Over a quinquennium ago my brother bought Divinity: Original Sin 2, which came with an extra copy that he kindly gave to me. Yes, it's still sitting in the "Next up" -section of my library, but I'll get to it... Soon™. He did play through it though, and it looked very intriguing and fun.

Fast forward to 2024 and Larian Studios has made quite a name for themselves and become a powerhouse of the gaming sphere with Baldur's Gate 3. During a big sale of theirs I happened to lay my eyes on the first Original Sin game, and read a few reviews that applauded it's co-op system, which was apparently in some ways even more intricate than in the very well received second installment. My interest was very much piqued, and so I gave a small *nudge nudge wink wink* to my bro, who got us the two-pack.

There was of course the the ever-present danger of it too ending up gathering dust in the far reaches of the library, but then I thought nay – this time we'll drop everything else and jump right into it! It had been a good while since either of us had experienced a good co-op game. And so, the following morning, we began our journey into Rivellon.

Our journey began, as we butchered a pair of guards in the name of righteousness! The rogue and the battle mage, venturing forth with neither guides nor googling as their advantage, relying completely on their wits (and brawn)! On normal difficulty there were only a few hickups in the early and middle game, while towards the end it felt a bit too easy. Even in the case that you're not used to it, I wholeheartedly recommend going at it without looking anything up beforehand and keeping the loading to a minimum.

We really loved the oftentimes whimsical humour of Larian that was injected into characters, quests, encounters and straight into the DNA of the game. Sometimes almost tipping to the side of strange, but also successfully keeping the experience very engaging and jovial until the end. The splendid voice actors also played a big part in setting the atmosphere and mood of the game. We the players were give a lot of freedom in how to approach encounters and solve problems. Physics also play a much more pivotal role than in any classic isometric CRPGs – both outside and during combat. The first part of the game was also a bit more combat heavy, while the latter part had a big amount of puzzles. Most of them fun, but a few puzzles really tugged at our brains a bit too much, and in some rather unintuitive ways.

Character development was at first a bit overwhelming with a big list of talents to choose from and no idea what to prioritize, while towards the end of the game there was almost a lack of appealing choices. My battle mage damage dealer-caster-healer-tank was a bit too spread out at first, but worked really well in the end game – though it was fun to play from start to finish. Inventory management and other RPG elements were pretty standard and worked as you'd expect them to.

The story was in no way, in my opinion, the highlight of the game, but it was decent enough. The real shine of the game comes from having a co-op partner to explore and experience the world, puzzles and characters with. While the rock-paper-scissors method for diplomacy wasn't to my liking when dealing with NPCs, it made arguing with your adventuring partner during dual dialogues more interesting, and worked better than just having a skill check. Also being able to split the party in many places and explore by yourself gave it a huge tabletop vibe.