Divinity: Original Sin 2 - An RPG Masterpiece 

It's funny, your complaint that the game doesn't auto scale enemy levels is what's convinced me to buy the game. I really don't like it when games auto scale like that, as it makes the game bland. I want the world to be a scary place. I want there to be places I just shouldn't go until I'm ready. I think the world feels much more natural when enemies are as strong as they are. When enemies auto scale, leveling up and getting new equipment becomes pointless. You don't feel that growth in ability and power. Everything feels the same at level 100 as it does at level 1, only the graphical effects and skins change. All of your criticism based on the static level of enemies I consider positives. You were criticizing, but it sounded like praise to me. :)

I always hated these extremely long party turn based rpgs but holy damn, this game is amazing. Im 40 hours in and its addicting af. I actually feel like Im roleplaying different characters and you can really really tell how much love went into small details and quests.. The dialogues and ideas make you smile and realize that the devs are true gamers and want you to love their game as much as they do.. HIGHLY recommend, this is one of the great games of our time.

Oh man, ever since you mentioned you had been playing Divinity in your cuphead video I've been waiting to hear your thoughts on this game. I'm five minutes into your video and already agree completely. For myself this game is AMAZING. I'm so hooked I've restarted three times to try a different party combo, each time just as I pass Fort Joy (and I have another one I want to try dammit!). I know I can change the party with the magic mirror thing but I have to start from the beginning when I try new strats. It's such a joy to pick each skill as you go. I'm 123 hours in and I haven't got very far into the SECOND area. That's how much this game has me by the balls. 123 hours of play in what, maybe 5% or even 2% of the story. One of the best games EVER. Also, TACTICAL DIFFICULTY ALL THE WAY! Now back to your video ^_^

I love how Bioware stated that "games in a scope of baldur's gate 2 can't be made today, because producing such game with today's technology would cost too much", and then we get The witcher 3 and Divinity: original sin (2) to disprove that whole point. Same goes for EA's famous "people don't want singleplayer games anymore" quote.

Enemies not scaling to your level is not a problem. It's a very important feature of classic RPGs. Enemy scaling is part of Skyrim's and other Bethesda games boring factors. In Skyrim, you can go *anywhere* enter *any* cave and the enemies there would magically and conveniently scale to your level. No matter what, you can beat them. This ties in with the warnings from NPCs and the environment you talked about. In Skyrim, the NPC's can talk all about a legendary bandit who has been terrorizing the city and its guards for years, and anyone who tried to kill him failed. You can hear this while being only *level 2* and rush to the bandit's lair swing your dragon born cock around and exclaim:"Prepare to meet your doom, Filthy Bandit!" and you will succeed in killing this legend while being only level 2 yourself. Divinity is saying - "Screw that!". If you are going to take on a legendary bandit, you better be prepared as hell or you are going to have your ass handed to you. You better go on and level up and complete every quest you can on the entire map before you even think of shoving your nose in the Bandit's Lair.

If a project like this in 2017 can come out for less than 60. No one, I repeat no one can sell me this bullshit that "Microtransactions help support development" Yeah. Okay.

I started as The Red Prince and decided from the start that anyone who offended The Red Prince would die horribly. But animals would be protected. It's quite fun to have a conversation, some dumb, lowly slave starts comparing you to vermin and then you calmly end the conversation, take some distance and ROAST that m*f*cker for adressing The Red Prince in such a manner. xD

28:47 No!! Stop it. Enemies scaling with your level is retarded. What's the point of leveling if it doesn't mean anything? I want to go back and crush things that are lower level. And I don't mind getting crushed if I'm under leveled. Plus, it makes beating higher level enemies feel more rewarding. If I get stronger and all of my enemies also get stronger, it doesn't feel like I've gotten stronger at all. Love the rest of the video.

Rags, in regards to your comment on why they don't just level up the enemies to match your current level, I think it is for 2 reasons: 1. In traditional tabletop gaming, it is not uncommon for the dungeon/game master to have you come across monsters and challenges that your party just isn't ready for. It adds to the feeling that there are bigger things out there, and if you aren't ready for it now and retreat you might be able to defeat them at some point in the future. OR you can stealth/magic/charisma skill your way to victory and defeat the creature despite unlikely odds. And then you have bragging rights lol 2. I think that keeping character levels stagnant is more realistic to real life. The majority of creatures/enemies are not adventurers and therefore are not getting the same experience as the players are. A world where everything is conveniently the same strength as you is not real life, sometimes enemies will be drastically weaker, other times they can be impossibly stronger. It is pretty common in high level campaigns, for the DM to intentionally give you really easy fights/interactions to give you a feeling of control, then throwing an ancient dragon or something equally terrifying to catch you offguard, or make mistakes assuming the fight is easier than it actually is. Tl:dr for a game that mirrors dnd, I appreciate they kept the enemy difficulty similar to how it works in table top games.

@29:10 "Why not scale all enemies to my level?" Yes, I too enjoy revisiting beginning-of-game sewer rats when I'm level 100 and finding them equally as challenging as Demogorgon.

You could say it's beyond divinity

A game that doesn't treat me like an idiot? And you can play as lizards? Im sold :P

Honestly, after seeing the Red Prince's character intro there, I want to play this game just for him. He seems interesting and that voice acting is friggin supreme!

This is the magic that happens when a group of really talented and passionate devs have a clear vision and are able to execute it well. A complete, fully fleshed out game with tons of depth, modes, features, content and replayability. No loot boxes, microtransactions or literal cancer DLC. Just a great game at a fair price. What more could any serious gamer ask for.

And now the Definitive Edition is in the works. Free for PC players, and with over 1000 changes made to the game. Larian Studios continues to amaze.

I have 200-ish hours in DoS 2 and I am going through DoS 1 with a friend right now. These are games that put the RP back into RPG. Larian is going to be an all time favorite dev of mine and will be looking forward to whatever comes next.

Personally, I consider it the dark horse of this year's potential GOTYs that we've got so far. And if possible, I hope D:OS 2 wins the year outright because I think a victory for Larian would be beneficial to the industry as a whole. It would be proof that indie devs can compete with AAA devs in making a well thought-out experience and hopefully it will set a good example for what future games should be. Because really, we have way too many power fantasies which spoonfeed gamers on a silver platter.

Literally one of the best game made in the last 10 years, you NEED to play this if you call yourself a hardcore gamer or have any interest in the artform itself imo

NO LEVEL SCALING, PLEASE!

Enemy level scaling is cancer of modern games. Keep it out of RPG´s!

I've played through this game through two entire playthroughs, this game is just as great the second time around, you find all the small things you missed...

Must be hard for Rags to play games. You know, being a dog and all.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the Dark Souls of RPGs

As a Head's up, the Creator (Larian Studios) who made divinity are the same guys who are Currently Reviving and Making Balders Gate 3.

29:07 lol no, fuck that son, this is the exact reason why I'm planning on buying this game.

I never play any of the games you discuss...yet I love to listen to you talk about them for hours. You are weirdly entertaining in just...how you think and articulate. Thank you for your content :)

this is one of my favorite games this year and maybe ever I thought it was a very unpopular game and I'm glad more people are into it

Shield throw and Reactive armor make warrior/geomancy tanks REAL GOOD at dealing damage. since those abilities scale off your Physical armor of yourself (reactive armor) and the physical armor of your shield (shield throw), making them scale INCREDIBLY well at later levels. because of the number bloat.

"Buy it, buy two copies, you'll love it" Instantly reminded me of that handsome guy from Bethesda

Not GOTY. GOTY will be either a dull open world collectathon, or a linear third person action adventure game with lots of cutscenes.

It's actually amazing how I can clearly remember Septa the Ineffable but I can't remember the name of a single minor NPC in Fallout 4.

I've been waiting for this video ever since seeing your tweet putting it in your top 5 of all time.

Goddamn, you have good taste in gaming.

Na its fine, I was going to get up in 4hours anyway.

I see you are appealing to your UK audience by releasing your games at a reasonable 12pm.

"The rat hisses at you with sibilant malevolence" man this game sure is fancy as fuck, I love it

Suggestion about the "Tank" Situation, i run a fullclad warrior tank and just put stench on the other 3 party members making enemies focus the decked out warrior

The first RPG I ever played was Beyond Divinity. I have many fond memories of this series of games.

The reason the enemy levels are not scaled is because it is a role playing game. If the levels were scaled it would dumb the game down into a mere power fantasy where you destroy all foes you find. That is particularly boring and it is the main reason why Skyrim’s combat feels rather bland as a general; only the bosses are somewhat interesting. Divinity’s system means even the grunts can be a challenge, but even then good strategy always can beat higher level enemies. The enjoyment of beating these tougher enemies is so much more rewarding as well as improving your understanding of game mechanics, which makes you a better player. In this way Larian Studios is using limitations to improve the overall experience of the game.

Wonderful speech! So much goes into your narrative of explaining the depts of this game. I want to give this game a try!

I have felt more sympathy for a shark in this game than I have for anyone from fallout 4

Added it to my library based on your recommendations. Thanks Rags!

Strategy Games + Rags = F U L L Y E R E C T

Congratulations, you alone have convinced me that I want this game

As a Finn I appreciate this upload time

I could not agree more with this. 2020 still one of best rpgs ever made. This was well said and a great explanation of this game

Even though I'm a dirty console peasant, this game gives me the feels of my youth, which was spent playing Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment for hours and hours without even realizing that the millennium came and went. This game and the whole Dark Souls series makes me seriously consider buying a PC just to join the Church of Unlimited Frames and play them properly :D

you know what i respect about this video 50 mins AND NOT ONE FUCKING AD ITS SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

Amazing game...65 hours in and nowhere near finished, easily GOTY

Kind of a pleasant surprise to see you covering this game, as I didn't realize you'd played the first one. I have about 80 hours in D:OS2 so far since its release and, while I have had a few quibbles with the experience, overall I've loved every minute of it. So much care and attention to detail in this game.

I'm dying to play this, I loved the first game so much.

It's also a great game for co-op. Fun tip: if you start with telekinesis and/or a teleportation skill you can get a barrel of deathfog in the starting ship. The possibilities with it are endless :D

This and Witcher 3 are my favorite rpgs ever.

Discovering Initiative is one of the most game changing experience for me. After that I just dump half of my total attribute pts in wits

I Dropped A Bearing Vid Just To Be Here With You Rags, First Comment

Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet, but Warfare gets the Taunt ability in Act 2, which forces a target to attack the character who used the skill.

after watching this video, i decited to download it and give it a try and holy fuck balls 25 hours have passed and im in trance. Ive been looking for a simple fantasy story like the Witcher that just dossent end after 5-7 hours and a geniune feel of D&D adventure and creativity! i Thank you Rags deeply for recomending this to me. only down side was just as i was gonna leave the Island i realised i had downloaded an Alfa of just the the starting area and now have to play everything again... but that what i get for downloading iguess.

Rags I hope that you keep on making videos and don't stop

29:09 Games with level-scaling ruins the adventure of the game.

Rags, I fucking adore you. Thank you for making this video which lights our path towards this fucking masterpiece of a game.

of /course/ rags is a dragonborn

Can't believe my favourite doggo made a video about one of my favourite RPGs

I woke up with 3 hours of sleep because I have diarrhea, it feels like I have the flu. However, I'm staying up for at least 52 minutes to watch Rags review a game I have no interest in.

Been on this GAME SO HARD its amazing!!!! I freaked out when I saw you posted a vid on it!

Too much great games this year, which possibly means that next year will be shit(AC Origins, Far Cry 5)

Rags' death rattle, 2017 "Ooooh, Okay"

Finally a great game, im sick of third person wannabe rpgs and military fps garbage.

Its awesome the game wasnt voiced at first but they listened to the community and immediately began voicing over the game before released. This company is great and others could learn something from them. Love these games.

This game is fantastic, increased IQ in essence, RIP no first

I've been bored of all my games recently and I wanted a good RPG to play, so I think this is just what I need

“So many THOTS”

something ive noticed throughout playing is that a frontline warrior isn't supposed to be a tank as i originally thought, its there to focus down 1 character. One thing that's overpowered in this game is a character with a 2 handed weapon, strength and wits, and necromancy for life steal. This is what i see most in games where people go lone wolf and are on tactician. It's mostly because 2 handed melee weapons tend to do the most damage in the game, and with the lone wolf talent its possible to kill an enemy in one turn. This can be risky as you have to ditch a shield, but its also very rewarding if it's done correctly.

So, how much costs the season pass and how intrusive are the loot crates in this game?

I remember hating the Magisters so much after Act 1 that by the time I got around to Act 2 and got some good gear, I slaughtered every Magister in town, including every NPC allied with them, which left half the town dead, all vendors dead and a lot of failed side quest chains. Now that's immersion baby

"PC doesn't have any good exclusives"

Also Rags, there are multiple ways to "optomize" in this game. You could branch out into various skills OR you can double down and maximize their skills. If you want to make a tank, focus more on Warfare, Shields, Retribution/Perseverance. You may also want to invest into Polymorph for Living Armor that will regenerate Physical Armor and it is a godsend. Currently, I am bro-playing the game as Fane and Ifan as Lone Wolves. (Hue hue.) Ifan is a total badass killing enemies in three shots on Classic.

Oh and the game has co-op

Just a quick note on something you said concerning damage types: If you want an intelligence based character that can also attack in melee, just give them a staff. You will still not be able to apply physical statuses, but staves always do magical damage, even in melee, and based on your intelligence. (:

only one downside: No ratlings to play :( Other than that: It will be the next game I buy!

I've been playing the shit out of it. Love the game for the co-op aspect that gets ignored nowadays and the great dialogue system straight out of obsidian's playbook.

also why does rags hate fallout 4? i love that game i have an insane amount of hours in it

The most fun I've had with the boys. I normally despise this kind of game but it does almost everything to such an excellent standard that I couldn't help but fall in love. Excellent soundtrack, colourful world, almost Grim Dark lore, punishing combat that's oh so satisfying to master. The narrator makes all the dialogue you'd normally skip a joy to listen to with choices that have major consequences. There's freedom to approach situations in a variety of ways. I remember one time me and the boys stumbled upon a tomb with a collection of Phylactories, containing the souls of powerful necromancers. We smashed em. Then later we were going through a different tomb and found the bodies of dead necromancers on the floor, we'd avoided a very hard fight through exploring the environment thoroughly. I love it!

3 words, Pillars Of Eternity

Can't wait to pick this game up! Looks amazing!

I wonder if rags replies?

The first time I talked with an animal, I laughed my ass off.

seriously dude? Level scaling? The stupidest mechanic ever introduced to RPGs? The surefire way to turn open world exploration with dangers and surprises into an ubisoft-style of labour task? Making progression feel flat and pointless and ultimately just numbers that dont get reflected in gameplay anymore? BTW there is a "flee" function in the game, yeah most people will just F8 after a character dies to overleveled enemies but getting in such fights is NOT a guaranteed game over.

Bought this game 2 days ago, I’m about 8 hours in. I’m a huge Bethesda fanboy and was kind of worried about this game because I like playing my RPG’s from the first person perspective. But I have to say, this game is an absolute MASTERPIECE. I was drawn in just minutes in and I blinked and 5 hours had gone by. If any of you are contemplating buying this game, I’m being completely honest when I say DO IT! you will not be disappointed. 10/10

Not my cup of tea, have a like though!

As a veteran XCOM 1/2 and overall RPG player, Divinity 2’s combat rpg mechanics are deep and pretty challenging. How the problem with that is, it doesn’t give players enough time or chance to ease into the hard fights, as it feels like later game combat requirements is thrust onto players too early - It’s the opposite of handholding, it’s like being put into a starting chokehold. Besides the starting ship level, the difficulty really spikes up when just fighting ONE person on the island : Just one enemy by that point already can use multiple abilities, with several action points, area effect attacks, buffs, invisibility while you are just starting to get a bare on your own abilities, managing a team. I love deep combat mechanics and open strategies - hence why I love Xcom 2, Star Craft 2 etc...but those things mostly gave you a chance to get your bearing, I like to think I am very familiar with RPG conventions (been playing for 20 years now with KOTOR being my first) but damn....this really puts those things I’ve learned to the test. I recommend Divinity 2 for veteran gamers who want something substantial, but not casual gamers or those new to RPGs...until they’ve got a couple years of experience playing the genre first with older full rpg games like KOTOR, Fallout 3 etc...

go to bed

I was on the fence with this game and after your awesome review and explanations I purchased the game while still listening to it. Thank you for the time and effort that was put into this review. Now to go try out the game.

Just a side-note for people who haven't played DOS2, when Rags says 76 hours (so far) he has probably tried to read, do and explore every nook and cranny. In reality, the in-game hours is probably 30 - 50 hours. The average length of my playthroughs has been 40-50 hrs, and I have started several more with and without friends because I always learn something NEW with each run.

I have 500h in this game and I'm still playing, trying out new things and ways to play this game. Love it

A crab just called me foolish

Oh, this game look's wonderful, I have to try this out for myself.

Mordus is a really great example of how you can approach that fight very differently, not only do you have 2 entrances to the fight, south or north. You also don't know what Mordus will do until it is very much too late. So me and my friend is playing co-op in honour mode, so F5 is not something we have as an option. So ofcourse, when one of our dudes died. Mordus being Mordus transforms. and we are like, well. fuck. We end up having to retreat and level up gathering better equipment and then try the fight again. However, on another save, which I was playing solo on, my first concern, was that nobody how my dudes can die, or he will transform. What I ended up with was that I focused Mordus so hard, he died before he could transform, and that just ended the fight. I was like "Huh.. That fight is actually pretty damn easy" ofc, only if you do manage to kill him, before anyone of your members die. and possible even his allies. as He will probably transform even if an ally of his dies, but I haven't confirmed this.

Dunno, when I first played, I started on tactician difficulty (highest one) and had fun playing. It's way more fun if it is hard. To be honest I'm playing it for the 2nd time with my friend now and we both wish the game was harder than it is. We just reached act 2 in 20 or so hours but in act one we never faced any real challenge. Also I loved the fact (when playing for the first time) that some fights are unfair unless you know what's going to happen. If you are real good you would still beat them from the first try by using everything you've got, be it grenades or potions or whatnot, but if it's your first play-through and you are still not sure about all the game mechanics and whatnot - you can use the game's engine to your advantage. Like starting a battle with teleportation skill and teleporting the meanest enemy into hard to reach area before the fight even begins and killing the adds while the enemy runs back and stuff. Use of the game engine like that is real fun through the game, even when you talk to npc and make them face the other direction while you steal from them or pickpocket them is the same thing.

I just got D:OS 2, and it is amazing, even more now that the Definitive Edition has released.

Started playing the game a couple of weeks ago. After BG3 was announced and everybody was singing praises to it because Larian was involved (and Larian was that hyped because of divinity) i decided to give it a go and man, what a joy the game has been, i have become completelly enamorated with the way the game works, the combat, the interactions with npcs and how they impact the way the story will progress and just how vast and full of adventures each map is, absolute masterpiece. However, as you admited, the one nitpick you had with NPCs having sometimes a higher level than you character, as much as that annoys me to an extent, i actually like this about the game, because it shows that the world is set and that you are the one who has to overcome it, not thatthe world is changing around to fit your character. If those enemies are lvl 14 and you are lvl 11, they are 14 because they grew up to that point through their own backstory and so it´s your call if you will face them or ignore them until you are high lvl enough to beat them. 1 example is the ogre guarding a bridge on act 2, he is lvl 16 and absolutelly umbeatable untill you are closer to his lvl, so you have the choice to go around, do some other errands, get your lvl pumped and then you can come back and beat him and the game also give you the choice to go around him by negotiating with a more reasonable ogre on another bridge that will lead to the same area. However, sometimes you get jumped by higher lvl npcs you didn´t know were coming, liek the undead witch from the excavation site still on act 2. By the time i reached that area i was lvl 11 and she was lvl 14 and there was no dialogue that would get me out of that situation without combat, so needless to say that saving the game before i oppened her sarcophagus was a good idea, because i went and lvled more before coming back to her. The same problem happen with Ryker, which is a lvl 14 npc and part of your quests is to deliver an artifact to him. However, regardless of how coopeartive you are with him, he crosses you at the end and fight ensues. I would say the problem with some (but very few) encounters is that sometimes you absolutelly cannot help but get into a fight and the enemy vastly outlvls you, which was a misstep from Larian, but not one that turned me of from the agme given the map overall gave me plenty of chances to actually grind more lvls fro those fights. Also, the strategic positioning of your characters is key. Always before i start a conversation i spread my group apart, because i was beaten into understanding that being all grouped up in any conversation that can devellop into a fight might mean my group will be fireballed in the face and completelly surrounded. Overall, i loved the game, but i can see how saving the game constantly is a need up untill you finish it 100% and then goes for a seccond run where you know what to expect.