Divinity Original Sin 2: Ascension to Epic

Epic (when used to examine stories) is normally defined as a “A film, poem or book that is long and contains a lot of action, usually dealing with a historical subject” (Cambridge Dictionary). This can be used to describe famous movies such as Spartacus and Laurence of Arabia. However I would like to offer another requirement: scale of story. All story centric media that fall under the Epic adjective feature a story that is grand in scope and/or risk (Lord of the Rings has the whole world at risk of damnation and One Hundred Years of Solitude chronicles a hundred years and seven generations of a single family). Games too, can fall under the label of ‘Epic’.

Story:

Set centuries after the events of the first game. An old woman used a dangerous kind of magic known as Source to unleash terrible monsters known as Voidwoken. The reason why she did this is at first unclear and somewhat self defeating. As it seemingly sparks a nationwide pogrom against those who might be able to use this magic, she and many others get arrested along with...you. You of no significance have been shipped off to the not wonderful island prison of Fort Joy. However, after surviving an attack on the ship you find yourself getting swept away in a grand battle for the future of life. You and a band of friends join forces to maintain some sort of control as conflict arising around them, the winner getting the prize of Divinity (to become a god).

All of these are very good themes woven into the story in creative and intelligent ways. However there is one theme that I did not expect to be as warm or as poignant as the theme of friendship. This is present both in the gameplay and the story. Leadership bonuses (placed upon the characters when the group is together) provide stat upgrades. This is indicative of the importance of relying on friends. Together my party and I were able reach godhood; the once snobby Red Prince is humbled (slightly). Fane is able to learn to act in a sociable acceptable fashion thanks to the patience of a friend (me). Friendship is one of the driving forces of character growth within Divinity. It is also the unifying force, which allows everyone to stay together whatever happens within the game.

Gameplay:

Combat is a turn based affair. Each friend/foe is given a turn independently to perform any number of actions they are able to. This covers everything from casting/attacking to moving; each character is given a limited amount of action points to spend on actions described. Characters that do not spend all of their action points will get them carried over to their next turn. Combined the limited amount of actions with the ways spells can interact with the environment (lighting over water, oil and water or undead and healing) along with an opponent various weaknesses, provide some deep engaging gameplay.

Graphics and art style

The texturing bounds off the page beautifully, with a wide range of rich crisp colours that blossom out of the screen. This game looks beautiful. There is some minor texture pop in but it is a blink-and-miss situation. It does not really affect the game overall.