DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH
The Witcher’s path to greatness isn’t unique to CD Projekt either. As we approach ‘now’, it’s worth highlighting a few of the other games that have slowly but surely become legendary over the last decade. Larian’s Divinity series, for instance. It began in 2002 with Divine Divinity (the publisher’s choice of name, they’re quick to comment). It was popular, but still best described as a company attempting to make Ultima VII without first having made Ultimas I-VI. The series was constantly besieged by two factors. Financial issues on the outside led to the third game, Divinity II, being a ‘release it now or lose the company’ affair. (To its credit, Larian later tried to fix up the mess created by such a rushed release.) But also, Larian had a tendency to let the cool, big ideas overshadow the foundations needed for a good RPG. Let’s make the player character psychic! Let’s have the player turn into a dragon! In the case of the strategy-focused Divinity: Dragon Commander, let’s have the player be a dragon wearing a jetpack! You know? That kind of thing. With the Kickstarted Divinity: Original Sin, however, the company finally found its footing, and created one of the best new RPGs in years. It was a classic, which earned everyone involved the credit they deserved, and led to the even more ambitious but equally grounded sequel, Divinity: Original Sin 2, which is currently in Early Access over on Steam.
Many others have also found new life thanks to Kickstarter, both games that found their due and those that deserved better. The Bard’s Tale. Wasteland. The Infinity Engine, through Pillars of Eternity. Planescape: Torment, through Torment: Tides of Numenera. Shadowrun. Shenmue. Underworld. System Shock. Pathologic. Outcast. The list goes on, and is filled with titles that did something so amazing that nothing else has come close in five, even ten, years. It’s not just the hunger for something familiar that’s driven it, though. This isn’t simply a plea to nostalgia. It’s combining genuine classics with top quality
developers. Long may it continue.