Tags: Divinity: Original Sin; Dragon Commander; Larian Studios
In the midst of the ongoing competition between the Codex and the Watch, Gragt has finally finished writing up an account of his visit to Larian Studios (on March 25th) where he got to play Divinity: Original Sin in co-op with Swen Vincke and Dragon Commander with Farhang Namdar (the game's lead designer). In this preview, he talks at length (I'm not kidding!) about his impressions of both of Larian's upcoming games.
Have a really really short snippet from the entire thing:
How does the dialogue between Original Sin's two protagonists play out? What are the stats and how do they come into play outside of combat? In what way is Original Sin's combat reminiscent of Temple of Elemental Evil-meets-Fallout? How is Larian's Dragon Commander similar to Origin's Wing Commander? To what extent is it a board game-turned-computer game? Why are gay marriage and choosing a proper bride important? And what does one sandwich matter? Read all about it in Gragt's article!
Read the full article: An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the RPG Codex to Larian Studios
In the midst of the ongoing competition between the Codex and the Watch, Gragt has finally finished writing up an account of his visit to Larian Studios (on March 25th) where he got to play Divinity: Original Sin in co-op with Swen Vincke and Dragon Commander with Farhang Namdar (the game's lead designer). In this preview, he talks at length (I'm not kidding!) about his impressions of both of Larian's upcoming games.
Have a really really short snippet from the entire thing:
When I first met Swen Vincke in Larian's offices in Ghent, I felt intimidated. The reason was vain and instinctive - at 1.9m, I'm taller than most of my peers, but Swen is even taller than me. I also didn't know how he'd react to my presence. After all I was an "emissary of the RPG Codex", which is a fancy way to say that I am not a member of the Codex staff and was sent there because I live not far from Ghent (then again, nothing is far from anything in Belgium). I have no previous video game journalism experience, my words do not carry weight in the video game community, and this meeting was organised because another Codex member bitched on the forums about Larian running out of money, to which Swen had replied on his blog that he'd invite one of us to Larian's office to check on the progress of Divinity: Original Sin in order to dispel such rumours. "I didn't think they'd actually send someone!", I heard him say later that day. This was all good fun, but I knew that the folks at Larian had to be very busy, working on two games at the same time, and I was afraid they might not appreciate my intrusion.
All the tension melted away when Swen and I started talking. He's the kind of man with a calm and amiable attitude that makes you instantly feel comfortable, so much in fact that you just want to sit next to him to have a chat about various things. That's actually what we did for the next few hours - sit next to each other, chat and play Divinity: Original Sin in co-op.
[...] Before visiting Larian I had assumed that Dragon Commander was an RTS that allowed you to enter the battlefield in your dragon form and take a direct part in the action; I thought that would be the gimmick that would set it apart from the rest of real-time strategy games. Bear also in mind that I'm no great fan of the RTS genre although I do enjoy some of them occasionally. However, Dragon Commander turned out to be much, much more than what I had expected. In fact, it isn't even an RTS but rather a hybrid of different genres, something that has become very rare these days. In one package, you'll find social interactions and political decisions where your choices actually matter, turn-based strategy with a strong board game feel, and real-time strategy with an action twist.
All the tension melted away when Swen and I started talking. He's the kind of man with a calm and amiable attitude that makes you instantly feel comfortable, so much in fact that you just want to sit next to him to have a chat about various things. That's actually what we did for the next few hours - sit next to each other, chat and play Divinity: Original Sin in co-op.
[...] Before visiting Larian I had assumed that Dragon Commander was an RTS that allowed you to enter the battlefield in your dragon form and take a direct part in the action; I thought that would be the gimmick that would set it apart from the rest of real-time strategy games. Bear also in mind that I'm no great fan of the RTS genre although I do enjoy some of them occasionally. However, Dragon Commander turned out to be much, much more than what I had expected. In fact, it isn't even an RTS but rather a hybrid of different genres, something that has become very rare these days. In one package, you'll find social interactions and political decisions where your choices actually matter, turn-based strategy with a strong board game feel, and real-time strategy with an action twist.
How does the dialogue between Original Sin's two protagonists play out? What are the stats and how do they come into play outside of combat? In what way is Original Sin's combat reminiscent of Temple of Elemental Evil-meets-Fallout? How is Larian's Dragon Commander similar to Origin's Wing Commander? To what extent is it a board game-turned-computer game? Why are gay marriage and choosing a proper bride important? And what does one sandwich matter? Read all about it in Gragt's article!
Read the full article: An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the RPG Codex to Larian Studios
