It certainly will not be interesting news for all, but for those who play RPGs on their iPad, know that Divinity Original Sin II is now also available on it. You do need some 13GB of free space to be able to play it and a fairly recent iPad as well.

The video below announces the game and shows it being played using a controller, but obviously it can be played with touch.

Toucharcade had a look at it.

The touch controls scale well and feel very good to use. In fact, I prefer the touch interface over using a controller despite the game feeling great on a controller as well. With touch, the hotbar icons are larger, touch targets on menus are larger, and you have the ability to pan and pinch anywhere on the screen to change the camera. The in-game tooltips do a great job of getting you accustomed to the controls if you’ve never played the game before as well. In fact, I liked the tutorial section in the beginning a lot and experiencing it with different control options was interesting to see with how the interface scales.

Speaking of co-op play, I was very impressed with how well Divinity: Original Sin 2 runs in splitscreen. It controls really well and the interface scales well. Splitscreen co-op is something not possible on the Nintendo Switch version. The new touch options, support for basically every input method, and support for co-op play on the go definitely make Divinity: Original Sin 2 on iPad one of the best ways you can play this. It even loads much quicker than the PS4 Pro, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One X versions in my testing. Visually, it does look like a few aspects have been turned down a bit compared to the PC version on my laptop with everything maxed out but overall Divinity: Original Sin 2 looks brilliant and way better than I expected on my iPad.

The Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin II wasn't definitive enough, so there is another gift bag from Larian Studios. The gift bag is a mix of new content, additional languages for console games and bug fixes and unfortunately the new content is only available when you start a new game.

Today we are releasing our biggest Gift Bag yet, The Four Relics of Rivellon!

As always, it’s delivered directly to your version of DOS2 and at no extra cost, via an update released alongside this text!

In The Four Relics of Rivellon, you’ll embark upon new quests in search of four ancient armour sets imbued with magical properties. You’ll face new foes, fight brand new fights, and even take on an entirely new Undead Dragon boss. Discover new lore, new loot, and new narration on the hunt for distant relics.

What you see of course depends on the choices you make during your adventure. Be sure to check out the trailer!

Checkout this post on the Larian forums for more details.

Despite the need to start a new game, it speaks in Larian's favor that they keep on supporting and delivering new content, which is also free, for a game that was originally released 3 years ago.

An update for Divinity: Original Sin II tells the story of cross-save compatibility between Steam and Switch.

Science and magic hash it out in the second issue of the Larian Gazette. We’ve got headlines, if you’ve got time. 

First up, Divinity: Original Sin 2, our critically acclaimed RPG, is now released on Switch to another round of awards and praise. The reception has been very good with Gamespot hailing it as one of the best games on Switch with a 10/10 score, and USgamer is calling it “a masterpiece of role-playing, wherever you go.” 

Divinity: Original Sin 2 launched on the Nintendo Switch with the completely unique feature that allows players to share their Steam save files between PC and their Switch, seamlessly and as often as they like. 

The Gazette is pleased to report that it has obtained footage of what can only be referred to as a very daring and epic heist, one that saw the worlds of magic and science collide! That’s right, dear readers, Larian broke into Valve to make the unimaginable possible! 

Watch as Baldur’s Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2 Creative Director Swen Vinke stealthily (he thinks) infiltrates the home of Portal, Index, and of course, your entire collection of PC games. See things you weren’t supposed to see, and some things you wish you never had! 

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You heard it here first! Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition will be the first game featuring cross-save compatibility between Switch and Steam. That means you can store your saves on the Cloud when playing at home and continue your adventure on the road on Switch. As one source within Larian indicated, "It took some true heroes at Valve and Nintendo to make this happen. And let’s not forget our partner Blitworks who made work very hard to make this port possible. A hearty thanks to everyone!."

If you aren’t familiar with Divinity: Original Sin 2, it was Kickstarted in 2015 and thanks to the support of 45k backers, it began a fantastic journey across PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 before finally landing on the Switch in 2019 on September 4th.  (For the complete history of Divinity: Original Sin 2, go here)

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Gift Bag 2

In a show of embarrassing excess, Larian also released a brand new Gift Bag on all platforms, in celebration of the Switch release.

Gift Bag 2: Song of Nature contains six new additions to D:OS2 on all platforms that will help to enrich your adventures in Rivellon:

Crafter's Kit: Plenty of new recipes and unique items to craft! 

Endless Runner: Find a new icon in your Hotbar to toggle sprint on and off. Sprint increases the movement speed of your party.

Animal Empathy: Allows all player characters to talk to animals without having to spend a talent point. Changes Pet Pal talent to grant maximum positive attitude in all conversations with animals. 

Fort Joy Magic Mirror: Manifests a Magic Mirror in the Arena of Fort Joy, along with a new Character Creation level. This allows you to respec before moving on to the next act of the game.

8 Action Points: Increases the base maximum Action Points of hero characters to 8.

Herb Gardens: Plant your own herb garden! Take any herb and combine it with a bucket to create a seedling. Then place your seedling in the ground and watch it grow.

All Gift Bag content is automatically enabled, but to play with modifications you'll have to manually apply each one to your game. You can do this via the in-game Larian Modifications menu--find it when you start a game or load your save game. But be warned! If you choose to play with modifications, achievements will be turned off.

Divinity Dice Set

The Divinity: Original Sin 2 Dice Set proved to be a popular item at PAX West, selling out on the second day. Made with excellence by the Q-Workshop team, these dice are a distractingly attractive addition to tabletop games. Their worldwide release will be coming soon-- beware Larian's socials for this sin against tabletop austerity.

Larian Gazette

For more breaking news and behind the scenes stories about everything Larian, make sure you sign up for the Larian Gazette at baldursgate3.game.

A word from the Larian Team:

"You've helped us make two amazing games already, and your reactions and feedback as we post updates will be as valuable as ever. We will not be doing any more Kickstarter updates so signing up for the newsletter is the definitive way to stay posted."

Make sure to follow Larian on social media, and click Youtube’s notification bell, to make sure you never miss exclusive coverage of the excess of shenanigans to come.

Finally, please make sure you wishlist the game here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086940/Baldurs_Gate_III/

Big Boss Battle checked out Divinity Original Sin II: Definitive Edition:

Divinity Original Sin II: Definitive Edition — Six months of a game

Even though the original Divinity: Original Sin was well renowned for being one of the toughest old school RPG’s available, I somehow bested it thanks to years of experience from similar games. It’s sequel, Divinity: Original Sin II took me over six months and several playthroughs to complete, so what on Earth was I doing wrong?

I went into Larian Studios latest epic brimming with confidence, such is my skill at mastering tactical RPG’s. Baldur’s Gate, Planescape Torment, both Pillars of Eternity games and even Wasteland 2 have all succumbed to my challenge, even on the hardest difficulty settings. Divinity: Original Sin II, on the other hand, is a completely different beast.

[...]

When I began playing Divinity: Original Sin II during its first weeks on the preview program, my heart sank. The game felt punishingly hard and unbalanced, even for an experienced player, and I couldn’t see the quality of the game that lay behind the first four or five hours of torturous gameplay. Fast forward months of development and an increase in my own skills and understanding, and everything has changed.

Divinity: Original Sin II is not only an exceptionally good game, it’s also one that stands proud among the very finest in its class. It’s a long, deep and demanding adventure that has plenty of story twists and literal dark alleys to explore, but the real backbone is the character development and combat. Fighting in Divinity II is bettered by no other tactical RPG, and nor is the players freedom to take the fight to their enemies in such diverse ways. Divinity: Original Sin II is a must have for any RPG fan; that is beyond doubt.

Swen Vincke talked about the making of Divinity: Original Sin 2 at GDC. Video is at the link.

"The same but sexier, deeper and more engaging" Those were the marching orders for 'Divinity: Original Sin 2'. In this talk, Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke takes a look at all the things that were planned to make 'Divinity: Original Sin 2' a better game than 'Divinity: Original Sin 1', and how they turned out. Vincke is a strong believer in the power of iteration, and D:OS 2 is a game where his team applied iteration at every level, with varying levels of success. The team learned a lot about how to design and organize for iteration, and the talk will focus on these lessons. This talk comes with plenty of examples of both success and failure.

PCGamesN writes about how Larian went about crafting the story for Divinity: Original Sin II.

When work began on the story script, Larian relied on shared Google docs that gave everyone access to the text and the ability to make notes. Vincke said this, perhaps predictably, resulted in total chaos.

Not only that, he said, but most of the nine writers who were actually hired to create the story – while accomplished in fields like TV and traditional narrative – didn’t have experience in interactive dialogue writing. They wound up needing training in order to adapt to games writing.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Free content updates will be made available for Divinity Original Sin II, starting with some new assest to make your character look different.

Players of Divinity: Original Sin 2 to enjoy free content updates over the coming year

A year of 'Gift Bags' with various contents to be automatically patched into the game. Today, character creation content is patched in free on every platform.

Larian Studios is excited to announce a series of varied content updates to be patched into the game on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One over the course of the coming year. This content is being created in conjunction with talented European developers, Fools Theory and Anshar Studios.

Not to be mistaken for Loot Boxes (which are hard, ostensibly containing loot), Gift Bags are soft, and contain gifts. Each Gift Bag costs exactly no amount of money to players, and will be patched in periodically to each platform.

Gift Bag #1 releases today, and contains plenty of new faces, hairstyles and facial features for Character Creation, so that your next re-roll in Rivellon will feel fresh and exciting. Gift Bag #2 will contain a selection of features and content inspired by our modding community. The contents of the other Gift Bags will remain under wraps for now.

We can't wait to see the new Divinity-you, so please send Larian screenshots and continue flooding us with stories of your adventures in Rivellon.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 enjoyed many months of community support and enthusiasm prior to its September 14 2017 launch into critical acclaim. After generating $2m on Kickstarter and working through player feedback on Steam's Early Access program, Divinity: Original Sin 2 finally made its way to consoles along with a gigantic update under the Definitive Edition in August of last year.

As the title says, The Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin 2, is now available for Mac, with a 35% discount.

Award-winning Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition out now for Mac

First title to support HDR on macOS and available now for a limited 35% discount on the Mac App Store, GoG and Steam

January 31^st, Ghent, Belgium - The wait for Mac gamers is over, as Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition is now available on Mac devices, and is the first title on macOS to support HDR (on selected hardware, 10.14+ only). Developed in a partnership between Saint-Petersburg based Elverils, and the Apple Metal Engineering Team, Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition is a bespoke port without compromising on content, or graphical fidelity.
 
Having won over 200 awards across three platforms, and selling far over two million copies, the Mac version of Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition features all the lauded content from the PC version. Plus, it comes with new features especially for Mac such as full MacBook TouchBar support for quick access to in-game actions (such as the journal or map), as well as MacBook trackpad and selected gestures support. Also supported is iCloud, for easy backup between devices.  

A range of controllers - including Apple MFI controllers - are also supported with full vibration support, so there's no reason not to jump into one of gaming's most cherished RPG adventures.

In the spirit of adventure, players will be able to enjoy cross play between Windows and macOS, so long as both players have the same version.

As of release, DOS2 is one of only 15 games to get a GameSpot 10/10 score. It won a BAFTA in the Multiplayer category, has won, and was nominated for, hundreds of other awards. This in-depth, sandbox adventure for up to four friends is the highest rated PC game of 2017 on Metacritic.

A new story mod in development for Divinity: Original Sin II called Chronicles of Divinity adds an origin story and a whole lot more.

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Chronicles of Divinity is a mod for Divinity: Original Sin 2. It's an expansion on the base game, adding a new origin, new important characters and a whole lot of new quests and storylines.
The "unofficial expansion" adds both new content and changes existing content, aiming to provide a completely fresh and unexpected new playthrough.

Features List:

- New Origin-character
- "Kara". Fully fledged as starting Origin or recruitable later, with her own major questline.
- Unique difference is that she'll be recurring as an NPC to interact with similarly to others such as Malady if never used as a player.
- New areas both in and outside of Fort Joy.
- Fort Joy Isles
- Sail on a boat and explore different isles and the stories & secrets they hold.
- Hall of Echoes & The Veil
- Can't describe a lot. Very story spoiler heavy.
- Hidden locations throughout old and new areas.
- The new first act is technically larger than Reaper's Coast, four times larger than Fort Joy. Albeit a majority of this is due to the new sailing mechanic, and the ocean space takes up a bit of distance to accomodate for boat travel speet and viewport.
- A lot of new quests and stories to explore.
- This includes major new storyline quests arching over multiple acts if not until the end... And beyond?
- Small side-quests and world flavor.
- A new animal companion.
- Returning allies... And foes.
- It's an advantage to have played Divinity: Original Sin 1.
- New Mechanics!
- Sailing
- Obtain and sail a boat. Kind of a necessity in order to explore Fort Joy Isles.
- The Source Forge
- Discover an old relic you can use to upgrade your items. This opens a whole new world of possibilities, as your old level 3 gloves can become useful again.
- Random rare loot - Every chest you open, every body you loot may drop random rare items outside of the Larian loot tables. - And more...
- A new Source Power.
- It's a common fact that Braccus Rex used Fort Joy as a playground for his schemes and experiments. However, did you know that some content was scrapped by Larian? Did you ever talk to the Historian up at Braccus' Tower and wonder what he referred to about an ancient Source Power that Braccus Rex coveted so much?
- Expanded storylines.
- Chronicles of Divinity is named as it is due to its scope, to explore what happened between DOS1 and DOS2, during each and potentially what happens after.
- Some loose threads are picked up on, such as Malady's favor, Gratiana's time as a concubine, etc.
- Upgraded visuals.
- You may notice a lot of small things around the world seems different. That's because many of the lighting atmospheres, water and more is redone. Vegetation and terrain is partially repainted.
- Level and content scaling system.
- Most sane way of keeping combat difficulty up to par considering all the new content and extra work it'd require. You'd be way above expected vanilla level when reaching Reaper's Coast otherwise.
- Offers flexibility to base content on story, an example being having a certain enemy type more difficult to fight unless you're learned something about them.
- Divine Scaling, a scaling mod for DOS2 was a lightweight deriviation of this system. If you enjoyed that mod, note that this system is more powerful to work with.
- Probably more, but it's 3:41am at the time of writing.

Gameumentary looked at the making of Divinity: Original Sin II.

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Our second documentary on Larian Studios takes a deep dive into the development of Divinity: Original Sin 2. Watch our Divinity: Original Sin Documentary to get the full story on Larian Studios and everything that lead to Original Sin.

A new official game master mode campaign for Divinity: Original Sin II.

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Larian Studios has joined forces with Ulisses Spiele, creators of the hugely successful Dark Eye tabletop RPG, to bring Divinity players into a new world of magic and mystery. Written and designed by Ulisses, with cooperation from Larian developers, the Prison of Shadow GM campaign brings a comprehensive set of the tools that will allow every Game Master and their team to dive into the thrilling and dangerous world of The Dark Eye.

This Game Master adventure will be automatically included in the Divinity: Original Sin 2 update on 21st November 2018, and is designed for both new and experienced Game Masters and their parties.

Earlier this week we received news that the Definitive Edition of Original Sin II will be available for the Mac.

Multi award-winning RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition coming to Mac devices Q1 2019

The first title to support HDR on macOS

Having won over 200 awards across three platforms, and selling far over two million copies, independently developed Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition is finally coming to Mac devices Q1 2019, developed in a partnership between Saint-Petersburg based Elverils, and the Apple Metal Engineering Team.

Featuring all the lauded content from the PC version of Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition, the Mac version is a bespoke port without compromising on content, or graphical fidelity. In fact, it comes with new features especially for Mac such as full MacBook TouchBar support for quick access to in-game actions, such as the journal or map.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition will be the first title on macOS to support HDR (on selected hardware, 10.14+ only). Also supported is iCloud, for easy backup between devices.

In the spirit of adventure, players will be able to enjoy cross play between Windows and macOS, so long as both players have the same version.

A range of controllers - including Apple MFI controllers - are also supported will full vibration support, so there's no reason not to jump into one of gaming's most cherished RPG adventures.

As of release, DOS2 is one of only 15 games to get a GameSpot 10/10 score. It won a BAFTA in the Multiplayer category, has won, and was nominated for, hundreds of other awards. This in-depth, sandbox adventure for up to four friends is the highest rated PC game of 2017 on Metacritic.

Larian Studios will follow up with a more specific release date early in 2019.

Pafdingo released the complete soundtrack of Divinity: Original Sin II on youtube:

Divinity: Original Sin II - Soundtrack

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Full original soundtrack for Larian Studio's Divinity: Original Sin 2 composed by Borislav "Bobby" Slavov

With the release of the Definitive Edition of Original Sin 2 in 2 days, a final Kickstarter update is made available.

This will be the last Kickstarter update for Divinity:Original Sin 2.  

We’ll obviously continue to support the game with patches and we are still working on ports to other platforms, but content wise we’ll be moving on to new things. Expect to hear a lot more from us once we’re ready to announce our new endeavors.  

It’s been a great ride.  

You are all fantastic.

The contents of this update is obviously about the release of the Definitive Edition.

As Kickstarter backers, you should already have Divinity: Original Sin 2 in your Steam or GOG library. Once we go live on the 31st, the game will update, adding a launcher window that will let you choose between the original version of the game or the Definitive Edition.  

You can continue playing the existing version and use your existing saves, but if you want to try out the Definitive Edition, you will need to create a new character.  

This update is 100% free and everyone that owns the game on the 31st will receive the Definitive Edition automatically.  

You will also get free access to our new mini-companion DLC, Sir Lora.

If you want to know what’s in the Definitive Edition, check out this 53 page document containing all the changes. (Warning: Massive spoilers ahead.)

There is a stream to kick things of.

To celebrate the release of the Definitive Edition, we’re organizing a massive live stream from PAX West. We’ll be showing the game, answering any questions you might have and hopefully also bringing in a few surprise guests. It should be a lot of fun, so be sure to tune in.  

The stream will go live at 10am PDT / 6pm GMT and you can find us directly on our store page within the steam application or on their website.

And as always, there is a new video.

Swen returned to the place where it all began to record this final Kickstarter update. He tells the tale of how sometimes drastic measures are necessary if you want to release a game...

As the title indicates, Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition has been awarded best RPG at Gamescom.

Here is the complete list.

A. Category: Genre

Best Action Game
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Activision Blizzard)

Best Add-on/DLC
- Destiny 2: Forsaken (Activision Blizzard)

Best Casual Game
- Team Sonic Racing (Koch Media)

Best Family Game
- Super Mario Party (Nintendo)

Best Puzzle/Skill Game
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Microsoft)

Best Racing Game
- Forza Horizon 4 (Microsoft)

Best Role Playing Game
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition (Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Simulation Game
- Landwirtschafts-Simulator 19 (astragon Entertainment)

Best Social/Online Game
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Activision Blizzard)

Best Sports Game
- FIFA 19 (Electronic Arts)

Best Strategy Game
- Total War: Three Kingdoms (Koch Media)


B. Category: Platform

Best Console Game Sony PlayStation 4
- Marvel's Spider-Man (Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Best Console Game Microsoft Xbox One
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Microsoft)

Best Console Game Nintendo Switch
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo)

Best PC Game
- Anno 1800 (Ubisoft)

Best Mobile Game
- Shadowgun War Games (MADFINGER Games)

A new gameplay trailer for Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition.

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Welcome, adventurer, to an RPG unlike any other! Journey across the sprawling realm of Rivellon and become the next Divine! Divinity: Original Sin 2- Definitive Edition launches on PS4 & X1 on Aug. 31st, 2018! Pre-order now @ https://bandainam.co/DivintyOSII

Eurogamer compares the Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin II with the original:

The difference between the Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin 2 and the original is striking

Light up the floor like a Fane!

Larian visited the Eurogamer office to show me the new and improved Definitive Edition of Divinity: Original Sin 2 last week. To do this the developer ran two versions of the game - old and new - side by side to highlight the differences. On one screen we had DOS2 as it exists now, played on a gaming laptop; and on the other screen we had the Definitive Edition of DOS2 played on an Xbox One X dev kit. The difference was striking.

It wasn't a Digital Foundry-style controlled test, with the laptop fans wheezing and picture coming through an older 1080p screen, but it got the point across. The Xbox One X version, running in 4K resolution and with high dynamic range enabled, was brighter, crisper and more vibrant. It was smoother and more responsive too, and will apparently run native 4K30 on Xbox One X, and dynamic checkerboard 4K30 on PS4 Pro.

[...]

Broadly, because I don't want to spoil things, Larian has given them another pass, lavishing the kind of care and attention seen elsewhere in the game. Story arcs have been beefed out, level design altered and dialogue added (a whopping 250,000 words have been re-recorded, Larian said). There's more to do and it's more interesting and nuanced.

[...]