Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General In-jokes and references to other Divinity games?

I'm new to the Divinity series with this game (which I'm loving BTW). Are players of the previous games in the series getting a lot more out of it than newbies? It seems like there might be lots of in-jokes and references that are going over my head

Bellegar played a big role in Divinity II, especially in Flames of Vengeance where he was a part of the main quest.
Wishing well is a classic of Divinity series (I wish you well!).
I also found an obvious reference to Divinity Dragon Commander.

And there is the use of a healing stone and you have to choose who to save (in first town). That is a repeat of the same dillema from Divine Divinity starter town (there you could actually save both)

Thelryon is a character from Divine Divinity (minor spoilers for Divine Divinity behind the cut)



(Spoilers for Original Sin)



has been around for a while as well. In Divine Divinity, you could annoy him by moving flowers from his wife's grave to his. He'd then come out and murder you because he's lv 5 and you just started. You could also find him in his cellar, where once again, murder. He's also a boss in Flames of Vengeance. For a dead guy, he's really been around.

The teleporter pyramids and Zixzax appear in all the games. The other mainstay, Zandalor, hasn't shown himself so far.

(Haven't finished the game yet, so that's speculation, spoilers for Luculla Mines)


A minor thing I just remembered: The Magical Mishaps book have been in most games, with the same content even. They seem to be really popular in Rivellon.

I've found several references from previous games:
-Arhu. He's been around since DD in a form of a white cat. Apparently later this became his permanent form (should have heeded those warnings about dangers of polymorphing).
-Zandalor. He's a mainstay character in the series and you can meet him late in the game in the Source Temple.
-Bellegar. The quirky rhyming wizard from Divinity 2. He also sprouts several references to Dragon Commander game and powerful wizard Maxos.
-Zombie Jake. There's no end to him in Divinity games apparently.
-Zixzax and the pyramids. They've been around since DD.
-Duke of Ferol. Yet another dastardly ruler from that unlucky DD duchy.
-Thelryon. What the above poster said - he's been around doing evil stuff since DD.
-Healing stones dilemma. Was first introduced in DD, but there you could save both patients if you're clever. When I first seen this in D:OS I thought I gotta find me some magic mirror.
-Talking wishing well was in DD as well.
-Two talking skeletons at the mill in Cyseal. Been around since DD, although they were funnier there.
-Several books that relate to the upcoming events of DD, like "Coming of the Divine", "Dissapearance of Seven Gods" etc.

Very cool. Thanks for the informative replies!

D:OS is the most enjoyable game I've played since the end of the Ultima series. Hopefully there will be several more sequels! (It was the non-turn-based combat that put me off the previous games in the series, but perhaps that was a mistake?)

Oh, blimey, I forgot all about that! Dunno why I didn't think of it...

And in Ego Draconis, next to that out-of-the-way smithy. There was also another friendly talking skeleton near the top of Lovis' Tower.