Switch port of Divinity: Original Sin 2 out now

• PC/Mac, Xbox, PS4, Switch

So, I haven’t pulled out my Switch much over the last month. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve played with it at all since July. This isn’t for a lack of want–I would love to be playing Slay the Spire on my handheld pretty much all day, every day–but a matter of logistics. Our house was struck by lightning at the end of July causing all sorts of issues. It blew up our Apple TVs, all of our routers, and, for some odd reason, the two Switch cords that were currently plugged in. That’s it. So, our three Switches are down to only one working cord and I just haven’t gotten around to buying more, thus my Switch sits powerless while my kids fight over who gets to charge theirs and when.

News from last night, however, forced me onto Amazon and we now have two new cords in the mail. An incredible RPG, Divinity: Original Sin 2, just arrived on Switch and there’s no way I’m not spending the next few weeks in the world of Rivellon.

While D:OS2 looks like a Baldur’s Gate clone at first glance, there are several major differences. First of all, combat is turn-based and feels like playing a tabletop RPG. Secondly, everything is fair game. Unlike BG’s painted backgrounds, everything in D:OS2 is interactive. Start stuff on fire, break things, talk to everyone (even the animals, if that’s your thing). One of the coolest things about D:OS2 is the ability to experiment and learn to do all sorts of cool stuff that isn’t apparent when your journey begins.

What D:OS2 doesn’t have is an immediately recognizable character system/setting that anyone who has played D&D could instantly decipher. The character building in D:OS2 feels richer, but adds a ton of complexity forcing me to worry a lot more about crafting the ‘perfect build’. There’s never anything as simple as picking Fireball once you get access to 3rd level spells, for example. In a cool twist, the game offers a set of pre-made characters that you can pick, each with their own story and path to take. In any other game, I wouldn’t even look at premade characters, but here I would recommend playing through with at least one. Maybe two. Maybe all of them. Each one has their own personality and quirks and it’s fascinating to see how the devs crafted the story to fit each of their narratives. You can, of course, make a character from scratch as well, but the premade characters are actually a lot of fun (or at least the one that I’ve been playing has been).

The world is huge, and while I’ve logged about 30-40 hours on the Steam version, I feel like I’m still at the beginning. I’m still not entirely sure what the main plotline is or where the story will take me and it feels wondrous. Maps are 3D, so there are overhangs, bridges, cliffs, and all sorts of meandering paths to explore and right when you think you’ve seen an area, a quick peek at the map will tell you that there’s still plenty buried beneath the fog of war.

The Steam version has several multiplayer modes and it appears these have made their way to the Switch version as well. In fact, they even added a split-screen view so you can play on the TV with a friend. Other modes are either cooperative or competitive local or online multiplayer.

The game takes up a whopping 10.5Gb, so have a hefty SD card if you delve in. It’s available right now for $50 at the link below.

• Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition for Switch, $50
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition for PC/Mac via Steam, $27 (on sale)
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition for PC/Mac via GoG, $27 (on sale)
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition for Xbox One, $60
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition for PS4, $36 (on sale)

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