Divinity Original Sin 2: Arena Mode Multiplayer Review and Esports Potential

Divinity: Original Sin II did something many games these days cannot. 

Oftentimes the marketing budget surrounding titles seems to compete with, if not surpass, the budget for a game itself, putting the title in a precarious position of never meeting expectations.  

With Divinity: Original Sin II, developer Larian Studios had humble Kickstarter beginnings that transformed into one of the most universally acclaimed role-playing games in recent history alongside the likes of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, earning a 93 on Metacritic and countless awards. 

While the latest Divinity title is a turn-based strategy role-playing game with gameplay similar to that of X-COM, Larian Studios managed to pack in a magic-filled world brimming with life—not unlike the Witcher series—complete with unforgettable characters, locales and moments of storytelling few games even grasp at. 

Buried in the original release was a limited arena mode littered with great ideas and upside—something Larian Studios is now teaming with publisher Bandai Namco (which coincidentally distributed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in Europe) to bring to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in an expansive addition to the base game. 

The idea is simple: flesh out a criminally underappreciated aspect of the game's PC launch and perhaps dip its toes into the esports scene, where something as in-depth and fun to watch as this would fill a huge niche and offer major upside. 

That upside is apparent from the first time a player steps into the arena mode. 

Gameplay

It sounds counterintuitive for a mode within a game to strip away features and distance itself from a main mode that is a classic. 

But it works. 

There isn't a grand narrative here; no pulling at many single threads of a story that all lead to a conclusion based only on the chosen character and companions. There is one thing: survival. 

This pursuit leans on the base game's combat, which is excellently done or the base wouldn't be hailed as a must-experience game. Divinity: Original Sin II is a turn-based affair that takes place on varying maps where players have limited action points (AP) to move about the environment and perform varying functions before the opponent does the same. This isn't like other games out there where it tries to perform in real time with pauses—each opponent gets a turn while the others wait and suffer the consequences of their choices. 

It sounds simple, but it's far from it. 

This isn't an FPS—the smart solution is more rewarding than brute force. Meaning, having a character use a battering ram skill to knock an enemy into oil and having another summon a meteor shower down for the kill is quite a bit of fun, to say the least. 

And all the options weave together nicely. There's Ryker, a huntsman with a bow who can summon teleporters for transportation. Malady is a teleporting demon. Tarquin uses dark arts, including summoning hands of the undead underneath opponents. Dallis, the Hammer, is a polymorph who can grow spider legs on her back. 

It goes on and on, but one can see why over the course of 16 characters and a double-digit map count, the mixing and matching and sheer strategy offers seemingly endless options, ways to play and routes to victory. As if this weren't enough, maps have chests containing different spell scrolls and modifiers in them. Mutators assign skills or guidelines at various points of a battle, such as wings for all players on turn seven. 

And mostly everything about it is smooth. The game looks great, even when zoomed in, and offers differing angles such as a tactical cam. There aren't any hitches in frames. The sound doesn't differentiate itself much, but we're not here for audio befit of a single-player campaign. 

That said, console players not accustomed to this sort of game will find digesting the controls daunting at first, and sometimes the cursor isn't cooperative when directly targeting an enemy. And players will find it intimidating trying to keep track of what is going on at times as an opponent or A.I. flies through moves before you start your own turn timer anew. 

But again, the dizzying depth is a bonus, not a drawback. In a game as deep as this, and as is the case for all competitive online games, developer support will be key for the online realm to keep thriving, especially once players inevitably find an overpowered strategy requiring balancing. 

Based on the love letter of sorts penned to fans of multiplayer action, that shouldn't come close to popping up on the radar as a concern. 

Esports Appeal and Potential

A successful esports title needs a handful of critical things going for it, including fun, something unique and perhaps most important of all—entertainment for viewers. 

Think about the esports monstrosity that is Overwatch. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't think the game is fun on at least a pick-up-and-play basis. And the game's global success and spectator options speak to its viewer's fun factor. 

Divinity: Original Sin II has clearly tried to march to its own drum while hitting on these points. The game is enjoyable for those willing to climb the steep learning incline. It separates itself with both character, traditional turn-based action and unique combat and has enough upside to keep viewers coming back to see what memorable events unfold. 

The last point might be the most important. It's going to be downright thrilling to watch how the best players in the world come up with ways to win. Skills that bind a user's health to an enemy's is simply scratching the surface of abilities at the fingertips of the best of the best.

Should the enemy finish you off, killing themselves in the process? What's the move in a one-turn situation like that? Add in teleporters, the ability to summon things to fight alongside a player and even remembering class differences (poison heals undead characters, folks, not health potions) and you have a concoction brimming with potential for eventual pros who are willing to dissect the depths of what's possible. 

Fun modifications such as turn times offer built-in variables for the pro scene. Lightning-fast turn times like 30 seconds are possible, perhaps for something like a sudden-death round in a tournament. Extending it past the standard sixty seconds could increase the feeling of pressure for all involved—viewers included—as players try to think several turns ahead while plotting moves. Number of players, number of characters to a team and so on are customization options giving tournament organizers plenty of choices. 

The appeal for an esports scene is easily here when taking it all in and considering the upside. If the game's health is monitored by the creators and word of mouth invigorates a scene in a similar way the Kickstarter got the ball rolling, it's not hard to envision Divinity: Original Sin II carving out a nice space for itself.

Conclusion 

It's not easy to predict the next big thing in esports, but it is easy to see when a well-crafted attempt can fill an obvious niche with creative options left at the hands of elite players. 

But there is accessibility cooked into the multiplayer package here. Players can play solo, competitively online or even use a pass-the-controller Hot Seat mode to kick back with friends on a couch and have some fun, which those trying to get their feet wet will enjoy—and which could also help flesh out a soon-to-be budding esports player base, so hat's off to the developers for an idea that could serve varying functions. 

Typically speaking, few games have a bona fide classic narrative experience and then dish out a must-play multiplayer scene. This seems to be an exception, with Divinity: Original Sin II multiplayer offering the necessary skill gap and a checklist of esports requirements all marked off and perhaps ready to translate into a success story. 

Considering the game's ability to outpace expectations so far, it wouldn't be wise to count it out.