Larian's Boss Says You Don't Have to Play Previous Divinity Games to Enjoy Its Next Adventure
"They're a bit outdated by now."
Larian
Most players probably know Larian Studios for its Baldur's Gate 3, and the recent Divinity trailer likely caught their attention with its slightly gory cinematics.
With Divinity, the studio is diving back into its own lore, continuing the story outlined by other games in the series. But don't worry: you don't need to play the previous parts, Larian's CEO Swen Vincke says (via GamesRadar+), as they are "a bit outdated".
"If you play [the two Divinity: Original Sin games] you will see things in this Divinity that reference those two," Vincke explained. "If you played the first Divinity, you will see it referenced properly inside of this Divinity. 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."
Still, it's unnecessary to binge-play the old games to understand the new one, as it was with BG3 and even Original Sin 2. Vincke says that if you liked BG3 for its "cinematic narrative experience," you shouldn't play the previous Divinity games unless you want to know the lore, but if you enjoyed its tactical combat, or co-op multiplayer, or "really having lots of freedom," you should try Original Sin 2, "because that's a game that was a blueprint for BG3. Original Sin 1 also, 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."
I think the general consensus has always been this among most players: if you liked Baldur's Gate 3, play OS2, the games are truly alike (with Original Sin 2 being even better in some ways, in my opinion), but you won't miss anything if you skip the first part or any other before that.
"If you really want to know everything, there's games that came before," Vincke said, "but they're a bit outdated by now, they are quite old."
After the blinding success of BG3, Larian is under a lot of pressure to deliver something of the same quality or even better.
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