I've read some reviews and watched videos and the game looks really cool.

But I'm waffling for some reason...

Convince me!

I've been playing on and off for three weeks and still only really on the second map.
Huge game... lots to do and see but if you want something mindless then skip this one.

Did you like Baldurs Gate 1, because I think Divinity Original Sin is somewhere between BG1 and BG2 ;-)
That is still not the same league as Torment, but close enough to make it a safe buy for classic crpg fans.

Besides that is the co-op brilliant if played locally, still has a few glitches if you play over distance with others, but those can be easily overcome via voice chat.

I'm playing this now because I already played everything I wanted to and am now waiting for GTA V. Even though I cannot stand turn based games the way the combat was done in this game while still slow as hell, which adds to why the game takes so long, it's tolerable. So if you want something to kill time, this is perfect for that. Actually the game isn't that big, it just seems that way because of how it's designed.
Dawn Of Magic was designed like this as well.

If you want to get a feel for it, Divine Divinity is a good place to start. The combat mechanics are different (it's more of an action RPG) and it's a single character game instead of party-based, but you'll find a lot of similarities in the other game mechanics, character growth, NPC interaction, etc.

It's a good game in its own right, at a nice price. And a long one: by the time you finish DD, D:OS will likely come down in price. ; )

Divinity II: Developer's Cut circa 2012 is right now impressing me very much. I'm not sure how I missed this one, although I can dimly recall an early demo of the game that seemed very rough...amazing what 1-2 years of polishing the "little stuff" (Ha!) will do! I actually prefer the D2:DC graphics to those in D:OS (which I just picked up.) D2:DC is turning out to be an excellent, fun game with a great deal of depth. Graphics are a subjective preference, of course, but I'll take "realistic" to "cartoonish" any day. Great games.

I've played only DD and D:OS, but I'll agree that these are very good titles. Personally, I think they - and especially Larian's repeated new-release presence - are notable bright spots here in the DRM-free realm.

Yes, and D:OS is growing on me rapidly...;) Much to do and see! Larian is fast becoming one of my favorite developers.

There's few good reasons to delay a bit, two more companions should come as there's only two in game but you can also hire Henchmen (they have no real dialogs or story). Eventually companions will be improved a bit so they are deeper. Probably some tuning will come, not sure. And even if the game is fully playable its bug fix period past release hasn't ended yet.

There's a good reason to not delay it if you have the time to play it, it's a great RPG even if it has multiple flaws too. And it's hot ie this could increase your curiosity and motivation to play the game.

Now why I write it's a great RPG. An attempt to describe the main elements:
- In term of area size it isn't big but there's so much to do that it is long to play. A good chance a first play will be 100+ hours if not rushed.
- Party Turn Based combats in Fantasy setup, a quite excellent combat system with ton of possibilities. Design of combats themselves isn't as brilliant but the quality of the system compensate.
- Ton of text to read, this includes ton of dialogs but also many books, notes, guides, some more. Quote most books use a Borges like approach, ie read a book is often read the description of its contents, it's cool and well done.
- Ton of little puzzles/problems to solve/tricks to find/little secrets to pinpoint. There's so many that there's more of them than combats. Probably as many than in cumulated RPG releases of past ten years, well I exaggerate a little bit. Their difficulty isn't hard, but not void either. Take Pet Pal talent to make them less hard because animals will give you a ton of hints. Don't take Pet Pal if you want often problems a bit difficult.
- Great quests design, it's an humiliation for most modern RPG, because the game allows itself those ton of puzzles/tricks/more that open many possibilities for quests. This comment isn't about stories of quests.
- Serious effort to minimize the hand guiding, there's many, but there's also a lot of effort to avoid it as much than possible.
- Slow pace game, because of ton of dialogs, because of tons of little problem to solve, because the low hand guiding that can lost you sometimes.
- Dialogs are pleasant and easy to read, all lore stuff has the same quality, there's a frequent humor but nothing buffoon thankfully. But don't except be grabbed by the story or characters, it's light and pleasant but it will hardly grab you, that's the gameplay that should stick you to the game, not the story.
- There's a lot of to dig, through the crafting with an excellent guide system where recipe can either have a logic direct enough to be guessable, and recipe descriptions in guides are from almost a direct explanation to sort of little puzzle through some interpretation of the recipe to do well to find the crafting. The rogue gamepaly is also setting up a lot of to dig, also optional, there's even quests where you can progress or solve through stealing and even pickpocketing or infiltration. And you can grab yourself a part of the fun by choosing yourself little challenges for infiltration, stealing and pickpocketing. There's also many secrets, that gameplay is less well done but it's good to take and to dig a bit. There's plenty tricks to discover everywhere from exploration to combats.
- The combats difficulty tuning isn't well done, the beginning can be rude if you try discover the game by yourself, and after when you start master better character and party build and combats then the combats tend not be difficult. But the depth of the system keeps combats fun. But if for you high challenge is a requirement, then you'll have to build yourself a party less strong.

I think it's a fair description of main strong points and some weakness, for sure taste can vary, but if that description appeals you, rush on it, great RPG despite multiple flaws.

If you do not buy it you will never know what you missed ;)

As stated above, if you liked Baldur's gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment, this game is for you.
This game is not Diablo. It is a pure adventure game: be prepared to walk, be prepared to talk.

You may have read the elements play a big role, and indeed they do in a way I have never seen before.
Simple example: one party member gets burning ? Start a rain and the burning will stop.

There are tons of surprising encounters too.
Did you ever talk to a mushroom ? ... And it is not the least (I do not think, well hope, it is a big spoiler).

To be noticed, I play the game in french and the translation is not very good, sometimes even missing.
This is the worst translation I have ever seen, yet I prefer to play it in french.
I think it has been translated to german and maybe another language.

Imarion

So do you think Original Sin will be discounted for 50% around the time of the Steam Fall sale?
I really liked Divine Divinity and Divinity 2, but I can't pay more than 20 EUR for games right now.

Well, actually, I wasn't the biggest fan of the Baldur's Gate-style RPGs. For me there was too much party management, too much shuffling equipment around, and the real-time combat (although pause-able) was just too messy and chaotic for me.

I do really like Divine Divinity - it was one of the first games I bought when I joined GOG - but it's definitely more of an ARPG than Original Sin sounds like from what I've read about it so far.

So the combat in OS is purely turn-based then?

Yes.

Not to be an ass but you cannot put or compare BG, Icewind Dale, and Planesscape Torment to Divinity Original sin.

I like these style of games which is why I like Divinity Original Sin but when it comes to BG Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment, and even Neverwinder Nights, there are no words to describe how much I hate everything about them. Just posting that sentence makes my blood boil that's how much I absolutely despise those games they were absolute total and utter garbage.

The point is just because they're similar doesn't mean if you like one you'll like them all.

I haven't finished, but my plan is to start over.

Solving quests usually includes some discovery and lots of combat if you haven't been to the area yet. It might be a good idea to first clear areas of monsters before you start questing? Some quests, especially side-quests, can be solved complete combat-less using other skills or dialogue options.

If something goes wrong or you do something unintended by the developers, the quest becomes unsolvable and remains in the log. Most often the quest-giver dies before you can complete the quest, due to some other decision in another story. The quest-item is not retrievable because you cannot go to a certain place any more.

The maps are done beautiful and the music is very immersive. They could have made more titles to shuffle through?

You can spend a lot of time thinking about character development or just put some points here and there. I tend to stick to the two original characters, because the more followers you have in the party the more complicated the dialogues become. Often I have no control on who starts the conversation and if there is some argument to fight about (rock, paper, scissors) you want to have the most charming person of the group playing it.

The elemental and environmental effects are unique and something I haven't seen in any other game yet. A ranger can craft or buy arrows with elemental effects to be a good replacement for a mage as well.

Lots of spells, that look weird in the beginning but there is a situation where you think "damn, I should have gotten that spell book".