Belgian developer Larian Studios recently announced a brand new Divinity game, though its CEO has warned newcomers looking at older games in the series they’re quite outdated.
“If you really want to know everything, there are games that came before,” Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke said in a new interview. “But they’re a bit outdated by now, they are quite old.”
Larian is mostly known now for their critical hit Baldur’s Gate 3, though they originally built a fandom around the Divinity series, over 20 years ago with the original Divine Divinity.
“If you play [the two Divinity: Original Sin games], you will see things in this Divinity that reference those two,” Vincke said. “If you played the first Divinity, you will see it referenced properly inside of this Divinity.”
Vincke added, “Ego Draconis, same story, or The Dragon Knight Saga, all of it is being referenced, but it’s just part of the history of what happened in this world, and it helped shape the world to the point where it is now.”
To date, the Divinity series has seen three chronological sequels: Divinity Divinity, Beyond Divinity, and Divinity II, as well as two prequels Original Sin and Original Sin 2 – and even a strategic spinoff called Dragon Commander.
The Divinity series was originally inspired by Diablo and Dungeons & Dragons, though they are considered similar in gameplay mechanics and progression, their worlds, stories, and characters are wholly different.
“If you played Baldur’s Gate 3 because it was a cinematic narrative experience, you shouldn’t play the previous ones unless you want to know the lore,” Vincke said. “If you played because you really enjoy tactical combat or co-op multiplayer or really having lots of freedom, you should definitely play Original Sin 2, because that’s a game that was a blueprint for Baldur’s Gate 3.
The Larian CEO also noted Original Sin was somewhat a predecessor for Baldur’s Gate 3, “although in slightly lesser manner, because it didn’t have the companions that we had in those two. So I would point you in the direction of those games.”
Details for the new Divinity like release platforms, a release date, and most importantly what connection (if at all) it has to the previous games in the series, haven’t been confirmed.
