Divine Wandering - A (Spoilerific) Divinity: Original Sin Review, Part 1

It starts on a beach. The low rumble of the surf mixing with that of the wind. But I didn't come here to sunbathe. Zap and Hack certainly aren't here to sunbathe, they're Source Hunters. They've come to Cyseal to investigate a murder, a plague of undead, and an orcish invasion. Cyseal is not doing so well right now. Zap and Hack, as their names may suggest, were quickly made in the character creator by picking a basic class (Wizard and Fighter respectively) and changing around their faces a bit. Zap is a red haired enchantress with face paint and Hack is an ebony hued brute with short black hair. Zap always had an affinity for lightning and Hack for blades. Which is ironic because it will soon become apparent that Zap is destined for fire and earth magic and Hack for archery.

I don't know all this yet and neither do they as the walk up the beach passing the rapidly cooling bodies of orcs and legionaries. I'm in a race now. A race to find the fun. Eventually I come upon a gaggle of nefarious robed baddies. We dispatch them in short order and turn to find a very large stone door. The door tells me that it leads to a tutorial dungeon. I could skip it if I want to, but I've as yet to be tutorialised fully into the world of Rivellon. So in we go without a moments hesitation. Why are dungeons always so well lit by candles, torches, and whatnot? And there's food, in a dungeon? This dungeon is filled with the undead. Half of them are skeletons. Why is there a pumpkin, loaf of bread, and cheese down here? I can pick them up, but who the hell would eat the food they find lying around in a crypt? There is dead stuff everywhere. Corpses are literally stored here...... Ooooo! A ham! Well maybe just a bite. Zap looks on in horror as Hack tucks in. Waste not want not. Healing is hard to come by because someone forgot to learn healing magic.

We push on. We learn that stuff burns. We learn that water stops stuff from burning and conducts electricity. We finally learn that you can drag and drop objects in the game world, which is a pretty neeto mechanic I must say. I'm also beginning to think that this world and those that inhabit it don't take things too seriously. My suspicions are confirmed when I come across two drunken legionaries. blocking my progress to Cyseal. They demand to “escort” the Source Hunters back to Cyseal. After a game of rock paper scissors between both Zap and Hack. Which is how arguments between characters, usually the main characters, are resolved. Because I decided to argue with myself. Don't look at me like that.

We finally meet the local wizard at the gate to Cyseal. Yup things are all messed up. The legion is stuck inside Cyseal, orcs at one gate the dead at the others, a city councilor has been murdered, and Sourcery is implicated in most of this. Plus those nefarious robed people are a worrisome new development. Yeah, we're totally going to the bar. When we get there we meet a grizzled, wolf pelt wearing woman named Madora. She has a Texas accent, a distrust of magic, a massive sword, and is most definitely coming with after she asks to join up. And as it turns out the murder occurred in this very inn. But we'll need permission to view the scene. So I have to run across Cyseal to the legion headquarters to ask. This particular paragraph cliff-notes about 2-3 hours of playtime. No it wasn't very exciting. It didn't help that I wasn't sure how to approach my tasks and I was warned at all of Cyseal's gates to remain inside. I've heard it said that this game doesn't hold your hand. And I guess it doesn't, but it also gives unclear objectives and then encourages you not to explore. WTF?

The scenes of a grisly deed. 

We finally talk to the legion captain and he tells us all about the woes of his post and the murder of the councilor. And then we walk all the way back to the inn. So I enter the room where the councilor had been murdered and the place is a mess. There is a large red stone sitting in the center. As soon as Zap touches it there is a flash and the party disappears in a puff of smoke.... To reappear in an observatory packed with wobbling stacks of books. A pointy eared creature with bright clothing faces us. As I gaze around I realize that the observatory is perched atop a rock floating in a sea of stars. The being looking at us is named Zixzax and he's just as surprised to see us as we are him. After a short chat he notices our presence has lit a portal. We step through transported once again to a mysterious locale. Here we meet the Weaver of Time and find out that(surprise!) we're the only ones who can prevent all of reality from being devoured by a hungry darkness.

I guess, "packed with stacks of wobbling books," was an exaggeration. 

We now can warp to this place and between any gate on Rivellon at will. This, combined with two magical pyramids that link to each other, is how fast travel works. It's good to be back in Cyseal. The narrative becomes a flurry of blurry activity. Zap learns to talk to animals which compounds the number of interesting NPCs, and eventually sets us on a quest for the murdered councilor’s wife's smelly panties. Which Zap immediately equips, as they buff Charisma, and not at all because its hilarious to do so. While digging up graves in the graveyard, which no one seems to mind, we find a tunnel that leads to our first real engagement since the beach and exits at a well outside the gates.

Unsinkable Sam, the inn's resident feline has a story you wouldn't believe.

So Combat. Let's talk about Combat. Its completely turn-based and brilliant. Each fresh encounter brings something new and unexpected. I found myself often using offensive magic in a defensive capacity. Using fire spells specifically to set alight pools of oil dividing the battlefield and creating choke-points while simultaneously limiting visibility with smoke. Later when I met another mage in Cyseal's library, we added air and water magic to the mix. Lighting can be a double edged sword in Divinity: OS. Pools of water, even blood, can conduct it across the ground with a chance to stun anyone touching it. There are plenty of invisible dice being rolled behind the scenes. Very D&D like and often times battles that I lose initially play out completely different the second time around. In short this is a superb system and really forms the highlight of play.

Now that combat is frequent I find the pace much more appealing. Why was it sooooo sloooow at the beginning? Why did I have to spend so much time to get here? This is arguably the most important aspect of gameplay. I very much appreciate the dialogues and the exploration in the game, but the design was actively pushing me away from combat for almost 4-5 hours. That's silly. The combat is awesome! Why try to hide it? Some of this was of course my approach, but I was following in game prompts for much of it. There isn't any reason I can think of to have such a slow start in an otherwise excellent RPG.

I guess it comes as a balance to just how much content is in this game. The writers must have been very busy. I've read through hundreds and hundreds of lines of dialogue plus dozens of quests, and I'm not even halfway through the game yet. As I became more acclimated to the gameplay I realized that I had become completely unused to this style of game. I grew up playing games like Fallout, Baldur's Gate, and Neverwinter Nights. But those games suddenly stopped being made around 10 years ago. This game manages to feel fresh because of it. It's good to be back. But I'm still not done and have plenty more to talk about. This will probably end up being a 4 or even 5 part review.