Several weeks ago I was fortunate enough to get some hands on time with Divinity: Original Sin II at PAX . That experience only gave a brief glimpse into what is offered in this build and I imagine I will feel the same way about the Early Access build when the complete game is released. The predecessor was a massive choice-driven RPG that was in the vein of classic computer RPGs. The bar was set high by Divinity: Original Sin and everything that made that title so great returns here and then some. Making any definite declaration about a game's quality prior to its final release is impossible and I do not want to over hype this title to the point of having expectations it can not reach, but anyone who enjoyed its predecessor needs to keep this one on their radar, regardless of whether they want to wait for the final version to come out or if they want to dive into the early build right away.

The player's character is a Sourcerer who has been captured by this organization and on a ship traveling to the island prison, Fort Joy. A humongous Voidwoken Kraken attacks, and then sinks the ship. The player survives and must now discover what destiny has in store for them by seeking out the Divine Or

Set roughly a thousand years after the events of Divinity: Original Sin, the story begins with all the Origin characters along with the player and other NPCs on board a ship taking them to the prison island of Fort Joy, guilty of all being able to use the power of source like Rivellon's equivalent of a witch hunt. Source was declared an evil force, and all sourcerers have been rounded up and fitted with source muting collars to prevent them from unleashing their powers, which is quite a reversal of circumstances from its predecessor where the player took on the role of a source hunter. The time on the ship serves as an introduction, a way for the player to get comfortable with the mechanics of the game and get a sense of the story. They are free to explore the ship and get a feel for interacting with NPCs and combat. This sequence will end the same way regardless of the player's choices, and that end is unfortunately on Fort Joy, possibly the most ironically named place in Rivellon. Escaping from Fort Joy is the primary objective, but the speed at which this task is completing and how exactly the player goes about this is entirely up to the individual.

There are numerous preset classes to choose from: battlemage, conjurer, inquisitor, fighter, shadowblade, wizard and several more. In addition to the preset build players can select talents such as Elemental Affinity, Ambidextrous or Picture of Health to name just a few of the many. These talents provide stat bonuses or abilities, with one of the more interesting ones being Pet Pal that allows the character to speak to animals. Origin tags contribute to the character's background and open different dialog options such as barbarian, mystic or outlaw. The player may also choose an Origin Instrument for their character between bansuri, tambura, oud or cello, and this instrument may play automatically during certain parts of the game.

**Divinity Original Sin 2 ** has an in-depth crafting system with the ability to create hundreds of potential crafted items. Players can spend hours upon hours combining items to try and make new ones through trial and error, or they can cut to the chase. Here are the top crafting recipes players need to k

There are four difficulty modes to choose from, which are Explorer, Classic, Tactician, and Honour. Explorer is designed for players who lack experience with RPGs or simply just want to enjoy the story. Taking advantage of the strategic skills that are offered helps, but being a brilliant military strategist is not required as this mode is pretty forgiving overall. Classic is geared towards RPG veterans or people who enjoy challenging combat. Your abilities will be tested but if you take the time to learn how the combat system works you should prevail, this mode is challenging but doesn't feel unfair. Tactician is the mode where the enemies have essentially harvested the source of George Patton, Zhuge Liang, Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. This is where being a brilliant military strategist is almost essential to be victorious, as the enemies show no mercy at all and will throw every dirty trick they have at you. Playing this mode might also not be a bad way to learn some useful combat tactics. Honour mode is for the truly confident and cocky or those who just enjoy suffering, as this brings the grueling challenge of Tactician but adds a hardcore mode, meaning if you fall in battle say bye bye to the save file. This way could be potentially fatal to one's PC, but many bragging rights will come from completing the campaign on this setting.

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 google.Com.Vn a whole new set of problems.