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Larian - What have I missed?

IseweinIsewein Member Posts: 561
So how did Larian become the go-to RPG developer, earning the BG licence? Somehow all their games went completely past my radar. I remember hearing about Divine Divinity as something of a Diablo clone but that's that. How did they even get into D&D material? Was there any significant migration of devs from BIS / Obsidian / Bioware to Larian? It's hard to google the history of this because all the results that come up are already post-BG3-hype.

Comments

  • megamike15megamike15 Member Posts: 2,666
    divinity original sin 2 is really the main reason

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,753
  • IseweinIsewein Member Posts: 561
    edited October 2022
    Interesting. Choice by elimination does seem to be the case then. I actually do like TB, but I just can't see any interesting writing, worldbuilding or quest design on par with Obsidian or also SoD coming from what I heard of the Divinity series. Hope I'll be proven wrong! Would you BG fans say D:OS is worth checking out for more than just the TB combat (I can have that in ToEE)?
  • ArviaArvia Member Posts: 2,101
    edited October 2022
    Isewein wrote: »
    Interesting. Choice by elimination does seem to be the case then. I actually do like TB, but I just can't see any interesting writing, worldbuilding or quest design on par with Obsidian or also SoD coming from what I heard of the Divinity series. Hope I'll be proven wrong! Would you BG fans say D:OS is worth checking out for more than just the TB combat (I can have that in ToEE)?

    I would definitely say it's worth it. I personally hadn't played any TB games before and played Divinity: Original Sin to get an idea after hearing about the heated RtwP vs TB debate around BG3. I didn't regret it, and while there are no Bioware depth level character interactions in both games, the second game in particular (which I finished a month or two ago) gives the vibes of travelling with friends, even if they take getting used to in some cases, and the worldbuilding and storywriting impressed and surprised me too.
    It's different from D&D, of course, and you need to pay attention to what is said where and look for the clues in notes and books and your companions' comments if you want to get into the lore.

    I'd say if you're not sure this world is for you, you'd probably be happier starting with the second game. The stories aren't really connected, are millennia apart, and the gameplay is easier to get into, the story a bit more guided, not sure how to put it.

    There's a thread about the games somewhere here in Off Topic where @JuliusBorisov shared his runs and I mine of DOS1, and I've posted about my DOS2 run in another forum: http://tavernrpg.com/threads/divinity-original-sin-2-playthrough-discussion-spoilers.9/ (first few posts don't really have spoilers)
    If you're curious or have more questions, I'll be glad to answer them here or over there.
    I liked those games a lot and would be happy to introduce someone else to their world.
  • DinoDinDinoDin Member Posts: 1,597
    Isewein wrote: »
    Interesting. Choice by elimination does seem to be the case then. I actually do like TB, but I just can't see any interesting writing, worldbuilding or quest design on par with Obsidian or also SoD coming from what I heard of the Divinity series. Hope I'll be proven wrong! Would you BG fans say D:OS is worth checking out for more than just the TB combat (I can have that in ToEE)?

    Yes. In fact, the combat isn't even the strongest part of the Original Sin games. What shines brightest is the extreme interactivity in the world. This allows for an emergent gameplay that I think is truly novel in the subgenre. You can solve certain quests by using the game's systems and not just by selecting one of several pre-ordained quest paths. And this applies even further on stuff like character building, gear, crafting and even adding tactics to combat.

    It's not going to appeal to everyone, but if you loved the extreme interactivity of Ultima 7 (the other clear inspiration for OS aside from BG), then you'll love these games.

    As Arvia says, the plots are not connected. So the best bet is to buy the second game first. It's just more polished. If you love it, you can buy the first as well, the combat systems are different enough that it will still feel like a challenge even after beating the second.
  • JidokwonJidokwon Member Posts: 395
    I use just about all of the "Pause when..." options that are available for BG, BG2, and NWN. For combat, at least, I've basically been playing all of these in turn-based mode for as long as I can recall. One thing that's quite frustrating for me is that neither of the Divinity titles nor BG3's engines will support full and proper pausing...even from the mod communities there. I understand why pausing would have limits for multiplayer. As a player that gets called away very suddenly and frequently, it's an ability that I greatly enjoy having available for the single player scenarios. For BG3's engine, even pausing during cutscenes isn't possible. Reload times are a bit more time consuming than what having a hard pause available would allow for.
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