PAX: Divinity: Original Sin II Aims to Raise the High Bar Set by the Original

<br>Players can make Charming Arrows to sell them for a profit in addition to using them in battle. It inflicts the Charmed effect on an enemy. Only one enemy may be Charmed by a Charming Arrow at a time. Players can craft them by combining a source of Honey with an Arrow. They are not the most valuable item in the game. However, one of the ingredients, Honey, is not difficult to acquire. The crafting process does not consume Beehi<br><br> <br>Most crafted items will sell for more Gold than their ingredients will individually. The player should take that into account as they might be able to make easy money by selling items they don't need if the sale value is high enough, one of the ingredients is not consumed in the process, and the other is easy enough to get a hold<br><br>Divinity might not be the biggest name in the gaming world, but when the sequel to the critically acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin was announced on Kickstarter, it met its funding goal in under twelve hours and eventually went on to vastly exceed it. One can only imagine the reaction Larian Studios had to this quick and enthusiastic reception to the game announcement. On one hand it showed amazing support from the fan community, since this support is saying that they loved the game so much they can't wait for the follow up. On the other hand, they loved it so much and are waiting for a sequel that will match or exceed its quality, so no pressure. After two years of waiting and an unlucky launch day thanks to a power outage in Ghent whose timing was so bad it was comedic, Divinity: Original Sin II has graduated from Steam Early Access and is now available to everyone in its completed form.<br><br>The amount of freedom and impact the choices have during character interaction with NPCs shows that this Original Sin II was not just influenced by great video game RPGs, but also by great table top RPGs. An homage to this is game master mode, where a player can create an adventure for a group of their friends to play. This mode is made to be as accessible as something of this nature can be, but does take a bit of time to figure out the finer points. There is a ready made campaign players can use to sample, but this is where someone can design a dungeon layout including a narrative story, various effects, vignettes and enemy placement and have their friends play through it. This mode is analogous to running a successful tabletop gaming campaign, where the <a href="https://loadofspace.co.uk/author/madelainemc/">slg game money guide</a> master takes the time to put together a well thought out campaign and has some interested players this can end up being a very rewarding mode. The inclusion of a mode like this is very ambitious, and could almost be its own role playing game but oddly enough this came about as a Kickstarter stretch goal.<br><br>Divinity: Original Sin II pulled off the impressive task of taking the kitchen sink approach to game design by cramming as much into it as possible yet somehow making it all work, making it a fantastic title for solo or multiplayer gaming. Playing the Divinity: Original Sin is not required to enjoy this title or its story, though having played the first game will make the experience more rewarding. Everything about Divinity: Original Sin II is of the highest quality and any negatives that could be said are basically nitpicking, such as the camera angles might obscure characters one percent of the time or the inventory set up isn't as nice as you've seen in some other games. No game is perfect, but this one comes closer than most. Larian Studios created a masterpiece with Divinity: Original Sin and using that as a template and listening to player feedback during the development process, they challenged themselves to create a superior successor and accomplished that goal. Divinity: Original Sin II is not only a contender for best game of 2017, but one of the best RPGs ever created. The game could easily take a hundred hours to complete and the interplay between the well-constructed story, gameplay mechanics and player freedom creates a world I could see myself revisiting with different parties just to watch the story unfold differently. Simply put, Divinity: Original Sin II is truly divine.<br>On the note of killing magisters, combat in Divinity: Original Sin II is a complex but enjoyable affair. Battles are turn based with everyone having a set number of action points every turn. There is no finite MP meter but everything costs AP, including moving on the battlefield, and a lot of skills have a cool down period. Elevation factors into battle as well, with those on higher ground getting a damage bonus while those beneath them suffer a penalty. Trying to damage an enemy typically requires wearing away their physical or magical armor points before their vitality can directly be damaged but there is more to success in battle than just chipping away at someone's life bar. There are numerous status effects and elemental factors that can be used in battle, whether causing continuous passive damage, incapacitating foes or buffing or debuffing. Covering an area with oil for example will inflict slow status on people who wander into it, and if that doesn't sound bad enough a fire attack can be done on the oil covered surface to make everything burst into flames, setting anyone in the effected area on fire and causing passive damage for a number of turns. Should the player find themselves on the receiving end of this tactic, having someone with the ability to make it rain can remove the flames and burning status but can end up creating steam clouds, which sets up the board for a whole new set of problems.<br>