Divinity: Original Sin 2 has surpassed its Kickstarter target, fewer than 12 hours after it went live.

In a video update, Larian founder Swen Vincke expressed his surprise at the campaign’s popularity.

“It went so fast that we’ve been caught off-guard, so we haven‘t been able to finish up all the preparations for the stretch goals but rest assured they’re coming to you very soon – most likely tomorrow,” he said.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the sequel to RPG Divinity: Original Sin, which gathered US$944,282 in late 2013, and was released last year to critical acclaim.

Larian said it was returning to Kickstarter in the hope that the extra funds would allow it to increase the sequel’s freedom and depth.

“The ideas that we have can be stretched a lot further than what our current budget allows for,” said the studio.

Like its predecessor, Original Sin 2 will feature cooperative/competitive multiplayer, turn-based combat, and a strong focus on systematic gameplay and a well-grounded narrative.

It will explore how your origins affect who you are and what chances you get in life, and players will be able to recruit up to three companions, each of whom is just as detailed as the character you're playing, and each of whom can be controller by other players in multiplayer mode.

“Like its predecessor, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a game about systems and using those systems to get your way,” said Larian.

“Before you know it, you’ll be manipulating the environment, using new types of elemental interactions, and exploiting people’s weaknesses to achieve your goals.”

“That systematic approach now also applies to the narrative. A new dialog system will give you many more options to persuade both NPCs and your companions. You'll quickly discover that nearly all dialogs in the game are different depending on who is doing the talking.”

There will also be a new crafting system as well as a skill crafting system, push/pull mechanics, a cover system, and “tons more skill schools, talents, abilities and spells”.

“We're going to be building all of this on top of everything we've been doing for the soon-to-be released Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition,” said Larian.

“That means you'll have an enormous amount of character development choices, with hundreds of skills and spells to pick from.”

You can check out the game’s full, in-depth pitch on Kickstarter.

At the time of writing, Divinity: Original Sin 2 had raised US$549,667 of its US$500,000 goal with 34 days remaining.