Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition is a turn-based PC CRPG built around party-based exploration, reactive storytelling, and tactical battles where the environment can be as important as your equipment. The current Steam listing still uses the Definitive Edition name, and no newer PC rebrand or replacement edition is presented as the standard version. Larian Studios remains both developer and publisher on Steam.

The game takes place in Rivellon, where your chosen Godwoken is pulled into a conflict involving Source magic, the Void, and competing claims to divinity. You can play as a custom character or select one of six Origin characters, each with personal quests, relationships, and story consequences that can alter how the campaign unfolds.

Turn-based combat built around surfaces and positioning

Combat uses a 3/4 overhead perspective and fully turn-based encounters. Every action competes for action points, so movement, attacks, crowd control, defensive skills, and environmental interactions must be weighed together rather than treated as separate systems.

The defining feature is elemental surface combat. Fire can spread across oil, water can conduct electricity, poison can ignite, and clouds or puddles can be manipulated to create hazards or protection. Height, line of sight, explosive objects, barrels, bridges, and destructible battlefield elements give encounters a strong improvisational quality.

Characters are not locked into traditional classes. You distribute attributes, combat abilities, civil abilities, talents, and skills from more than a dozen skill schools, allowing a fighter to use magical utility or a caster to build a durable hybrid. The system rewards focused builds, but it also leaves room for unusual combinations and respec experimentation.

The physical and magical armor system adds another layer to crowd control. Many disabling effects require the corresponding armor type to be depleted first, so a party must coordinate damage types before relying on knockdowns, freezes, charms, or other status effects.

Choices, companions, and a reactive world

Exploration is deliberately open-ended. You can talk to animals, steal from settlements, examine objects, persuade enemies, avoid fights, or solve quests in ways the immediate objective does not advertise. The game frequently tracks who performed an action and how your party approached a problem.

Racial identity matters beyond character appearance. Elves, lizards, dwarves, humans, and undead have different social reactions, talents, and interactions with the world. An elf can consume flesh to learn memories, while an undead character must manage how living characters respond to their presence.

Companions are full narrative participants rather than interchangeable party slots. Their personal goals can conflict with yours, and Origin characters can be controlled as protagonists or recruited as companions. Party composition therefore affects both combat options and the way major story events are framed.

Players who enjoy choice-heavy fantasy RPGs with a strong emphasis on party dialogue may also appreciate modern turn-based CRPGs like Baldur's Gate 3, although Divinity: Original Sin 2 places more emphasis on surface manipulation, armor management, and systemic experimentation.

Definitive Edition content and difficulty modes

The Definitive Edition is the current PC edition rather than a separate sequel or renamed follow-up. It incorporates substantial revisions to the campaign and user experience, including rewritten story material, improved tutorials, expanded journal tools, group inventory management, updated tooltips, map markers, and additional balancing work.

Its five difficulty modes support different types of players. Story Mode reduces the pressure for players who want to focus on character arcs and exploration, while Honour Mode introduces severe consequences and final-death stakes. The higher settings expect careful preparation, reliable party synergy, and a willingness to retreat from unfavorable encounters.

Optional Gift Bags add free in-game features inspired in part by community mod ideas. They can change convenience systems, character customization, crafting, summons, or progression rules. Because these options can affect the balance and achievement behavior of a campaign, they are best treated as configurable modifiers rather than mandatory progression.

The commercial structure is straightforward but worth checking before purchase. The core Definitive Edition is sold as a complete campaign, while the current Steam content listing separately identifies optional items including Divine Ascension, the Sir Lora the Squirrel companion content, and the official soundtrack.

Game Master Mode and player-created content

PC players get access to Game Master Mode, a virtual tabletop-style system designed for building and running custom adventures. A Game Master can arrange encounters, place characters and objects, guide a party through scenarios, and combine authored narrative with interactive combat spaces.

This mode is more than a conventional challenge arena. It is intended for groups that want to create their own campaigns, and it pairs with the PC version's level editor and Steam Workshop support. The result is a separate creative ecosystem for players who have already explored the main campaign or want a tabletop-inspired experience.

The game also includes Arena Mode for competitive encounters. Official PC features include online PvP, shared or split-screen PvP, and round-robin hot-seat play. These modes are distinct from the cooperative story campaign, so buying the game for co-op does not mean every player is required to follow the same character decisions.

PC multiplayer and platform features

The main campaign supports online co-op for up to four players and local split-screen play. Drop-in and drop-out multiplayer allows a group to share control of a party, while the game's dialogue and decision systems let players disagree, separate from one another, or pursue different objectives.

That freedom can create genuine co-op friction. One player may negotiate while another steals, starts a fight, or pursues a different quest solution. The result is less like a guided party adventure and more like a shared role-playing session where the group has to decide how much chaos it wants to tolerate.

On Steam, the PC version supports full controller input, Steam Cloud, Steam Achievements, Steam Workshop, and Remote Play Together. GOG also lists an offline installer option, so the launcher and online-service experience depends on which PC storefront version you choose.

The Steam listing provides English full audio, with interface and subtitle support for English, French, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Italian, Korean, Czech, Brazilian Portuguese, and Japanese. No separate anti-cheat system is advertised in the current PC storefront feature information.

Who should play it?

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition is a strong fit for players who want turn-based combat with meaningful terrain interactions, extensive character customization, branching quests, and a campaign that rewards experimentation. It is particularly well suited to groups that enjoy discussing choices instead of following a single optimal route.

It is less suitable for players seeking a fast action RPG, a tightly linear story, or a simple class system with minimal inventory management. Battles can punish poorly planned parties, and the abundance of skills, surfaces, status effects, and quest outcomes demands attention.

The game also suits players who want a long-term mastery loop rather than a short arcade-style experience. Replaying with a different Origin character, party composition, difficulty mode, or set of Gift Bags can expose new dialogue, solutions, combat interactions, and consequences.

Comparable PC role-playing games

For a more traditional real-time-with-pause party RPG, classic isometric adventures such as Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition offer a different combat rhythm and a stronger connection to established tabletop rules. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is more systemic and reactive, while Icewind Dale focuses more heavily on party construction and encounter-driven dungeon exploration.

Players who want the closest modern comparison should start with Baldur's Gate 3, especially if they value Larian's approach to companion writing, environmental interactions, and cooperative campaign design. The two games share a family resemblance, but Original Sin 2 has its own identity through its armor rules, elemental surfaces, Game Master Mode, and more overtly sandbox-like quest solutions.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition FAQ

Is the current PC version called Definitive Edition?

Yes. The current Steam listing is titled Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition. It is the standard PC edition presented on the storefront, not a newly rebranded game with a different official title.

What is included in the Definitive Edition?

It includes the revised core campaign, Definitive Edition story and usability changes, the main party-based RPG systems, multiplayer modes, Arena Mode, Game Master Mode, and PC editor or Workshop functionality. Gift Bags are free in-game additions that can be enabled selectively.

Does the PC version support co-op?

Yes. The campaign supports online co-op for up to four players and local split-screen co-op. Steam also supports Remote Play Together, while the exact online setup depends on the storefront and network features used.

Does Divinity: Original Sin 2 have local multiplayer?

Yes. Shared or split-screen play is listed for both cooperative and competitive modes on Steam. Local multiplayer is separate from Game Master Mode, which is designed around a player acting as the campaign facilitator.

Does it support mods?

Yes. The PC version supports Steam Workshop content and includes a level editor connected to its Game Master ecosystem. Mod compatibility can vary between the legacy Classic client and the Definitive Edition, so players should select content marked for the correct version.

How does the combat system work?

Combat is turn-based and uses action points, physical and magical armor, skill schools, status effects, elevation, and elemental surfaces. Fire, water, oil, poison, electricity, and other environmental interactions can change the shape of an encounter from one turn to the next.

Is there a story-focused difficulty?

Yes. Story Mode is one of the available difficulty options and is designed for players who want to place more emphasis on the narrative while retaining the game's turn-based combat and exploration systems.