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Editorial RPG Codex Report: Divinity: Original Sin 2, or, A Visit to Larian Studios

Crooked Bee

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Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire MCA Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Tags: Divinity: Original Sin 2; Larian Studios; Sarah Baylus; Swen Vincke

You may have been wondering why Part 2 of our Gamescom report has been delayed for so long. That is because, in the meantime, we sent sold esteemed community member and our Gamescom reporter Bubbles off to Larian Studios for a closed, all expenses paid hands-on presentation and interview for Divinity: Original Sin 2, where he mingled with Real Game Journalists from European websites like Eurogamer. (All thanks to Bubbles' charming personality having won Swen over at Gamescom, of course.) Now that the D:OS 2 Kickstarter campaign has gone live and the preview embargo has been lifted, you can read all the juicy details Bubbles managed to collect.

These include, but are not limited to, what it's like being bribed by a games developer, what Swen thinks of the Codex, as well as a shocking Roguey-related scoop. Also, an interview with the writing team, including the person who wrote the Codex-Watch questline in D:OS.

A few weeks ago, Larian's PR department sent out a call to European gaming journalists: “come to Ghent on the 20th of August and see Original Sin 2 in action for the first time!” Or at least that's how I imagine it went for the other invitees. For me, contacting Larian involved cornering Swen Vincke in a darkened Gamescom doorway while he was under massive time pressure, and pestering him with convoluted questions until he asked me for a Codex staff contact to organize “an event in two weeks.” Swen first suggested contacting “the man in Australia”, but I already anticipated that Dark Underlord would be too busy with his numerous law suits (and possible jail time) to take care of such petty things. Instead, I suggested that Swen talk to Crooked Bee, who then promptly handed the entire matter off to me. Thus, I was off to the magical metropolis of Ghent on an all-expenses-paid three day trip, from the 19th to the 21th of August. Indeed, I will forever remember Ghent for its abundance of highly aromatic public pissoirs, a startling lack of traffic lights, and the tens of thousands of dead eyed tourists staggering through its crumbling streets. To be fair, the city also had lots of very nice restaurants, where I thankfully got to fill my tummy free of charge. Speaking of which…

Hey Bubbles, what's it like being bribed by a game developer?

Feels pretty good, I'd say. Of course, free transport and accommodation are perfectly normal when you've been invited to a press event, so it was quite sensible that Larian should cover these costs. In my case, they amounted to €228 for first class train tickets and €248 for two nights in a lower-middle-class hotel, plus the cost of a couple of taxi rides. Then, there was the cost of the free food and drink I received on Thursday. However, Larian had to accommodate a dozen journalists as well as a respectable amount of their own staff at these outings, so they couldn't afford to offer quite as top-tier a menu as one might have expected for such an occasion. Between a two-hour lunch, a four-hour dinner, and a four-and-a-half-hour pub crawl, I estimate that I did not consume more than 160 Euros in solid and liquid merchandise, which is really an utterly small amount for the circles that I was moving in. Still, I eventually became aware of the fact that my enthusiastic approach to fine dining was, to a certain degree, open to misinterpretation. My precise moment of epiphany came around 11 PM, when Swen, fresh off his fifth refill of a 2010 Château de Lussac (a pleasant, but rather ordinary vintage), whipped out his cellphone, snarked “Looks like the Codex got corrupted!” and photographed me while I was munching on a delicious cherry-ginger chocolate ice cream cake confection. I mention this incident here both to head off the inevitable tweeted exposé of my indulgence, and to forcefully assure the good Codex community – my friends, my comrades, one and all – that I maintained a clear and critical eye throughout my entire visit at the studio. In fact, I bring you many exclusive scoops, one of them Roguey-related, directly from Swen's mouth. You don't believe me? Then read on, brave readers, and soothe your troubled minds with some twelve thousand words of undiluted, fully objective information.​

Read the full article: RPG Codex Report: Divinity: Original Sin II, or, A Visit to Larian Studios
 
Unwanted
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Real Game Journalists



himZD0Mb.jpg
 

Infinitron

I post news
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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
This ought to fire you up to read the whole thing:

Stage 3: Swen Vincke's Top Codex Quotes

"Sometimes, after work, I'm really tired, and then I look at the Codex and go 'oh no...'"

"I don't have any messages for the Codex. [pause] But I enjoy the site. Keep on doing what you're doing."

"The Codex does good analysis."

"I like Roguey's posts. I don't always agree with him, but I respect him."

[pointing at me] "He's very secretive about his forums name."

"This is off the record. Off the record!"

"He did this four hour video, and it's totally unwatchable. I'll send you a link!"

"Mandatory. Roguey. Romance."

"I think I'm going to stay away from the Codex for the next month."
 
Unwanted
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They managed to make their sequel look worse than the previous game. Is this a new trend?


The colors lost all their vibrancy, which was the redeeming feature of the first game's visuals. Now this is an awful lot like a generic RPG from 2010.
 
Self-Ejected

Bubbles

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The colors lost all their vibrancy, which was the redeeming feature of the first game's visuals. Now this is an awful lot like a generic RPG from 2010. They managed to make their sequel look worse than the previous game. Is this a new trend?

They should do it like Gothic 4, where you had different colour schemes for "European mode" and "American mode."
 

Aenra

Guest
Bubbles well done! :)

I liked what i read (!!!!!), seemed sensible enough, in terms of scope, expanding and ammending (story). Bit worried about how it will feel to me (i play solo, so the lack of a 4 co-op may or may not alter my views), but overall?
Can't fucking wait!

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

Also, lol, RPGWatch at its usual...

"for players who don't like to read?" erm, i don't know? Fuck them?
"some players found it too hard" boohoohoo?
 

likaq

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They managed to make their sequel look worse than the previous game. Is this a new trend?


The colors lost all their vibrancy, which was the redeeming feature of the first game's visuals. Now this is an awful lot like a generic RPG from 2010.

Lol, yes first game with wow like gfx looks better. Oh wait.
 

Infinitron

I post news
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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
Bubbles well done! :)

I liked what i read (!!!!!), seemed sensible enough, in terms of scope, expanding and ammending (story). Bit worried about how it will feel to me (i play solo, so the lack of a 4 co-op may or may not alter my views), but overall?
Can't fucking wait!

Don't think we have to worry about romance optionss

:M
 

Cosmo

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Project: Eternity
They managed to make their sequel look worse than the previous game. Is this a new trend?


The colors lost all their vibrancy, which was the redeeming feature of the first game's visuals. Now this is an awful lot like a generic RPG from 2010.

You dunce, they're obviously veering towards Divine Divinity art direction, which is still very good. I partially agree though that it's just a tad too washed out...
 

kazgar

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So Codex fundraiser to become a high ranking npc?

(good week to ask i'm sure!)

I'll read the article in the morning.
 

likaq

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High fantasy setting + dwarves+elves+ art design only slighty better than D: OS = :keepmyjewgold:
 
Unwanted
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A nice anti depressant color palette is the only redeeming feature of Divinity's cartoony graphics.

You dunce, they're obviously veering towards Divine Divinity art direction, which is still very good. I partially agree though that it's just a tad too washed out...

Then why are they simply not doing it properly now instead of taking baby steps.
 

Turjan

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lol...i know... :negative:
edit: although until i see them implemented, i dare still hope they won't be erm, intellectually offending? Gonna jinx it again, so will shut up..
It's Larian. Of course they will be offending. It's part of the charm, I guess.
 

Surf Solar

cannot into womynz
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Post here so you can farm your well deserved fists, Bubbles

I really had to laugh about the 'can I.. can I take a picture of you???' :lol:

Overall awesome write up

Edit: ninjaed
 

Cosmo

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A nice anti depressant color palette is the only redeeming feature of Divinity's cartoony graphics.



Then why are they simply not doing it properly now instead of taking baby steps.

It's quite evident they only changed the shaders, the assets look like very similar to those of DD:OS 1.
The result is quite good but you can't rely on shaders only, good thing they've got time to tweak them AND the textures...
 

Angelo85

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I presume someone's been reading Hunter S. Thompson before writing his article. So gonzo!
 

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