The Funeral Nobody Invited You To
Gather 'round, children, and put down your overpriced controllers for a second. We’re here to talk about a corpse. Not the kind of corpse you find in those generic 'open-world survival' games you keep pre-ordering like a mindless lemming, but a mechanical one. I’m talking about the Divinity: Original Sin 2 armor system. You know, that thing that actually forced you to use your brain instead of just clicking 'Attack' until the shiny loot dropped? Yeah, that one. Apparently, it’s gone for good, and honestly, we probably deserve this mediocrity.
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Larian Studios, the current darlings of the industry because they actually finished a game before selling it (what a concept!), have moved on. With the massive success of Baldur’s Gate 3, the world has collectively decided that D&D’s 'roll a d20 and pray to a god you don't believe in' system is the gold standard. Meanwhile, the dual-armor system of DOS2—a system that treated combat like a high-stakes chess match rather than a trip to a rigged casino—is being buried in a shallow grave marked 'Too Complicated for Modern Gamers.'
The Details: How It Actually Worked (Before You Forgot)
For those of you who were too busy buying 'Legendary Edition' skins to notice, the DOS2 system was simple but brutal. You had Physical Armor and Magic Armor. You couldn't just stun-lock a boss on turn one because you got a lucky crit. You had to peel back their layers like a very angry, magical onion. If they had Physical Armor, your knockdown arrows did jack-all. If they had Magic Armor, your fireball was just a spicy breeze.
It created a flow. You had to coordinate. You had to decide: do we focus on the mage's physical shell or try to burn through the warrior's magic defense? It was deterministic. It was tactical. It was—heaven forbid—balanced. But of course, the internet complained. 'Oh, it makes mixed parties less viable!' they whined, while simultaneously paying $70 for games that launch with more bugs than a bait shop.
Rogue’s Take: Why This Sucks (And Why It’s Your Fault)
Here’s the cold, hard truth: the industry is allergic to unique ideas that can’t be easily monetized or simplified for the lowest common denominator. The DOS2 armor system was 'flawed' because it didn't let you 'win' by accident. It demanded a build strategy. If you brought a team of four physical brawlers to a fight against a high-armor tank, you were going to have a bad time. And apparently, having a 'bad time' because of your own poor choices is now considered 'bad game design.'
Sic transit gloria mundi. Thus passes the glory of the world. Or, in gamer speak: 'We had something cool, but we traded it for D20 RNG because it’s easier to market to people who think Monopoly is a deep strategy game.' Baldur’s Gate 3 is a masterpiece, sure, but it’s a masterpiece built on the bones of a 50-year-old tabletop system that relies heavily on 'Miss, Miss, Miss, Critical Hit.' We’ve traded tactical certainty for the 'thrill' of a dice roll, and you lot are cheering for it while you hover your mouse over the 'Pre-Order' button for the next Ubisoft map-clearer.
The real tragedy isn't just that Larian is moving away from it. It's that no one else is picking up the torch. Every other RPG developer is too busy trying to figure out how to fit a Battle Pass into a single-player campaign to actually innovate on combat mechanics. We’re entering an era of 'Safe RPGs,' where every system feels familiar because heaven forbid a player has to read a tooltip for more than five seconds.
Conclusion: Enjoy Your Dice, I Guess
So, here we are. The dual-armor system is a relic of a time when Larian was still 'indie' enough to take risks. Now they’re the kings of the mountain, and kings don't take risks; they maintain the status quo. You’ll get your Baldur’s Gate sequels, and you’ll get your D&D clones, and you’ll keep rolling your little digital dice while the ghost of tactical depth haunts your hard drive. Don't come crying to me when every RPG in 2030 feels like the same game with a different coat of paint. You had the chance to demand better, but you were too busy worrying about whether the bear-romance scene was high-definition enough. Don't pre-order the future; it’s looking pretty repetitive.
🏆 Gamer Verdict
"The hype for the return of this system is dead, buried, and the funeral was catered by microtransactions."
✅ The Good
- No more 'Save or Die' RNG nonsense
- Actually required a functioning frontal lobe
❌ The Bad
- Punished 'mixed' parties for no reason
- Likely never coming back because it's 'too hard' for casuals
🌍 Global Quick Take
Tags: #DivinityOriginalSin2 #LarianStudios #RPGMechanics #GamingRant #GameDesign
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