Divinity: Original Sin II - Previews

Here are a few previews of Divinity: Original Sin 2.

Game Revolution

The rest of the demo looked familiar to the first game in the series, and for good reason. Larian crafted a fantastic combat system, and the company doesn't want to change it too much. There are some important tweaks in that area, though, namely the redistribution of action points. Characters have fewer action points in Original Sin 2, but skills typically only cost one point. This allows players to move around and experiment on a more consistent basis, which is when Divinity truly shines. The sequel also introduces skill crafting, which can result in some unusual but powerful abilities.

The Escapist

With this much complexity and depth to a game, one has to wonder how the game will stay together at all. If there is no GM to bring the party back together, wouldn't the game deteriorate into chaos? Swen assured me that Larian invested heavily in the writing team, folks with both screenwriting and tabletop experience, to act as a virtual GM of sorts. There will be missions that naturally bring the party back together as well as difficult consequences when things go too awry. A game of such complexity is ambitious for sure, and, if successful, could really make waves in the RPG genre.

Polygon

Despite launching a second Kickstarter campaign, Vincke is aware that Larian Studios is in a much different place than it was with the first Divinity: Original Sin. For example, despite turning to crowdfunding, the studio already has the money they need to make this sequel.

"The game is funded because of the original's success," Vincke says. "We can already do a lot of things. But we'd like to expand from here. We'd like to create more origin stories. Each origin story means basically hiring an extra writer because of how far they go in affecting the game. We also want to expand the skills and spell systems. An extra race would be cool."

In other words, this will be a crowdfunding game based almost entirely around raising money for stretch goals. The sequel is happening. The pre-alpha build is already running. The game will come out, regardless of whether it reaches its Kickstarter goal. But Larian Studios wants the opportunity to make it bigger and even more ambitious, which is something that the extra funding can make room for.

A video interview/preview on Gamespot.