The Switch is rapidly becoming one of the most diverse gaming platforms around, with major titles from multiple genres appearing. During the September Nintendo Direct, Divinity Original Sin II was announced for the system and released that day, and I must say that after spending time with the RPG, I am very impressed. Taking cues from Western RPGs, Divinity Original Sin II has a lot of classic tropes such as classes and a chosen hero idea, but its how the game goes about these tropes that set it apart.
Divinity Original Sin II has a world that feels lived in, with magic being banned and unrest being the norm. It is into this unrest that you are thrown and must navigate your way. Right from the start things stand out here, as the character classes and race actually make both profound and subtle changes to gameplay that encourage multiple playthroughs . Some playable classes will completely invert how you will play otherwise and some are highly customizable. It gives you a clear understanding that Divinity Original Sin II is about going deeper into what is there, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
Combat here is not like most Western RPGs, in that it is turn based. This may throw some off, but if you are used to JRPGs, might make for an easier adjustment. The game overall feels like a Western RPG injected with JRPG ideas and that is amazing. The party feels a lot more like a JRPG party than a typical WRPG one, and that ends up allowing for more insight into each character and their growth. Then again, that could just be what I mentioned before about the game going deeper into what is there. Although the combat is turned based, it does take place in the open world and this needs to be considered at all times. Your position and the enemy position will affect how the battle plays out, and small things can set off a battle.
To add to that, choice is a big part of the game, and your choices overall will have a big impact on the events that play out. From the big decisions to the small decisions, everything will have a consequence and can lead to a character dying or succeeding. Obviously Divinity Original Sin II eschews the simplicity some games go for, but what makes it stand out is how well everything is written. The aforementioned characters arcs for the party are genuinely engaging and up their with the best of RPG writing.
The Switch runs the game beautifully, but there are some issues. The resolution, is downgraded and character models are slightly tweaked. This was to be expected though as Divinity Original Sin II is a very intense game and the developers managed to get a great version of it running on Switch. I like that the four player co op is in this version and can be done in handheld mode or with 4 different switch systems, leading to some fun fights. The Switch version has a major advantage when it comes to ports however, in that there is cross save with the game on Steam. If you have been playing for a while on Steam, you can jump right into this and pick up where you left off, then continue on Steam when back at your PC. This is PC gaming on the go and I am loving this.
To sum up: Make sure you do not sleep on this game, as it may be one of the best this year on Switch,