Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Another RPG sequel (spiritual or otherwise), another big Kickstarter victory. So it goes. And so Larian Studios go home with $429,508 of their desired $400,000 for Divinity: Original Sin, and that’s with 16 days left on the clock. Across its 9,472 backers, that’s an average of $45 per person. I don’t why I mention that, I just had the calculator program open anyway and thought I’d use it. For fun.

Larian’s Divinity series might have never quite set the world on fire, but it has a passionate following who’ll be clapping their hands with glee about this. As are Larian themselves.
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Divinity: Dragon Commander‘s title used to confuse me. I couldn’t help but wonder: do I command dragons, or am I a dragon who’s also a commander? Turns out, the answer’s a resounding, fire-belching “both!” The strategy spinoff of the semi-traditional fantasy RPG series sees you corralling mad steampunk armies and strapping into the jetpack (yes, jetpack) of a mighty alpha-reptile. My brain’s typically disparate tactical and dragon lobes are lighting up in a fashion that best resembles one of those cheapo party disco ball things. I am, in other words, quite interested. Have a lizardly look for yourself after the break.

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Here’s a neat and fairly unexpected thing. While I wouldn’t call Divinity II: Ego Draconis my favorite fantasy RPG ever (the writing was witty, but the rest of the game was super uneven), Larian’s supported it quite well over time, and a new Developer’s Cut edition sounds like the cherry atop that dragon-flavored sundae. Most enticingly, it includes a very user-friendly Developer Mode that gives you access to a dev console capable of spawning hundreds of enemies, turning you into any character or monster model in the game, letting you be a dragon anywhere, etc. Oh, and if you already own a previous edition of Divinity II, it’s totally free.

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It is the year 2012. We have magic rectangles that contain our entire lives and an invisible web that connects all of humankind. And while I can’t claim to own a hoverboard, I’m still pretty OK with a future in which Divinity: Original Sin defies both Father Time and the shareholder mothership to exist. I mean, it’s an Ultima-inspired, turn-based RPG that’s doing its damndest to conjure fond memories of Cheeto-stained tabletop role-playing campaigns, and it looks damn impressive. I’m afraid that I’ll wake up any moment now, and it’ll actually be a modern FPS reboot set in a future where magic was given a swirly by Totally Rad Soldier Men – a swirly that killed it forever. Somehow, though, it is a thing with its very own trailer, and the elemental magic system paired with turn-based combat looks like it could actually make for some tantalizingly tactical co-op. Marvel at its implausibility after the break.

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Following Divinity II: Ego Draconis, Larian Studios are returning Divinity to its Divine roots with Original Sin, which may well be the Divinest Divinitude of all. PC Gamer have seen the return to isometric RPGing in action and Larian head honcho Swen Vincke tell them the game is being created to “address frustrations with Divine Divinity”. Turn-based combat is in, as is a story tailor made for co-op play. Sounds good to me.

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If dragons with jetpacks and skeleton princesses are your favourite things, Dragon Commander is being created specifically for you. It’s not often such niche tastes are accounted for, so count yourself very lucky indeed. Alec was pleasantly surprised during his encounter with Larian Studios’ RPG, strategy, dragon-action hybrid at Gamescom a couple of weeks ago and now a developer walkthrough has found its way online in video form. It’s the same section of the game that Alec saw so there’s nothing explicitly new here, but it’s good to realise the article wasn’t the product of a fever-dream. The world map truly is reminiscent of Small World and there really is a skeleton princess wearing fruit wedged into a corset in order to crudely simulate the fully-fleshed female form. It’s in two parts and is well worth a watch, if only for the nonchalant way in which the jetpack is introduced.

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Divinity II devs, Larian Studios, have announced their next game. Continuing their fondness for winged lizards, this time it’s all about “massive dragon combat” in Dragon Commander. A turn-based strategy-cum-RPG, it’s of course set in the Divinity universe – although within what they’re calling an “Art Nouveau/Steampunk world” – and they’re promising it will “break new ground”. You can see the first video of it below.

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Belgian fantasy role-playing epic Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga has a demo version! Just in time for you to turn your back on your family over the Winter holidays and club some goblins to death in the privacy of your game room/office/laptop parlour. The 2gb demo is the first valley of the game, which is a fairly hefty chunk of play, I think. And the game has, of course, been heavily overhauled since its original release last year, both adding new content and new visuals. And it was fairly pretty to start with, if a little grindy.

Also, in the full game, you can build an “abomination” to fight for you, which can’t be bad.

Wow, it’s been almost a year since I dragged myself through the first dozen or so hours of Divinity II. Just the first dozen hours of what was a huge game, because I simply couldn’t cope with the grind. In many ways this was a well-produced RPG, with a lavish, sprawling world and a bajillion quests, but not being able to walk down the road because I’d get sniped to death by enemies a couple of levels higher than me really took its toll. That hasn’t stopped plenty of other folks from enjoying the dragon-based adventures, however, and it’s now back (BACK!) with an enhanced edition: overhauled graphically, and furnished with a grand total of 180 quests. It really does look lovely, but – despite it brimming with fun ideas, like dragon battles, and flying death-ships – I don’t think I will be going back. Check out the trailer below and you’ll see what I mean, it really does look the part.

No release date that I can dig up for this, but it’s supposed to appear some time this year.
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