If you haven’t already heard, there is a strange thorny monolith in the Mojave Desert. Adorned with a massive eye-shaped orb and a legion of demonic creatures, it’s a hint at something set to be revealed as part of The Game Awards 2025. And, following the registration of a few new trademarks, it looks like we already have the answer as to what it is: a brand new game from Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios called “Divinity.”
If you’re one of the millions of players who first discovered Larian thanks to the gargantuan success of Baldur’s Gate 3, then the word Divinity may not mean much to you. Fans of the studio will tell you, however, that BG3’s success has its roots in Divinity, a series of six games that Larian worked on almost exclusively between 2002 and 2017. If this monolith and brand leak really points to Divinity, and then the Belgian studio returns to its original fantasy universe… and probably brings with it a whole new fan base.
If such a hypothetical game right now marks your first foray into the Divinity universe, then you might want a quick overview of what to expect. Let us be your guide to Divinity and be the first to say (very preemptively)…
Welcome to Rivellon
Just as Baldur’s Gate takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons setting of the Forgotten Realms, Divinity has its own rich and original setting: the world of Rivellon. There are great similarities between the two; both are rooted in Tolkienesque fantasy tropes, with classically styled medieval landscapes and locations. There are several breeds; like in D&D, you can expect to encounter humans, elves, dwarves, lizard-like beings, and the undead. Magic is commonplace in Rivellon, although sorcery is considered more dangerous and strictly regulated there than on D&D’s Sword Coast.
Like Baldur’s Gate, Divinity also features a number of more esoteric elements, from steampunk to science fiction and beyond, that make its world a bit more original than the lands explored in more traditional fantasy like The Lord of the Rings. Rivellon can also often be a very silly place, and the influence of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels has often been felt in Divinity’s writing. In fact, Terry’s daughter, Rhianna Pratchett, even wrote a short story for the second game. But that’s not to say that Rivellon is frivolous – there’s a deep vein of fascinating lore that’s been mined over the course of the series’ six episodes.
In short, Rivellon is home to stories similar to those you enjoyed in Baldur’s Gate 3, but is only beholden to the rules of Larian, rather than those established by Dungeons & Dragons owners Wizards of the Coast.
What is Divinity?
Divinity is an RPG series, but its evolution has been far from usual. Take a quick look at each of the six games and you’ll find at least four different approaches. Divine Divinity, the very first game in the series, and its sequel, Beyond Divinity, are Diablo-influenced action RPGs. Divinity 2: Ego Draconis, on the other hand, is a third-person RPG that resembles a little closer to Dragon Age and The Witcher. Deity: Dragon Commander is a slightly The Total War-flavored strategy game and the Original Sin duology – the most recent games in the series – are classic-style RPGs that most closely resemble Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian has experimented a lot over the years, and so there’s no clear indication as to what format the next game in the series will use (although given the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, the reasonable bet would be on something similar).
Another unusual element is its approach to chronology. Although Rivellon has a cohesive story and storylines that extend across the series, each game is spaced several years (sometimes even centuries) apart, meaning that each is somewhat of a self-contained experience. In the same way that Baldur’s Gate 3 requires no experience of the series but contains numerous nods to the previous two games, you can play Divinity: Original Sin 2 without any experience of its predecessors. I suspect that any future game in the series would continue this tradition, especially since Larian now has a legion of new fans who are unfamiliar with the studio’s previous work. If the leaked branding is to be believed, this new project is simply called “Divinity” – a name that was likely chosen because it doesn’t suggest that you must have played multiple other games.
What does “Divinity” mean?
The name of the Deity is taken from its fundamental tradition. Thousands of years before the events of Divine Divinity, the first game in the series, Rivellon’s ruling body, the Council of Seven, sacrificed themselves to defend the kingdom against evil wizards. The “Divine Order” was created in memory and charged with passing on its knowledge to subsequent generations.
By the events of Divine Divinity, a prophecy speaks of a messiah who will protect Rivellon from the next existential threat, a demon called Chaos. It turns out that that messiah is you, and you ascend to become Lucian the Divine – a character who later makes appearances in Divinity 2: Ego Draconis and Divinity: Original Sin 2. The concept of the Divine is frequently explored in stories, although it is not the focal point of every game.
How similar is Divinity to Baldur’s Gate 3?
Since the series has changed so much over its lifespan, most of the Divinity series is actually quite different from what Larian created with Baldur’s Gate 3. However, the Original Sin duology is very clearly the template for BG3. They are isometric RPGs set across multiple regions, with tactical turn-based combat and a similar “hands-off” approach to quest design.
While both are worth playing, Original Sin 2 is by far the more accomplished, both in terms of gameplay depth and narrative strength. This is where Larian pioneered the “origin story” characters who would later become the heroes of Baldur’s Gate 3, and Rivellon’s answer to characters like Astarion, Gale, and Shadowheart is just as brilliantly written. This is also the game in which the studio created “tags”, the system that provides character-specific dialogue options to help you better roleplay your specific race or class.
Perhaps the most praised system of the Original Sin duology is its elemental effects: casting a rain spell to wet something, then using a lightning ability to conduct electricity across that sodden surface. Tip over an oil drum to create a puddle, then shoot a flaming arrow into it to create a fire. Stab an enemy, freeze their blood, and watch them slide into their own icy guts. Much of this elemental interaction was incorporated into Baldur’s Gate 3, but it is much more pronounced in Original Sin. Expect at least a quarter of your fights to result in arena-wide bonfires.
How to play Divinity games in order
As mentioned previously, the chronological gaps between the Divinity games mean that there is not strictly a direct sequels, and you can more or less read them in any order you want. If you’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3 and want to learn more about Divinity, I really recommend playing Original Sin 2, which is widely considered the best in the series. Initially exclusive on PC, it is now available on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and even iPad. But if you really want to delve into the story and explore the entire timeline, here’s how to approach the series:
Divinity: Dragon Commander (2013)
- A grand strategy game set thousands of years before the events of the RPGs.
Divinity: Original Sin (2014)
- A CRPG with turn-based combat, set 1000 years before the original game, centered around a pair of “Source Hunters” tracking down dangerous magic users.
Divine Divinity (2002)
- A Diablo-like ARPG that chronicles the rise of Lucian the Divine.
Beyond Divinity (2004)
- The ARPG sequel to Divine Divinity, set 20 years later, tells the story of one of Lucian’s servants, whose soul is tied to an evil death knight.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 (2017)
- A CRPG that is a sequel to Original Sin in terms of game design, but takes place after the original two games and deals with an outbreak of “Voidwoken” monsters in Rivellon.
Divinity 2: The Dragon’s Ego (2009)
- A 3D action RPG set decades after Lucian’s ascension, in a time where the adopted son of the Divine has become a tyrant, in which you play as a knight capable of transforming into a dragon.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s senior features editor.
