Visually stunning? check Meaningless? check About as relevant to the actual game as that Witcher 4 Unreal Engine tech demo? check checkety check.
That's kinda how announcement trailers usually go though?
Sadly that is the trend, but not always (thank goodness). I do think people are getting wise to this smoke and mirrors garbage though. Anyone can make a sexy looking rendered scene. Without a hint of what the actual gameplay will look like, it's just pointless.
I get where you are coming from, but cinematic trailers are not pointless.
Its easy to think that they are garbage meant to just invoke hype, but under the surface they are also meant to convey the story and set the setting.
Like now we know the game is going to be gritty, vicerall and even vulgar. Also looking at it, there is something connectin overconsuming and hedonism to suffering. I know that sounds something i might be intrested in so i will know in the future to look in to this game. And if somebody sees this and feels its not for them they know to stear clear from the game.
You really cant make the same impact using just the in game assets and engine larian is known for and in game development game can change a lot in short time. Basically if they show some gameplay mechanic in a trailer and post it on the internet they are tied to that mechanic and cant remove it. Untill things like ui components are set in stone, and abilibities they show are sure to be included, showing them has little to win and lot to loose.
What really pisses me off are trailers that try to trick you to think cinematic moments are done ingame engine. Or when the cinematic trailer does not match the games vibe (looking at you, dead island trailer)
You can't just expect people to actively interpret media. We have entire school systems designed to avoid educating them with those skills.
It's not pointless, just knowing they're working on a divinity sequel is exciting to me. Claiming the game looks amazing or some variation of is wrong though.
Always someone chiming in with this fallacy. "This is how everyone does it!" That doesn't mean it's a good thing. 😕
The Cyberpunk 2077 announcement trailer was barely even a trailer. Just a moving jpeg of a woman with swords coming out of her arms.
Elder Scrolls 6's announcement trailer was literally just a super quick flyover of some landscape then a title card.
Don't suddenly start acting like it's this huge problematic practice when it's literally how every piece of media uses announcement trailers - hell, even books will have announcement trailers extremely similar in style to this.
Don't suddenly start acting like it's this huge problematic practice when it's literally how every piece of media uses announcement trailers
You're literally using the exact same logic here, again. We can again distill the argument and these examples as, "everyone does it so it's not a bad thing".
Secondly, it doesn't have to be a "problem", sure, but it's not a good representation of what to expect. Nobody's saying it's a "huge problematic practice". It's just annoying. The best trailers to me are just... gameplay. Anything else would be a teaser.
Thirdly, it's not really "suddenly". It's been like this for a long time and I haven't ever liked it. It's just the first time you're hearing me say it.
Fourth...ly? One is allowed to feel like it is a problem, too, if that would indeed be how one felt about it. 👍
That's why there are different kinds of trailers. You have announcement/teaser trailers, gameplay trailers, cinematic trailers (for showing cutscenes and story content), character trailers...
🤷♂️ I guess I'm only interested in certain types of trailers. And that's the real argument right there, which is valid, that there are different kinds of trailers. That's perfectly fine.
But my main gripe, regardless of the topic, is to say "everyone does it so it's fine". There are very few instances of that being a valid argument. I can think of linguistics as one example. 😄
Not to be pedantic, but your critique of the existence of an announcement trailer feels like walking into a pizza shop, ordering a pizza, then getting mad because you wanted a burger.
If you don't like announcement teasers then don't watch them and just wait for the reveal trailer to release?
It usually goes announcement -> teaser -> reveal -> the rest
your critique of the existence of an announcement trailer
My critique is of the argumentative style of "everyone does it, so it's fine".
That's it.
"That's kinda how announcement trailers usually go?" Isn't an appeal to tradition or a moral preference statement, which you seem to interpreted it as.. It was just questioning your expectations. They are simply pointing out that you judged the trailer for being something it was never expected to be.
Announcement trailers are non-committal by design - it's the formal declaration of a project without making promises that are too early to make.
you judged the trailer for being something it was never expected to be
I didn't do that. I simply judged the argument of "that's usually what is done". That's not a good argument.
I don't have much against the trailer itself, can we let that part go? I only here oppose the argument of "everybody does it". That's what I had an issue with from the start.
👍👍
There is real world reason why everyone does it.
Graphics are usually one of the last things that get finished in games. There is no sense spending hundreds of hours and thousands if dollars to make character models and levels pretty, when there are bound to be changes in both.
Teaser trailers basic gist is to show people "hey we are making this, follow us for more", cinematic trailers are world building and showing the overall theme. Also if the public has bad reaction they still have time to make changes to the game.
Down the line when the devs are confident that aspects of the game wont go trough any more major iterations they can start to show gameplay.
Inherently all trailers are just marketing and the very fact you are commenting something here says that they have succeeded.
Moaning about cinematic trailers is like asking a cheff to show the steak while the animal is still grasing on the meadow.
That was an incredible opening for a game! Makes me excited for what is to come from Larian Studios. Also, that persisting rumor that the end image had something to do with Elder Scrolls 6 was put to rest in a very cinematic way, I knew it wasn't associated with Elder Scrolls 6. Just like Jason Schreier had already indicated in a leak post. Bethesda could never and will never at the moment, nobody with that level of talent is there anymore.
That's one hell of a trailer.... hopefully the game's good as well
First time? Lol! Larian is seriously the best. The game will be better than good. I'll bet you anything! 😉
I have high hopes for Larian after delivering two of the greatest RPGs I've played one after the other.
No idea what the game is but it sure was creepy!
I am currently playing Divinity 2, and the game's humour and lore is indeed dark.
Ego Draconis or Original Sin 2? I'm not a diehard fan or anything, but I know some people online like to make the distinction known.
I've only really played Ego Draconis (Divinity 2), but I've played the tutorial of Original Sin 2.
It‘s not even remotely as gory as that cinematic trailer and the humor only has gotten darker with the Original Sin games later. Even then they didn‘t have remotely as much gore at any point. I‘m honestly a little baffled. It looks too me they‘re trying to replicate Diablo more than making another faithful Divinity game.
As I remember it divine divinity (divinity 1) was way more dark than anything I saw at DOS 1 and 2. There's a freaking orc village where they have pits of raped humans. The amount of gore and dark moments are only obscured by the low graphics.
I don't get how you see the OS games as darker than the originals.
Divine divinity was released 2 years after Diablo 1, the theme and gore was on par with it, I'd say that this trailer fits with how I remember the original.
Requires a login. Is it available anywhere without a google account?
Well that was horrifying, a bit much.
Whatever larian makes I’m sure we’ll be great; but this did seem a bit too graphic. Im still really looking forward to it though!
It would be completely fine as a cutscene in an 18+ rated game, but it was a bit much for a trailer revealed at an (all ages?) event with no warning at all. Extremely detailed melting flesh and interspecies copulation was not on my bingo card.
Wishlisted, looking forward to more info.
Divinity Original Sin 2 is one of my favorite games of all times but this looks too gory for me. Actually it doesn‘t feel like Divinity at all.
I have only played D:OS 2 too but afaik the first Divinity games are pretty hardcore when it comes to gore (?).
Not really. The games started out rather tame in terms of parental guidance labels. Only the last two got much grittier but still it didn‘t bathe in flesh and vomit. Baldur‘s Gate 3 was already much more hardcore than Original Sin 2 and it looks like they still try to top that for whatever reason.
Watch Gorey Gobline rise through the ranks of Larian!
I had that same exact reaction. Like, I loved DOS2 and know it had horror elements in it, but the overall tone was much more humorous and cartoony. Seeing this trailer lean so heavily into edginess and shock value was pretty disheartening.
There's enough awful shit out there in the real world, so I really cherish the few RPG series that reject cynicism, postmodern storytelling and grimdark aesthetics for a more positive and hopeful message.
At least we still have Dragon Quest and Xenoblade I guess...
I‘m in the same boat. OS2 had a very good balance for me. BG3 already took it a little too far for my liking BUT you could often choose not to, so it was okay. Playing BG3 and hearing the announcement about a new Divinity game got me giga hyped but I will temper my expectations after this cinematic trailer. I don‘t like the tone of it at all, unfortunately.
Looks horrible. How desensitized do you have to be to enjoy something like that?
Or maybe people have different tastes, preferences, and sensitivities. If you don't enjoy it yourself that's fine but it doesn't mean someone has to be desensitized in order to not think it's horrible.
It's fiction, not reality. I agree its a lot, I looked away a bit, but ya don't have to be judgemental when no one was ACTUALLY hurt.
After all the things I did in Divinity Original Sin II I think I'm pretty desensitized by now
I can't wait to know more about this game
It looks like a homage to "The Wicker Man" (1973)
Gore porn, yay! This trailer could be interpreted as a fundamentalist vegan ad. "Beware the sin of flesh in all its forms, for it shall bring forth the wrath of the elder gods!! Yield and repent! Return to Floral and partake in their flowering seeds!"
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