While I stand by my recommendation of Divinity Original Sin 2, the later parts of the game aren’t as charming as the initial, which is a shame. Long games have a more difficult time sustaining their quality, and DOS2 is certainly a very lengthy game.

Part of this is because, usually, developers will work on the start of the game first, and that’s when passion is highest and time-crunch deadlines aren’t looming. Towards the end, people are burned out, other people are demanding the work simply be finished, and as is too often the case, the end feels rushed and not fused with the same level of care and details as the earlier parts.

There is also now the factor of Early Access. The first area of DOS2 was open for EA, and that meant lots of gamers testing it and providing feedback. Later parts weren’t open, so they don’t benefit from that same treatment, and it shows. The bugs and such will be ironed out eventually, but the sheer volume of detail that the early area has likely won’t ever make it around towards the later areas via patches.

I want to see the end of DOS2, in part because I’m 80hrs in, and also because the main storyline has remained interesting. But I’m less invested now in the side quests (it really didn’t help that two major side characters seemed to bug out, and my only option was to kill them both, likely shutting off whatever quests and revelations they held), and my characters have reached a power point where new abilities aren’t coming, and gear upgrades feel more formulaic rather than exciting.

I don’t know if the fix is to make a shorter game, because ideally if you enjoy something, having more of that isn’t a bad thing. The problem in this case is that what I enjoyed was slowly stripped down and reduced. If the quality had been maintained, I’d be fine, but I also understand it’s difficult to do that. It’s also why classics like Baldur’s Gate 2, which IMO never had a dip in quality, are so highly regarded.