Out of Pod Experience

Hey, peoples of OOPE.

There's this game called Divinity: Original Sin that some of you may have missed. It's an old-style fantasy RPG developed by Larian Studios with its main focus on combat, although there's a lot more to the game other than the combat. It's very addictive, very fun and quite rewarding. There's no hand-holding which means you may get stuck a couple of times during your play-through but it's manageable.

Me and my older brother spent about 90 hours (a little less) playing this game in co-op mode (which is optional). If you liked games like Baldur's gate (1&2), Fallout (1&2) or maybe Diablo 2, you may want to check this game out. Actually, just check it out anyway.

Personal GoTY most likely. Wanted to share.
Also worth mentioning it's a game that got some of its funding through kickstarter.

It's an extremely refreshing game after all the overly easy and simplified titles that are being produced lately.

Came in expecting a completely different discussion and left with yet another new game to try out

Playing it and loving it. It indeed harkens back to my favorite RPG classics, namely Ultima VII, Baldur's Gate / Planescape Torment, and early Fallouts - it's a game that was Kickstared with the stated goal of reviving that sort of gameplay after all, and the developers are reportedly huge Ultima VII fans.

It's been many years I haven't had so much fun playing an RPG: Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls games after Morrowind (which I found amazing) didn't hold my attention for long, but I'm having a blast with Divinity's isometric turn based tactical combat, intricate battles, messing around with different builds, strategies and party compositions, and I'm even enjoying the plot, dialogues and NPCs you come across (something which over the last years I had been pretty much ignoring - perhaps all that MMO dialogue nonsense to get you to the next kill-X-of-Y quest had spoiled things for me).

The reviews I've read complain that the game does not hold your hand (for instance the one over at Ars Technica), but I disagree with those: I grew up playing old-school RPGs, all the way back to Bards Tale and Faery Tale on the Amiga, and I do appreciate the fact that often you have to think, explore, experiment, revisit places / people while trying to figure out how to proceed. It's a big part of the special charm, I'm sick of RPGs pointing you exactly where to go and what to do (Skyrim I'm looking at you).

All in all, highly recommended to anyone seeking a good taste of old-school RPGs.