Belgian RPG specialists Larian have tonight launched a Kickstarter project to fund the last developmental stages of the latest Divinity game. Original Sin foregoes the real-time combat and static cities of its predecessors, instead promising a highly reactive world, oodles of choice and consequence, and a turn-based battle system.
Divinity: Original Sin is a game Larian have “always wanted to do” – a PC RPG playable either in single player or cooperative multiplayer, with a shared player dialogue system that steps beyond the likes of The Old Republic.
Combat will be turn-based and “very tactical” – encounters in which players will have to utilise skill and spell combos and attacks of opportunity to survive, all while keeping a wary eye on their action point meter.
Players will develop their characters to fit their playstyles using a classless system. Exploration will be rewarded, and “countless” item interactions and combinations are waiting to be found in the wilds.
Original Sin has been in development since 2010 as Larian’s first self-funded game. So why the 400,000 dollars-worth of other peoples’ cash?
“Today we are nearing the end of our development cycle and when we look at what we’ve created so far, we think that we have in our hands the best RPG Larian Studios has ever created,” say the developers.
“But, we also have the feeling that our job isn’t done yet. The game systems we put in place have a lot of potential and because it took us quite some time to create them, we haven’t been able to use them to their fullest yet.
“That’s why we’re looking to increase the size of our development team. And because our budget is finite, we decided to come to Kickstarter to ask for your help.”
And they’re getting it. At the time of writing, 323 backers have donated over $16,000 to Larian’s cause between them. But will fans muster enough cash to scrape by that less-than-modest target in 29 days’ time? And should they? What do you think?