Niggles: Quick question. I backed the KS for this but never got around to do anything after i backed it. How to i get hold of my gog key for this?

Ranayna: A WoW vibe? Are we talking about the same game? True, the loot system looks like they copied it directly, but the gameplay is not the same at all, not even similar. Don't get me wrong, i liked WoW well enough.

But to answer your question: Yes, it is a lot like the first Original Sin. I am not far into it yet, but so far i abolutely love it. The Interface has gotten an overhaul, and inventory management works a lot better. Still not perfect, but better.
The exploration aspect is still there, and there are still game mechanics that in other games would be considered exploiting.

The loot system seems to be still the same or very similar, including the need of identification and repair. As far as i can see though, the need to repair gear only applies to weapons now. Also the crafting and blacksmithing skills are gone. Crafting now seems to scale with your level, and repairing stuff just takes a repair hammer in someones inventory. I do not know why Larian did not get rid of repairing entirely.

The combat system is essentially the same, but the role of action points has been toned down somewhat. There is no speed stat anymore, and everyone gets the same AP on their turn. The armor system has been revamped, armor now provides something best described as additional hitpoints for physical or magical attacks. The interesting thing with the new system is that when an attack is completly absorbed by armor, its other negative effects like burning or knockdown are negated. The addition of bedrolls as item is also great to get back into shape fast after combat.

The skill and attribute system has also gotten an overhaul, and i'm not enterly sure yet which one is better. Skills are now divided into combat and civil skills. You get one combat skillpoint every level and one civil point every few levels. Getting one rank of a skill now only costs one skillpoint, regardless of the about aof ranks you already have. Base level for attributes is now 10, and you get 2 points per level, so a lot more than in the first game. Be carefull alloting points, the allotment is instant and there is no undo as far as i can see.

Character generation has also been changed, and this can affect gameplay a lot. First, you only create one character yourself. You can choose one of six character with fixed race, gender, special abilities and "Tags", all of which have a unique storyline througout the game. The other ones you do *not* choose are your potential party companions. Max party size is still four by the way. The "tags" give you special dialog options.
Alternatively, you can also create a character from scratch and therefore choose your own race, gender and tags, but skills and abilities can be freely chosen for both types of characters.

The one thing that i do not like that much is the way dialog is handled. While in the first game, and, as far as i remember, in every other RPG with a similar dialog system that i played, the dialog options simply spell out what you are saying, In OS2, the dialog options describe what you are saying. I personally find this weird. The dialog system itself, including the existence of Pet Pal, is still the same though.

Long story short: I like this game a lot, at least as much as OS1. I would defintely recommend it.

aluinie: I contacted customer support with my details regarding the kickstarter collection edition (including order number). They got back to me within an hour with a code to use.

I would recommend any of us who has the Kickstarter CE to contact support as this seems to be best way to get the books,soundtrack etc.