Divinity's reveal trailer was brutal and dark for a reason, Larian's writing director says: 'We want to give players the opportunity to be the light in that darkness'

Divinity trailer still - mother and daughter watching a dude burn to death — (Image credit: Larian Studios)

Remember that Divinity reveal trailer at The Game Awards? It was a banger, alright, from the puke-eating pigs to the orgy in front of the guys getting burned to death Wicker Man-style and then the big finish, where everyone dies horrifically—except the pig, which I thought was a nice touch. It is dark, to put it mildly, and doubly shocking in the moment because it came from Larian, the guys who gave us horny grinning bears (and voyeuristic squirrels) in Baldur's Gate 3. What a turn, right?

Well, not really: Once the moment had passed, we all recalled that the very first Baldur's Gate 3 announcement trailer was pretty grody too. Want to watch a guy barf out his own teeth?

Baldur's Gate 3 - Official Announcement Trailer - YouTube

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In that light, the Divinity reveal trailer maybe isn't so shocking after all. And either way, it's not just about shock value: Speaking in today's AMA on Reddit, ostensibly but not really about Larian's use of AI in game development (which, by the way, it was now forsworn, in a limited sense at least), writing director Adam Smith said the real purposes of the trailer is to establish a baseline for what players can expect in a game world that many of them may not be familiar with.

"If you've seen our announcement trailer, you have an idea of how dark the world of Divinity is," Smith wrote. "We want to give players the opportunity to be the light in that darkness—an inspiration, a hero, a champion. We'll also let them leave the world even worse than they found it. We're pushing as far as we can on player agency."

Truthfully, the Divinity setting has never struck me as particularly dark as fantasy RPGs go, but that's doubtlessly in part because it's never made any sort of lasting impression at all. I like the games an awful lot, but primarily for their systems and environments rather than the stories they tell. I feel much the same way about The Elder Scrolls games so maybe it's a me thing, but either way I applaud efforts to make the setting more memorable, and given Larian's experience with Baldur's Gate 3, my hopes are high.

Baldur's Gate 3 is also likely a factor in Larian's desire to set the table so definitively. The Divinity setting predates BG3 by a couple decades and a half-dozen games, but it sasn't until the studio took on D&D that it became a household name among gamers, rather than a favorite of RPG nerds. That means a lot of Baldur's Gate 3 players will be coming into Larian's bigger work without any real idea of what to expect. Well, now they've got a little warmup, so to speak.

I left it to the end to avoid any unnecessary spoilers or gross-outs, but in case you haven't seen it, or want to see it again for some reason, here's that Divinity reveal trailer from The Game Awards. That dude sure takes a long time to die, eh? Glad the piggie made it out, though.

Divinity - Cinematic Announcement Trailer - YouTube

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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