Multiplayer is key to the Divinity: Original Sin experience. Maybe not essential, since I did play through the game once on my own. But the chaos of trying to navigate a world alongside a friend—putting barrels in their inventory to slow them down, handing off spells and other essential items, coordinating attacks—elevated a rather ho-hum story into something special.
And now you can do it from your couch. (Or whatever you sit on.)
Today Larian confirmed that split-screen co-op will come to upcoming sequel Divinity: Original Sin II. Looks like it’s only two players per screen, but a full four-person party can be formed on just two different screens if you want to get together for a grand ol’ LAN party.
It’s a small feature, and in the grand scheme of everything that’s been added to Divinity: Original Sin II maybe an inconsequential one—there’s that whole Dungeons and Dragons-esque tabletop mode, new spellcrafting, four-person multiplayer, an expansive story that reacts to your characters background and capabilities, and more. Today’s video even details a new skillcrafting system that lets you combine normal skills with an elemental effect. This is an ambitious project.
But splitscreen multiplayer is so rare on PC, and Divinity: Original Sin II is a perfect fit. For one, it’s not like the game requires catlike reflexes, so you don’t lose much by having the screen split in half. Then there are all the usual benefits of local co-op—being able to see your partner as well as talk to them, being able to threaten them with physical harm if they keep putting barrels in your inventory, and so on.
Note that today’s news didn’t bring word of an impending delay either, which means Divinity: Original Sin II is still set to release on September 14. Knock on wood.