. Repositioning the characters is very powerful when in battles, especially since having them run will give damage as they travel across damaging terrain effects and quickly uses up action points.
Great video! as a side note tho: as far as I know and experienced, you dont need to be close to an ally to listen to their conversations, you acn be scattered cross map and still listen to what ever they are saying by double clicking on their icon :) (im playing via gog and the larian launcher, so i dont know if there are any differences between my version and the steam one, but I guess its worth a try anyway) hope I didnt miss anything and Im glad to see a review from this year, warms my heart to see that this game still gets the love it deserves^^
Fextralife was the guy that introduced me to this game and i have been watching his build guides forever now the eternal champion or death knight is what am gonna try and go for what a great game happily playing on xbox.
Great review dude. Picked this game up on Steam for 11.49 or something like that, and the value I'm getting from it is insane. I've not been so lost in a game since I was a teenager, and I've recently sunk 160 hours into Elden Ring! As a 36 year old gamer it's been what feels like a lifetime since I last was truly immersed in an RPG, but Divinity 2 has rekindled my love of RPGs and of games in general (not that I've ever really stopped loving them).
I've been a Larian fanboy since Divine Divinity in 2002. Each of their games has been a day one purchase for me. Even with BG3, i had no problem picking that up as soon as it released to early access. These guys are awesome
I've recently gotten sucked into this game, its honestly amazing, i found that this game has character growth that i didn't expect from a game like this, you can sleep with the red prince as another male character, and build a bond with him, i first finished the game with a custom lizard character, now i have found how fun undead characters can be, and trying out a necromancer undead lizard character who uses summoning spells, its really fun.
Honestly, to the point at 17:15 I almost believe it is a reference to Divinity Original Sin 1, because it truly becomes comical after a certain point how often you will hear classics such as: "A life without cheese is a life without friends!" "Not in the mood for cheese?! That excuse has more holes than a slice of this fine Gorgombert!" "Halibut... Sheeps cheese... Tomatos..." and finally "You should join the Spud Club if you've got an eye for fine potatoes!" Really the list goes on, those are classics among my friends
I agree about multiplayer story. I would like it if you got like a small popup at the side of the screen when someone started a dialogue, and then you could choose to jump in, or "I'll just watch the replay" Or, there could be icons over important NPCs heads, to indicate that "you must gather your party before venturing forth" Heck, make it options you can toggle, based on desired play style. My biggest issue though is that you lose out on the first bit of dialogue when you listen in, and what the player actually chooses isn't always obvious. (The latter could have been helped by character voice acting, something I really hope they add for BG3. Again something that could be optional, I know not everyone likes that)
This game is the closest game to a masterpiece that I've ever played. I just have basically no complaints with over 30 hours of gameplay, and I just couldn't put the game down once I started playing, I was incredibly immersed in it, it's an amazing experience. Also, it's pretty much the only turn-based combat game I have ever enjoyed the combat in, I really, really, hate turn-based combat, but in this game I loved it
Late reply, but did you ever finish the game? I really want to know if it's still a masterpiece after finishing the story, because I find most people who call it a masterpiece only have
@@aetherblackbolt1301 I finished it twice, even played it recently with a friend (who hasn't played before). Pretty much my favorite game of all time, definitely give it a shot. P.S imo it is much better than Baldur's Gate 3 (the new game by the same studio)
@@hanzofactory oh, I've just finished the game with a couple hundred hours playtime (including reloading saves according to GOG). And I just had to really disagree with the game as a whole being a masterpiece, because the ending was such a let down. This game is quite brilliant, but Arx is a mess, and the Nameless Isle is disappointing. The Island of Fort Joy is near perfect, and Act 2 is high quality (albeit some issues). You seriously have to just ignore a lot of the jank, pacing, and lack of proper guidance in Arx. It just didn't feel like I was actually racing to stop Dallis without it feeling goofy.
this is one of the best descriptions of the game i 100% agree, but there is actually a way to listen to you party members without standing close to them, just click on the character portrait on the left for the character that is in conversation, you can join the conversation from anywhere with that :b
One of my favorite games of all time, i agree a bit with the main story getting a bit weaker as time goes on, but i think it pays off at the end with the reveal of Lucian, the fact that the Jesus of the Divinity world is the main antagonist of the game is just brilliant, that last fight for divinity with Lucian while the main theme sounds in the background with this nostalgic kinda tone to it is just to beautiful...
@@Ghostcharm also the voice acting is so flawless in honestly had to check if Ifan was voiced by Russel Crowe, and whoever voices ryker the sourceres from the cementery deserves an Oscar
Definitely the best part is Act2, however, personally the fight at the Well of Ascencion is my favorite part (especially with that battle theme). However, I find all the endings very lacking and disappointing, especially after learning the give up your source is supposed to be the canon ending. Personally, I find that ending as the worst of all, and that makes Lucian to doesn't even be the true antagonist, but the one who is actually right and the true hero. Braccus Rex is the one who technically becomes the main antagonist (very anticlimactic by the way), but aside of Lucian's Crypt bullshit puzzles/final battle/endings part, to me the game is perfect in everything else.
Me after buying the game and killing time while it downloads, only to see this massive spoiler: _"Patrolling the comments section almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter."_
Written February 18, 2022 Never heard of Divinity: Original Sins 2 until the iPad specific version of the game came out last year with very nearly the same graphics as the PS4. The HLTB page says it’s between 60hrs for main story and 150hr for total completion, which makes me happy as I love RPGs that clearly take inspiration from Baldur’s Gate series. Don’t have a PS4 to play but it’ll cost 25$ for the iPad version so I’ll just play there…
Should mention that the game has gift bag features reccomended by the devs, they allow talents like Pet Pal to be active always to ressurecting on rests. They're helpful
Regarding civil abilities, lucky charm is underrated. I discovered that by accident in my 2nd run. You start getting legendary and divine items on a very regular basis if you search containers once you hit 5+ LC.
Best RPG - and best RPG you can play co-op online or locally with friends - for the past 4 years and ongoing. While Baldur's Gate 3 looks very promising, it's 'limitations' based on the D&D universe and ruleset will always keep it from the freedom afforded in DOS:2.
I dunno. Divinity is kind of boring. It feels really generic as a fantasy setting, and the weird elemental mechanics feel really gimmicky. It's good among these old-school RPG reboots, but it's not really exciting on its own.
My absolute favorite thing in divinity, is make a huge poison vile dying it red and putting it in a npcs inventory before combat, also shackles of pain, I just love making enemies kill themselves. Also I had a large celebration when you said Fane was best-boi.
At first, I was suprised by the complaints about non-origin characters, but after starting my second plathrough I can understand them. My first character was a jokester/scholar. He likes to just sit back and watch the chaos unfold (while furiously taking notes). This is why I did not see the issues, because he embodied the "role" of non-origin characters: the observer. Yes, you can talk and interact with things, but you always have that feeling of being that one friend, who awkwardly stands in the corner while the others are arguing/having fun. While I do love the game, I wish it was a more immersive experience for players who like to make their own characters and story. I usually really don't like games where I am given an already made character. This is why I don't touch the Witcher games for example, I understand how great the games are, it is just really not for me. I know it is the same comparison as in the video, but it is a game that shows off really well what I DON'T want from an rpg. Larian said the non-origin character experience will be very different for BG3 and I do hope they can keep that promise.
Discovered divinity 2 2 months ago.. cant let it go, finnished it once in normal diff. running tactician now, and its a challenge. This gives me great hope for BG3, wont be the same sure but they wont let BG down.
11:50 100% agree Fane is the best. No contest. What a lad. 29:38 the secret ingredient is "teleportation pyramids" (which are one of the many quality-of-life improvements that the game makes, and you find them very early on)
My favorite build is summoning and Huntsman with far away man and glass cannon you start every turn with full being able to summon your incarnant and buffet him twice and still have enough AP to summon the totem pole and next turn summon another totem pole and fire your bow or crossbow twice
Fane is the obvious choice he’s got a direct link to the main story, you can kinda tell with larian games who they actually want the main character to be, like durge with bg3 the story feels completely different when you play as them
I've played through the entire game twice, played Fort Joy like a billion times... Still have no idea what the story is. I always skip the dialogue because I'm too excited to loot, gear up, level up, fight everything, explore... The list goes on.
since there are 6 origin characters, I plan on making 2 custom characters and bringing 3 of them along with me for each playthrough. for my first I'll bring Ifan, Sebille and Lohse and for my second I'll bring Fane beast and the Red Prince, that way, I get all the origin stories done in 2 playthroughs. but yeah, playing as one of the origin characters is also fun, you understand better what is happening. Lohse is my favourite. who doesn't like demonic possessed women right? Na.. in all seriousness, she's just so much fun. the Red Prince is by far the the most evil of the characters, you should try playing the red prince and having Sebille as a companion, up until you meet "the master". you can do some absolutely evil things. Lone wolf builds are by far the most fun, but then you only get 2 characters, but those 2 characters will be very OP. If you are planning on going for Lone wolf, I suggest starting out with a blank slate, no skills chose, then level to level 4 and then pick what you want on your characters. if you go with lone wolf, you can pump up summoning to 10 right away and you get a big demon at level 4, it's really fun.
I have started playing Divinity like eight hundred times but I always get distracted by hopeless attempts to perfect my build and give up and this video has inspired me to begin and actually continue on my quest pls thank you
Very in depth review! I just picked it up a couple weeks ago on playstation, and I only wish I could find more time to play it! One of my favorite things to do in these kinds of games is experiment with class builds, and man.. The freedom here is unreal. I want to just keep making new characters.. But I'm not even out of fort joy yet 😂. I feel like I have to complete every possible arc first!
My first playthrough was Me as Lohse raining water and lightning everywhere, my cousin best friend was fane the summoner stacking every buff, and my other friend was red prince and he loves to mess with everything cussing problems for everyone. Amazing experience I will never get again
Really thorough, well made review. Lots of small bits of insight other divinity reviews I’ve seen have missed. This might be my go to video when trying to convince someone to play DOS:2 from now on.
First time I played Ifan, I was blown away by how well his story was done, I just thought "oh christ, just a human dude, boooring" but I think he's probably my favorite now, even over Fane Which is crazy to me because I always had Fane in runs with me because "haha smart spooky skeleton man older than the dirt" I spent a stupid amount of time in the game, got all the achievements and only on my 3rd to last run, I realized that I could combo Rupture Tendons+Terrifying Cruelty+Bleed Fire for mega stupid dmg, like kills a particular lvl20 demon in one pass on hard mode stupid. You combo any build to make something ridiculously strong. With talents, I also tried for fun, stacking Unstable, Picture of Health (maxxed warfare and constitution), Morning Person (optional), got Combeback Kid from something I was wearing and got myself the Idol of Rebirth in Driftwood, used deathwish and shackles of pain and WEW the damage was stupidly good Loved making random crap builds since Mechwarrior and this game does that for me in a fantasy setting and I love it
I only watch reviews that are 5-10mins long. But the way your presented this was superb! I didn't even realized that I finished the whole thing! Good job!
I played first Divinity:OS for some time (think I got about halfway through) and while it had a lot of charm, interesting tactical battles and a lot of good stuff basically, I remember having a list of things that just didn't click with me. Then I installed OS2 and every single thing on that list that I made in my head has been fixed. Just goes to show that devs acknowledge their flaws and grow stronger for it.
With my only real previous experience with RPGs being Skyrim, the repetitive dialogue from NPCs was actually an improvement, because in D:OS II they at least have their own dialogue, while every guard in Skyrim has the same script, and so does basically every instance of a certain enemy type (I won't call them individuals, because most don't even have names). D:OS II doesn't have that many generic enemies (other than monsters) And with the game divided into areas, you don't have the same guards repeating the same dialogue at level 1 and the end of the game. My biggest annoyance is inventory management, since I tend to be a hoarder in RPGs. The game could use some way of multi-selecting items to transfer from one character or container to another, instead of having to drag them one at a time. Another one after multiple playthroughs would be a way to skip through dialogue until getting to a choice, without risking making a bad choice by spamming the first option. There's also some frustration with line of sight/effect, especially when I try to find high ground, but can't see over a railing, or want to jump to a higher location, but can't see over some lip to jump. But other than small things like that, the game is quite well polished compared to many of the games I play.
I’m actually playing this game right now! I chose Ifan stories with my companions being, The Red Prince, Loshe, and Sebille. On the 2nd act rn with 41 hours in lol.
Interesting that you felt Fane was the most fleshed out character. It was fun playing him but much of the dialogue didn't feel as though it was fully thought out and there was a lack of the "payoff" with his character. It's neat that his story is shrouded in mystery but that was it and it remained a mystery. Lohse's story was by far the most beautiful, dark and impactful story out of ALL of the origin characters (I've played Lohse as the MC and as a companion).
Regarding your comment about mages and pumping int. It depends on the build you're doing. You can pump int and fight from afar or make a battle mage and mix constitution in there early, fight close by and use skills like ignition, supernova, fire whip, flaming tongue, inner demon, etc. You can also pump wits and get savage sortilege to crit with spells. It's definitely not a "pump int and forget about it".
I made a character with enough fire resistance to get healed with fire instead of damaged. Setting all on necrofire and walking arround to heal while attacking was a blast.
i actually found it in 2017! but I guess a true testament is that I am still playing and thinking about it enough years later to make the review :) thanks for watching
Excellent game, I only find the final battle and the endings (especially the one which is supposed to be canon) a little disappointing compared to the rest of the game. But the game is just awesome, my party who is obviously formed of my favorite characters is: -Ifan (who is my protagonist). -Lohse (his lover). -Red Prince (who is like the annoying guy in my party 😂). -Beast (a good friend and funny). -And my elven mercenary Nienna (who I headcanon is Ifan's elven sister from the time he was raised by elves). (And, no I don't use party size mods, I just switch members through the missions) I love the story, the music, the gameplay, and every detail the game puts to everything, I was so surprised when even my elven mercenary was mentioned and had her own slide in the ending. A masterpiece of a game.
Genuinely loved this game, lost WEEKS to it, and STILL need to do another playthrough to have Ifan and Beast in my party, personally LOVE The Red Prince, Lohse, and Sybil. Fane was fun but....he felt underutilized in the story despite how vital he IS to it, he doesn't actually do much until the very end. Tend to go with a Melee Dual Wielder, with Wind Magic to back me and my allies up. The soundtrack, MMMMH! *chefs kiss* still listen to it, to this day, just when the mood strikes, song that plays on Lady Vengeance is the absolute favorite for me.
Original 1 was suddenly there, without much notice. And it flashed me so much. I played it x times. Then came part 2. Bigger AND better. Which I didn't think was possible. I also looked at the Larian diaries and It became clear to me that this team doesn't just chat, but really works together with the community. They rightly got the rights to Baldur's gate 3 and did a great job there too! I've already seen the first act several times Don't pass Larian! Be sure
I like fane as a chracter, but I somehow were never a fan of an undead skeleton race tbh. Though it's incredibly useful to have one in your party. However, this game is just way too good. One of the few special ones you will play in your life. The last 2 acts being the weaker ones is a pretty common opinion by the way. "Then don't come over! Not like you're buying anything!" is burned into my memory at this point :D What I don't really like: there are plenty of persuasion scenarios you can only do once, or it will proc a battle. if you have one dedicated character for persuasion, you'll often not get to use em unless they're leading the way.
It's a fun game, especially in co op. But not a perfect game. Quest are sometimes hard to follow and sometimes you meet enemies way above your level without a warning. So you should save after every corner.
I don't think the lack of level scaling is a drawback, for me it makes the game world way better. Pluse the game autosaves before encounters so you don't really miss progress.
@@FernandoIncetta I'm sorry but my experience with auto save before the fight is even worse. I had no chance of beating the enemies because I was 2 levels lower, or the enemy (the witch act 2) could insta kill me. Because of the auto save it respawned me 2 sec before I died. With no way of escape. I had to reload an old save from hours ago.
@@kingmickey666 You can see the enemies level before a fight by hovering them or examining them. And there is a Flee from battle button who takes you to the last waypoint. I think the chance of getting ambushed is part of the fun, and the game gives you tools to either asess the encounter before starting, or running away when things get nasty.
Played DOS1 first, it hooked me big time. Then I saw the trailer for DOS2 and I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on that. I was a poor college student at the time (and I'm not proud of this) so I found myself a cracked version of the game. Played as a custom character first time without knowing anything. The difficulty in combat between the two games is MASSIVE, and DOS2 is a whole different ballpark even with similar mechanics. Finished the story with Fane, Sebille, and Beast as my companions. Second time around, played as Fane, with Lohse, Ifan, and Beast (I love the dude) as my companions. Hot dang, it was a completely different experience. It's as if I'm playing a different version of the story. Then I played as Lohse. It's a different story again! Got myself a job a year later. On my first paycheck and bonus, bought the game for myself, my sister, and my friend. Larian deserves all the support it can get. An absolute masterpiece in my heart. It's one of those games where I wish I can forget everything and play it from the start. I still get chills when finishing the game and the Narrator says "... and then, there was you." Even with 300+ hours (official) under my belt, I still continue to discover new things in the game (such as the Hannag fight, never fought her before cuz I never go to Cloisterwood pre-Gwydian. There's also the Kniles in the cage, or the Invisible shroom cheese strat!).
Great game. One drawback is I played co op the entire thing with friends. 3 people do not get to see end of story. Easy to fix in today's media world. Thinking back it was a one player game modified for co op. Wish there were more co op turn based games.
Man I love this game so much, it's one of my favorites, I just wish the game had a decent AI mode for your party members, cause I always have a hard time immersing myself in my companions if I actually have to control them. Feels more like I'm playing 4 characters rather than playing 1 character with 3 allies.
Somehow because of the word "Original" I mistook it for "Original" and therefore thought that it was Dragon Age 2: Origins, that I've played a long long time ago, and the Divine Divinity was amazing game worth playing even today, for its simplicity of graphics (really reminded me of Mega Drive games at the time) its story really captures the essence of cRPG: very unexpected things happens and its choke full of side stories.
Best Rpg I've ever played Also combining death wish (necro) with a polymorph who has chicken claw and the scoundrel ability rupture tendons is busted. Watch the chicken run and kill itself. Shits hilarious
I love this game!!! Absolutely top 3 in my life. Your review is really well put together and I just find your personality to be great! Definitely subbed im happy I found this channel!
I started this game at the start of March last year and before taking an extended break from gaming in April, I clocked up 240 hours on my first play-through. And I'm only on Act 3! Wonderful game, although I loaded it up yesterday and didn't really know where I was, so I'm thinking about restarting! (also thinking about a new laptop to play on!)
Act 3 aye? That's when the difficulty gets out of hand. You may even find your 240 hour game is actually soft locked if you didn't focus on 2 combat skills or less.
AMAZING GAME. i was NEVER a fan of these strategy, turn based, top down, dialogue driven games. but when i played it i fell in love with it. the depth of the combat and playing as a mage character actually makes the game a bit difficult at the start.
I heard the horror stories of those who backed the HeroQuest remake. I actually stumbled upon DOS2 on sale via Steam and like you, decided to roll the dice on a title I've never heard of before. It more than scratched the RPG itch I had. I now hold it in as high regard as the TES series and will be backing this series going forward.
If you double click on your buddy's character icon, it will take your screen to them and you can click to listen in on their conversation; you don't have to be near them.
With dragon commander this is the 6th game. I also consider dragon commander a main line game Interesting fact, larian planed to make 2 extra maps, dwarf and elf related for the 2 origin characters but they didnt have the time and budget left
With this video, I bet their is a Baldur's Gate 3 video in the pipeline and I can't wait. If you are waiting or apprehensive about getting it, do it. It's game of the year material and one of the best games and RPG'S I've ever played in my life.
You can double click on the portrait of the character who is in conversation when in multiplayer from anywhere on the map to hear the dialog. You just wont hear the first line being voiced... unless i'm thinking of a different game.
I loved these so much, I liked the first one a little bit more though. You know which one is pretty good too? The Pathfinder King Maker game! I need to finish it, is as hard as Divinity. I have to say the pre final fight, I won it using the fog lol. The creativity this game allows reminds me of the freedom you had in Morrowind spell making. I created my own character and I played this just fine, my party was mostly Fane, Sybill and Lhose
I tried really hard to get into this game, I really wanted to just get completely invested in it. For some reason I never got past the 5 hour mark, just got tired of it and moved on, guess it's the way I've been conditioned by the AAA industry. Really feel like I've missed out but I know that if I try to play it again the same thing will happen.
I loved both of the divinty OS games, My biggest gripe with the game and even though it has tons of variety in skills, is that if you are not built fairly optimally you are gonna have a rough time. The last encounter in the story is BRUTAL if you are not prepared, and various other fights will bend you over and spank you. Other than that its pretty perfect RPG, though multiple playthroughs it can kinda be a slog to go through fort joy over and over again, as you really need to little scraps of gear from everywhere early.
I agree Fane is basically the main character, but hes also a walking spoiler for some cool story beats so I actually don't recommend choosing him for a first playthrough.
Amazing game. The only issue I have with the game is: "Keeping it together, Bree?"
God damn, hearing/reading that dialog again gave me actual physical pain.
You're safe among friends. Never forget it!
“Smells worse over here, than a dozen rotten eggs dropped in a vat of vinegar.”
@@GrompEconomics “THAN DONT COME OVER, not like you’re buying anything”
"What you'd like to know?!"
I think playing a custom character is not necessarily a worse experience that playing an Origin character, just a different one. As a custom character, you're basically a total stranger to the land. No previous connections or relations, and no part in the stories of the Origin characters besides that which they share with you.
It is such a drastically different experience seeing the stories of these characters first hand, knowing what they know, and seeing them from the outside. From a role-playing perspective having that freedom and lack of baggage can be very fun.
I would personally recommend doing your first playthrough as a Custom character with your 3 favourite Origin characters in your party, then in future playthroughs choose them as your character. It's very much like rewatching a movie and noticing all of the details and plot hints you missed the first time.
It's an experience you can only get with the game once. Playing as a character who is going in just as blind as you.
Hmmm, now I have to reconsider again.
About to download the game from freah purchase and research into it, and you helped me decide to make a brand new char first play through and an Origin one second play through. Why? "I want a charector as blind to the lands as I am", of course! Cheers! Have a pointless TH-cam thumbs up, lol.
@@Dana-cb7vk I made the same decision after reading this post and I do think it is the way to go. It makes sense that I don't know what is going on more than it would me being an eternal or someone with scores to settle. I have no scores and know very little about the world except for the general overview of the gods and the history of a couple of source hunters centuries before.
Second playthrough, after I have the full lay of the land, I will pick one...maybe one of the current ones on my team and have the last 3 as brand new companions.
@@fcold9402 it warms my heart and makes me even more excited for the day off tomorrow~ knowing avid/experienced RPGers are out here validating that being the way to go. LOL I may have to start it tonight after my mandatory watching/review videos I do for any A/MMO/RPG prior to playing it. Ironically, I had ended up purchasing Disciples: Liberation micing the games up initially (then waiting till my next payday to justify buying yet another game). Wasnt a bad mix-up at all, that game is pretty amazing (by a LOT)- but it is assuredly not the depth I was going for with aiming to buy Divinity.
But lo-and-behold the reviews for that gake do bot stack up to Divinity- NOR would I reccomend full price for it (unless its no big deal for you)- not saying it isnt a great game- but I feel its more like $30 worth of great, personally- so cannot be a hypocrite on how I reccomend it/not. :)
Though now that I am starting this game, I feel it will preoccupy me until Starfield releases (hopefully)- juding by its reviewed depth it may give me *more* than enough time for them to fix/patch any issues with Starfield and still not experience all Divinity has to offer, anyways! LOL. Thats my kind of RPG right there! (But then I also miss playing SWToR, too 😂🤣).
@@Dana-cb7vk How have you been enjoying Divinity? I just downloaded, and plan to start it this week. I've heard alot of hype about the game, and honestly I'm stoked to dive in. Just finished my first PC the other day, and this was one of the first games I wanted to play on it.
I actually agree with pretty much everything you said.
Humans are dumpy, Ifan is badass, Fane is life (or rather, undeath), Lohse is bae, music both ambient and battle are sweet if a bit repetitive but that's most games. Add in weather and day night cycle and it'd be a perfect game for me.
That said, it's damn close.
Also, why no ads? This definitely deserves a few placed in.
That's the problem I have with this game. Time stands still. Days don't pass.
@@TheKrensada funny seeing this after a few years. I still hold the game in high regard, but ultimately lost interest because I just couldn't get over this one huge immersion breaking issue.
My favorite aspect is there is always atleast 3 ways to go about a quest and very rarely is any solution blindingly obvious. I remember I got around the maze using a teleportation spell and the gargoyle calling me a cheater, was great.
ha! had the same exact moment and just thought "ye and fuck u too buddy"
I found bracchus ring accidentally before I got to the maze. And the ring got me recognized as him and I was teleported to the end of the maze lol
This is only true in Act 1 & 2. The game gets extremely linear in Act 3 and 4, and in Act 4 especially the game isn't coded to react to you properly if you do things in the "wrong order", so you'll get voice lines asking you to do things you've already done or say you need to wait until you've done them. So you exit and re enter conversation just to make them update. Act 2 suffers from so many side quests with different ways that it seems many people just quit before they finish Act 3.
To everyone I leave this information.
There are many charm effects in the game, but none come close to being able to rival Mind Maggot Grenades. To make one, you need jars of mind maggots and an empty grenade, and the result is a 4 TURN long charm over a grenade size area of effect.
There is a jar in Kniles torture room in fort joy.
Barrel.
Now i dont like fanboying game-companies and larian is no exception, but i cant help but respect their passion/detication to the games they create and the fans that enjoy Them.
To but it as best as i can word this. Larian feels more like a game-developer than a game-company.
You can also tell they all want to play and enjoy their own games as well. Many crappy modern developers don’t understand the issues with the games they make because they do not play them (Blizzard)
@@Ghostcharm indeed, the focus seems much more on the aspect of growing the company than the games they develop. A damn shame too.
Therefore the distinction between "game-developer" and "game-company."
Also, seeing Sven Bicke energetically find an excuse to wear his medieval armor in the blog posts for baldurs gate 3 is always a blast to see.
That Black Pits fight changed me as a person
It was so realistic. I could smell the fire from my old laptop
Once had two lonewolves with pyro as their main build... the fight took almost an hour, luckily my characters also had summoning on the side which helped a little
On my second playthrough I teleported Gwynne to the ledge on I think the Northwest corner of the battlefield, then blocked him from climbing down by packing my characters in front of the vines. From there, ranged attacks and adding buffs to a champion incarnate in the field carried my team safely to the end. The magisters had to fend for themselves.
On my first play through now and jst finished that n now down in the cave. Those damn oil monsters and fighting on the platform was super frustrating. Basically the whole area is engulfed in flames. Jst hit lv 13 btw.
This game taught me the true power of the Mighty Barrel.
Barrelmancer. 👀
Death fog barrel just one-shot the final boss???
Play as fane or an undead origin character and COMMIT WARCRIMES
@@Nomadith soul mate and shackles of pain to the enemy, then u drink a healing potion as undead, make sure u cast living on the edge first so u dont die, stoneskin and force of will potions to be imune to most statuses even if u dont have armor/magic armor. Idol of Rebirth just in case :) u will never struggle!
Regarding origin characters, I found the tension of having sebille, red Prince and ifan all together made for a very interesting story.
Right, I had no idea that the dynamics in the party where that deep until I picked up Sebille with the Red Prince already tagging along.
After that whole escapade with the dreamer, I realized things weren’t exactly as cut and dry as usually just picking out your party. I really like that aspect so far.
True, but for the personal story Lohse takes the cake as player character.
@@APRBaller this is my favorite party with Lohse as my main. Fane is really overrated imo, specially as a companion. It spoils so many secrets that are best revealed later or as Fane as you MC.
Dude that's my party...
You're all sleeping on Fane, architect of the void and, as me and my mates joke, 'the actual main character'. Just because A) his voice is amazing and B) he's so deeply entwined with the antagonists and history of the world.
So playing Fane, with Red Prince, Lohse and maybe Ifan as a punching bag? Beautiful.
I completely agree with the character ranking. Fane IS the main character, everyone else's story arc somewhat ends at different chapters of the story, some earlier than others some is very personal and doesn't matter much for the state of the world. But Fane's story is directly tied into the main plot, it doesn't end unless you finish the game and the fact that one of the ending is an ending that's made specifically for him is very telling.
The story basically revolves around him, and playing as an origin character other than him really makes you feel like a side character. Even when Fane acts like your companion and lets you decide major decisions it still feels like you're overstepping and interfering in HIS business.
I just bought the game and I may have to restart after reading your comment. No biggie, I played for less than 2 hours.
@@StefanConstantinDumitrache I played the whole game as the red prince and honestly by the end it felt like I'm in someone else's story lol
You forget that Fane is just so based that he accidentally helped create the Divines and simultaneously fucked himself and his people so, so bad. (But yes, it was a massive surprise going from a party without him on my first play-through, to playing as him on my second)
I would disagree to some degree. If Fane is not in your party, and you play as Ifan, you realise the story changes to "Fane is the villain, and Ifan is the sinner that steps up to be the Hero." Ifan is in the centre of this whole thing almost as much as Fane. If Ifan didn't cause The Elven Incident (TM), which then caused that issue with Tir Cendelius (trying not to spoil), then a lot of the current story wouldn't happen. Fane even turns to the big GK daddy if he's not in your party.
Ifan was my first choice for main character but I messed up the build and had to restart, and picked Lohse. Anyways I still took him with me to experience his arc. I agree he's an amazing companion. One of the best. Fane is great as well lots of choices and lore to learn about. I love how his character develops through the story based on your choices, even as a companion.
8:52 - I think your critique of Sebille is spot on and I think it's totally legit to relegate characters like this to the supporting role. This gives you (the main character) the chance to witness and participate in the plot without feeling like it's forced on you if you were to start with them. I think sometimes you can grow to care about the character more when they're in a side role because they develop a relationship with your character, which gets you more invested in their revenge/redemption arc. Imagine if Canderous was your main character in KotOR. His face-turn and side quest with Jagi just wouldn't feel as significant.
l
Fane actually knew the seven before they reached godhood. He’s literally older thay anything in the divinity universe
Is he older than queen elizabeth?
probably
@@hssal2 Well, that aged... That aged.
29:20 you can just click on the other players portrait on the side to eavesdrop from across the map, no need to physically be there.
The best RPG I have ever played. I put 100 hours into my first playthrough and 140 into my second. 4 years later I am about to start a new game. If Xcom 2 and its mods did not exist, I would have dozens of Divinity playthroughs.
is there anything out now that comes close? I am looking for more and you seem to have similar taste to me.
@@n0cturnalgamer Warhammer 40k Chaos Gate is the closest I have found to Xcom2. Wasteland 3 is similar to DOS 2.
@@n0cturnalgamerBaldur's Gate 3? But I guess you've already noticed that
I’m about halfway through, and from the very start, your enthusiasm, energy, and editing had me hooked. The level of polish to this video makes me feel like you’ve been making TH-cam videos for years, and not A year.
And I’m a lot more interesting in this game than I was before: it gives me real Disco Elysium vibes. (If you haven’t tried DE, it checks many of the same boxes this game seems to, except it’s main plot is really engaging.)
Thanks a lot for the kind words it means a lot. DE has been sitting atop my backlog for some time… perhaps the time has come! Thanks for watching
Same here! I was going to watch a bit now and finish later but uh... I'm engaged and there's like a few minutes left lol.
"The hardest part is the character creation" wait until you see Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous character creation. 35 different classes, 5-8 subtypes for each, and thwle Mythic Path system that changes the story a lot for each one you choose. Plus a whole bunch of other options. As a newcomer it is quite overwhelming
I finished Kingmaker twice and WotR was still overwhelming for me lol
Could not be more correct on that LOL. I am reinstalling DOS2 atm because I got SO OVERWHELMED from WotR. Still an awesome game, just very overwhelmed currently with it.
Pathfinder gives you the illusion of choice. In reality, the combat is clunky and contrived no matter what you pick.
I never played D&D so the whole dice rolling thing was a turn off
All RPG games are "clunky" by nature, that's kind of the point, if you can't understand that then perhaps you should never play RPGs and stop being a contrarian
The battle music also evolves over the course of the game. It sounds almost desperate in act 1 when you are weakest, becomes more brutal (more percussion instruments) in act 2 and nameless isle, then bombastic in the final arc, by which if you have a good build, it fits your godlike power at that point.
An important tip I offer: nearly every skill school has an action that lets you place your character at a different location on the map (teleportation and nether swap for air, tactical retreat for ranger, Phoenix dive for warfare, wings for polymorph, etc). Make sure each of your characters has at least one of these abilities as early in the game as you can. Repositioning the characters is very powerful when in battles, especially since having them run will give damage as they travel across damaging terrain effects and quickly uses up action points.
Great video!
as a side note tho: as far as I know and experienced, you dont need to be close to an ally to listen to their conversations, you acn be scattered cross map and still listen to what ever they are saying by double clicking on their icon :) (im playing via gog and the larian launcher, so i dont know if there are any differences between my version and the steam one, but I guess its worth a try anyway)
hope I didnt miss anything and Im glad to see a review from this year, warms my heart to see that this game still gets the love it deserves^^
Fextralife was the guy that introduced me to this game and i have been watching his build guides forever now the eternal champion or death knight is what am gonna try and go for what a great game happily playing on xbox.
Great review dude. Picked this game up on Steam for 11.49 or something like that, and the value I'm getting from it is insane. I've not been so lost in a game since I was a teenager, and I've recently sunk 160 hours into Elden Ring!
As a 36 year old gamer it's been what feels like a lifetime since I last was truly immersed in an RPG, but Divinity 2 has rekindled my love of RPGs and of games in general (not that I've ever really stopped loving them).
Bro Im 39 and lemme just say: I understand the depth-drought in games as of late. Im 1000% vested and paid full price LOL
As another dude in his 30's I'm just stoked to find a game this in depth. Just downloaded.
I've been a Larian fanboy since Divine Divinity in 2002. Each of their games has been a day one purchase for me. Even with BG3, i had no problem picking that up as soon as it released to early access. These guys are awesome
this game's combat combos is off the charts, the devs team went crazy in a good way
I've recently gotten sucked into this game, its honestly amazing, i found that this game has character growth that i didn't expect from a game like this, you can sleep with the red prince as another male character, and build a bond with him, i first finished the game with a custom lizard character, now i have found how fun undead characters can be, and trying out a necromancer undead lizard character who uses summoning spells, its really fun.
Honestly, to the point at 17:15 I almost believe it is a reference to Divinity Original Sin 1, because it truly becomes comical after a certain point how often you will hear classics such as:
"A life without cheese is a life without friends!"
"Not in the mood for cheese?! That excuse has more holes than a slice of this fine Gorgombert!"
"Halibut... Sheeps cheese... Tomatos..."
and finally "You should join the Spud Club if you've got an eye for fine potatoes!"
Really the list goes on, those are classics among my friends
I agree about multiplayer story. I would like it if you got like a small popup at the side of the screen when someone started a dialogue, and then you could choose to jump in, or "I'll just watch the replay"
Or, there could be icons over important NPCs heads, to indicate that "you must gather your party before venturing forth"
Heck, make it options you can toggle, based on desired play style. My biggest issue though is that you lose out on the first bit of dialogue when you listen in, and what the player actually chooses isn't always obvious. (The latter could have been helped by character voice acting, something I really hope they add for BG3. Again something that could be optional, I know not everyone likes that)
This game is the closest game to a masterpiece that I've ever played. I just have basically no complaints with over 30 hours of gameplay, and I just couldn't put the game down once I started playing, I was incredibly immersed in it, it's an amazing experience.
Also, it's pretty much the only turn-based combat game I have ever enjoyed the combat in, I really, really, hate turn-based combat, but in this game I loved it
Late reply, but did you ever finish the game? I really want to know if it's still a masterpiece after finishing the story, because I find most people who call it a masterpiece only have
@@aetherblackbolt1301 I finished it twice, even played it recently with a friend (who hasn't played before). Pretty much my favorite game of all time, definitely give it a shot. P.S imo it is much better than Baldur's Gate 3 (the new game by the same studio)
@@hanzofactory oh, I've just finished the game with a couple hundred hours playtime (including reloading saves according to GOG). And I just had to really disagree with the game as a whole being a masterpiece, because the ending was such a let down.
This game is quite brilliant, but Arx is a mess, and the Nameless Isle is disappointing. The Island of Fort Joy is near perfect, and Act 2 is high quality (albeit some issues). You seriously have to just ignore a lot of the jank, pacing, and lack of proper guidance in Arx. It just didn't feel like I was actually racing to stop Dallis without it feeling goofy.
this is one of the best descriptions of the game i 100% agree, but there is actually a way to listen to you party members without standing close to them, just click on the character portrait on the left for the character that is in conversation, you can join the conversation from anywhere with that :b
One of my favorite games of all time, i agree a bit with the main story getting a bit weaker as time goes on, but i think it pays off at the end with the reveal of Lucian, the fact that the Jesus of the Divinity world is the main antagonist of the game is just brilliant, that last fight for divinity with Lucian while the main theme sounds in the background with this nostalgic kinda tone to it is just to beautiful...
yeah, I agree. the payoff is worth it all!
@@Ghostcharm also the voice acting is so flawless in honestly had to check if Ifan was voiced by Russel Crowe, and whoever voices ryker the sourceres from the cementery deserves an Oscar
Definitely the best part is Act2, however, personally the fight at the Well of Ascencion is my favorite part (especially with that battle theme).
However, I find all the endings very lacking and disappointing, especially after learning the give up your source is supposed to be the canon ending. Personally, I find that ending as the worst of all, and that makes Lucian to doesn't even be the true antagonist, but the one who is actually right and the true hero. Braccus Rex is the one who technically becomes the main antagonist (very anticlimactic by the way), but aside of Lucian's Crypt bullshit puzzles/final battle/endings part, to me the game is perfect in everything else.
Spoiler alert bro!
Me after buying the game and killing time while it downloads, only to see this massive spoiler: _"Patrolling the comments section almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter."_
Perhaps
But I’d also really like a Mankar Camoran Villainpedia
you are becoming a legend. i am worried that if i make the video you will die
please never give up your quest
@@Ghostcharm we all must make sacrifices
Written February 18, 2022
Never heard of Divinity: Original Sins 2 until the iPad specific version of the game came out last year with very nearly the same graphics as the PS4. The HLTB page says it’s between 60hrs for main story and 150hr for total completion, which makes me happy as I love RPGs that clearly take inspiration from Baldur’s Gate series. Don’t have a PS4 to play but it’ll cost 25$ for the iPad version so I’ll just play there…
Should mention that the game has gift bag features reccomended by the devs, they allow talents like Pet Pal to be active always to ressurecting on rests. They're helpful
Regarding civil abilities, lucky charm is underrated. I discovered that by accident in my 2nd run. You start getting legendary and divine items on a very regular basis if you search containers once you hit 5+ LC.
Lucky Charm is the best ability in the game, hands down.
How to give a pro tip without saying youre giving a protip! Cheers
that's true but it can get pretty tedious checking every possible container since there are ton of boxes, barrels, vases and other stuff
Best RPG - and best RPG you can play co-op online or locally with friends - for the past 4 years and ongoing.
While Baldur's Gate 3 looks very promising, it's 'limitations' based on the D&D universe and ruleset will always keep it from the freedom afforded in DOS:2.
I dunno. Divinity is kind of boring. It feels really generic as a fantasy setting, and the weird elemental mechanics feel really gimmicky. It's good among these old-school RPG reboots, but it's not really exciting on its own.
The best review for someone like me that's on the edge whether or not to buy this game, great job 👏 👍🏿
This is a must buy. Even if it's not on sale. Buy it, then watch the Fextralife videos on character comp and creation and off you go!!
I prefer to make my own character in RPG's. In DOS2 I choose options that aren't covered by origin characters, such as female Lizard or female Dwarf.
My absolute favorite thing in divinity, is make a huge poison vile dying it red and putting it in a npcs inventory before combat, also shackles of pain, I just love making enemies kill themselves.
Also I had a large celebration when you said Fane was best-boi.
Oh wow. Is that what it's for? I thought it was for joking around with other players. lol
At first, I was suprised by the complaints about non-origin characters, but after starting my second plathrough I can understand them. My first character was a jokester/scholar. He likes to just sit back and watch the chaos unfold (while furiously taking notes). This is why I did not see the issues, because he embodied the "role" of non-origin characters: the observer. Yes, you can talk and interact with things, but you always have that feeling of being that one friend, who awkwardly stands in the corner while the others are arguing/having fun.
While I do love the game, I wish it was a more immersive experience for players who like to make their own characters and story. I usually really don't like games where I am given an already made character. This is why I don't touch the Witcher games for example, I understand how great the games are, it is just really not for me. I know it is the same comparison as in the video, but it is a game that shows off really well what I DON'T want from an rpg.
Larian said the non-origin character experience will be very different for BG3 and I do hope they can keep that promise.
Discovered divinity 2 2 months ago.. cant let it go, finnished it once in normal diff. running tactician now, and its a challenge.
This gives me great hope for BG3, wont be the same sure but they wont let BG down.
11:50 100% agree Fane is the best. No contest. What a lad.
29:38 the secret ingredient is "teleportation pyramids" (which are one of the many quality-of-life improvements that the game makes, and you find them very early on)
My favorite build is summoning and Huntsman with far away man and glass cannon you start every turn with full being able to summon your incarnant and buffet him twice and still have enough AP to summon the totem pole and next turn summon another totem pole and fire your bow or crossbow twice
Fane is the obvious choice he’s got a direct link to the main story, you can kinda tell with larian games who they actually want the main character to be, like durge with bg3 the story feels completely different when you play as them
never forget the story of the Red Prince of Bel Air
I've played through the entire game twice, played Fort Joy like a billion times... Still have no idea what the story is. I always skip the dialogue because I'm too excited to loot, gear up, level up, fight everything, explore... The list goes on.
One of the best rpgs i ever played in my life. Made me get into baldurs gate. Waiting for the newest baldurs gate to be finished
since there are 6 origin characters, I plan on making 2 custom characters and bringing 3 of them along with me for each playthrough. for my first I'll bring Ifan, Sebille and Lohse and for my second I'll bring Fane beast and the Red Prince, that way, I get all the origin stories done in 2 playthroughs. but yeah, playing as one of the origin characters is also fun, you understand better what is happening. Lohse is my favourite. who doesn't like demonic possessed women right? Na.. in all seriousness, she's just so much fun. the Red Prince is by far the the most evil of the characters, you should try playing the red prince and having Sebille as a companion, up until you meet "the master". you can do some absolutely evil things.
Lone wolf builds are by far the most fun, but then you only get 2 characters, but those 2 characters will be very OP. If you are planning on going for Lone wolf, I suggest starting out with a blank slate, no skills chose, then level to level 4 and then pick what you want on your characters. if you go with lone wolf, you can pump up summoning to 10 right away and you get a big demon at level 4, it's really fun.
I have started playing Divinity like eight hundred times but I always get distracted by hopeless attempts to perfect my build and give up and this video has inspired me to begin and actually continue on my quest pls thank you
Stop perfecting thy builds ;) I did so - and am 80 hours into the game :)
Very in depth review! I just picked it up a couple weeks ago on playstation, and I only wish I could find more time to play it! One of my favorite things to do in these kinds of games is experiment with class builds, and man.. The freedom here is unreal. I want to just keep making new characters.. But I'm not even out of fort joy yet 😂. I feel like I have to complete every possible arc first!
Hell yeah, push through!! Get one play through into like late act 2 and you’ll be on your way. Have fun, and thanks for watching !
My first playthrough was Me as Lohse raining water and lightning everywhere, my cousin best friend was fane the summoner stacking every buff, and my other friend was red prince and he loves to mess with everything cussing problems for everyone. Amazing experience I will never get again
Really thorough, well made review. Lots of small bits of insight other divinity reviews I’ve seen have missed. This might be my go to video when trying to convince someone to play DOS:2 from now on.
First time I played Ifan, I was blown away by how well his story was done, I just thought "oh christ, just a human dude, boooring" but I think he's probably my favorite now, even over Fane
Which is crazy to me because I always had Fane in runs with me because "haha smart spooky skeleton man older than the dirt"
I spent a stupid amount of time in the game, got all the achievements and only on my 3rd to last run, I realized that I could combo Rupture Tendons+Terrifying Cruelty+Bleed Fire for mega stupid dmg, like kills a particular lvl20 demon in one pass on hard mode stupid. You combo any build to make something ridiculously strong.
With talents, I also tried for fun, stacking Unstable, Picture of Health (maxxed warfare and constitution), Morning Person (optional), got Combeback Kid from something I was wearing and got myself the Idol of Rebirth in Driftwood, used deathwish and shackles of pain and WEW the damage was stupidly good
Loved making random crap builds since Mechwarrior and this game does that for me in a fantasy setting and I love it
I only watch reviews that are 5-10mins long. But the way your presented this was superb! I didn't even realized that I finished the whole thing! Good job!
Would playing as Lone Wolf be a good way for a newbie to play? Im finding the party management a bit overwhelming..
Hell yeah, solo or duo is the move
I played first Divinity:OS for some time (think I got about halfway through) and while it had a lot of charm, interesting tactical battles and a lot of good stuff basically, I remember having a list of things that just didn't click with me. Then I installed OS2 and every single thing on that list that I made in my head has been fixed. Just goes to show that devs acknowledge their flaws and grow stronger for it.
With my only real previous experience with RPGs being Skyrim, the repetitive dialogue from NPCs was actually an improvement, because in D:OS II they at least have their own dialogue, while every guard in Skyrim has the same script, and so does basically every instance of a certain enemy type (I won't call them individuals, because most don't even have names). D:OS II doesn't have that many generic enemies (other than monsters) And with the game divided into areas, you don't have the same guards repeating the same dialogue at level 1 and the end of the game.
My biggest annoyance is inventory management, since I tend to be a hoarder in RPGs. The game could use some way of multi-selecting items to transfer from one character or container to another, instead of having to drag them one at a time. Another one after multiple playthroughs would be a way to skip through dialogue until getting to a choice, without risking making a bad choice by spamming the first option. There's also some frustration with line of sight/effect, especially when I try to find high ground, but can't see over a railing, or want to jump to a higher location, but can't see over some lip to jump. But other than small things like that, the game is quite well polished compared to many of the games I play.
I’m actually playing this game right now! I chose Ifan stories with my companions being, The Red Prince, Loshe, and Sebille. On the 2nd act rn with 41 hours in lol.
Interesting that you felt Fane was the most fleshed out character. It was fun playing him but much of the dialogue didn't feel as though it was fully thought out and there was a lack of the "payoff" with his character. It's neat that his story is shrouded in mystery but that was it and it remained a mystery. Lohse's story was by far the most beautiful, dark and impactful story out of ALL of the origin characters (I've played Lohse as the MC and as a companion).
Regarding your comment about mages and pumping int. It depends on the build you're doing. You can pump int and fight from afar or make a battle mage and mix constitution in there early, fight close by and use skills like ignition, supernova, fire whip, flaming tongue, inner demon, etc. You can also pump wits and get savage sortilege to crit with spells. It's definitely not a "pump int and forget about it".
I made a character with enough fire resistance to get healed with fire instead of damaged. Setting all on necrofire and walking arround to heal while attacking was a blast.
A true testament to the game is that even now, people like you are finding it, falling in love with it so much that you make a 30+ min review!
i actually found it in 2017! but I guess a true testament is that I am still playing and thinking about it enough years later to make the review :) thanks for watching
@@Ghostcharm that's what happens when I comment before watching the entire video...
2024 I just found this game due to BG3 hype. And I can say that I'm totally in love with this game.
6:53 Witcher 3 isn’t amazing and it’s not an rpg. At most it’s a narrative driven hack’ n’ slash adventure.
Excellent game, I only find the final battle and the endings (especially the one which is supposed to be canon) a little disappointing compared to the rest of the game.
But the game is just awesome, my party who is obviously formed of my favorite characters is:
-Ifan (who is my protagonist).
-Lohse (his lover).
-Red Prince (who is like the annoying guy in my party 😂).
-Beast (a good friend and funny).
-And my elven mercenary Nienna (who I headcanon is Ifan's elven sister from the time he was raised by elves).
(And, no I don't use party size mods, I just switch members through the missions)
I love the story, the music, the gameplay, and every detail the game puts to everything, I was so surprised when even my elven mercenary was mentioned and had her own slide in the ending.
A masterpiece of a game.
Before Divinity Original Sin 2 I consider Skyrim and The Witcher 3 to be the pinnacle of RPG games.
Cant wait to see how Baldur's Gate 3 will turn out
Dragon Age Origins belongs on that list too.
And Darksouls1
Me and my girlfriend are halfway through this game it was pretty awesome I am looking forward to completing it
Genuinely loved this game, lost WEEKS to it, and STILL need to do another playthrough to have Ifan and Beast in my party, personally LOVE The Red Prince, Lohse, and Sybil. Fane was fun but....he felt underutilized in the story despite how vital he IS to it, he doesn't actually do much until the very end. Tend to go with a Melee Dual Wielder, with Wind Magic to back me and my allies up. The soundtrack, MMMMH! *chefs kiss* still listen to it, to this day, just when the mood strikes, song that plays on Lady Vengeance is the absolute favorite for me.
Doing a co-op run with my friend currently. Game is so much fun.
Original 1 was suddenly there, without much notice. And it flashed me so much. I played it x times. Then came part 2. Bigger AND better. Which I didn't think was possible. I also looked at the Larian diaries and It became clear to me that this team doesn't just chat, but really works together with the community. They rightly got the rights to Baldur's gate 3 and did a great job there too! I've already seen the first act several times Don't pass Larian! Be sure
I like fane as a chracter, but I somehow were never a fan of an undead skeleton race tbh. Though it's incredibly useful to have one in your party. However, this game is just way too good. One of the few special ones you will play in your life. The last 2 acts being the weaker ones is a pretty common opinion by the way.
"Then don't come over! Not like you're buying anything!" is burned into my memory at this point :D
What I don't really like: there are plenty of persuasion scenarios you can only do once, or it will proc a battle. if you have one dedicated character for persuasion, you'll often not get to use em unless they're leading the way.
Oh man with BG3 now I could imagine Minthara having this line of dialogue and it's hilarious : 17:22
It's a fun game, especially in co op. But not a perfect game. Quest are sometimes hard to follow and sometimes you meet enemies way above your level without a warning. So you should save after every corner.
I don't think the lack of level scaling is a drawback, for me it makes the game world way better. Pluse the game autosaves before encounters so you don't really miss progress.
@@FernandoIncetta I'm sorry but my experience with auto save before the fight is even worse. I had no chance of beating the enemies because I was 2 levels lower, or the enemy (the witch act 2) could insta kill me. Because of the auto save it respawned me 2 sec before I died. With no way of escape.
I had to reload an old save from hours ago.
@@kingmickey666 You can see the enemies level before a fight by hovering them or examining them. And there is a Flee from battle button who takes you to the last waypoint.
I think the chance of getting ambushed is part of the fun, and the game gives you tools to either asess the encounter before starting, or running away when things get nasty.
@@FernandoIncetta I admit that I haven't tried that. I'll try it in our next turn :)
Just a oldschool sh1t right there, throwing you at apesh1t hard as fug enemies
Game is an ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE
Played DOS1 first, it hooked me big time. Then I saw the trailer for DOS2 and I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on that. I was a poor college student at the time (and I'm not proud of this) so I found myself a cracked version of the game. Played as a custom character first time without knowing anything.
The difficulty in combat between the two games is MASSIVE, and DOS2 is a whole different ballpark even with similar mechanics. Finished the story with Fane, Sebille, and Beast as my companions. Second time around, played as Fane, with Lohse, Ifan, and Beast (I love the dude) as my companions. Hot dang, it was a completely different experience. It's as if I'm playing a different version of the story. Then I played as Lohse. It's a different story again!
Got myself a job a year later. On my first paycheck and bonus, bought the game for myself, my sister, and my friend. Larian deserves all the support it can get. An absolute masterpiece in my heart. It's one of those games where I wish I can forget everything and play it from the start. I still get chills when finishing the game and the Narrator says "... and then, there was you."
Even with 300+ hours (official) under my belt, I still continue to discover new things in the game (such as the Hannag fight, never fought her before cuz I never go to Cloisterwood pre-Gwydian. There's also the Kniles in the cage, or the Invisible shroom cheese strat!).
Im glad to see someone else who sees the focus on an origin character as a negative
But given your comments im gonna restart as Fane, as i only just escaped the fort
Great game. One drawback is I played co op the entire thing with friends. 3 people do not get to see end of story. Easy to fix in today's media world. Thinking back it was a one player game modified for co op. Wish there were more co op turn based games.
Man I love this game so much, it's one of my favorites, I just wish the game had a decent AI mode for your party members, cause I always have a hard time immersing myself in my companions if I actually have to control them. Feels more like I'm playing 4 characters rather than playing 1 character with 3 allies.
Somehow because of the word "Original" I mistook it for "Original" and therefore thought that it was Dragon Age 2: Origins, that I've played a long long time ago, and the Divine Divinity was amazing game worth playing even today, for its simplicity of graphics (really reminded me of Mega Drive games at the time) its story really captures the essence of cRPG: very unexpected things happens and its choke full of side stories.
Best Rpg I've ever played
Also combining death wish (necro) with a polymorph who has chicken claw and the scoundrel ability rupture tendons is busted. Watch the chicken run and kill itself. Shits hilarious
I actually voiced Ifan. Lovely to see that the game is still so popular :)
If this is actually the voice actor, I really enjoyed your work.
@youtube account yup, actually him. And thank-you!
I love this game!!! Absolutely top 3 in my life. Your review is really well put together and I just find your personality to be great! Definitely subbed im happy I found this channel!
welcome, thanks for being here!
I started this game at the start of March last year and before taking an extended break from gaming in April, I clocked up 240 hours on my first play-through. And I'm only on Act 3! Wonderful game, although I loaded it up yesterday and didn't really know where I was, so I'm thinking about restarting! (also thinking about a new laptop to play on!)
Act 3 aye? That's when the difficulty gets out of hand. You may even find your 240 hour game is actually soft locked if you didn't focus on 2 combat skills or less.
I love that game. Currently replaying it on the Nintendo switch. The fact theres not more games out there Like it is a crime.
AMAZING GAME. i was NEVER a fan of these strategy, turn based, top down, dialogue driven games. but when i played it i fell in love with it. the depth of the combat and playing as a mage character actually makes the game a bit difficult at the start.
Bruh this game is so good that I pirated it in 2017 when I had no money, now I buy it in full DLC in 2020 and still plays it in 2021
Ye same I always pirate games but I actually bought full game with all dlcs just to support larian
0:55 "The Fuck is this? Who the Fuck is Tingus Pingus?!"
280 hours with my best friend to complete on hard mode. One of the best experiences of my life
I heard the horror stories of those who backed the HeroQuest remake. I actually stumbled upon DOS2 on sale via Steam and like you, decided to roll the dice on a title I've never heard of before. It more than scratched the RPG itch I had. I now hold it in as high regard as the TES series and will be backing this series going forward.
If you double click on your buddy's character icon, it will take your screen to them and you can click to listen in on their conversation; you don't have to be near them.
With dragon commander this is the 6th game. I also consider dragon commander a main line game
Interesting fact, larian planed to make 2 extra maps, dwarf and elf related for the 2 origin characters but they didnt have the time and budget left
With this video, I bet their is a Baldur's Gate 3 video in the pipeline and I can't wait. If you are waiting or apprehensive about getting it, do it. It's game of the year material and one of the best games and RPG'S I've ever played in my life.
I skipped the whole black pits showdown by teleporting the Sourcerer from the tower. Though it was after 3 attempts where he died
Babe new Ghostcharm video dropped
You can double click on the portrait of the character who is in conversation when in multiplayer from anywhere on the map to hear the dialog. You just wont hear the first line being voiced... unless i'm thinking of a different game.
I loved these so much, I liked the first one a little bit more though. You know which one is pretty good too? The Pathfinder King Maker game! I need to finish it, is as hard as Divinity. I have to say the pre final fight, I won it using the fog lol. The creativity this game allows reminds me of the freedom you had in Morrowind spell making. I created my own character and I played this just fine, my party was mostly Fane, Sybill and Lhose
I tried really hard to get into this game, I really wanted to just get completely invested in it.
For some reason I never got past the 5 hour mark, just got tired of it and moved on, guess it's the way I've been conditioned by the AAA industry. Really feel like I've missed out but I know that if I try to play it again the same thing will happen.
Great review. Great editing. You hit on topics and eloquently make your point without bloating your script. And your pacing is great!
I loved both of the divinty OS games, My biggest gripe with the game and even though it has tons of variety in skills, is that if you are not built fairly optimally you are gonna have a rough time. The last encounter in the story is BRUTAL if you are not prepared, and various other fights will bend you over and spank you. Other than that its pretty perfect RPG, though multiple playthroughs it can kinda be a slog to go through fort joy over and over again, as you really need to little scraps of gear from everywhere early.
I agree Fane is basically the main character, but hes also a walking spoiler for some cool story beats so I actually don't recommend choosing him for a first playthrough.