Why Divinity: Original Sin II Made Me a CRPG Convert
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After many hours of grasping at the edges of its many elements, I feel like I understand the game - not fully of course, because it is too immense for that, but to the point that I am confident in being able to keep going. Not only that, but there is the sense that, having spent the time to learn how it all works, I want to continue onward and take advantage of this investment.
Luckily, Original Sin 2 doesn’t want to punish me for taking a while to get acclimated. It has forgiven (or outright disallowed) the kind of mistakes that would require me to restart from the beginning of the game after figuring out how to properly play what is a pretty niche genre. At almost every step, difficult and mandatory combat encounters notwithstanding, it has managed to provide inroads to a novice audience - whether through the simple inclusion of pre-built characters at its start, dialogue that backgrounds the more confusing aspects of its fantasy plot, or systems that encourage rather than punish bypassing fights.
These are all smart choices. They make the complexities of the genre easier to appreciate not by completely eliminating them, but by parceling their introduction out gradually. More than any other game of its type, Original Sin 2 seems keen to bring in new players alongside the old hands who already know what this style of play is all about. That is no small feat. This far in, seeing the potential of its design, it feels worth celebrating. And it is also a very large part of why, unlike its predecessor, I won’t be abandoning the adventure early.
