History VideoGame / DivinityOriginalSin

Originally funded internally, Larian ran out of money in early 2013, leading to a Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign that [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin brought in over one million dollars]]. The game was released on June 30, 2014, to critical and commercial success. On May 15, 2015, Larian Studios [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin/posts/1229909 announced]] an ''Enhanced Edition'' version of ''Original Sin'', bringing the game to Platform/PlayStation4 and UsPlatformfulNotes/XboxOne. The ''Enhanced Edition'' was released on October 27, 2015 and features better graphics and sound, full voice acting, a slew of new content, and a heavily rewritten story, complete with a brand new ending. Similar to the PC version of ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution Director's Cut'', ''Original Sin Enhanced Edition'' is a separate product. As a show of good faith and gratitude towards the fans, people who already owned the original PC version before the new release received the ''Enhanced Edition'' for free.

[[folder:A-I]]

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Jahan gets to say this after the party defeat a necromancer:
--> May the pain wrought by sword and sorcery stalk this stiff-stirring strumpet beyond the shores of death!

* CoOpMultiplayer[=/=]DropInDropOutMultiplayer: When playing online, a friend can join your game at any time and take over the controls of the other protagonist for a while (though, since the game is saved on the server host's computer, the host can impose limitations on what the guest player can do). The devs were so fond of this feature, they included ''two'' copies of the game in one of the lowest Kickstarter reward tiers and the Collector's Edition.

* CombatStilettos: Female PlayerCharacter wear these.

* CopyAndPasteEnvironments

* DownloadableContent: The Source Hunter DLC Pack. It adds two in-game items: The Golden Grail, a chalice that can recolor items gold and slightly increase their sell value, and "Zandalor's Trunks", [[TalkingApplianceSidekick a pair of magical underwear that comments on whatever is going on]]. The better part of the deal is that the DLC Pack includes design documents for the game, a digital portfolio of concept art, and the game soundtrack.

* ItemCrafting: The game encourages experimentation. Sometimes the results are logical: using a whetstone on a sword increases damage. Sometimes the results are outlandish: Combining Swirling Mud and a Fiery Heart yields an InfinityMinusOneSword. Then there's the logical but-why-would-you-think-to-try-that, like carving a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern helmet.
** Tenebrium weapons are nearly required for the endgame. You can use what tenebrium weapons you find, or turn your weapon of choice into one with Crafting 5.

** KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear: If you infiltrate Esmeralda's bedroom in Cyseal, you can find her unwashed underwear and actually ''wear'' it for a charisma stat bonus. Yes, really.
* LargeHam: Eglandaer's constant rantings about [[SayMyName Victoria]].

** [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment Almost]] [[TotalPartyKill any...]]

* ShockAndAwe: Most of Aerotheurge skill branch is this.

* SinisterScythe

* SkillSlotSystem: PlayedWith. To learn active Skills, you first need to invest points into their corresponding base Abilities. First Ability level lets you learn any three Skills and the next three add two more slots each. Level five, however, uncaps the Skills of corresponding ability completely, subverting this trope. Furthermore, even though you can learn endgame Skills with just one level in the corresponding Ability, actually using them will cost extra Action Points if you don't fulfill the Ability level prerequisite.
** Played straight in the Enhanced Edition, where skills have three levels based on difficulty, you can only learn so many of each level based on your skill level, and each level of abilities also has a minimum character level requirement.
* SmashMook: The trolls.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/divinity_original_sin.jpg]]

Originally funded internally, Larian ran out of money in early 2013, leading to a Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign that [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin brought in over one million dollars]]. The game was released on June 30, 2014, to critical and commercial success. On May 15, 2015, Larian Studios [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin/posts/1229909 announced]] an ''Enhanced Edition'' version of ''Original Sin'', bringing the game to UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne. The ''Enhanced Edition'' was released on October 27, 2015 and features better graphics and sound, full voice acting, a slew of new content, and a heavily rewritten story, complete with a brand new ending. Similar to the PC version of ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution Director's Cut'', ''Original Sin Enhanced Edition'' is a separate product. As a show of good faith and gratitude towards the fans, people who already owned the original PC version before the new release received the ''Enhanced Edition'' for free.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: In relation to Councillor Jake's murder, Esmeralda. All of the "evidence" implicating her draws from [[DeadHorseTrope dead horse]] whodunnit clichés, quickly making it obvious that she's not responsible.]]

* BetterOffSold: Practically all the items in the game, no matter how mundane or useless, can be traded for cash or other items.

* NintendoHard: The combat system for this game is very complex, combining multiple different kinds of magic, items, weapons, enemy types, summons, buffs and items. Not mastering all of these coupled with skilled manipulation of the environment can spell death in seconds in the hardest battles. Explorer Mode tries to avert this by giving player characters a significant HP boost and increasing the success rate of their attacks (while reducing the success rate for enemy attacks). Conversely, Tactician Mode of the Enhanced Edition fully embraces this trope by introducing new enemy types and attacks, while Honor Mode adds the challenge of a one save limit.

* TheSociopath: Haizea the Yeti, one of the prisoners of Hiberheim's ice crystal prisons, is an unrepentant SerialKiller who takes a borderline sexual satisfaction in disemboweling people, particularly young women. [[spoiler:You get the option to kill him directly after freeing him, which is framed as the more responsible and "correct" choice; letting him go offers fairly trivial benefits.

* GlassCannon: One of the available talents carries this name, and if chosen will turn your character into this: it doubles your action points but halves your health.

* HealItWithBlood: The {{cult}} of Immaculates soaks [[MagicMeteor Star Stones]] in human blood to turn them into "blood stones", which they then use to give their adepts perfect health and youth, as well as to heal any diseases. In gameplay, using a Blood Stone is the only way to cure the Rot.

* CarryABigStick

* EscortMission: If you choose to help the missing archaeologist Wulfram get back to Cyseal, you will have to complete one of these, as he blindly charges towards the nearest city gate, running into three mandatory undead ambushes, all of which target him by default. At least he doesn't play hero in combat. There's another escort mission in Luculla Forest where you have to protect a man, his wife and their pack beast on their way to Silverglen.

* HealItWithBlood: The {{cult}} of Immaculates soaks [[MagicMeteor Starstones]] in human blood to turn them into "blood stones", which they then use to give their adepts perfect health and youth, as well as to heal any diseases. In gameplay, using a blood stone is the only way to cure the Rot.

* StoneWall: A rare Geomancer skillbook lets you summon the Poison Slug, a gelatinous being that doesn't do much damage but has an enormous health bar for sponging enemy hits. Its function is entirely to keep enemies distracted for long periods, and it works surprisingly well.

* SuicideAttack: One particular kind of enemy, the Exploskeleton (a giggling skeleton with a giant bomb on its back) will perform this and only this, and ''will'' explode upon death regardless of how it died. Savvy players can stop this from happening by extinguishing the bomb fuse with water--which is actually required to complete a minor sidequest in the Silverglen inn, where one such enemy threatens to blow up an innocent and you have only a few seconds to react. You can also summon your own with the Scoundrel skill tree, though this strategy is just as liable to [[{{Pun}} blow up in your face]].

** Those who played ''Divine Divinity'' may also remember the name Thelyron, the long-dead necromancer who gets resurrected in an early-game quest. Here he's a local healer who is involved in the undead outbreak in Cyseal. He even commanded the Council of Seven at one point according to a dialogue in ''Divinity II''.

** [[spoiler:Icara the White Witch and Leandra the Conduit]] share a soulforge PsychicLink not unlike the central plot device of both ''VideoGame/BeyondDivinity'' and ''DivinityIITheDragonKnightSaga''. Braccus Rex and his sister Cassandra are eventually revealed to have shared one, too.

* ContinuityNod:

** [[spoiler:Icara the White Witch and Leandra the Conduit]] share a soulforge PsychicLink not unlike the central plot device of ''VideoGame/BeyondDivinity''. Bracchus Rex and his sister Cassandra are eventually revealed to have shared one, too.

* ElementalEmbodiment: You can summon them to fight for you.

** Some of the late-game secrets (the ones purchasable in the End of Time) are so cryptic there aren't even any guides online to help with them.

* OrganDrops: Various animals parts: claws, teeth, tusks, hides, etc. All these can be crafted into other objects.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: The final boss is the Void Dragon.]]
* OurLichesAreDifferent: Cassandra's true form.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: In relation to Councillor Jake's murder, Esmeralda. Literally everything about her just screams that she's responsible. She's not.]]

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:Jahan made one with a demon 1000 years ago.]]

* ElectricityKnocksYouOut: Many ShockAndAwe powers and electrical GeoEffects can [[StatusInflictionAttack inflict the status effect "Stunned"]], which costs the target their next {{turn|BasedCombat}}.

%%* FragileSpeedster: You can spend all your points in the Speed attribute and max your actions points while neglecting all the other aspects of your character.

* FriendlyFireproof: Your arrows and magical missiles will pass through party members without harming them, but grenades and most area of effect spells will hit everyone.

** Getting Madora to [[spoiler:forgive the orc who almost killed her]] requires you to not only possess the "Forgiving" trait but to also give specific answers to her dialogues at several points in the game. Many of these are missable if you don't know what you're doing (like if you complete the Charmed Orc quest before you meet Madora) and if you don't answer ''enough'' of them, she won't have her change of heart.

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:If you restore her soulforge with Icara, Leandra realizes how evil she has become and leaves without a fight to repent.]]

* TrollBridge: You'll come across several of these, all guarded by [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]].

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: In ''Original Sin'', they are the green-skinned, proud barbaric warrior race variety. And they're out for blood.

* SuicideAttack: One particular kind of enemy (a giggling skeleton with a giant bomb on its back) will perform this and only this, and ''will'' explode upon death regardless of how it died. Savvy players can stop this from happening by extinguishing the bomb fuse with water--which is actually required to complete a minor sidequest in the Silverglen inn, where one such enemy threatens to blow up an innocent and you have only a few seconds to react.

%%* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe

* MedievalStasis: While this game is a distant prequel to the other ''Divinity'' games, it's hard to tell that this actually takes place 1200 years in the past as they appear to be in the same medieval-level of technology and cultural advancement (so to speak, the world is not as explored as other games) as the reset of the ''Divinity'' titles.

** It's necessary for an achievement, but sending [[spoiler:Esmeralda]] to prison for Jake's Murder will earn you the scorn of ''multiple'' characters who all pointedly denounce the sheer thoughtlessness and GenreBlindness of implicating the first and most obvious RedHerring suspect in a whodunnit using incredibly circumstantial and cliche evidence. On top of ensuring your reputation as the stupidest/laziest pair of Source Hunters in all the land, [[AllForNothing you still have to find the real culprit anyway]].

* WhatTheHellPlayer: Start attacking your party members, and they'll call you out on it.