DIVINITY: FALLEN HEROES

Late last year, Larian – the Belgian

developer behind the Divinity series –

said it was moving on to “new stuff”

after the success of our 2017 Game of the

Year, Divinity: Original Sin 2. And now we know what that project is – an RPG-infused turn-based tactics game called Divinity: Fallen Heroes which continues the story of Original Sin 2.

The focus in this gamewill be on

squad-based strategic combat, but it’ll

retain some of the role-playing elements

that define the Divinity games, namely

talking to people, character relationships,

customisation, and choices that alter the

course of the story. For many Divinity fans

this will be a surprising change of

direction, even though Larian has made

some strategy games in the past. I talked

to the studio’s founder, Swen Vincke,

about what we can expect from the

upcoming Fallen Heroes.

“We’re huge fans of tactics games,” he

says. “Into the Breach was one of our

favourite games of last year. When we

were making Original Sin 2 we had a lot of

discussions about things that we could

change in the combat, but we didn’t have

time. So we thought, what if we make a

tactics game?

“But in our game, story will define

everything that happens in the missions,

and everything that happens in the

missions will define the story. And from

this, Fallen Heroes was born.”

Set a few years after Original Sin 2,

Fallen Heroes sees the return of Lucian

the Divine, who tasks you, a commander,

with arresting the half-demon Malady.

“She has stolen powerful doomsday

weapons from the Divine Order, and

they’re afraid she’ll use them in a fit of

anger,” says Vincke. “But things are not

what they seem.”

“It is a story in its own right,” he adds

when I ask if being familiar with the series

is a requirement to enjoy Fallen Heroes.

“People who haven’t played Divinity will be

able to enjoy it. But we really wanted to

continue with the characters we’d

developed in Original Sin 2. We like them,

fans like them. Fans will love that you can

now control Malady in battle. If you played

Original Sin 2 it’ll feel like coming home.

But if you haven’t, you’ll meet a whole

bunch of interesting characters.”

BRIEF ENCOUNTER

Larian is aiming for each hand-crafted

mission in Fallen Heroes to be around

20-30 minutes long, but there’ll be some

downtime as well. “Between missions

you’re aboard the Lady Vengeance and

here you’ll meet the heroes from Original

Sin 2, as well as some new characters,”

says Vincke. “You’ll talk to them and make

choices that will define what happens in

the missions, and what missions you’ll be

able to access. There’s real choice here.

You can also upgrade technology, unlock

new heroes, and buy consumables to take

into missions.

“You have multiple rooms, and in these

rooms different characters will appear

depending on what’s happening in the

story. You can interact with them using

the conversation system from Original Sin

2. Some characters can even leave you if

they don’t agree with what you’re doing.

They may also join you in combat, bringing

unique abilities with them, depending on

choices you make in the story.”

I ask Vincke to explain how combat in

Fallen Heroes compares to Original Sin 2.

“The changes are different enough that

it’s going to feel fresh. On the other hand

it’s familiar enough that you’ll understand

what your tactical opportunities are.

“You’ll have to adapt your thinking a

little bit. The biggest change is that it’s

now squad-based. We have around 200

skills and over 30 unit types, and that

creates a lot of combinations and

possibilities on the battlefield.”

Larian is alsomaking no bones about

the fact thatFallenHeroes will be, by

design, a challenging game. Like the

Infinity EngineRPGs that inspired the

Original Sin series, you’ll need tomake

intelligent use of your abilities and

second-guess the AI to survive a fight.

“Frankly, the game has been designed to

be quite difficult,” says Vincke. “You’ll

often be left in situationswith littleHP and

only a fewunits left, so it’s quite intense.

Even I sufferwhen I play it, and that’s on

the normal difficulty setting. You can lower

it, of course. I should say that.”

For fans ofOriginal Sin 2, the chance to

hang outwith the Red Prince, Ifan,

Beast, and the rest of the gangwill be

hard to resist, even if it’s not in the form

of a typical RPG. “Narratively, it feels

really good to see these heroes back,”

says Vincke. “But this isn’t amassive

world you’re going to go out and explore.

There are setmissions, and each has its

own objectives.Butwe have tried to

maintain the diversity you find in our

RPGs.We neverwant you to do the

same thing twice.”

FallenHeroes likelywon’t be as long as

the gargantuanOriginal Sin 2, but Larian is

aiming for a lot of replay value. The path

each player takes through the gamewill

be different depending on choicesmade,

the ordermissions arecompleted in, and

so on. “The critical path through the game

is 22 out of 60missions,which gives you

an idea of howmany permutations there

are,” says Vincke. “But it ismore

contained,with a clearer structure of

acts. I thinkwe’re offering a higher level of

freedomhere than you’ll find in other

tactics games.”

Dramatic entrance

Larian is also aiming for a feeling of drama

in its battles. “It’s a lot more cinematic

than Original Sin 2 was,” says Vincke.

“When you start a mission the camera will

move around and show you the action.

One of the decisions you have to make is

when you find a city under attack by a

group called the Bloodless.

“You decide whether you’re going to

relieve Lucian, which you should be, or

save a bunch of people stuck on the

harbour trying to escape. If you help

Lucian, the camera will show you the city

under siege. People falling off buildings,

explosions everywhere, characters yelling

at each other. It sets the mood.”