Divine Divinity

Divine Divinity from 2002 by the Belgian studio Larian Studios is an action RPG that earned a reputation as one of the last great isometric adventures of its era. The player travels through the vast fantasy world of Rivellon as a chosen hero whose fate is linked to a fight against a dark force named Damian, and gradually discovers that their own identity is far more mysterious and complicated than it first seemed. The choice between three classes – warrior, mage, and hunter – influenced the play style and approach to combat and puzzles, while the game never tied the player down too much with rules, allowing experimentation with skill combinations.

The game combined fast, action-oriented click-to-fight combat with a surprisingly deep system of side quests, dialogue, and exploration, which set it apart from simpler action RPGs like Diablo. The world was densely packed with detail, witty text notes, and references that rewarded players for thoroughly exploring every corner, and almost every character could be approached to get at least a small piece of information or a quest. On Windows 9x and early XP computers, the game ran on an isometric 2D/3D engine that could handle even weaker rigs, offering colorful, fairy-tale-inspired settings from rural villages to dark dungeons.

Contemporary reviews praised the game for its scope, humor, and honest craftsmanship, which made it a surprise hit and helped launch the career of Larian Studios, which many years later created Divinity: Original Sin and Baldur's Gate 3. The music and the written humor in item and book descriptions gave the world of Rivellon a distinctive, slightly ironic tone that Larian's series became famous for in later installments too. Divine Divinity is still considered one of the best action RPGs of the turn of the millennium and is regarded by genre fans as required classic that is worth revisiting even after all these years.