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Divinity Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition

SniperHF

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2014
Messages
1,110
Last I looked the Arena mode was a flop, they probably should have focused elsewhere.

I enjoyed playing it in the early access version but the player counts were too low so it was hard to find games. And if you did find one you either played someone who was really good and used to working with the premade characters or you played morons. No one in between to practice with.
 

conan_edw

Arbiter
Patron
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Messages
846
Grab the Codex by the pussy Pathfinder: Wrath
I would've liked the arena mode if it was possible to create your party rather than having premade ones
 

J_C

One Bit Studio
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Developer
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Messages
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Project: Eternity Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
37287448_251399398988429_8454346769432576000_n.jpg

It looks wrong somehow. Too much space devoted to consoles and 4K HDR. And the new difficulty settingS is actually a setting, the story mode one, at least I don't think we've heard of anything more. Quest tracking is obviously decline of the highest caliber.
I have the glorious PC version, so I couldn't care less about the console port. Let them have their fun.
 

Luckmann

Arcane
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Messages
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Scandinavia
37287448_251399398988429_8454346769432576000_n.jpg

It looks wrong somehow. Too much space devoted to consoles and 4K HDR. And the new difficulty settingS is actually a setting, the story mode one, at least I don't think we've heard of anything more. Quest tracking is obviously decline of the highest caliber.
I have the glorious PC version, so I couldn't care less about the console port. Let them have their fun.
Yeah, because consolization has never affected a PC version of a game in any way whatsoever. :smug:
 

Luckmann

Arcane
Zionist Agent
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
3,759
Location
Scandinavia
It brings me no small joy and entertainment to know the cheese vendor is the only thing people have retained from a 60+ hour RPG.
They also completely ruined Murphy in D:OS:EE, which completely put us off the game. When we started playing D:OS:EE after having finished D:OS1 months prior, we were really looking forward to some interactions and things that had been completely ruined.

Never bothered finishing the EE.
 

J_C

One Bit Studio
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Developer
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Messages
16,947
Location
Pannonia
Project: Eternity Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
37287448_251399398988429_8454346769432576000_n.jpg

It looks wrong somehow. Too much space devoted to consoles and 4K HDR. And the new difficulty settingS is actually a setting, the story mode one, at least I don't think we've heard of anything more. Quest tracking is obviously decline of the highest caliber.
I have the glorious PC version, so I couldn't care less about the console port. Let them have their fun.
Yeah, because consolization has never affected a PC version of a game in any way whatsoever. :smug:
As long as the PC version comes first (like in this case), I have no problem with it.
 

Luckmann

Arcane
Zionist Agent
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
3,759
Location
Scandinavia
37287448_251399398988429_8454346769432576000_n.jpg

It looks wrong somehow. Too much space devoted to consoles and 4K HDR. And the new difficulty settingS is actually a setting, the story mode one, at least I don't think we've heard of anything more. Quest tracking is obviously decline of the highest caliber.
I have the glorious PC version, so I couldn't care less about the console port. Let them have their fun.
Yeah, because consolization has never affected a PC version of a game in any way whatsoever. :smug:
As long as the PC version comes first (like in this case), I have no problem with it.
If you think that they didn't plan this from the beginning and thus made compromises in design in order to facilitate it, you're beyond naive.
 
Self-Ejected

unfairlight

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
4,092
Freemove and a non-grid based system are the only things I'd consider "console like."
 

J_C

One Bit Studio
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Developer
Joined
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Messages
16,947
Location
Pannonia
Project: Eternity Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
37287448_251399398988429_8454346769432576000_n.jpg

It looks wrong somehow. Too much space devoted to consoles and 4K HDR. And the new difficulty settingS is actually a setting, the story mode one, at least I don't think we've heard of anything more. Quest tracking is obviously decline of the highest caliber.
I have the glorious PC version, so I couldn't care less about the console port. Let them have their fun.
Yeah, because consolization has never affected a PC version of a game in any way whatsoever. :smug:
As long as the PC version comes first (like in this case), I have no problem with it.
If you think that they didn't plan this from the beginning and thus made compromises in design in order to facilitate it, you're beyond naive.
Even if they change some things, as long as it works well on PC, why should I care? I won't scream COOONSOOOLEESSS DUMBING DOWN just because it is on consoles. If it works, it works, regardless what was their design philosophy.
 

Squid

Arbiter
Joined
May 31, 2018
Messages
536
Eh, just play the normal edition if it becomes console material. I haven't finished my play through and I'm not bothering with the new version.
 

ScrotumBroth

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2018
Messages
1,288
Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here Strap Yourselves In
I'll try DE since I want to do a Lone Wolf play through, may as well see what they've done with it. I'll take one for the team.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth


https://www.pcgamesn.com/divinity-original-sin-2/divinity-original-sin-2-definitive-edition

Divinity: Original Sin 2's Definitive Edition improves the PC's best RPG to near perfection

Divinity%20Original%20Sin%202%20Fane.png


How do you improve on the most ambitious RPG of the decade? It’s a question that’s faced Larian Studios ever since it released Divinity: Original Sin 2 last year, and one that no doubt overshadows whatever the Belgian developer produces next. Yet Larian is not solely focused on the future, and as such, that very same question has been applied to Divinity itself. The result is Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition: an enhanced version that further improves what is already one of the finest videogames ever made. And, as anyone who has played the original version will know, this means Larian has made a very good game indeed.

Revised versions are not new ground for the studio. The first Divinity: Original Sin was relaunched with an ‘Enhanced Edition’, and the changes were significant: a new ending, totally rebalanced combat, additional difficulty levels, and full voice acting being chief among them. On the surface, there’s less need for Original Sin 2 to receive such an overhaul, yet the changes demonstrate Larian’s obsession with detail and pursuit of perfection. As such, 150,000 new words have been written for the game, adding to or modifying existing dialogue to expand and enhance the story. And that’s just the headline.

Much of the new work has been applied to Arx, the city setting of the game’s concluding chapter, based on feedback that informed Larian of loose ends that needed tying up and elements further clarified. The city is where many characters see their final quests unfold, including that of Beast - the dwarven pirate attempting to prevent a Deathfog genocide orchestrated by his own monarch. Larian recognises that Beast was underwritten in comparison to the likes of Lohse, Sebille, and The Red Prince, and so significant time has been spent overhauling not only his backstory, but the threads of his questline.

Word of warning: if you’ve not experienced Beast’s questline, or the city of Arx, you may want to skip to the conclusion. Spoilers lie beyond here.

The city now features far more ‘breadcrumbing’ of quest information to foreshadow Queen Justinia’s Deathfog plot. Beast can find a fellow dwarf in the city who will provide a key to the sewers, whereas before many players found themselves simply stumbling upon the underground home of Justinia’s evil plan. If you’ve played this quest you’ll also know that the plot is in fact the brainchild of royal hand Isbeil, not Justinia, and thus Isbeil is name dropped several times prior in order to build up to the moment of her betrayal.

Further aiding in foreshadowing and atmosphere, segments of Arx’s sewer network have been redesigned. Booby-trapped teddy bears are strewn around the environment, signalling that the tunnels are inhabited, and foreshadowing the gang of children that you later find near the Deathfog stockpiles. Shadow effects point to huge turbine fans rotating above the isometric map, indicating that the sewers are the perfect place to vent deadly gas into a city. Redesigned assets help cement the area as sewer system, as opposed to simply a wet dungeon. These are small but significant changes, all contributing to Larian’s need for perfection.

Upon reaching the doomsday device itself an even more notable redesign rears its head. Rather than the original game’s valve in a wall, the Deathfog disperser is now a colossal machine; two huge vats of fog plumbed into a meters-wide brass turbine. It even gets a cutscene introduction. Coupled with this is an added moral quandary. Previously, you could opt to leave the machine alone or destroy Arx - a simple binary choice. In Definitive Edition, the machine is leaking and is thus a problem to be solved: do you vent the Deathfog into the city, or into the sea? Both have consequences, and so a bit of internal soul searching is required to conclude the quest.

Divinity%20Original%20Sin%202%20combat_0.jpg


Provided the same level of detail has been added to all of Original Sin 2’s weaker areas, Definitive Edition is going to prove quite the compelling playthrough. While there appears to be no new questing content (aside from the new DLC, Sir Lora, which details a quest to stop a cult of squirrels summoning the ‘Great Acorn’), the small changes should make any replays worth it, especially for devout and detail-obsessed fans. And, let’s face it, you’ve still got plenty of unplayed quests to attempt in a second (or third) run.

There are many more ‘bullet point’ style additions to Original Sin 2’s Definitive Edition to mention. A reworked AI for Tactician mode, graphical enhancements, a much-improved inventory and journal, 16 new characters for arena mode, better controller support and UI, and a new Nvidia physics engine that makes performance four times faster. On their own, they’re each highly welcome quality-of-life changes, but together they contribute to the subtly impressive rebuilding of a modern classic.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is already a game capable of providing multiple replays with huge differences, but Definitive Edition ensures that your next playthrough will be even more of a divergence from your first. And with a price point of zero - this edition is free to all owners of the original version - there’s only time holding you back. Don’t pretend there’s something better preventing you from another 120 hours in Rivellon...
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...y-original-sin-2-and-the-original-is-striking

The difference between the Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin 2 and the original is striking
Light up the floor like a Fane!

Larian visited the Eurogamer office to show me the new and improved Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin 2 last week. To do this the developer ran two versions of the game - old and new - side by side to highlight the differences. On one screen we had DOS2 as it exists now, played on a gaming laptop; and on the other screen we had the Definitive Edition of DOS2 played on an Xbox One X dev kit. The difference was striking.

It wasn't a Digital Foundry-style controlled test, with the laptop fans wheezing and picture coming through an older 1080p screen, but it got the point across. The Xbox One X version, running in 4K resolution and with high dynamic range enabled, was brighter, crisper and more vibrant. It was smoother and more responsive too, and will apparently run native 4K30 on Xbox One X, and dynamic checkerboard 4K30 on PS4 Pro.

The reasons for the differences run deeper than hardware. The physics engine has been changed for the Definitive Edition and numerous improvements have been made, making the game up to four times faster in certain areas. The fire effect, for example - which spreads across a lot of environments a lot of the time - has been changed for one more economical and arguably better looking too. It's a similar story for many of the game's 'surfaces', and textures have been improved as well.

These improvements will not be bound to console, of course, but available as a free update for existing owners of DOS2 on PC. They'll also help the base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game achieve 1080p30 performance even during split-screen play.

jpg

Not exactly laboratory conditions but it got the point across.

Making console versions was the impetus Larian needed to rectify various issues it had - and the community had - with Divinity: Original Sin 2. The area which copped the most flak was Act 3, the final act, as well as companion Beast's story arc, so it's these areas primarily improved.

Broadly, because I don't want to spoil things, Larian has given them another pass, lavishing the kind of care and attention seen elsewhere in the game. Story arcs have been beefed out, level design altered and dialogue added (a whopping 250,000 words have been re-recorded, Larian said). There's more to do and it's more interesting and nuanced.

Act 3 might be the focus - most of the eight new fights are located there - but the middle of Act 2 has had love too, plus there's an expanded tutorial area (another ship deck) to gently initiate absolute tactical RPG beginners, more likely on console, to the game. The new, easier, Story difficulty level makes fights less challenging, and introduces a guaranteed Flee option and Resurrection skill (not just scrolls).

There are some very welcome usability changes. The most notable is the reworked journal, which used to confusingly clump lore and quests together. Now they're separate and the journal far more coherent as a result.

There's party inventory management to display four companions' bags side by side, rather than individually, and you can send multiple items to a companion at once, saving a lot of time if you buy and sell through a high-Bartering-skill companion.

In total there are around 45-pages of design doc changes, including the notable changes to the DOS2 PvP Arena announced last week. Many of these will be itty-bitty balance changes you probably won't even notice but have been grating on Larian's nerves since launch (elemental resistances and armour values, for instance).

In short, the Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin 2 not only brings the acclaimed role-playing game to console in sparkling clarity, it revitalises it for those of you who missed it - or simply want to play it again - on PC. August 31st can't come quick enough.

Incidentally, you can already see the game running in 4K and HDR on Xbox One X via the Game Preview three-hour demo.
 

Wild Slop

Arcane
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Messages
2,307
Location
Crow's Nest
Are they still not planning to support old saves?
"Still"? So was there comment about this before? Saves carrying over to new edition is what I wanted to know about but this 196 pages is too much. I know for pragmistism's sake it's best to just assume the answer is "No". I'm still holding a flicker of hope that you can, at least under the right conditions.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,656
The new, easier, Story difficulty level makes fights less challenging, and introduces a guaranteed Flee option and Resurrection skill (not just scrolls).

Vogel it up. :cool:
 

SausageInYourFace

Angelic Reinforcement
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Messages
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In your face
Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
The new, even easier, super story difficulty removes combat altogether and it does in fact remove the whole game in favor of a short and fully voice acted plot summary upon which you are able to pick your preferred ending via one press of the awesome button. You are then immediately directed to the outro and a new complementary sex scene written by our experienced writing team.

Amazing, these updates get better and better!
 
Last edited:

Iznaliu

Arbiter
Joined
Apr 28, 2016
Messages
3,686
Yeah, because consolization has never affected a PC version of a game in any way whatsoever. :smug:

What's more important is the effect that console versions have on a game's sequels and other games by the developers; i.e. they attract an audience that cares more about AAA cinematic cutscenes, romances and deep-as-a-puddle RNG open worlds than traditional RPG gameplay. Even if a console port has little effect immediately, in the long run it can completely change the game (both figuratively and literally). Examples include almost every major/AAA RPG developer out there.
 

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