Source Hunters! It’s time to resurrect your heroes because Larian Studios fantasy-CRPG hit Divinity: Original Sin 2 (DOS2) is receiving an impressive free upgrade for current owners of the title, similar to its predecessor. Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition will include :
- Completely revamped third chapter.
- Revamped journal/quest menu.
- A fixed system that combines your party’s inventory.
- New tutorial.
- A new story mode difficulty (presumably similar to the original’s ‘Explorer Mode’).
- ‘Sir Lorna the Squirrel‘ quest.
- Player-vs-Player (PVP) updates.
- An abundance of bug fixes.
Feedback Billy, an interactive method for receiving feedback on the game, opened a video by Larian Studios that revealed the impending release of the DOS2 Definitive Edition. It exclusively mentions the Xbox One version of the game which is now available via Xbox Game Preview. However, the studio later clarified the update will include PC too. This upgrade coincides with the studio’s recent announcement of bringing the title to both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August.
The most interesting news came from Bandai Namco during the Judges Week event at E3. The game’s third chapter is known for dragging and jarring players with a bland third to the story. Larian is going back to the drawing board; rewriting and rejigging characters for hopefully a compelling experience. They also revealed new placeable markers and the rescripted journal.
It took them years to understand that micromanagement between four playable characters is slow and tiresome, but Larian is reconfiguring the current inventory system. Following the update, a new ‘party inventory’ option will allow players to have all their characters pull from the same universal inventory. No more having to use action points to share potions or resurrection spells between Bane and The Read Prince. All current players will rejoice over this news.
The new tutorial will introduce new players to the DOS mechanics fluently and easily, aiming to make the first few hours a less daunting experience. The game can be known for being quite ‘free’, in the sense that you can kill, steal, and build whatever journey pleases you. New players may not grasp this, the mechanics of the strategic turn-based combat, or the abundance of menus. A new tutorial that expands on these elements will definitely improve playability.
The new Story Mode setting is presumably similar to Explorer Mode in Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition. The mode stripped combat to its bones and provided a simple avenue for players invested within exploration and story rather than the strategy.
The most exciting of updates is the new quest content ‘Sir Lorna the Squirrel, a story of a squirrel struggling with an existential crisis’. Not much more is known, but the name unquestionably involves a quirky and bizarre adventure.
More about the Definitive Edition is to come. If the Enhanced Edition of the previous game gives us any expectation, it’s without a doubt going to be an impressively comprehensive expansion. Renowned for being the ‘benchmark for CRPGs‘, everyone has a good reason to be excited.
