A New Generation Of Players Are Experiencing The Wonder Of Divinity: Original Sin 2’s Opening Act
Jack Coleman (He/Him) is a News Editor from Ireland. This is his third full year in games media, having previously worked freelance for various outlets, including DualShockers and NME.
Previously, he’s interviewed breakout indie developers, broken big news stories, reviewed massive releases and recounted his time living as a humble woodsman in Oblivion.
A lifelong gamer, Jack is primarily interested in RPGs and narrative experiences. He’s also been playing League of Legends for a decade, unfortunately.
The announcement of Divinity at this year’s The Game Awards has reignited people’s interest in playing Divinity: Original Sin 2, one of the greatest computer role-playing games ever created in the estimation of this humble author. On Steam, Original Sin 2 went from an average of around 3,500 players to an average of over 16,000 players.
This newfound popularity among players of Baldur’s Gate 3 has introduced a new generation of CRPG enthusiasts to the wonders of Fort Joy, the opening act of Original Sin 2.
Fort Joy Is An Amazing Opening Act
Fort Joy is a fantastic example of Larian’s championing of immersive sim elements. You’re presented with a simple proposition: you’ve been collared and locked in an open-air prison, find a way to remove your collar and escape from the Fort. There are dozens of ways to accomplish this, and they vary wildly in complexity.
There’s the aggressive approach, getting someone to remove your collar and simply eliminating every guard between you and freedom. There’s the delightfully simple approach of learning a teleport spell and teleporting out of the Fort, which automatically completes the quest.
This design philosophy was carried over into Baldur’s Gate 3, where many of the game’s quests have multiple solutions, often stemming from an interesting application of the game’s systems.
The Original Sin 2 subreddit has been flooded with new players speaking about Fort Joy, reflecting on their experiences in the game’s opening area and celebrating their eventual escape.
“I finally left Fort Joy,” writes Method_Smart, accompanied by an image of someone breaking their chains. A commenter then humorously replies, “Now time to restart the game and do it all over again.” Divinity: Original Sin 2 is no stranger to the restart culture that infects many systems-heavy RPGs like Skyrim and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Another thread entitled, “Most People Don’t Leave Fort Joy,” describes the extreme difficulty of the first act’s final boss fight. Funnily enough, Divinity: Original Sin 2’s most difficult act is probably its first one, as characters’ builds don’t have enough abilities to be effective yet.
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Big_Map5795 has a different approach to most, asking, “Does anyone just escape Fort Joy?” They don’t linger in the game’s opening area, preferring to venture out of the prison as quickly as possible. It’s certainly a valid approach, but as mentioned previously, being underlevelled can be very punishing in Original Sin 2.
It’s delightful to see people experiencing Fort Joy, and Larian has promised that fans of Original Sin will be rewarded with references and returning characters. However, they don’t recommend delving any further than Original Sin when it comes to the long history of the series.
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For people having problems. Get telekinesis. Fill barrels with lots of heavy stuff. Drop on enemy heads. Works wonderfully basically all the time.
2025-12-31 13:48:32
