Every Larian Studios Game, Ranked (2024)

Larian Studios has been reintroducing the masses to the glory of pen-and-paper RPGs turned into video games since 2002. It's easy to argue that the dual love letters of Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin 2 gave the developer the reputation it deserves as a revitalizer of all things RPG. The studio also made education and casino games earlier on, but these won't be listed because they're less relevant to the studio's current development direction.

If you're only discovering Larian Studios after playing Baldur's Gate 3, you're in for a treat. We've taken the time to rank all of the developer's games from worst to best. With the huge success of their newest release, Larian Studios is decidedly on the way up, and here are all the entries in their impressive gameography.

Updated on October 22nd, 2023 by Doruk Kaptan: While Larian Studios may be a household name now, with the incredible popularity of their two most recent titles, that success did not come overnight. These people have been making games of similar ilk for over two decades now.

Now that Baldur's Gate 3 is on most people's lists of modern classics, lots of doors are bound to open for the studio. Thus, it's as great a time as any to look back and see the hits and misses from Larian Studio. Here are all their RPGish games ranked.

9 Beyond Divinity

• Release Date: April 2, 2004

The sequel to the original CRPG released from Larian Studios received generally mixed reviews with some fair critical caveats. Unfortunately, this follow-up didn't have the same polish as the first game in the series, Divine Divinity, chronologically making this Larian Studios' first slip-up. With that said, Beyond Divinity does show that Larian Studios wasn't afraid to experiment with the series.

Pausable combat and multiple characters at your command are things that evolved into the modern games we know and love today. Unlike Divine Divinity, this game also has all dialogue voiced. If the voice acting was better and it wasn't so tedious with its difficulty spikes and artificial challenge of keeping two characters alive, as one of them dying led to a game over, this may have made its way to a higher place on our list. Perhaps it could be given the remaster or remake treatment in the future alongside its predecessor.

8 Divinity 2: Ego Draconis

• Release Date: November 20, 2009

Divinity 2: Ego Draconis found its way to shelves just in time for the holidays in 2009. Whether you played this game at release or recently, the verdict remains the same: you will either love or hate it. This title tends to split fans into separate camps based on their tolerance for lack of hand-holding. When the dust settles, though, it's a pretty fun action RPG.

This foray of the series onto consoles has tedious leveling, quest-critical items that are difficult to find, and enemies who disappear forever after slaughter. Despite all these issues, though, Ego Draconis is so much fun and shows so much promise. The gameplay is actually very smooth for its time, and you get to utilize your preferred combat approach to its fullest. Oh, and you get to become a dragon and fly around, so there's that. It's an underwhelming entry in Larian's gameography for sure, but quite enjoyable regardless.

Divinity 2: Flames of Vengeance

• Release Date: November 12, 2010

Divinity 2: Flames of Vengeance was released under the radar as an expansion pack to Divinity 2: Ego Draconis. It received middling to good reviews, representing its overall average quality quite well. While that remains the long-term view, you could find forgiveness for thinking of this as a failure to deliver on an immense potential.

The early combat in Divinity 2 is unbalanced and frustrating at times, especially in higher difficulties. While many of Ego Draconis' criticisms ring true for this expansion as well, it took into account player feedback and fixed quite a bit of its parent game to acceptable levels. This is still not an incredible game, but it polished up an already fun action RPG and landed itself firmly among Larian Studios' decent games.

7 Divinity: Dragon Commander

• Release Date: August 6, 2013

Divinity: Dragon Commander flew its way into positive but overall mixed reviews upon release. This game is if Total War and Command & Conquer had a baby in the Divinity universe, oh and it had some third-person dragon action. The ambitious mix of game mechanics and features may not appeal to everyone, but if that mish-mash of games interests you one bit, Dragon Commander is for you.

The advisors and generals that aid you in the game are well-written and flat-out hilarious at times, which turned out to be a habit for Larian Studios. Divinity: Dragon Commander also provides plenty of replayability with its branching paths and mostly fun gameplay. This one had one of the more meddling receptions to a Larian game, so make sure you're tempering your expectations before you jump in.

6 Divine Divinity

• Release Date: August 2, 2002

While many believe that Divinity: Original Sin started the series, this game sparked the initial flame, and the Original Sin titles are actually prequels. Critics and fans alike praised it as an obvious labor of love with a few rough edges.

While very obviously a product of its time, this game lays the groundwork for several beloved Divinity pillars. These range from a non-linear story to an early showing of talent in creating characters to occupy a world. Divine Divinity is a relic for sure, but it should be treated as a valuable artifact as opposed to just another old RPG.

5 Divinity: Original Sin

• Release Date: June 30, 2014

Divinity: Original Sin is arguably an irreplaceable modern classic that anyone should pay attention to. The overall reception from both critics and fans at its launch couldn't have been more positive. This game reintroduced the world of classic RPGs in a clever, fun, and modern way that reinvigorated the genre for the digital medium.

While it's true that the systems and world-building here have been reiterated in better games by the same studio, there's not much that is enough to warrant skipping this one. Each choice matters in ways that gamers will think about long after they've turned off their device. Sure, this game is absolute by now, thanks to its Definitive Edition, but it's still the beginning of Larian Studios' rise to superstardom and is worth a lot of respect, if only for that.

4 Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition

• Release Date: October 27, 2015

Right after its release, Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition was showered with praise, while fans enjoyed the opportunity to play the RPG classic with a controller. This is a missing feature from Baldur's Gate III that players have groused about.

The mechanics and story are inferior to its sequel, but that's hardly a criticism, as the sequel is among the best in those regards. With it, Larian Studios proved that a port of an RPG released on PC can not only work but thrive on consoles. It was with this game that Larian Studios capitalized on their domination of the genre only a year after the release of Divinity: Original Sin.

3 Divinity: Original Sin 2

• Release Date: September 14, 2017

Divinity: Original Sin 2 became an instant classic upon release and immediately became recognized as a masterpiece of an RPG that no one remotely interested in the genre should skip. This game could easily make any list that claims to include RPGs everyone should play and get immersed in its world.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 has a grounded sense of reality with meaningful choices that lead to no perfect endings, but that's only one aspect of its brilliance. The game shines on the technical side as well. The depth of the party system is unparalleled, combat is fun, and it never feels unfun, even if you end up losing an important fight. Moreover, the attention to detail will make you explore every inch of the world, as there are hand-crafted secrets and plot threads under every stone.

2 Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition

• Release Date: August 31, 2018

Divinity: Original Sin 2 brought a classic-style RPG to the latest generation of consoles in 2018. In addition to that, Larian Games reworked parts of the plot and introduced a new arena mode for the PVP fans among us while keeping the best parts of the original game itself.

Larian Games not only improved upon the original but gave additional value and improvements. The core game is as great as ever, with amazing mechanics, impeccable worldbuilding, and three-dimensional characters. If nothing else, this edition of Divinity II is a testament to how support and post-release care can turn an already great game into a near-perfect one.

1 Baldur's Gate 3

• Release Date: August 3, 2023

Few have been able to avoid the incredible hype, praise, and well-deserved acclaim surrounding Baldur's Gate 3. This is, without a doubt, Larian Stuios' magnum opus at the time. The game takes cues from all of the studio's previous entries and uses them to perfection. Larian does what Larian does best and innovates while keeping its strengths at the forefront, giving us its best work yet.

What's even more impressive than crafting a polished combat system, immersive world, deep characters, and hilarious moments is that Larian took this series over on its third entry. This shows how good the studio can be at working with existing IPs and adding their own flavor to an existing setting. While it's hard to sum up what makes Baldur's Gate 3 so great, it's enough to say that the success of this game has made AAA studios self-conscious about the quality of their own products. It's a real badass thing to add to your resume as an indie developer, for sure.

Next: Baldur's Gate 3: Best Magic Items