Preview Divinity: Original Sin 2 Gameplay Footage on Twitch PAX West 2017 Broadcast

[Infinitron]

Tags: Divinity: Original Sin 2; Larian Studios

Divinity: Original Sin 2 may be less than two weeks away from release, but Larian aren't missing any opportunity to promote it. While Swen himself couldn't make the trip, designer Kieron Kelly was at PAX West in Seattle this weekend to talk about the game. Yesterday he appeared on Twitch's daily broadcast, where he was lucky enough to be hosted by somebody who actually knew what she was talking about. The eleven minute stream is all about the Undead racial abilities introduced in the recent Kickstarter update, with gameplay featuring the undead origin character Fane.

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By the humble standards of PAX, a very good demonstration. The most notable reveal is that Fane's Mask of the Shapeshifter artifact is capable of transforming not just undead characters, but any character in your party. The infiltration possibilities are endless.

 

[Chris Avellone]

The Mask of the Shapeshifter made me re-evaluate my narrative design conservatism.

 

[Quantomas]

The Mask of the Shapeshifter made me re-evaluate my narrative design conservatism.

You can do way more in video games. Narratively, conservatism is fine, but if you consider gameplay you have much more freedom to explore the space systemic storytelling provides. For role-playing the key is likely to make narrative traits proper gameplay mechanics. This translates narrative into gameplay and aids the writing.

 

[agentorange]

mary kish is my waifu

 

[Tavernking]

RPG game of the fucking decade, of the century even

 

[Jezal_k23]

Is Fane the only one who can craft it though?

 

[Tycho Brahe]

Any other RPGs being shown at PAX West?

Is Fane the only one who can craft it though?

They were saying something about him being the ORIGINAL creator of the mask, so most likely it's possible to create other instances by the other Undead.

 

[Bohrain]

The Mask of the Shapeshifter made me re-evaluate my narrative design conservatism.

To be fair it has probably served you right to this point considering the sheer number and scale of crazy design ideas Larian is putting to the game has usually meant development hell and broken promises.

 

[himmy]

I wonder if having so many things going on won't make the game incredibly easy to break. Not that I'm complaining, I'm from the "breaking games is fun" school.

 

[Zed]

can't take any writing in a Larian game seriously so unless it's a good joke who gives a shit

 

[Tao]

Still with the mmo ability bar type of UI...

Anyway the gameplay looks even more solid than before

 

[Zed]

gameplay wasn't solid in the first one. it's was highly gimmicky and repetitive. you essentially had all your tools from the start so every fight was the same until the end of the game. (I didn't play the game until the end, but please someone correct me)

 

[Quantomas]

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Spotlight: Origin Stories - Sebille

What a beautiful trailer! Lean, supple and strong.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

never got to finish the first one, I don't know ...story, characters, never grabbed me. I only cared for the graphics and combat. You don't even have reputation system right?

 

[DragoFireheart]

gameplay wasn't solid in the first one. it's was highly gimmicky and repetitive. you essentially had all your tools from the start so every fight was the same until the end of the game. (I didn't play the game until the end, but please someone correct me)

What the fuck did you just type? holy shit i lost some IQ.

You didn't have "all the tools". The big game changers are things like Winged Feet and Walk In Shadows for non-combat stuff, Rapture as the early-midgame super spell, and then the Master Spells that make the rest of the game a breeze (specifically, Hail Attack and Rain of Arrows. Sometimes Meteor Shower).

The voice acting is pretty bad, the dialog is quirky but amusing, graphics aren't anything special and the lore is... not terrible but it didn't feel engaging. What makes D:OS worth playing is the excellent combat system. It's always a joy to play it, rest of the game is filler. The Void Dragon story is basically an excuse for a game similar to how "high quality" porn movies have a story.

Still with the mmo ability bar type of UI...

Anyway the gameplay looks even more solid than before

Yeah the MMO skill bar triggers me, makes me think I'm playing World of Warcraft. But the combat looks great.

 

[Quantomas]

Hey, Infinitron, you have to respect your elders!

My comment wasn't a sexual reference. Only a retard would think that way.

Instead it was directed at the animation. Virtual characters are more powerful and demonstrate enhanced muscle strength compared to motion captured characters. Look how she moves her arms, the trailer is worth watching in HD! If you have done a bit of Kung Fu and learned to move properly, or watched ample Shaolin training sessions, you develop an eye for that.

Alix Wilton Regan is a great voice actor. Now I understand why she had this big spoon in the Kickstarter audio update.

They must have captured her movements and reanimated these with her elven body. Love this attention to detail!