She IS great! When she first appeared on Crowdfunding I wasnt sure about herr style but I soon realised this was about me and not her. Now I really like what she brings to the table and she totally holds her own against the guys which is great to see...as it's easy for anyone new to get pushed to the side due to the dynamics of 'the boys club' (which I do like otherwise!).
Nah, she marks the game down because she likes sci fi more than fantasy? That's pretty dumb. Theme aside, she would rate this a 10......think about that lol.
@@iamdan0 It absolutely makes sense to rate a game, and especially a narrative game, down because you don't enjoy the theme. She explained her rating perfectly!
@@KissellMissile What I meant, if it wasn't clear, was that it makes sense to give a game a worse review when you don't like the theme / story / narrative.
Prior to my Son Seán working as QA on Baldurs Gate 3 he was a tester for this board game version of Divinity Original Sin. As thanks, Larian Studios gifted him a full set of the game. They even named a character after him #Immortalised
My daughter is over the moon for this game. Divinity Original Sin is her favorite computer game (has played all the way through it multiple times) and she is ready to experience it as a board game.
So basically from what I hear the Dungeon Mode expansion that we get with the Kickstarter version is mitigating your two biggest concerns, since it allows you to play the game not as a campaign and also speeds up the level progression. You might want to pick that one up if you like the rest. Happy to hear the game place well, looking forward to my copy arriving this week.
IS that coming with the Kickstarter? TO be honest, I must have missed an update or something because I have no idea what I'm getting for my Premium Pledge given all of the changes over the years. The original delivery list I'm sure no longer applies. I guess I'll know whenever I get the game but would love to check it once I do.
@@Qombat989 Yes, you can check Update #39 for more details, but basically it's an push your luck arcade mode that let's you experience the fighting and character leveling without the story campaign. So if that was the main flaws they found in this review I'm glad that the expansion exists.
Is that a KS exclusive perk? These reviews usually exclude that sort of thing, Base box/Retail box. Unless the whole game is not going to retail then that probably disqualifies this statement.
This game kind of took a beating over on BGG, but after seeing this review it doesn’t look bad to me at all. It appears the designers put a lot of effort into it, I also appreciate them trying something new. I may give it a shot after all. 👍🏽
I want to get this game, because it seems awesome, however the price point just is simply too much for me. I understand why it's as expensive as it is, but I just can't justify basically $200 in for the base game (when you include shipping)
There is a Dungeon Crawl Mode where you just jump into the combat, and there's no focus on the story. It's an extra $35 to add onto the main game. Basically, it addresses most of their criticisms. It did back the Kickstarter from the very beginning, with all the bells and whistles.
I remember seeing a random dungeon generator deck for one-offs in Gloomhaven. I promptly threw those cards out because it was a waste of space. At the time I thought Why would someone buy a twenty pound campaign game and not want to play the campaign. I still stand by that theory.
Welcome! You can search here for recent "best board games to start" videos for guidance. Some high ranking games have huge rulesets, which sre not that welcoming. The Boardgamegeek site is vital, also.
Yep, it was literally a different game being designed by a different company. Like a year or so after the KS campaign, the game system had apparently bloated into an overcomplicated mess that Larian wasn’t going to sign off on, so they eventually fired the original designers and rebuilt the whole game themselves. However the location “scenes” (as opposed to moving around a hex map or something similar) was always part of the design, and I think that’s the main aspect that Zee was comparing to a point-and-click.
This game was definitely worth the wait. I think that they get the balance just right when you consider the potential target audience. It was originally a computer game with a massive following. Do you design a game that only hard-core boardgamers will want to play due to the complexity, or do you design something that can entice computer gamers to play boardgames and vice-versa, and also entice people who play boardgames casually as well? I think they've hit the nail on the head for the latter. There's sufficient complexity and variation that you can play the campaign multiple times and experience something new each time (for example, I think there's 4 different potential bosses for your first 'boss battle' dependent on your path). People who want to min-max their character can and people who want to design a more 'story-lead' character can too. Yes, the mechanics are simpler than the computer game, but to bring that complexity to a board game would have been overkill. And, yes, the skill progression may be viewed as limited by some, but there's still thousands of potential combinations to try. Already on a second play-through of the campaign and looking forward to the many more to follow.
Zee‘s criticism is that it is a campaign game? Why criticize the category of game it is in a review? That’s like knocking a racing game because it is racing game and you have too many of them. Weird!
Exactly my thoughts. If the criticism is that there are many other campaign games and this one doesn't do anything particularly well or unique then that's fair, but Zee actually states that it's original (no pun intended) which for me renders the criticism baseless.
I consider Zee to be one of the top 2 reviewers on this channel, especially when it comes to describing nuance or an other appealing aspects of a game and how it feels/plays. I think the multi person review can lead them all to be a little more broad in there appraisal since potentially as there are differing voices. If you came upon this review in isolation I can understand that criticism might feel a bit blunt, it would be . If I had to review multiple campaign games a year they would defo begin to wear thin.
I got my pre-order copy a little over a week ago. Not sure if you’re looking to get it in a store or order from the website. I pre-ordered it during PAX West 2023 (Septemberish, I think?)
Great overview and review! The only thing missing and that I’m still curious about is character and campaign progression. Specifically, what does it look like to level up and do you acquire new items and spells? And also, what is the loss condition for each scenario or the campaign. For example, do you just try again or move on to an alternate location?
You level up when you reach certain points in the game, these are dependent on the paths that you take so there's no "after x scenarios, you will level up" (Although I think it is roughly the similar no. for each path) but it's also not "you need to kill x monsters to gain enough xp to level up". Items can be gained dependent on the 'events' (succeed in specific challenge rolls/kill certain monsters) that you complete, or you can visit the merchant between each scenario and access items dependent on your character level (costs money, limited number of items that you can access at once, how much money do you spend trying to find that one item that you want?) Each event in each scenario has its own specific loss conditions (ranging from lose a consumable to restart the scenario) and each scenario also has a unique outcome if you don't 'succeed'. I think a key thing to bear in mind is that not defeating the enemies or not finishing everything in a scenario in time is not game over, just like not making an event in real life doesn't mean that you're dead. You might need to lick your wounds, and it might be more difficult moving forward, but you can generally carry on. Of course, you can always play it such that if the outcome is 'restart the scenario', you restart the campaign instead!
I am so glad it came out, now yes changed version then original, it looks good still and unique. Only thing is kickstarter order this from the start and went all in for the extra stuff.....Now what worried what exactly do i get extra for paying all in. Since no official post of what's included has been set yet.
Question. I have the game. What happens if you lose battle/location. Rule book says restart the location. Lose gold but keep items?. Does it mean restart current location or back to the start of the atlas?/restart whole campaign.
This is probably waaaay too late for you, but based on what you posted, you would just start the location again, not go back in the atlas to a previous location.
Does anyone have the miniature pack? How's the quality? Compared to say, Oathsworn, how much does it enhance the experience? Based on the videos, it looks like the enemy marker presence is much lower then in longer session campaign games, so I'm not sure it's worth it, even though I usually prefer to have them.
Yes I was talking about 2 actually since that's what the board game is based on. The first Original Sin is also amazing but 2 is one of the best CRPGs ever
There was an entirely different company (Lynnvander) designing it early on, under the supervision of Larian. It was Lynnvander’s version of the game that was originally in the Kickstarter. From what I managed to find online, sounds like they got carried away with the system and mechanics, trying to represent every aspect and possibility from the video game, and it got way too complicated (with reports of play tests taking multiple hours just to explain the rules to new players). Larian eventually booted them from the project and took on redesigning the game themselves from scratch. I’m sure the experience with Lynnvander’s version made them all the more intentional about designing the game to feel mechanically smooth and easy to jump into. And they had to do it quickly because people were already waiting on their pledges to be fulfilled… not to mention this was all happening while Larian was in the late stages of making Baldur’s Gate 3. So yeah, not the same game and not an ideal situation. It was an emergency salvage operation to deliver something playable and fun.
I played a demo of this at PAX west this year, and it felt very similar to playing the video game. I immediately pre-ordered a copy because it was awesome.
Just got mine. Game itself is well done and will probably be fun but the mini's are garbage. Some of the bigger models are ok but the main characters like lohse are just badly designed and moulded. Pity.
Tip: Enhance the experience even more by listening to the amazing Divinity: Original Sin (2) soundtrack by Borislav Slavov 👌
It's a great soundtrack!
Don't forget Kirill Pokrovsky!
Camilla is great - her commentary and perspective. She looks like she's always having fun and is very thoughtful in her reviews. More Camilla!
She IS great! When she first appeared on Crowdfunding I wasnt sure about herr style but I soon realised this was about me and not her. Now I really like what she brings to the table and she totally holds her own against the guys which is great to see...as it's easy for anyone new to get pushed to the side due to the dynamics of 'the boys club' (which I do like otherwise!).
Nah, she marks the game down because she likes sci fi more than fantasy? That's pretty dumb. Theme aside, she would rate this a 10......think about that lol.
@@iamdan0 It absolutely makes sense to rate a game, and especially a narrative game, down because you don't enjoy the theme. She explained her rating perfectly!
@@jacquesmouledoux307 No, the goal is give a review of the game, not just say if you had fun on a 1 to 10 scale.
@@KissellMissile What I meant, if it wasn't clear, was that it makes sense to give a game a worse review when you don't like the theme / story / narrative.
Prior to my Son Seán working as QA on Baldurs Gate 3 he was a tester for this board game version of Divinity Original Sin. As thanks, Larian Studios gifted him a full set of the game. They even named a character after him #Immortalised
My daughter is over the moon for this game. Divinity Original Sin is her favorite computer game (has played all the way through it multiple times) and she is ready to experience it as a board game.
So basically from what I hear the Dungeon Mode expansion that we get with the Kickstarter version is mitigating your two biggest concerns, since it allows you to play the game not as a campaign and also speeds up the level progression. You might want to pick that one up if you like the rest. Happy to hear the game place well, looking forward to my copy arriving this week.
IS that coming with the Kickstarter? TO be honest, I must have missed an update or something because I have no idea what I'm getting for my Premium Pledge given all of the changes over the years. The original delivery list I'm sure no longer applies. I guess I'll know whenever I get the game but would love to check it once I do.
@@Qombat989 Yes, you can check Update #39 for more details, but basically it's an push your luck arcade mode that let's you experience the fighting and character leveling without the story campaign. So if that was the main flaws they found in this review I'm glad that the expansion exists.
That sounds great.
Looks like it's a great game.
I'll try and find a way to check it out.
I did see that in the expansions, but haven't had a chance to play them yet. Thanks for the info!
Is that a KS exclusive perk? These reviews usually exclude that sort of thing, Base box/Retail box. Unless the whole game is not going to retail then that probably disqualifies this statement.
I'm glad through all the development and kickstarter hell this game went through, it still came out a great game.
This game kind of took a beating over on BGG, but after seeing this review it doesn’t look bad to me at all. It appears the designers put a lot of effort into it, I also appreciate them trying something new. I may give it a shot after all. 👍🏽
I want to get this game, because it seems awesome, however the price point just is simply too much for me. I understand why it's as expensive as it is, but I just can't justify basically $200 in for the base game (when you include shipping)
This is like complaining that Sonic the board game is a racing game
In that case I recommend waiting when it is in your local stores or maybe you can buy it used at a later point
There is a Dungeon Crawl Mode where you just jump into the combat, and there's no focus on the story. It's an extra $35 to add onto the main game. Basically, it addresses most of their criticisms. It did back the Kickstarter from the very beginning, with all the bells and whistles.
I remember seeing a random dungeon generator deck for one-offs in Gloomhaven. I promptly threw those cards out because it was a waste of space.
At the time I thought Why would someone buy a twenty pound campaign game and not want to play the campaign. I still stand by that theory.
Glad i got mine on order, i have never played or bought board games before but now i have a few coming.
Welcome!
You can search here for recent "best board games to start" videos for guidance. Some high ranking games have huge rulesets, which sre not that welcoming.
The Boardgamegeek site is vital, also.
Looking at the original Kickstarter page, this is like a very different game. Point and click I did not expect.
Yep, it was literally a different game being designed by a different company. Like a year or so after the KS campaign, the game system had apparently bloated into an overcomplicated mess that Larian wasn’t going to sign off on, so they eventually fired the original designers and rebuilt the whole game themselves. However the location “scenes” (as opposed to moving around a hex map or something similar) was always part of the design, and I think that’s the main aspect that Zee was comparing to a point-and-click.
Point crawl*
Camilla's awesome, she ran this video so well!
This game was definitely worth the wait. I think that they get the balance just right when you consider the potential target audience. It was originally a computer game with a massive following. Do you design a game that only hard-core boardgamers will want to play due to the complexity, or do you design something that can entice computer gamers to play boardgames and vice-versa, and also entice people who play boardgames casually as well? I think they've hit the nail on the head for the latter.
There's sufficient complexity and variation that you can play the campaign multiple times and experience something new each time (for example, I think there's 4 different potential bosses for your first 'boss battle' dependent on your path). People who want to min-max their character can and people who want to design a more 'story-lead' character can too.
Yes, the mechanics are simpler than the computer game, but to bring that complexity to a board game would have been overkill. And, yes, the skill progression may be viewed as limited by some, but there's still thousands of potential combinations to try.
Already on a second play-through of the campaign and looking forward to the many more to follow.
Awesome post. This game needs more love.
After all these years of waiting , I am relieved the game will be good :)
Would definitely watch Camilla play the video game if she ever streamed it! That could be a really fun time for sure.
Me to!!
Everything with Camilla (in it) is worth to watch! 😉
10:17 hit for 2 in this case not 1 and you could heal 1 health
Ah good catch - thanks!
Zee‘s criticism is that it is a campaign game? Why criticize the category of game it is in a review? That’s like knocking a racing game because it is racing game and you have too many of them. Weird!
Agreed. These guys have so many games to play, they can't commit to campaigns anymore
Exactly my thoughts. If the criticism is that there are many other campaign games and this one doesn't do anything particularly well or unique then that's fair, but Zee actually states that it's original (no pun intended) which for me renders the criticism baseless.
I consider Zee to be one of the top 2 reviewers on this channel, especially when it comes to describing nuance or an other appealing aspects of a game and how it feels/plays. I think the multi person review can lead them all to be a little more broad in there appraisal since potentially as there are differing voices. If you came upon this review in isolation I can understand that criticism might feel a bit blunt, it would be . If I had to review multiple campaign games a year they would defo begin to wear thin.
unfair comparison, a campaign is not even a genre of game. it's the format.
”The campaign is a bit slow”. 8.5. Seems like valid criticism to me.
When is this available retail? It just says preorder on larian website? 🤔
I got my pre-order copy a little over a week ago. Not sure if you’re looking to get it in a store or order from the website. I pre-ordered it during PAX West 2023 (Septemberish, I think?)
Any good places to chat about this game ? Can’t seem to find much on reddit and Facebook
BoardGameGeek?
Great overview and review! The only thing missing and that I’m still curious about is character and campaign progression.
Specifically, what does it look like to level up and do you acquire new items and spells? And also, what is the loss condition for each scenario or the campaign. For example, do you just try again or move on to an alternate location?
You level up when you reach certain points in the game, these are dependent on the paths that you take so there's no "after x scenarios, you will level up" (Although I think it is roughly the similar no. for each path) but it's also not "you need to kill x monsters to gain enough xp to level up".
Items can be gained dependent on the 'events' (succeed in specific challenge rolls/kill certain monsters) that you complete, or you can visit the merchant between each scenario and access items dependent on your character level (costs money, limited number of items that you can access at once, how much money do you spend trying to find that one item that you want?)
Each event in each scenario has its own specific loss conditions (ranging from lose a consumable to restart the scenario) and each scenario also has a unique outcome if you don't 'succeed'. I think a key thing to bear in mind is that not defeating the enemies or not finishing everything in a scenario in time is not game over, just like not making an event in real life doesn't mean that you're dead. You might need to lick your wounds, and it might be more difficult moving forward, but you can generally carry on. Of course, you can always play it such that if the outcome is 'restart the scenario', you restart the campaign instead!
Very helpful, thank you! Sounds like a lot of fun, and an ideal mix of options.
Dungeon Mode is exactly what you want. That’s all our group plays.
I am so glad it came out, now yes changed version then original, it looks good still and unique. Only thing is kickstarter order this from the start and went all in for the extra stuff.....Now what worried what exactly do i get extra for paying all in. Since no official post of what's included has been set yet.
Question. I have the game. What happens if you lose battle/location.
Rule book says restart the location. Lose gold but keep items?.
Does it mean restart current location or back to the start of the atlas?/restart whole campaign.
This is probably waaaay too late for you, but based on what you posted, you would just start the location again, not go back in the atlas to a previous location.
Does anyone have the miniature pack? How's the quality? Compared to say, Oathsworn, how much does it enhance the experience? Based on the videos, it looks like the enemy marker presence is much lower then in longer session campaign games, so I'm not sure it's worth it, even though I usually prefer to have them.
Amazing amazing video game. Glad this is well received. I'll have to check it out
It is an amazing game, with an even more amazing sequel. 😊
Yes I was talking about 2 actually since that's what the board game is based on. The first Original Sin is also amazing but 2 is one of the best CRPGs ever
The base set looks really well done! Any chance we'll get reviews of the expansion materials?
Maybe I can convince someone (again) to play through them with me enough to feel comfortable reviewing them :) We will see. -Milla
Wow, this seems to be an extremely simplified version of what was originally promised by that kickstarter. Also, i was pretty sure that KS was dead.
Indeed. They stripped it down to the minimum. Works well but a far far cry from what it should have been
There was an entirely different company (Lynnvander) designing it early on, under the supervision of Larian. It was Lynnvander’s version of the game that was originally in the Kickstarter. From what I managed to find online, sounds like they got carried away with the system and mechanics, trying to represent every aspect and possibility from the video game, and it got way too complicated (with reports of play tests taking multiple hours just to explain the rules to new players). Larian eventually booted them from the project and took on redesigning the game themselves from scratch. I’m sure the experience with Lynnvander’s version made them all the more intentional about designing the game to feel mechanically smooth and easy to jump into. And they had to do it quickly because people were already waiting on their pledges to be fulfilled… not to mention this was all happening while Larian was in the late stages of making Baldur’s Gate 3. So yeah, not the same game and not an ideal situation. It was an emergency salvage operation to deliver something playable and fun.
Oh god... I was waiting for an epic failure after all the delay for this game. Happy that I back and result a good one
Darky lackey is a great screenname
Divinity Original Sin The Board Game is a masterpiece! I love it!
How do the two big box expansions work for this game. Are they stand along campaigns or do they mesh with the core box campaign?
How does it work solo?
I’m pretty sure that solo player would control at least 2 origins
And now I regret canceling
Should we tell them only one person can win in the end?
Hmmm seems like they could of done better with the amazing combat system that the game has.
I played a demo of this at PAX west this year, and it felt very similar to playing the video game. I immediately pre-ordered a copy because it was awesome.
could *have
Just got mine. Game itself is well done and will probably be fun but the mini's are garbage. Some of the bigger models are ok but the main characters like lohse are just badly designed and moulded. Pity.
i had my doubts before,
but now i might give it a shot
After playing it... eh. The game is average. Campaign games are frequently covers over games with mediocre moment-to-moment gameplay.
When something says "the Boardgame" it's an avoidgame for me.
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