Divinity II | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Larian Studios |
Publisher(s) |
|
Director(s) | Swen Vincke |
Designer(s) | Farhang Namdar |
Writer(s) | Jan Van Dosselaer |
Composer(s) | Kirill Pokrovsky |
Series | Divinity |
Engine | Gamebryo |
Platform(s) | |
Release |
|
Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
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Divinity II is an action role-playing game developed by Larian Studios. Its first release in 2009 was subtitled Ego Draconis, and was published by dtp entertainment and in the United States by cdv Software Entertainment.[3] The updated 2011 re-release The Dragon Knight Saga which included the expansion Flames of Vengeance, as well as the final 2012 release as Divinity II: Developer's Cut, were published by Focus Home Interactive.
The defining feature of Divinity II is the ability to switch between aerial combat as a dragon, and more traditional third-person action-role playing gameplay as a human. It is the third game in the Divinity franchise, and the first Divinity game to be released on consoles as well as for Microsoft Windows.
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Gameplay[edit]
The main focus of the game is on traditional action-role playing gameplay, which includes completing quests, exploring the game world, and interacting with a variety of non-player characters. Divinity II utilizes some elements of games like Diablo, such as a focus on upgrading equipment, randomized magical effects on equipment, unique item sets that offer greater benefits when used together, and some quest mechanics such as markers to show that an NPC will offer a quest to the player. However, it also uses elements from more traditional role-playing games, such as branching conversation trees, choices that affect other events in the game, and non-combat segments, such as platforming or puzzle elements. When interacting with non-player characters, the player will often have the option to read their minds, which can provide information, extra choices in a quest, or equipment, at a certain cost to their experience points. The 'experience debt' then has to be repaid before they can gain experience again.
Players are given a choice of starting packages for their character during the tutorial, but the progression is freeform, and the player is free to develop their character in a different direction if they want to. Skills are grouped into 'schools' which correspond to traditional roles, but all skills are available to all characters, allowing mixing between these roles. Multiple forms of crafting exist: alchemy, which allows the player to create potions; necromancy, which allows a player to customize a summonable undead pet; and enchanting, which upgrades the character's equipment.
After a certain point in the game, the character gains a base of operations known as the Battle Tower, as well as the ability to become a dragon in large spaces. Dragon combat works similarly to ground-based combat, but in three dimensions; as a dragon, the character still has a regular attack as well as skills they can use, and equipment to improve their abilities.
Plot[edit]
The game takes place in the world of Rivellon from Divine Divinity, although much time has passed since the end of Divine Divinity. The player character starts out as a Dragon Slayer at the end of their training, when they are given draconic powers as a way to help fight the last remaining dragons. These powers also erase their memories of their training, but they are reassured that their memories will return quickly. The regular proceedings are interrupted by news of a dragon sighted nearby, so before the initiation is finished, the player character is rushed off with them to where the dragon was last seen.
Throughout the game, the hero has several encounters with Damian, the Damned One. Damian is amassing his armies of monsters to destroy Rivellon. He was driven to such actions by the death of his love, Ygerna, at the hands of his adoptive father Lucian (The Divine One, the hero from the first game). The player learns of a reversed soul forge Damian placed on him and Ygerna. Meaning that resurrecting Ygerna would kill Damian. After fighting his way through Damian's evil minions and acquiring dragon knight powers. The hero discovers he was tricked into reviving Ygerna and that the reversed soul forge was never real. After reviving Ygerna the player is stuck in a crystal prison inside the hall of echoes.
In the expansion, Flames of Vengeance, the Dragon Knight wakes in a crystal prison on the plane of Hypnoteromachia, where Lucian, the Divine, the messiah figure to Rivellon, is also imprisoned. A ghost called Behrilin comes and offers to free the Divine if the Dragon Knight will help to free him from his earthly prison. The ghost transports him to the last city in Rivellon after Damian's campaign of destruction, only still standing due to the magic shield created by the powerful wizard Zandalor. He begs the player's help to destroy the invading force and shore up the city's defenses before the shield is broken.
Development[edit]
Development on Divinity II began around 2006, after Larian Studios had acquired enough money to begin development on a Divinity sequel in earnest. From the beginning, the game was planned with the feature of transforming into a dragon in mind, and even included a third form, halfway between the dragon and human forms, which would have served as a powerful form for fighting on the ground. However, it was not implemented in the final game, though the model was reused for enemies in the game. The original concepts included more areas, based on the original map of Rivellon in Divine Divinity, as well as features like a multiplayer, co-op, and greater importance given to the Battle Tower.[4]
The game uses the Gamebryo engine,[5] known for its use in Oblivion and Fallout 3.[6]
After the initial release of Ego Draconis, Larian was interested in releasing an updated version that would fix many of the bugs and issues with the first game and improve the performance of the engine. At the same time, they developed an expansion that would come after the end of the game, as many people had complained that the original ending of the game had been unsatisfying. The updates to the main game and the expansion were sold together as the Flames of Vengeance add on, or bundled with the core game as The Dragon Knight Saga.[7]Flames of Vengeance and The Dragon Knight Saga were released in Germany in August 2010, and in all other language versions in November 2010.[8][9] There was no retail United States release of The Dragon Knight Saga until it was released on the Xbox 360 on April 12, 2011, along with a soundtrack CD and an art book.
For the tenth anniversary of the Divinity series and the release of the Divinity Anthology, Larian made another update to the game, calling the final version Divinity II: Developer's Cut, which included design documents, concept art, and the ability to access the developer's console in-game through a second executable file.
Marketing[edit]
The Ego Draconis Windows Collector's Edition included an 18 cm resin figurine holding a metal letter opener, a cloth-map of Rivellon, a soundtrack EP with seven tracks composed by Kirill Pokrovsky and a temporary tattoo showcasing the Divinity II: Ego Draconis logo.[10]
For the release of Divinity II: Developer's Cut on GOG.com, the website ran a promotion on a pay-what-you-want model, where people who purchased the Developer's Cut through the bundle were given early access to the bonus materials and the game itself upon release. Larian released behind-the-scenes videos when the sales numbers reached certain milestones, as well as a tech demo of their first, unfinished game, The Lady, The Mage, and The Knight.[11]
Reception[edit]
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On Metacritic, the PC and 360 versions of Ego Draconis have an average score of 72/100 and 62/100 respectively.[12][13]The Dragon Knight Saga has average scores about ten points higher, with the PC version getting an average of 82/100,[14] and the Xbox 360 version getting an average of 72/100.[15]
GameZone's Dan Liebman gave both the PC and Xbox 360 versions an 8.4, saying 'Strong narrative and open-ended design are the highlights of this fantasy experience. Divinity II: Ego Draconis will likely be overlooked by many due to the timing of its release, but it offers a genuinely engrossing world for RPG buffs to wallow in.'[16] GameZone also gave the Dragon Knight Saga a 7 out of 10, stating 'Although the graphical improvements are appreciated, newcomers expecting a visual powerhouse shouldn’t get their hopes up. A good number of glitches can still be found, visual inconsistencies being one of the most striking. Your overall perception of Rivellon’s scope isn’t quite the same as a Bethesda RPG—it’s a limited field of view, despite the actual grandeur of the world.'[17]
IGN scored it a 4.8 out of 10, stating 'I can’t recommend the Xbox 360 version of this product to anyone.' [18] However, in the review of The Dragon Knight Saga, another IGN reviewer stated 'If you haven't touched Divinity II at all and you enjoy action-RPGs, you won't be disappointed with the Xbox 360 version.'[19]
Sequel[edit]
Following the success of Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga, Larian expressed an interest in creating more Divinity games, while also developing the dragon gameplay that was featured in Divinity II. They have announced that one of their next planned games is going to be an action-real time strategy game, with the main character as a Dragon Knight at a time in Rivellon's history when there were many Dragon Knights. The game was released August 6, 2013, and is titled Divinity: Dragon Commander.
References[edit]
- ^'Divinity II Confirmed for November 20th Release'. zConnection. 2009-09-08. Archived from the original on November 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^'Divinity II - Ego Draconis Goes Gold'. IGN. 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ^'Divinity II - Ego Draconis published by CDV USA in North America'. IGN. 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ^Divinity Anthology - Developer's Journal. 2012. pp. 70–93.
- ^'Larian Studios committed to Emergent's Gamebryo for developing diverse titles incl. Divinity II: EGO DRACONIS'. Emergent. 2009-12-07. Archived from the original on June 12, 2010. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^'GameObserver interview with Bethesda Softworks'. GameObserver. 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
- ^Divinity Anthology - Developer's Journal. 2012. pp. 94–97.
- ^'Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance FAQ'. Larian Studios. 2010-07-09. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
- ^'Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance'. GameStar. 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^'Divinity II: Ego Draconis (Collector's Edition) for Windows'. MobyGames. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^'Pay What You Want For Divinity Anthology on GOG'. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- ^ ab'Divinity II: Ego Draconis for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
- ^ ab'Divinity II: Ego Draconis for Xbox 360 Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
- ^ ab'Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
- ^ ab'Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga for Xbox 360 Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
- ^'Divinity II: Ego Draconis - Review - GameZone - Reviews'. GameZone. 2010-01-04. Archived from the original on January 26, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^GameZone. 'Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga Review | GameZone'. Xbox.gamezone.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
- ^Onyett, Charles. 'Divinity II: Ego Draconis Review - Xbox 360 Review at IGN'. IGN. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^Michael, Jon. 'Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga Review - Xbox 360'. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Divinity_II&oldid=993114647'
(Redirected from Swen Vincke)
Video game developer, publisher | |
Industry | Video games |
---|---|
Founded | 1996 |
Founder | Swen Vincke |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Divinity series Baldur's Gate III |
Number of employees | 250+[1] (2020) |
Website | larian.com |
Larian Studios is a Belgianvideo game developer and publisher founded in 1996[2] by Swen Vincke. It focuses on developing role-playing video games and has previously worked on educational games and a number of casino games.[3] It is most known for developing the Divinity series.
Swen Vincke[edit]
Swen Vincke founded Larian Studios in 1996.[4][5] As a lead designer in the company, he contributed to all of Larian's early game projects, including the award-winning role-playing gameDivine Divinity (2002) and its sequel Beyond Divinity (2004).[6][7]
He was later also responsible for the design of KetnetKick [nl], a virtual world for children developed for Flemish children's channel Ketnet.[8] This virtual world has later seen licensed implementations by several other children's channels, such as the British channel CBBC (titled Adventure Rock),[9] French channel Jeunesse TV (titled Gulliland),[10] and Norwegian channel NRK.
Notable works[edit]
Larian's first project was called The Lady, the Mage and the Knight. [11] During that time they also developed LED Wars, a strategy game that was developed within 5 months and published by Ionos in 1997.[12] As a result, The Lady, the Mage and the Knight soon evolved into a collaborative project between Larian Studios and Attic Entertainment Software. Due to various problems between the two development studios and its publisher, the project was abandoned in 1999.[13]
In 2002, Larian completed work on Divinity: Sword of Lies which was published under the name Divine Divinity by CDV.[14] In 2004, Beyond Divinity, the sequel to Divine Divinity, was published in two editions: the standard version by Ubisoft Entertainment GmbH[15] and the deluxe version by MediaMix Benelux which contained Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity and a novella by Rhianna Pratchett called 'Son of Chaos'.[16]
Also in 2004, KetnetKick, an educational game, was developed for Ketnet and released by Transposia.[17] In 2006, Beyond Divinity was re-released under Gold Games 9 by Ubisoft Entertainment which was a set of 10 games on 6 DVDs.[18]
In March 2008, Adventure Rock,[19] an online virtual world was completed and released. This was followed by the release of KetnetKick 2 in October 2008 by VRT, the national broadcaster in Flanders. In March 2009, GulliLand[20] was published by Jeunesse TV, a French national broadcasting channel. In January 2010, Larian released Divinity II: Ego Draconis - the sequel to Divine Divinity - to the U.S. market on Xbox 360 and Windows[21] simultaneously, after releases in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia and Benelux. Larian has also produced Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance, and built a Gold Deluxe version that holds all Divinity II episodes, called Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga.
In August 2013 Larian released Divinity: Dragon Commander, a game mixing strategy and role-playing elements in the Divinity universe, before the events of Divine Divinity.[22] The game has received an overall positive reception and gained attention thanks to its novel approach to strategy.
Larian released Divinity: Original Sin, a turn-based role-playing game set between Dragon Commander and Divine Divinity, in June 2014 after several delays. The game was funded partly thanks to a Kickstarter campaign which pulled in $944,282, more than double its goal of $400,000.[23][24]Original Sin was originally budgeted at €3 million, twice the amount of cash Larian had on hand, but by the time the game released Larian spent a total of €4.5 million on it; according to Swen Vincke, Larian delayed tax payments and pulled resources from Dragon Commander's development in order to fully fund and complete Original Sin, and the company would have gone bankrupt if the game had not been a success.[25] Upon its release, Original Sin became the fastest-selling game in Larian's history.[26] An enhanced edition was launched the 27 October 2015, including all formerly published downloadable content and several improvements.
Divinity: Original Sin 2, a sequel to Divinity: Original Sin, was funded through Kickstarter as well, raising the necessary amount to create the game within hours, and reaching all of its stretch goals.[27] The game takes place 1200 years after the events in Divinity: Original Sin and retains many of the gameplay elements that were present in first Original Sin.[citation needed] The game was released into Steam Early Access on 15 September 2016, with its full Version 1.0 release taking place just under one year later on 14 September 2017.[28][29]
Larian Studios are currently developing Baldur's Gate III, which is an upcoming role-playing video game for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Stadia, the streaming service. It is the third main game in the Baldur's Gate series, itself based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system. It released in early access format across all three platforms on 6 October 2020,[30] and will remain in development for at least another year.[31]
Games developed[edit]
Divinity series[edit]
- Divine Divinity (2002)
- Beyond Divinity (2004)
- Divinity II: Ego Draconis (2009)
- Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance (2010)
- Divinity: Dragon Commander (2013)
- Divinity: Original Sin (2014)
- Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition (2015)
- Divinity: Original Sin II (2017)
- Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition (2018)
Licensed games[edit]
- Baldur's Gate III (2020)
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Educational games[edit]
- Ketnet Kick (2004)
- Adventure Rock (2008)
- Ketnet Kick 2 (2008)
- GulliLand (2009)
Other games[edit]
- The Lady, the Mage and the Knight (a cancelled collaboration with Attic Entertainment Software)[32]
- LED Wars (1998)
References[edit]
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- ^Dealessandri, Marie (February 27, 2020). 'Larian plays dungeon master for a new era of Baldur's Gate'. gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^'Larian company information'. Gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^Larian Casino GamesArchived July 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^Staff, IGN (2003-12-07). 'Riftrunner Interview with Swen Vincke at Gamatomic'. IGN. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- ^'About Me « Swen Vincke @ Larian Studios'. Swen Vincke @ Larian Studios. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- ^'Swen Vincke on the future of Divinity: Original Sin 2, and the pros and cons of open development'. pcgamer. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- ^'Een aanzet tot de gamegeschiedenis van België'. Karel van Mander Academy. Retrieved 2019-09-20.(in Dutch)
- ^'Privacy settings'. www.hln.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- ^Adventure Rock Credits, found within the game interface
- ^'GulliLand'. Larian.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^Paragraph 5, Lines 3-4: Publishing industry skepticalArchived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Article about LEDWars at MobyGames'. Mobygames.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^The truth about LMK (by Lar also known as Swen)Archived 2001-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Information about Divine Divinity at MobyGames'. Mobygames.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^'Information about Beyond Divinity Standard Edition at MobyGames'. Mobygames.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^'Information about Beyond Divinity Deluxe Edition at MobyGames'. Mobygames.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^'KetnetKick'. Mobygames.com. 2004-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^'Information about Gold Games 9 at MobyGames'. Mobygames.com. 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^'AdventureRock'. Bbc.co.uk. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^'GulliLand'. Larian.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^ISM signs up Larian StudiosArchived December 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^'GameStar: Voices of Igromir 2011. Swen Vincke: 'It won't be bad, to have an army'. Gamestar.ru. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ^'Kickstarter Campaign'. Kickstarter. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
- ^'Kicktraq: Divinity: Original Sin'. Kicktraq. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ^'How Divinity: Original Sin almost bankrupted Larian Studios'. PCGamer. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ^'Divinity Original Sin is Larian Studios' fastest selling game ever'. Eurogamer. 2014-07-03. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
- ^'Divinity: Original Sin 2'. Kickstarter. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
- ^https://venturebeat.com/2016/08/22/divinity-original-sin-ii-is-coming-to-steam-early-access/
- ^https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/435150/view/5154889050469035947
- ^'Baldur's Gate 3 Is Having A Very Successful First Day In Early Access'. GameSpot. 6 October 2020.
- ^'Baldur's Gate 3 Sales Are Already Insane, Says Larian CEO'. Wccftech.com. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^'Information about LMK (The Lady, The Mage and The Knight)'. Videogames.yahoo.com. 2010-11-09. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
External links[edit]
- Larian Studios at MobyGames
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