[h1]Quick Sum-Up[/h1]
[h3]In-depth analysis further down.[/h3]
[b]No AI was used to write this review. Keep writing works AI free.[/b]
[hr]🟩 [b]Pros[/b] 🟩
• An enormous world filled with endless secrets, Easter eggs, hidden quests and unique encounters that will surprise you from start to end.
• Superb combat system that gives player complete freedom of approach, and has great mechanical depth. On Tactician difficulty, be prepared for a solid challenge.
• Excellent roleplaying system that organically accounts for your characters’ actions, items and knowledge to unlock new options, with multiple context-based dialogue choices.
• Vast character building possibilities: all builds, pure and hybrid ones alike, have their own identity and usefulness both in combat and outside.
• Absolute player agency in how to approach quests, exploration and encounters. The game doesn’t only allow, but encourages, finding unusual solutions to achieve your goals.
[hr]🟥 [b]Cons[/b] 🟥
• The way character personality traits are assigned based on dialogue choices (e.g. Materialistic vs. Spiritual, etc.) doesn’t make much sense logically in multiple cases.
• Respec will force you to re-acquire all the skill books from traders, some of which only have a chance to spawn in their loot table per refresh.
[hr]🟨 [b]Bugs / Issues[/b] 🟨
• Loading a save made during a dialogue can often lead to a crash.
• Inaccurate enemy highlight models in combat can lead to frequent misclicks.
[hr][h3]Content & Replay Value:[/h3]
It took me, alongside my partner in co-op, about 105 hours to complete DOS1:EE on Tactician difficulty, taking considerable extra time to fully explore the world and complete all possible side quests and encounters. Thanks to its extensive dialogue options, complete player freedom and build diversity, the replay value is high.
[h3]Is it worth buying?[/h3]
Absolutely. Divinity Original Sin is one of the greatest CRPGs ever made, and it’s worth every cent even for the current full price of 39,99€.
[h3]Verdict: Masterpiece[/h3]
A genre-defining milestone for CRPGs as a whole. DOS1:EE is the improved version of a great classic that elevated Larian Studios into the pantheon of CRPG masters. An unmissable title for any RPG fan.
[url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2548409603]Rating Chart[/url]
[quote]Want to see more reviews of the same quality? Check out and Follow my Curator, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39323490]Tamaster's Review Archive[/url].[/quote]
[h1]In-Depth Analysis[/h1]
[h3]Writing & Worldbuilding[/h3]
Narratively, DOS1:EE sits at the very top tier. From the beautifully animated, albeit rare hand-drawn cutscenes, conversations, banter, to the side lore found in books and documents, the writers have made sure each line of dialogue had its own distinct flair. Most of the characters you’ll meet will stick in your mind, not just plot-related ones, but almost all of them in fact. Despite there being hundreds, each of them has enough personality, quirks and mannerisms to result in someone you’ll remember, instead of the umpteenth generic NPC. The plot itself is articulate, interesting, and nuanced; it blends well the lines between good and evil, except for the final parts that, unfortunately, fall in the “insane villain” trope a bit too much. It’s ultimately a serious plot, that however doesn’t shy away from comedic, goofy tropes when appropriate, and never feels cringeworthy at any point in doing so.
The worldbuilding is deep and detailed, with much lore to be discovered in order to know more about Rivellon’s society, culture, issues and history. There sometimes are references to places and realms outside of it, but most of it is left to deduction or imagination; that’s not a bad thing, considering how much there already is to go through about Rivellon alone. All environments and locations have been made with the utmost care, subtle details and environmental elements adding an ulterior layer of depth to an already hefty lore package.
[h3]Exploration & Secrets[/h3]
You’ll explore on foot, with a handy map marking each important building and location once discovered, but covered by fog initially. Many locations, however, remain unmarked and will be up to you to place custom markers to remember them. A system of fast travel portals scattered throughout the land makes going back and forth convenient and immediate, while your personal Teleporter Pyramids, acquired very early, allow one character holding them to teleport to the other instantly.
The Pyramids open up to endless exploration possibilities: throw them to use as beacons and cross gaps, put them into someone’s inventory with pickpocketing to access forbidden areas, use them to ambush your enemies, or as a retreat point if combat goes wrong. Barring a few areas inaccessible for lore reasons, exploration is non-linear and completely up to you; the only thing stopping you will be, mainly, enemies too strong to face yet. Other than that, there’re plenty of secrets (often found with high enough Perception, or knowledge from documents) and optional locations scattered throughout the four, large main locations, from dungeons to ruins and even dimensional portals. You never know what could be around the next corner, and DOS1:EE will surprise you time and again the more you delve into it.
[h3]Combat System & Bosses[/h3]
Combat is turn-based, using AP for both movement, skills and other actions like using items or spell scrolls. The system is deep, with a plethora of status effects and elemental interactions to account for, other than the usual roster of resistances, weaknesses and stats like armor found in most other CRPGs. DOS1:EE however takes elements a step up from the crowd in how they interact: blood spilled on the ground can freeze and make anyone stepping on it slip, fire hitting water becomes steam, which can be in turn electrified to stun anyone nearby. Barrels of oil and poison explode when on fire, creating hazardous surfaces and smoke that blocks line of sight. These are just a couple of the many interactions you can use in combat to gain an advantage. But so will your enemies: the AI, especially for its time, is incredibly smart: enemies will give their back to walls if there’s a rogue around to not get backstabbed, use the elements in smart ways, and work with each other for coordinated actions.
Bosses are usually tough challenges, especially optional ones and those of your same level or above; they often possess unique abilities and talents. Great risks, great rewards: the system allows you to kill an enemy six levels above you, even if it’s almost impossible, and get enormous amounts of XP if you succeed. Given how much freedom of approach, items, and features you have to prepare for battle, it will be common to lay down traps, like barrel clusters or surfaces, before a fight begins to gain an advantage.
[h3]Character Progression & Roleplaying[/h3]
A standard XP-based system gives you attribute and ability points each level, and talents every few levels to further specialize each of your characters. XP is split in numbers, meaning a party of four will get less XP for each member than a party of two; you can’t play solo for lore reasons, but you can definitely have just two characters instead of four, even if that would mean missing out on the excellent companions’ writing and backstories.
You won’t learn skills as you progress automatically; instead, skill books have to be found, bought or crafted in order to get new spells and abilities. The leveling system allows hybrid builds which allow more combat flexibility, and that can be just as effective, if not more so, than pure ones. The gameplay for each is markedly different, both in combat and outside of it, with activities like pickpocketing, charisma-related checks, crafting and trading taking a large chunk of what you’ll do when not exploring new areas.
