

I love Fane, an ancient undead fellow who's trying to figure out what happened to his kind, and who regards the fleshy inhabitants of the world as mundane and mostly useless, interesting only in the way they resemble his skeleton race (except with a bunch of unnecessary organs and gross skin). I somewhat regret my custom character, but the good news is that outside of inner-party chatter, you can play Original Sin 2 'as' one of the origin characters, simply by initiating dialogue with them instead of with your character. It's a long game that's hard to finish even once, and yet during every conversation with a ghost chicken or fight where I caught fire again, I was wondering how my next character would handle it. Every one of the origin characters is just as layered, and thank god you can take three of them with you as companions so that I didn't have to leave behind the bard possessed by a demon, or the exiled prince who is also a big red lizard, or Fane. It's so big and so much fun.Īfter a solid 30 minutes of deliberation I chose to play as Beast, a dwarf who is the former leader of a failed rebellion, who is also a pirate captain with an emotional attachment to his bicorne hat, who is named Fran.

In that time I murdered a man, lied to his grieving daughter to obtain a key item, learned how to teleport, got double crossed, and pissed everyone else off I spoke to. Joe Donnelly: It took me a full ten hours to leave Divinity: Original Sin 2's opening area. There's never been an RPG with a story or characters this interesting that you can play co-op with four players. With dozens and dozens of combinations like these just waiting to be discovered, Original Sin 2 is like a theory crafter's dream come true. My rogue uses a spell that inflicts bleeding damage with each step an enemy takes and then turns them into literal chickens that flee combat. That’s just one of the dastardly tactics I use to my advantage. By act two, my melee tank healed himself by standing in the blood of his enemies, a tactic so ruthless that I was cackling with each drop of blood that was spilled. Steven Messner: It’s hard to overstate just how robust the combat is in Original Sin 2 and how beautifully it weaves into your personal power fantasy. Whether you're electrifying someone's blood, or combining spells to kill a boss by doing an absurd amount of damage to yourself, experimentation is not only allowed, but rewarded. Its fights are a test of wit, and often result in bewildering chain reactions.

Original Sin 2's element-focused combat system is a revelation, giving you scope for wildly inventive, unpredictable solutions. But more than that, it embraces the chaotic, player-driven nature of all of PC Gamer's GOTY picks for the last few years. It's a massive, sprawling RPG for one thing.

Phil Savage: Was there ever any doubt? Divinity: Original Sin 2 was the obvious Game of the Year choice.
