Divinity: Original Sin II (2017)
Larian Studios' Universally Acclaimed Turn-Based CRPG Masterpiece of Origin Stories and Source
Divinity: Original Sin II is a 2017 turn-based role-playing game directed by Swen Vincke at Larian Studios. Set twelve centuries after Original Sin as collared 'Sourcerers' escape Fort Joy to contest vacant godhood across Rivellon, it achieved a 93/100 Metascore through six deeply reactive Origin characters, Cursed and Blessed elemental surfaces, and Borislav Slavov's dynamic score—paving the road to Baldur's Gate 3.
Six Origin Narratives, Fort Joy's Sandbox, and Competitive Ascension
Expanding its 2015 Kickstarter past two million dollars across Ghent, Quebec City, Dublin, and Saint Petersburg studios, Larian crafted a darker, grander narrative set centuries after Lucian the Divine's apparent death. Imprisoned in Bishop Alexandar's island gulag of Fort Joy because their forbidden Source magic attracts Voidwoken horrors, players inhabit either a custom prisoner or one of six playable Origin protagonists—exiled lizard noble The Red Prince, demon-possessed bard Lohse, former scar-bound slave Sebille, cynical wolf-mercenary Ifan ben-Mezd, dwarven rebel Beast, or Eternal undead scholar Fane, co-designed with Chris Avellone, who rips faces off corpses to wear racial disguises and picks locks with his bony fingers.
Cursed Surfaces, Dynamic Musical Instruments, and the Bridge to Baldur's Gate 3
Original Sin II deepened Larian's tactical sandbox with height-elevation bonuses, split Physical and Magical Armor bars eliminating random crowd-control frustration, and Source infusions that transformed ordinary fire or blood into necrotic Hellfire or healing Blessed Water. Up to four co-op players could aid or secretly betray one another in the final trial to become the next Divine, alongside a tabletop-inspired Game Master mode. Succeeding the late Kirill Pokrovsky, composer Borislav Slavov engineered an adaptive soundtrack where the player's chosen instrument—bansuri flute, cello, tambura, or oud—dynamically played lead melodies during combat. Selling over seven million copies, its triumph directly convinced Wizards of the Coast to entrust Larian with Baldur's Gate 3.