They donвЂ™t feel forced, though, because the consequences usually relate to the relationships between the origin characters. So even as you have incredible freedom to do as you like, DOS2 is always careful to weigh consequences against it. And yet, if Sebille doesnвЂ™t assassinate Stingtail, she canвЂ™t continue her own personal quest. Now, Stingtail is important to the Red Prince, an aristocratic lizard and another of the origin characters, because heвЂ™s part of the Red PrinceвЂ™s personal quest to reclaim his birthright. Thing is, she hates lizards, so much that itвЂ™s a key point in her backstory and goal, and if she talks to Stingtail, sheвЂ™ll immediately kill him. For example, she might meet a lizard called Stingtail camping at a spot outside the early-game hub, Fort Joy. But since youвЂ™re not Sebille, you donвЂ™t have control over what she will say. The fact that you, Lohse, can listen into their conversations is explained away through you being linked together through Source, the magical force that runs DivinityвЂ™s world. вЂњWe had put logic in to account for them.вЂќ вЂњThose are what we call orphaned origin moments,вЂќ Vincke says. Sooner or later, sheвЂ™ll encounter events and characters who are a part of her individual story, but since sheвЂ™s not with your main character sheвЂ™ll engage with them outside of the influence of your main character. So letвЂ™s say youвЂ™re playing as Lohse in singleplayer and recruit the rogue-elf Sebille, and then detach her to wander the world for a while. An echo of the nature of playing with someone else, separate but together, they feel like separate beings, despite being able to direct them around the world. But in DOS2, your companions are independent NPCs, so youвЂ™ll only hear what they say, not hear their internal dialogue. Their backstory, motivations and aims influence the unique dialogue options youвЂ™ll be offered when you play as one of them, and when theyвЂ™re companions, they can interject in certain conversations to further their own goals, if you let them. Like most RPGs, DOS2 features a set of six what it calls вЂorigin charactersвЂ™ who you can play as and add to your party. вЂњIt gives you a very strong sense of freedom, and that freedom is necessary if you want to work with multiplayer without it the multiplayer wouldnвЂ™t be fun,вЂќ Vincke says.ДЄnd outside of battling and messing around with DOS2вЂ™s mad chemistry set, itвЂ™s also the foundation for a set of dramatic wrinkles and features, or what Vincke calls вЂњinteresting complicationsвЂќ, which help to bring it to roleplaying life. For one thing, you get all kinds of strategic options, such as positioning your party ahead of a battle. ItвЂ™s not a new concept, just ask Neverwinter Nights, but DOS2 develops it further. This feature enables connected players to occupy the same world but not be bound to the area encompassed by hosting playerвЂ™s screen. You can then switch between them at will. You can have one standing on the beach on one side of the world, another in a forest on the other, a character in a dungeon and one in the main town. The key one, though, is the ability to detach members of your four-strong party so you can direct them around the world entirely independently of each other. вЂњIt enforces more freedom.вЂќДOS2 has many features that simply wouldnвЂ™t exist if it didnвЂ™t incorporate multiplayer, simply because - in VinckeвЂ™s words - theyвЂ™ve been so challenging to develop. вЂњThe singleplayer is much stronger because of the multiplayer,вЂќ Swen Vincke, head of developer Larian Studios, tells me. If you give players room to do what they like together, you can also give lone players the same thing. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Very mild spoilers follow, but nothing actually spoiling, promise. How does it succeed? Well, through a feature that youвЂ™d never think is related. But Divinity: Original Sin 2 goes a step beyond, telling a clear story and allowing - even encouraging - you to do all kinds of dumb things, all without completely breaking. Quite a few RPGs do a good job! Planescape: Torment, for one, presents a fantastically dense and interwoven set of characters and scenarios which you can approach in many different ways. But if players can do anything, how do you tell them a story in the right order and without bits missing? What if they kill some plot-important character or sell the magical thing that does the special thing? ItвЂ™s the holy grail for RPGs, right, that perfect mix of a strong story and freedom to do what you want. This is The Mechanic, where Alex Wiltshire invites developers to discuss the inner workings of their games.

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