Review for Divinity: Original Sin II. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 14/09/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 31/08/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 31/08/2018
While we await Baldur's Gate III with anxiety and trepidation, Larian Studios allows us to vent our tactical cravings on the port of their latest gem: we are talking about the of Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition, which has landed in these days in the portable lands of Nintendo Switch.
Converting the controls of an isometric RPG from mouse and keyboard to pad isn't always easy, we realized this during our test of Pillars of Eternity on Nintendo Switch, where the experience was even exasperated by the very long loading times (thanks to the hardware of the Nintendo flagship). With these premises we have approached to put our hand to Divinity: Original Sin II and we can say that the conclusions drawn are nothing short of amazing.
Welcome back to Rivellon
Centuries have passed since the events narrated in the first Divinity: Original Sin and the adventures of its divine protagonists have turned into legend, deformed and faded by the corrosive action of time. It will be up to us to collect the torch of the myth e continue the misadventures of the Origomancers, and we'll do it our way: in perfect Western role-playing tradition, the multiple choice dialogues are the masters, as well as the possibility to shape the story at our whim, accepting the consequences of our actions.
After spending (potentially) hours in the depths of character creation and having selected the difficulty among the many at our disposal, we will be catapulted into the game world, where we will meet the supporting actors with whom we will share our adventures. At any time a friend can join the event and give us a hand: we can cooperate locally or we can even host or participate in online matches.
One turn to get them, one action point to chain them
Unlike the classics of the genre, where tactical pause reigns in real-time gameplay, Divinity: Original Sin II picks up the legacy of its predecessor, offering turn-based combat that alternates with exploratory phases. Although here we will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the porting operation, a superficial look at the mechanics of combat is imperative: the characters will act in a succession clearly represented by the turn bar, while they will be able to spend action points to perform the most disparate interactions.
Moving, for example, consumes a total of action points determined by the distance traveled, while each skill we choose to use will have a specific cost. Particular emphasis should be placed on the growth of the character and on the intertwining of passive and activable abilities, in a system where personalization comes first, thus offering the opportunity to always prepare personal strategies in every fight.
Mouse to Pad
Just like with the 2018 ports for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Larian's intelligence consists in reimagining accessibility according to the needs of a gamepad. In this the Joy-Con do not differ from the Pad of the competitors, enjoying a functional and streamlined key layout. Without having to recall any particular menu, awe will always have an on-screen hotbar in sight, to access each character's favorite abilities by pressing a button.
With this feature in mind, the guys from Larian Studos have carried on their work: with a view to making most of the hours of play live with the least possible need to undergo the task of navigating through the menus. Although theirs is a successful attempt, it is inevitable to assert that we will spend a huge portion of the game immersed in the inventory, in the character cards and in the drop-down interaction menus.
The aforementioned operations are decidedly more cumbersome than the fluidity of the experience offered by PC peripherals, but the important thing is that they are confined outside the fighting. The latter, in fact, enjoy enviable functionality and fluidity. To make up for the lack of a dynamic pointer, a proximity search system will come to our rescue, to be implemented in a direct movement system controlled by the left analog.
The muscles of Nintendo Switch
The loading times (and we will really often find ourselves reloading the game) are exceptionally short, far from the biblical expectations to which many other ports have accustomed us. This is proof that good optimization can overcome the Nintendo Switch hardware limitations. Of course on the graphic side we are far from the native level of detail, but we are witnessing a more than acceptable compromise.
The guys from Larian bring their latest pearl to the Nintendo flagship, not just offering a lazy port, but showing that they really care about the optimization of their title on Nintendo Switch. Although isometric RPGs are destined to give their best thanks to PC peripherals, Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition represents an excellent compromise, so much so that it is considered as a valid alternative to its native version. For its part, Nintendo Switch offers all the potential of portability, which are absolutely not to be underestimated.
► Divinity: Original Sin II is an Adventure-Turn Based-RPG-Strategy game developed by Larian Studios and published by Bandai Namco Larian Studios for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 14/09/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 31/08/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 31/08/2018
