Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter campaign opens

Larian Studios, the company behind role-playing success Divinity: Original Sin, have returned to crowd-funding site Kickstarter to create a sequel - called, imaginatively enough, Divinity: Original Sin 2.

The company found considerable success for its love-letter to classic computer role-playing games (CRPGs) via Kickstarter, tapping into a vein of nostalgia and producing a title which was polished enough despite its problems to walk away with a respectable score in our review. That's even before the Enhanced Edition was announced, an overhaul of the game as part of a project to port it to consoles the result of which was an improved version of the game offered to all current PC owners free of charge.

With work on the Enhanced Edition behind it, Larian is back on Kickstarter with a pitch for a sequel. Divinity: Original Sin 2, as the new game is known, builds on the success of its predecessor with some new twists: characters are given a choice of origin stories which affect gameplay, and during the game up to three companions can be recruited - but, the company reveals, these can be player controlled, with both cooperative and competitive multiplayer game modes promised.

The sequel also boasts a new dialogue system with unique options depending on the speaking character, and a skill crafting system which will allow spells and skills to be combined - mixing a 'rain' and 'grease' spell, Larian suggests in its pitch to potential backers, to summon a rain of grease. Additional new features include push-pull mechanics, a cover system, and the same split-screen local multiplayer option for controller users as was found in the original's Enhanced Edition.

Response to the pitch has been overwhelming, with fans pushing the company over its $500,000 goal in under a day; at the time of writing, the company had raised nearly $630,000 with 34 days still to go. More information is available on the project's Kickstarter page.