Divinity Original Sin II: Definitive Edition Review - A Great Classic RPG Title You Can Play Anywhere

Written by Chris Woodside  on November 01, 2019

Reviews: Minimal downgrades for a Switch port, plus the addition of a welcome new feature, makes the Switch one of the definitive ways to play.

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Few consoles have a track record of such inconsistency when it comes to porting older triple A style games than the Nintendo Switch. Since the release of the console in 2017, Nintendo has received some of the best support in years from third-party studios, but more often than not those releases have come at the expense of games that don’t only look worse, but play worse as well. Luckily, with the release of Divinity Original Sin II: Definitive Edition, Nintendo has not only one of the best running third party ports in its library, but some added features make this truly the best way to experience Bandai Namco’s 2-year-old masterpiece.

For those unfamiliar with the series, keep in mind that this is not a standard RPG that gamers have come to expect in years passed. Divinity heavily leans into the early years of classic RPG games that mostly feel at home on a PC, where this game originally released in 2017. That is not to say the game feels old. Between the two versions of the game on Switch and PC, I have spent over 100 hours with the game, and the gameplay never got stale or wore out its welcome. For fans mostly familiar with console-style RPG’s, this style of role-playing games may take some getting used to, but it does a wonderful job of serving as a homage to RPG’s of yesteryears, while also bringing in fresh and unique takes to the genre.



For fans of classic tabletop experiences, especially Dungeons and Dragons, Divinity Original Sin 2 is one of the closest modern video game adaptations. For better or worse, Divinity heavily relies on these features with a complex cast of characters and fully customizable races, skills, classes and more. For gamers who are new to this specific sub-genre of RPG gaming, many of these mechanics can feel a bit overwhelming or even downright fatiguing, but after sticking through the first couple of hours with the game, the reward of a master class in RPG gaming awaits and proves to be more than worth the steep learning curve.

To carry the tabletop analogy a bit further, Bandai Namco proves once again to be one of the best Dungeon Masters in video games. Even while being inspired by the classic Dungeons and Dragons experience, the developers do an excellent job of avoiding some of the common and tired tropes of classic fantasy, and instead delves into much more interesting and complex questions that blend some of the best features of modern fantasy such as Game of Thrones and George RR Martin’s universe with the elements of classical fantasy. The result is a story that is both complex, entertaining, humorous and poignant. Very few video games have proven to be quite as thought-provoking as the massive campaign of Divinity 2 did. The fact that Divinity 2 is an entirely separate story than the first game is an added benefit, as Switch gamers new to the franchise will not be lost on any story beats that they missed in the original game.



The Switch version, in particular, introduces one of the features that make Divinity Original Sin 2 feel like a totally new experience with the game, and unlike any other port on the console now, with its cross-save ability. While this is confined to the Definitive Edition only, gamers who own the game on PC can save their progress by syncing their steam account on their Switch. Being able to have the luxury and flexibility to play the Definitive Edition on a powerful gaming PC at home, while being able to continue your adventure on commutes and long-distance travel make this the perfect way to experience this game. With a game this massive, I never actually finished the campaign when it originally released in 2017. Having the ability to take it with me wherever I went not only gave me more opportunities to enjoy it, but also made the time commitment seem less daunting and let me finish the game for the first time. The ability to play console-quality games on the go has been taken for granted in the past few years now that the Switch has been in the market for a few years, but being able to roll credits on Divinity on my Switch made me remember just how much of a miracle this felt for the first time since finishing Breath of the Wild when the console launched.

Inevitably, while Divinity is one of the nicest looking and best running ports on the Switch, that does not mean it is without compromises. For an RPG style that relies heavily on text, trying to play on the Switch’s handheld screen did feel strained at times, but never enough that it felt as though it was anything more than a minor annoyance. There are obvious downgrades in terms of resolution that you know would have to be made, and it was mildly disappointing that the game doesn’t utilize the touch screen aspect of the Switch screen, making menu tasks a bit more cumbersome, these all prove to be minor concessions to take such a massive game wherever you go. The single most disappointing omission from the Switch version was the loss of split-screen multiplayer, but it felt this was done because the developers were more interested in optimizing the game for handheld use then for playing in docked mode. Playing split-screen multiplayer in tabletop mode certainly seems it would be more frustrating than the classic rooftop Mario Kart parties that were promised in 2017.



Despite the small downgrades, if you own a Nintendo Switch it is hard to recommend getting Divinity on the Playstation 4 or Xbox One. Even though you would be able to take advantage of the more powerful hardware, the revolutionary cross-save abilities with PC that are exclusive to the Switch console version give you the benefit of having the flexibility to play at home on a powerful PC gaming rig, and then sacrificing some of that power for portability when you are on the go. Having such versatility is a truly monumental achievement for both Nintendo and Bandai Namco.