In a series of three videos some detailed information about Divinity 2 will be presented in the coming period. Today the first of these videos (named Cinematic trailer act 1) can be viewed in the Media section of the official site.

Divinity II: Ego Draconis – New trailer movies give sneak preview on the huge storyline

Hamburg/Germany, July 3^rd, 2009 – This is a very personal way to bring some light into dark secrets that surround the background story of dtp entertainment’s and Larian Studios’ upcoming RPG highlight Divinity II: Ego Draconis:

In a couple of new videos, mysterious Dragon Knight Talana (voiced by Sally Wallis) exposes, why Dragons and Humans are at war with each other and how evil Damian, after his original defeat, managed to reunite his forces to again threaten the world of Rivellon. If you look carefully, you may even pick up on some secret details about Talana’s very personal role in that whole story...

Today, publisher dtp entertainment and developer Larian Studios release the first of three upcoming Divinity II background story videos.

Divinity II: Ego Draconis takes the player back to Rivellon, more than half a century after the Divine came to power. Much has happened there since, but the death of the Divine – the hero of the previous game – is undoubtedly the greatest tragedy. He was slain by a Dragon Knight during a battle with Damian, Rivellon’s arch nemesis. The Divine’s paladins swore revenge and so the order of the Dragon Slayers came to be.

Rivellon, the beautiful but war-torn world first explored in Divinity II’s award-winning predecessor, features many areas and labyrinths for the player to explore. This world is the home of plenty of non-player characters, offering a multitude of quests and storylines  – or just the latest gossip. Because of the branched quest system, the player’s decisions can have far-reaching consequences. The player can shapehift between human and dragon forms to bring a whole new dimension to your ability to explore the world, as well as many more combat options. Rain firey death from above as an airborne dragon, or get up close and personal with sword, bow or magic as a human.

The player is set on an unexpected quest that will unveil hidden truths and revive forgotten evils which will change the face of Rivellon forever.

The latest Divinity II updates bring information on the "relentless" warrior Rhodes and the "once famed" Dragon Knight Talana, as well as a podcast from Lead Designer Farhang Namdar introducing Damien.

Finally, Friday will see Act 1 of a suite of new trailers released on the official site - we'll let you know when they go up.

The Divinity 2 updates of this week brings us some more information on the Dragonknight and Richard, one of de Champions of Aleroth. And there is some more information about how mindreading works, explained in a podcast by Lead Game Designer Farhang Namdar.

This weeks update of Divinity 2 goodies brings us information about 2 new NPCs; The champions of Aleroth and the New Order, a podcast about the Divinity 2 universe and the second part on character progression and customization.

New podcast, creatures, screens and wallpapers are on offer in the latest Divinity II update:

For the today’s update we have tied an attractive huge packet: In addition two new creatures – a mysterious ghost and a sweet ladybird – we’re going to present to you the topic “customised experience”.  Jan Van Dosselaer, Writer and Desiger of Larian, is answering questions about new features and possibilities for new topics. In the new podcast Swen Vincke, Larians CEO, is reporting on Divinity’s “Quest and Choices”.

There will also be some new visuals from E3 Los Angeles: some new screenshots, four brand-new wallpapers, two for members only, and two for all general users.

Larian is pointing out a major German preview of Divinity II over at GameStar.de.  Here's their description and a short translated piece:

The extensive article – along with a bunch of new screenshots and a preview-video – describes the dragon, the quests, the charactersystem, mindreading and more. Here’s her conclusion (translated from German):

"Knock me down with a dragon’s scale! I haven’t seen such an affectionate, detailed and engrossing fantasy-RPG in ages. Fantastic and complex characters, an excellent story line, smart and amusing brawls and clever ideas make Divinity II: Ego Draconis a glittering gem in the genre, which – if released bug-free – you should not miss!

Potential: Very good "

An E3 preview of Divinity 2 with a few negative remarks on the Xbox 360 version can be found on Kotaku.

I sat in on a demonstration of the game at E3 2009, and everything started well enough. The PC in publisher DTP's tiny booth launched the game smoothly, and the graphics were crisp, smooth, and vibrant. Intrigued, I leaned in closer, only to have the PC sputter, stutter, and die.

Then my demo pilot switched to the Xbox 360 version, where the graphics were noticeable darker and the frame rate nowhere near as smooth. Now I know which version I'll be picking up.

Ego Draconis is a 3D action roleplaying game, much like Fable or Gothic, only with a twist. After a certain part in the story, the player gains the ability to transform into a dragon, covering long stretches of terrain in minutes, while having to face off against much larger foes.

The character-driven section of the game is rather nice. All NPCs in the game are fully voiced and animated using motion capture, giving the world a very lifelike feel.

Next to look at Divinity II is GameZone, who experienced a slightly different outcome to the drunks-at-the-tavern quest:

One mission has the player going into a tavern to kick out drunkards who are scaring off townspeople. After battling the drunks for 15 seconds, their lieutenant made a graceful appearance wondering what in the world was going on, and after a quick conversation, you have the choice to continue the battle or end it peacefully to see the benefits later on in the game. Once the drunkards are gone, the inn keeper lowers his prices as a thanks and the townspeople show up to drink and provide quests to accept. 

Divinity II impressions from GameSpot:

To find out information, you'll speak with non-player characters much as you would in other role-playing games. We took a walk around Broken Valley, Divinity 2's first region. The first thing we did was head to a tavern, where we talked to the patrons seated outside. One of them wanted to enter the tavern but couldn't because it was overrun by drunken soldiers. We entered the tavern and had a talk with the intoxicated sods, where we could resolve the quest in one of several ways. In this case, we resolved it peacefully by speaking with the soldiers' lieutenant, which meant patrons who had been avoiding the tavern would now enter, including other quest-givers. Had we fought the soldiers to drive them out, some of these NPCs would not have entered, locking us out of some potential quests. Such choices will drive the game's morality system, affecting potential quests, as well as the items available for purchase from merchants.

Gametrailers talked to Claas Wolter from DTP about Divinity 2 and got some in-game video sequences to show as well.

IGN had a look at Divinity 2 while they were at E3 and came back with the information that the game is available in September. Apparently this means the German version will be available in July and the English version 2 months after that.

Larian has announced an opportunity to playtest Divinity II.  As they have always done, you'll need to live close enough to Oudenaarde to travel to their offices:

We are still conducting invitation only play tests. If you live in the neighbourhood of Oudenaarde (Belgium) and want to spend some hours trying out our next RPG, send an email to playtest@larian.com. Please include what days you are available this month. These are gameplay and focus tests, so you will be sent a small questionnaire. This will allow us to establish what type of gamer you are and fit you in the right group of players.

Please take into account that you will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement (also known as a non disclosure agreement).

You will not receive any compensation for participating in these tests, but you might enjoy the experience as we think the game is shaping up pretty nicely.

You can also check out 10 screens from the X360 version at  MSXboxWorld.

The Divinity 2 website is updated with two new creatures; The Necromancer Ygerna and the Skeleton. In addition an interview with artist Koen and writer Jan.

How does the world in Divinity II relate to the original game?

Jan: After visiting Nemesis in Beyond Divinity, the player now returns to Rivellon, the idyllic-yet-deadly setting of Divine Divinity. This of course implies that Divinity II and the original share perhaps the most important of features, which is the game world itself. Much has happened and much has changed though, so the game will present a journey of discovery for both newcomers and veterans. Those who played the other games will obviously have no true advantage – that wouldn’t be fair – but they can enjoy a certain level of intertextuality between our newest adventure and its predecessors. Examples of this can range from returning (main) characters to winks in texts and dialogues even the die-hards may not immediately spot. I’m really looking forward to seeing the forum members share them with one another on the Larian message boards.

What was your vision for the world of Rivellon?

Koen: When I first started thinking about a look for Rivellon, I wanted to create a colourful and atmospheric environment without deviating too much from the original Divinity. This was quite a difficult exercise: we didn’t want to end up with a game that looked like a cartoon, but at the same time, we also didn’t want to go in a direction that was too realistic. A balance between these two extremes needed to be achieved.

The latest suite of Divinity II updates is online:

A fearsome new creature that literally devours the memories right out of your mind joins forces with another flying grotesque creation and more details have spawned in our monster section!

In a brand new podcast Koen, our Art Director, tells you about the design of the gorgeous world of Divinity II. Also, Koen joins Jan, Lead Writer at Larian, in providing some answers to your questions in the Meet the Makers interview section!

In addition the Divinity II website offers social bookmarks and a RSS-feed from now on.

A collectors edition of Divinity 2 for the PC is available as a pre-order, although it is only available in Germany at the moment, where it has the 24th of July listed as the release date.

The Collectors Edition comes in a box with an 18cm large dragon slayer holding a letteropener in disguise, a cloth map, the complete soundtrack, an A3 poster, a tattoo, the game and a booklet (on the image for some strange reason it has an Xbox 360 booklet with a PC DVD case but I assume that's an error).

This week's Divinity II update sees some new creatures revealed and a new desktop wallpaper on offer.

It's Wednesday again which also brings us a new update available on the Divinity 2 website. First of all there are three new monsters; the Flying Demon, the Great Goblin Shaman and the Abomination.

This is the ultimate undead combatant, an amalgam of dead flesh and living steel that serves the single purpose of killing all it meets and does so with chilling efficiency.

If one should glance over some early research notes written by the nefarious necromancer Laiken, one may easily comprehend why these creatures are such depraved and psychotic killers, devoid of reason and clemency: "It is highly interesting to note that healthy subjects exposed to intense physical pain, still reflect that anguish after the transformation into an undead entity. When the forearms are removed for instance, and replaced by blades - an intense process of sawing, jamming and stitching - I find that subjects who undergo this procedure alive and conscious make for fiercer and more merciless undead warriors. Needless to say, it is a process I shall regularly practice - perhaps even exclusively should other experiments secure the same rate of success".

In addition there is also a new podcast explaining a bit about the art style (check out the media tab to find it).

After reporting that the German voices for Divinity 2 have all been recorded we now got word that the English voices hav been completed as well and the first place where they can be heard will be at E3.

Hamburg/Germany, May 13th, 2009 - Divinity II: Ego Draconis, the up-and-coming RPG highlight, is getting closer to completion. Recently, the extensive voice recordings for the English versions were finished and it was an epic task to match the game. Voice actors for over 400 game characters had to be cast, and dtp entertainment and Larian Studios have recorded 100,000 words in nearly 10,000 takes.

To breathe life into the characters of Divinity II's epic fantasy story, only top-class professional artists were chosen. Many are part of popular TV series; others are well-known voices from radio and television commercials for famous brands.

Zandalor, an old Mage, friend and counselor of the player, talks with the voice of Bill Bingham. The players will also get a short flashback with the Divine, the hero of the game's predecessor. His in game-voice belongs to Johnnie Lyne-Pirkis. Jeff Rawle lends his sonorous tones to the Narrator in Divinity II. He has credits, stretching back to the 1970s, as an actor and writer for over 70 TV series and films - among them "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", where he played the role of Amos Diggory.

Josefina Gabrielle has voice-acted as the powerful Necromancer Sassan. She is known for playing Laurey Williams in the musical "Oklahoma!" (London Royal National Theatre). Sally Wallis is Talana, the last of the mighty Dragon Knights in Rivellon. Richard of Aleroth is a dodgy Captain in Divinity II: Ego Draconis, leading the player to interesting choices. He is voiced by Andy Mace.

According to this post on the official forum all the German voices for Divinity 2 have been recorded. The post states there are 100.000 words that were recorded in some 10.000 takes and cover the voice for about 400 characters.
A list of names of those who participated follows but that list will mean nothing unless you watch German television or go to German cinemas.

The question that rises at the  moment is: How about the English voices?

After the dragon combat of last week it is the human combat that takes a cetral role in the Wednesday updates at the Divinity 2 site. Next to a bit of generic text is gives an explanation of some skills:

Battle Rage

The Battle Rage skill does exactly what it describes: like a mad barbarian would seize upon a poorly protected convent, you launch yourself into the fray, heeding not the danger it leaves you in. Most likely any clear and present danger will soon be eliminated, but do remember that this rage detracts from your defensive prowess for its duration.

Or perhaps you prefer to unleash some suppressive fire on your foes before laying the smack down?

Explosive Arrows

The rarest of arrows are perhaps also the most powerful ones. Extremely dangerous in the hands of some bowstring-happy pyromaniac – and absolutely frightening in the hands of a skilled archer – these arrows explode upon impact: not only turning the original recipient into a bloody jigsaw puzzle, but also tearing apart any one caught near the blast.

Fiery vengeance not enough for you? How about adding a little humiliation to your arsenal?

More skill descriptions can be found on the official site.