After BG3 Made It Impossible For Me To Return To Divinity, I Desperately Need Original Sin 3

Although it still follows the general formula of the Divinity: Original Sin games, Baldur’s Gate 3 brought Larian Studios to a brand-new level of presentation, benefiting from the biggest budget the studio has ever had for a title. BG3 is the best-looking Larian game thanks to its engine (Divinity 4) providing current-gen visuals, and the performance capture technology allows the title to present characters in a more life-like way than ever before. Most of the Divinity games stuck strictly with the isometric, top-down view, but BG3 brought cinematics and close-ups to the studio’s RPGs.

Future Larian titles will likely use the Baldur’s Gate 3 formula of more cinematic dialogue and minimalistic UI during interactions, and director Swen Vincke’s comments regarding future projects imply that the studio will stick to splitting its titles into distinct acts. This formula has been successful for the studio since the first Divinity: Original Sin title, allowing Larian to tell its stories in an open yet structured way. Despite everything that BG3 and Divinity share, however, BG3 shows how far Larian has come, and it’s changed the way I look at going back through Larian’s library.

BG3’s Cinematic Presentation Ruined Divinity For Me

BG3’s Upgraded Look Makes It Tougher To Fall In Line With Original Sin 2

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the best games to come out of the 2010s, in my opinion, and it’s everything that I wanted out of a CRPG. With strong and charming storytelling, intriguing world-building, and brilliant turn-based mechanics, especially when it comes to the elemental environmental effects, Original Sin 2 has it all. In many ways, Divinity: OS2 was as much of an inspiration for BG3 as the other Baldur’s Gate games, from its story-telling structure to its charmingly written narrator, and this obvious similarity inspired some criticism of BG3 before its release.

Larian decided to make BG3 turn-based, despite the prior Baldur’s Gate titles being RTS games.

As great as following Divinity: Original Sin 2‘s formula has been for Larian, it does make going back to the game quite difficult. Divinity: OS2 is the harder game, being far more punishing for less than stellar builds, although some mechanics are considerably more exploitable, like using telekinesis to drop extremely heavy boxes on enemies (which I lovingly call the Obi-Wan build). Still, returning to the game after all the improvements BG3 made, especially with its presentation, is difficult, and it’s the reason why I haven’t spent much time in the world of Divinity after BG3‘s release.

I don’t take much issue with Divinity: OS2‘s gameplay, since that still holds up very well. I’d actually argue that Divinity‘s combat is more fun than BG3‘s, or at least more chaotic. My primary issue is that BG3‘s presentation is so good that it’s hard to go back to Divinity‘s more simplistic, text-based storytelling, especially with how Larian uses it. The gap is a sign that the studio keeps pushing itself to improve on its winning formula, but it’s also annoying that I can’t get back into a game that I love.

The Character Work And Performances In BG3 Are Unmatched

Lohse Or The Red Prince With The Baldur’s Gate 3 Treatment Would Be Amazing

Baldur’s Gate 3 shines through its characters. The party companions are some of the best in not only CRPGs, but RPGs as a whole, spawning their own massive fan bases. This is helped by some incredible performances, which I personally didn’t expect out of a CRPG. Now that I’ve seen it in Baldur’s Gate 3, however, I miss it in similar titles.

Before working on BG3, Larian was going to make another Divinity game, Fallen Heroes, but the project was put on indefinite hiatus.

That’s not to say that the performances in Divinity: Original Sin 2 are bad. In fact, the voice acting is stellar, with many actors returning to work with Larian again in BG3. Tamaryn Payne plays Lohse in Divinity and Mizora in BG3, while Amelia Tyler came back to narrate BG3 after playing Malady in Original Sin 2. Likewise, much of what makes BG3‘s character work so good, like overarching questlines that evolve the characters over the game’s acts, comes from Divinity.

At the end of the day, Baldur’s Gate 3 just presents its story better. The performance capture and more cinematic nature elevate the strong voice acting and contribute to the story’s emotional effectiveness. The ability to have more characters in camp, rather than just the four characters that can fit in the party, also makes the story experience richer in a single playthrough.

Minsc and Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 with blood on their face

Baldur’s Gate 3 Honour Mode Ironically Taught Me To Fight Dirty

Baldur’s Gate 3 may call its hardest difficulty Honour Mode, but in my experience the best way to get through the campaign is by fighting dirty.

I keep thinking that if Lohse, The Red Prince, Sebille, Ifan, and Fane (not Beast) had BG3‘s cinematic qualities, these characters would come across as fleshed out as BG3‘s cast, especially The Red Prince, who has Gale’s arrogance and Astarion’s snarky charm. A part of me wouldn’t mind seeing a Divinity: Original Sin 2 remake in the Divinity 4 engine, although it’s better if Larian keeps moving forward onto new projects. With the size of its current playerbase, Larian could take another giant leap forward, and its next project could make it hard to go back to BG3.

I’m Waiting Patiently For Larian’s Next Project

And Am Desperately Hoping It Is Divinity: Original Sin 3

The Red Prince from DOS2 and Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 looking shocked. — Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic.

Despite all the inconsistencies of modern developers, it seems like Larian will be a constant. The studio has the license to take CPRGs further than other studios thanks to how popular it has now become, and my eyes are fixed on whatever it plans to do next, despite Baldur’s Gate 3 awaiting its eighth patch. As great as BG3 still is, it feels like we’re surrounded by Dungeons and Dragons content, and I would love to dive back into the world of Divinity with the studio’s current level of presentation.

The Dark Urge in Baldur's Gate 3 clenching a powerful fist while an explosion rocks the castle behind them

Baldur’s Gate 3 Modder Delivers The First Chapter Of A Custom Campaign Inspired By World of Warcraft

A creative Baldur’s Gate 3 modder shares the first chapter of what’s shaping up to be an exciting World of Warcraft-inspired custom campaign.

Seeing someone like Malady benefit from close-ups and performance capture like BG3‘s characters would be a dream for me, especially since Original Sin 2 was the game that got me into CRPGs. I also love Divinity‘s classless system of making builds, and with BG3-style cosmetics and character creation, the next Divinity game could be everything I want out of a CRPG, provided that’s the route Larian wants to go down. The studio is working on two projects, with one new title being code-named Excalibur. My hope is that one of them is Divinity: OS3.

Beyond Divinity, Baldur’s Gate 3 has ruined other CRPGs for me as well. In light of its unmatched production value, I find it hard to go to other CRPGs for a fix unless they are drastically different, like Disco Elysium. Still, with Obsidian seemingly moving away from traditional CRPGs and using the Pillars of Eternity world for Avowed, it is good to know that Larian is here to help the genre thrive. Whatever Larian’s next project is, I’ll be there playing it, but I really hope that the Baldur’s Gate 3 studio isn’t done with the Divinity IP.

Platform(s): PC, macOS, PS5, Xbox Series X
Released: August 3, 2023
Developer(s): Larian Studios
Publisher(s): Larian Studios
Multiplayer: Local Multiplayer
ESRB: M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence