Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Suggestions and Feedback The ending is a catastrophe (the game is good!)

-1. Before talking about the actual issue I want to say: This is a really great game that I did enjoy. Larian created a very awesome game, that surely was worth my money and time and again they show they simply create stuff I do really like. The game is not without flaws but all in all a really great piece of art and entertainment. The company is the only one where I say "Shut up and take my money" and I will join the next kickstarter again, no matter what it is and without even reading the entire pitch. Thank you for this great game!

But now:

0. Let me start with the small issue, that isn't he big point and that is why I call it "0." The final fight is... a mess of chaotic happenings, the attempt ot make it interesting by way too many hitpoints so everything just drags on too long. The Kraken is annoying with its AoE-attacks that border cheating and it's remote location that makes it annoying to attack it and immune to some beloved melee-attacks. It is not fun at all but a "technical problem that needs to get solved". Bad, but not the catastrophe from the title, those come now:

Now my first real issue.

1. The options you have lead to random results that are not clear from the start. Fane becoming the Divine? Sorry, you are a nasty tyrant now. What? He, I just want to fix my error and now are a god, why do I suppress anyone now? I played as the good guy! This goes through all choices, even leading to the least likeable option to the "best" ending. "Ok, your big choice is to become a silent monk and remove the source! Ok... Haha, all a joke, you do not lose your soul. Lol". Sorry, that is bad writing. The same goes for other endings, where a choice is presented, but you have no idea what will happen, you even are not presented with an in-universe idea of what is going to happen and the outcome comes over as "random". This is not how Deus Ex or Fallout 1 and 2 or Witcher 3 did it, where you were presented with options, made a choice, and what happened then felt "realistic consequences". Here I have the impression I am blind and have no real idea what is supposed to happen with each option, pick whatever sounds least bad, and someone rolls a d100 on a table to see what actually happens. You *can* do it this way, but it is not good design.

2. Now, the other big thing is... this ending breaks the continuity of the other Divinity games. We have a story that played for hundreds of years over many games and a long time RL to develop. We had a story of The Divine who had a child he should have killed but did not, as a consequence he ended up powerless in the Halls of Echoes as agonising watcher, while the Devil was free in Rivellon. Divinity 2: Flames of Vengeance ends with us killing Ygerna and setting the Divine back free and the last chapter is ready to unfold. It was a cool ending, we achieved something and it was obvious more dramatic stuff is coming. We eagerly want to see how all this turns out. Along comes Original Sin 2 and presents *several* options that utterly ignore that other timeline and create a vastly different world (no magic at all, Lucian already free (but not Divine?), the world as we know it hammered down by the Void King or some new (ancient) race, ...). And this is what pretty much annoys me a real lot: Which is the real timeline now? From the product I bought now (well, uhh, one of the possible ones), or the one you sold me last time?

Say, you can fix this by naming one ending the "canonical one" that leads to Flames of Vengeance (do I understand it correctly is after DoS2, no matter, even if it is before...), this has two issues:

First, you devalue each player that has picked another one with the options you presented. You did not have to do it this way, but choose to do so. Now you take this away from everyone who used these options. You can do it this way, but I think it is bad storytelling.

Second: 1. Lucian still in the Halls. 2. Lucian still Divine. 3. The world not overrun by the Void. 4. The world not overrun by the Etearnals. 5. The world still has magic. 6. Not everyone is Divine.

Am I missing something or... does none of the DoS2-options allow the ending of Flames of Vengeance to happen?