Divinity: Original Sin – The Board Game Update #35 – December Q&A

The latest Kickstarter update for the board game version of Divinity: Original Sin assures us that the physical boxes are just about ready to be shipped. It also brings us a lengthy Q&A session with the team that touches on a variety of topics, including the game’s branching nature, the Hall of Echoes system, the different game modes, and more.

Here’s the Q&A itself:

And a couple of sample questions:

Hey all,

We hope you’re all settling into a cozy holiday season! Thank you all for asking your questions in the previous update! At the beginning of December the team recorded a video that not only answers some of those questions, but also takes the opportunity to share with you more details about the board game, such as:

• The branching paths of the game and how they affect the finale
• How the Hall of Echoes works with the Origin Story Books
• How Dungeon Mode and Nightmare Mode will work
• The new mechanics the Sidequest Boxes (Haunted Keep and Nemesis) bring to the table

We have also included a text version of the Q&A below. Note that the text isn’t a direct transcription of the VOD, but is edited for brevity and clarity.

Since our last update, the Pledge Manager has closed, development on the board game has wrapped, and it’s being sent off to print as final edits and tweaks to graphics and text are made. When we speak to you again in the new year, we’ll update you on our best ETAs for shipping based on where we’re at in the production pipeline.

‘Till then, happy holidays & happy new year! We’re looking forward to finally getting this game into your hands in 2023.

Without further ado, here’s the Q&A video with the team[…]

How does the game compare to other similar games? More importantly, what are you excited about players experiencing in the game?

Noah:

We are excited for players to experience the combat system in the game. It does a great job of harkening back to the source material in that players will be able to explore different builds and change their abilities or discover new ones in a way that is very rewarding.

There are certain things that will be discovered partway through the game via items that you find or skills that you unlock, and your build will continuously change as you play. This sense of discoverability is very exciting.

Brian:

From a level and campaign design point of view, we are excited about how different the game can be from one campaign to another. Kat has been doing a lot of work so that the narrative (which is very varied) can make sense and it’s not an exaggeration to say that two people playing through the two different campaigns will have remarkably different experiences.

Kat:

From the narrative design, we are very excited about the lore. There is so much story in Divinity and we had the opportunity to take a special approach and create an experience that is unique to each character and player. Every game will be very different due to the amount of story content and branching paths.

Thinking about the story, there is a huge foundation in Divinity but you also then have to allow players to break that lore with their choices.

One of the key moments that brings this across is the Hall of Echoes, a moment that is very similar to the original game. It will be a pretty cool experience where you connect really deeply to your character and each choice that you make there will matter until the end of the game. We will talk about it more in-depth when we talk about the Origin Stories.

In general, the lore will change a lot according to player choices and it can closely follow canon or completely differ from it. Think of it as a multiverse, where things can go very differently for each Origin Character than they do in DOS2.

Matt:

Having played the original DOS, it is always very exciting how the port works to another medium, and the way the mechanics work and how they seamlessly translate from how they work in the videogame.

It’s been very exciting to see how the game has evolved while keeping the original idea and how it has been refined in a tabletop environment.

Sarah:

Storyline is very important in the Divinity games. Kat has done a great job with it and it’s going to be a very unique and fun experience. Also, seeing all the graphic components come together has been amazing.

What’s the experience of playing the game in its current basically-finalized state? What are the best takeaways from the testing sessions? Have you had enough time to do blind playtesting of this version and what the reception is like?

We’ve been testing with a full time playtest team in Dublin for the past six months and we’ve had some new players testing the almost-final game over the past several weeks. Brian and Noah also had players trying the game in one-hour sessions at PAX West.

What testers have been most excited about is the reactivity – feeling like the choices they make are being respected, and the decisions that they make have very drastic consequences as they approach the finale of the game.

There were also a lot of comments that the game felt like actually playing DOS2. There were interactions between players and their abilities that felt very similar to what you can achieve in DOS2.