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52 / wfmag.ccDeveloper Profile / Larian StudiosL.E.D. Wars
PC 1997
Seen as something of a low-rent Command
& Conquer, L.E.D. Wars acted as a proof of
concept of sorts for Larian Studios, showing
the world it was a studio capable of actually
making a game. The end result was another
me-too real-time strategy title, similar to oh-so-
many in the latter half of the nineties, and
is largely forgotten these days.KetnetKick
PC 2004
Sidestepping dark fantasy, Larian went down
the child-friendly educational route with this
one, made for Belgian kids’ TV channel Ketnet.
A combination of platformer and creative
outlet, KetnetKick saw a sequel and the general
idea reworked into both Adventure Rock (for
CBBC), and GulliLand (for Jeunesse TV). But it
was back to the dragons soon enough.The Lady, The Mage
and The Knight
PC Cancelled
The Lady, The Mage and The Knight was
actually the reason Larian popped out L.E.D.
Wars to begin with: this was the real passion
project, said to be set in the Realms of Arkania
world, though not a sequel. Collaboration with
Attic Entertainment didn’t go well, and the
project was abandoned around 1999.Divine Divinity
PC 2002
The European alternative to Diablo, Divine
Divinity combined your pursuit of loot with
thwacking loads of enemies about the head –
as you’d expect – with a slightly deeper RPG
system than seen in Blizzard’s classic series.
Much-loved in its day, Divine Divinity finally saw
Larian on the path it had wanted to be on for
just over half a decade.Beyond Divinity
PC 2004
This follow-up to 2002’s successful original
carried on with the action-RPG theme and was
largely successful at making those incremental
updates you’d expect of a sequel. Sadly, it
arrived with a host of issues, looked even more
old-fashioned than the last game, and suffered
some genuinely atrocious voice acting. By no
means a bad game, but definitely a misstep.Larianmania
10 steps to CRPG glory
From low-rent C&C to high-profile D&D
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