User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 740 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 98 out of 740
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  1. May 17, 2018
    10
    In my opinion, PoE2 is a huge step up from PoE1 (which was also a great game). It improved on many areas, and from what I've noticed hasn't worsened in any aspect that was in PoE 1.

    Damn near everything is voice acted, the writing is vastly improved & the combat is much better. The music is better, the sound is better, the voice acting is better. The graphics look amazing for an
    In my opinion, PoE2 is a huge step up from PoE1 (which was also a great game). It improved on many areas, and from what I've noticed hasn't worsened in any aspect that was in PoE 1.

    Damn near everything is voice acted, the writing is vastly improved & the combat is much better. The music is better, the sound is better, the voice acting is better. The graphics look amazing for an isometric (not that it matters), the character models are improved, and the animations are MUCH more fluid. The story is great, the dialogue is so much better (way less pretentious and far more human - More 'pulp fiction' less 'lesbian film festival' ), and the story is engaging. The characters have much more personality, the companion system is vastly improved, and dialogue choice feels even more weighty.

    I could keep going on positives but here are the negatives I can think of: I heard there are bugs (haven't encountered any), the difficulty could be turned up a few notches - it works for a first time, but replays are going to need it to be the first games PoD difficulty, and loading screens (saw a review give it a 2 strictly on loading screens - its inconvenient sure, but really not THAT bad jesus.)

    Anyways, I'd recommend this game to anyone who likes RPGs - especially anyone who likes isometric RPGs. People who don't like RPGs will likely just say its boring because they're talking and not shooting but w/e. Recommended! Go buy now!
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  2. May 9, 2018
    10
    "People don't enjoy single-player games anymore" said EA.

    Well, suck on God of war and POEII's success, EA. You see, this might be a news to you, but you don't need to have predatory monetization practice with multiplayer games. All you need is an amazing narrative-driven single-player game. Good game means people love it and that equals more sales. It's a win-win situation EA.
  3. May 9, 2018
    10
    Improves on everything. The first one was a bit sluggish, but the tempo in the sequel is perfect. It's like they took all the best parts of PoE1 and Tyranny and put together.
    This is the closest game to Dragon Age: Origins (which is #1 on my list) I've tried, and that's amazing.

    If you like RPG's this is a must buy!
  4. May 8, 2018
    10
    An amazing sequel and a great RPG to explore!
    The best thing is the story-telling and the characters.
  5. May 9, 2018
    10
    Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is the Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn equivalent in terms of improvement on the original in the series. It is an instant classic and deserves nothing less than a perfect 10/10.
  6. May 9, 2018
    10
    Great game. Obsidian did it again and deliver us a great RPG experience.
    This game deserves better scores.
  7. May 8, 2018
    10
    300 hours on Pillars 1... 40 hours on Deadfire Beta... any doubt that i'll love this game !
  8. May 8, 2018
    10
    Excellent game, building on the solid foundation of the first game to deliver a much deeper and rewarding experience.
  9. May 8, 2018
    10
    Simply amazing and every aspect is improved from the last game. Well done Obsidian, well done.
  10. May 9, 2018
    10
    By far the most beautiful isometric RPG ever made, as well as the most feature packed and complex.
  11. May 10, 2018
    10
    The best CRPG since Baldurs Gate 2, a true masterpiece that outdoes the first game in every possible way!

    The morons leaving low scores have not played the game and are just abusing the open nature of this site.
  12. May 9, 2018
    9
    Imrpoved on every level compared to PoE 1. Fantastic game so far (did not finish it yet)
  13. May 28, 2018
    5
    Update 2: I finally got passed the 10 hour mark and unfortunately, the game actually got worse about 25 hours in. Initially I though the boat battles were fun, now I find them a complete waste of time. I also realized there is no economic balance to the game. If you do boat battles, you get rich so fast, that you can buy all the unique stuff in shops by 15 hours in. The writing does notUpdate 2: I finally got passed the 10 hour mark and unfortunately, the game actually got worse about 25 hours in. Initially I though the boat battles were fun, now I find them a complete waste of time. I also realized there is no economic balance to the game. If you do boat battles, you get rich so fast, that you can buy all the unique stuff in shops by 15 hours in. The writing does not improve, though quest quality did improve. Dialog however never improved and remains terribly boring.

    Update 1: I just tried playing it again and again, 10 hours in and I couldnt stay awake. The story is not interesting and the writing is just horribly boring. I am not sure how this is above a 8.0. Its not like the RPG elements have not been done before in every infinity engine game. This game plays it too safe. It needs something to call its own. Text boat battles dont do it.

    First the good. There are a lot of class options for player customization. I actually enjoy creating unique characters and trying different combinations. I settled on a monk/wizard using staffs which makes sense and actually did fairly well in the time I played the game.

    The not so good but still ok.

    Graphics are decent but areas are very small and it feels static. Everything seems to be voice acted which is nice, except the voices were inappropriate for the game. Some voice actors are great which is why I am placing this here but others are atrocious for the setting. See below for an explanation. Combat is iffy.

    The combat ok but the interface design is very poor. For an action style RPG, they went out of their way to place important information out of the action (view) area requiring you to take your eye off the action to see characters conditions. For example, there were a few situations where my characters almost died and I never even noticed they got hit. This is because health indicators are not above the characters but down below outside of view. Also the camera does not turn, a negative for a modern game with a large budget because it means that at times, its hard to see due to bad angles. The menus are terrible popup sub-menus inside of menus inside of other menus... terrible gui design. Still combat itself is not bad inherently but they added absolutely nothing new.

    Last, the bad stuff...

    #1 Completely UN-immersive. This is a two parter. First, this game that takes itself very seriously (like the 1st) but the story is high school level silly. The two simply do not mix. If you are going to take yourself this seriously, you better have a grade A story and dialog to back it up otherwise it will be a complete drag. I barely got to the 2nd island and I dreaded clicking on an NPC because I didnt want to hear more about the Watcher or get another fetch my money quest... There is a little bit of comic relief but it is very far and few between.

    Second, the accents... oh my god they are so out of place that snap you right out of the game entirely. The girl (Xoti) and her mom, with the southern accents were a complete turn off. I made a mistake by recruiting her but I didnt want miss any content so I usually recruit everyone. I just turned down the volume and started reading so I didnt have to do a double take every time she spoke. But that was not the only accent out of place. The Italian accent is also completely out of place and through the 1st 5 hours it seems that half of the population was Italian. How did someone think that this would be immersive in a game that is as serious as this one? It would have been great for a comedy but not here.

    #2 Group AI is completely borked and unreliable. For example, the AI does not even turn on if your characters are moving at the start of an encounter. It takes them about 5-10 seconds before the AI kicks in and in the meantime, they enemies will get 2 rounds off against characters that are just sitting there doing nothing. Since I play on the highest difficulty, this means that at times, 1 character is dead before the AI even starts up so I had to micro everything. Also, the AI turns off for a bit if you directly order your characters to use a special ability. All this means you have to constantly micro everyone in the party or you will have serious problem at higher difficulties even against trash enemies. This makes every battle a huge drag. You need to do a lot of pausing and clicking and pausing and click and pause and click every few seconds. Too much repetition. Macro'ing in this game is not fun, fair, nor balanced. If you micro everything the game becomes nearly trivial. If you dont micro you will lose to laughable enemies... POE1 had similar problems and I got bored of that quickly too. Baldurs Gate was never like this. They need to fix the AI and reduce the number of clicks (better gui).

    Ultimately, I played about 10 hours and I was so bored that I didnt want to continue. I may go back to play this again later but right now, just seeing the game icon makes me feel sleepy.
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  14. May 9, 2018
    10
    This is a once-in-a-generation RPG. It's not just the best role playing game of the past few years -- which isn't really saying much -- it may be the best game since Baldur's Gate II... and, in many respects, it is clearly superior to BGII, as well!

    The graphics are a thing of beauty, the game engine has been thoroughly optimized so that load times are much faster than they were in the
    This is a once-in-a-generation RPG. It's not just the best role playing game of the past few years -- which isn't really saying much -- it may be the best game since Baldur's Gate II... and, in many respects, it is clearly superior to BGII, as well!

    The graphics are a thing of beauty, the game engine has been thoroughly optimized so that load times are much faster than they were in the first PoE, the combat (on hard difficulty) is appealingly complex and strategic, the storytelling is very well done, the game is very well-balanced across multiple dimensions, and the overall "open seas exploration" theme is handled admirably. Most importantly of all, it's an extremely engaging and entertaining game to play, with a lot of depth to it.

    This game has surpassed the first PoE just as BGII surpassed the original Baldur's Gate. It is going to go down as a classic. Game of the decade, easy.
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  15. May 8, 2018
    10
    I'm a big fan of cRPG - I loved ID, IDII, both Baldur's Gate games and now we have the game which can stand comparision to BG2... Obsidian - good work!!! If you 're looking for deep rich beautiful world - buy and play. If you are new - also buy and play… You'll be amazed… Only comparable game for me is Witcher 3...
  16. May 8, 2018
    10
    A Great Game in a fantastic Universe. GREAT RPG OLD STILE. An amazing sequel and a great RPG to explore! The best thing is the story-telling and the characters.
  17. May 8, 2018
    7
    Pros:

    - Amazing graphics - Incredible sound - High flexibility in creating a character due to subclasses/muticlassing - Probably good replayability - Unmatched AI options Cons (Roughly in order of importance): - The drop to 5 party members is unnecessary and a step in the wrong direction. Improving the AI addresses the micromanagement concerns people had. - With so
    Pros:

    - Amazing graphics

    - Incredible sound

    - High flexibility in creating a character due to subclasses/muticlassing

    - Probably good replayability

    - Unmatched AI options

    Cons (Roughly in order of importance):

    - The drop to 5 party members is unnecessary and a step in the wrong direction. Improving the AI addresses the micromanagement concerns people had.

    - With so many subclasses and multiclassing options, the game will *never* be balanced, or even close. Balance isn't the most important thing in a single-player RPG, but it is something that needs to be done, and they've created far, far more work for themselves than they can handle.

    - Dropping back to level 1 with your characters is... somewhat expected, but I'm finding that because most spells/abilities are identical to the first game, it's like I'm just playing the first game all over again. I thought we were getting a sequel here.

    - Related to the previous point, far too many spells are identical to Pillars 1, with longer cast times and adjusted damage. It's disappointing. The new spells they did come up with are, again, mostly blatant copies of D&D spells.

    - It feels like they spent far too much time and far too many resources on martial characters rather than casters. Somewhat related to the previous point on unoriginal spells.

    - Most spells take too long to cast and/or recover from. It makes combat feel like a slog.

    - Too much information during character creation is far too vague.

    - Loading screens are still too long.

    - It's a bit too "pirate-y".
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  18. May 8, 2018
    10
    The storytelling this time around is exquisite! There is a tremendous amount of care spent on the world building and helping the player to feel like they really are visiting this wonderfully crafted fantasy world.

    Combat is as thrilling as ever in CRPGs, with the added flair of just gorgeous artistic interactions and graphics. This is a pure 10 game, and deserves every bit of love
    The storytelling this time around is exquisite! There is a tremendous amount of care spent on the world building and helping the player to feel like they really are visiting this wonderfully crafted fantasy world.

    Combat is as thrilling as ever in CRPGs, with the added flair of just gorgeous artistic interactions and graphics.

    This is a pure 10 game, and deserves every bit of love and every minute you have to spare!
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  19. May 16, 2018
    0
    Pros: Pirate! Beautifully old graphic, a lot of classes and a lot of abilities.
    Cos:
    -Terrible music, cheap quality regarding both composing and producing tracks. - long and drag out unimportant and uninteresting dialog. Even with alot more voice over compare to POE 1. Voice over team has little to no emotion or that many lines to say. Saying "I got it" 50 times in a row is terrible.
    Pros: Pirate! Beautifully old graphic, a lot of classes and a lot of abilities.
    Cos:
    -Terrible music, cheap quality regarding both composing and producing tracks.
    - long and drag out unimportant and uninteresting dialog. Even with alot more voice over compare to POE 1. Voice over team has little to no emotion or that many lines to say. Saying "I got it" 50 times in a row is terrible.
    - Main story is very very short and boring. There is not really a lead of why one thing lead to another. Their purpose of the whole POEII: Deadfire is not convincing.
    - Too many side quests, they are random and uninteresting. Aside from distracting the player from the main quest, in one town, there are about 20 NPCs each gives 5 quest. It forces you running back and forth too much, not only that the amount of loading screen, you tell me. Game feels like a series of side quest rather than telling a story. I'd call this one Pillar of Many Random Pirate Side quest.
    - Pausing/AI configuration. Again, developers provide too many unnecessary tools for a simple task, 95% of the scripted AI condition aren't needed. Getting interrupted on a spell will make character skip that spell entirely..Compare this to Dragon Age: Origin or Final Fantasy XII ( game on a ps2), they are simpler and doing a much better job.
    -Even though there are alot of classes, abilities and weapon of choices, the way active and passive abilities are made making building a character is oblivious, you cannot fail to build a character in this game. It's very wide but shallow. I'd rather have something narrow but deep, that's character building.
    - Pathing, character can't reach a destination run around and getting hit by engagement attack continuously.
    - Developers are so lazy to balance the game so that they make an option of scaling, game is too easy even on path of the damned difficulty once you reach high level
    -level of a character define its power, everything else is irrelevant: your class, weapon of choice, abilities, potions, scroll etc..

    Final word, I can't believe this PoE I and PoE II both budget about $6 M, compares to DOS I and
    DOSII with the same budget. or even its predecessor NWN or Baldur's Gate. After 40 hours to finish this game on Path of The Damned. I'm very dissapointed
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  20. May 14, 2018
    4
    If you want a bunch of flowery language, buggy inconsistent combat, bland characters, a quota-filling system of sexuality with hetero being the minority, a much shorter game then PoE and not as good as any RPG in recent or semi-recent memory but are desperate for an isometric game, then I suppose it is OK. The world is quite nice. I'm really concerned about the direction Obsidian is takingIf you want a bunch of flowery language, buggy inconsistent combat, bland characters, a quota-filling system of sexuality with hetero being the minority, a much shorter game then PoE and not as good as any RPG in recent or semi-recent memory but are desperate for an isometric game, then I suppose it is OK. The world is quite nice. I'm really concerned about the direction Obsidian is taking though with their game quality and leftist agendas. Expand
  21. May 14, 2018
    0
    Do people have no standards? Baldurs Gate I & II, are so much better in every way and they're almost 20 years old... they put better graphics in the game and assume that this is all you have to do? Why not do something different and unique? If this were a movie that remade an older movie it would get destroyed in reviews. Why are gamers giving it a pass for being a safe remake of an olderDo people have no standards? Baldurs Gate I & II, are so much better in every way and they're almost 20 years old... they put better graphics in the game and assume that this is all you have to do? Why not do something different and unique? If this were a movie that remade an older movie it would get destroyed in reviews. Why are gamers giving it a pass for being a safe remake of an older game.

    Also this is an RPG. Graphics are not what makes RPG's great. Its character development, story, writing, lore... This is a lot less complex than the original D&D games in terms of classes, combinations and abilities so no points for that. I mean... if you are going to copy, at the very least maintain the level of quality of the old games and dont cut content. The bad thing about this game is that its so boring. The story is just drab and tiring.
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  22. May 9, 2018
    2
    Loading screens, loading screens everywhere... Optimization? No, better to add more loading screens.
  23. May 8, 2018
    0
    Boring characters, boring story, boring narrative design. Easy combat. This feels like a horrible DLC for the original pillars of eternity.
  24. Jan 13, 2019
    6
    It's a good game, but definitely not as good as the original.
    The storyline gets considerably simpler, there's a "pick your own ending" and nonsensical alliances/diplomacy.
    Combat is also still not super satisfying. Running over everything with the same tactic unless you're on POTD is a bit meh.
  25. Dec 6, 2019
    7
    There a few wrong things with the game to distance it from a great experience: loading screens, weak main story and easy combat even on higher level of difficulty.
  26. Jun 9, 2020
    7
    Good game but I didn't enjoy it as much as PoE1. 90% of the quests happen around one hub city, and 90% of the other "dungeons" consist of (admittedly pretty) one to two rooms on a single floor. The story didn't flow very well either, and while the faction system was entertaining, none of them were remotely likeable.

    The new party members were okay, but Eder and Aloth were the most
    Good game but I didn't enjoy it as much as PoE1. 90% of the quests happen around one hub city, and 90% of the other "dungeons" consist of (admittedly pretty) one to two rooms on a single floor. The story didn't flow very well either, and while the faction system was entertaining, none of them were remotely likeable.

    The new party members were okay, but Eder and Aloth were the most enjoyable companions. The new ones didn't really compare to old favorites like Durance or Sagani. Xoti and Maia were.. okay. The rest of them were either bland or bad. The only one that might have been more interesting was confined to a companion role with no real story (some elf undead woman).

    The main quest also feels incredibly rushed. It's basically four missions and the final "boss fight" is a quick check list of questions and then the credits are rolled.

    It's a good RPG, but it's not a great one. Thaos was a much better villain than Eothas was. The latter comes off like a spoiled child who's smashing things because no one else will let him have his way, and yet his fellow gods wont intervene for reasons that are never really clear despite hitting him with a magic nuke the last time he tried to pull this. Despite attempts to handwave their inaction away, Woedica repeatedly makes it clear that they could stop him, they just wont because...reasons?

    I liked PoE2, but I didn't love it.

    By the way Sawyer, if you're reading this and still confused why it didn't sell as well as the first one - it's because of bad marketing. I didn't even know a second one had ever released until years later when it popped up as being on sale on steam.
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  27. Mar 22, 2019
    5
    Deadfire features a number of 'qualify of life' improvements over the previous game. The problem with Deadfire, however, is that the writers seem to have gotten lost in their own mythology. The lore is quite hard to follow, despite a familiarity to pacific cultures in real world. Even the logic behind the main storyline feels forced - and segmented. The player spends most of their timeDeadfire features a number of 'qualify of life' improvements over the previous game. The problem with Deadfire, however, is that the writers seem to have gotten lost in their own mythology. The lore is quite hard to follow, despite a familiarity to pacific cultures in real world. Even the logic behind the main storyline feels forced - and segmented. The player spends most of their time moving between large swathes of ocean, stumbling onto islands, where you 'play' multiple choice text-games - that is to say, it is mostly padding.

    Had the developers simply extended the storyline, and maintained every other aspect of the original PoE - you'd still have a superior game.

    It's worth buying on discount, to support the developer. But I can't recommend it at full price.
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  28. Nov 30, 2021
    6
    Too many things felt off with this game. From the weird aesthetics of African italians in European clothing with weird accents (woke?) to the whole theme of pirates and Islands. Characters were pretty weak as well. Apart from Eder, Aloth, Xoti and Serafin, there wasn't much there.
    And even then Aloth and Serafin are not the best characters ever created exactly. I did like Xoti and Eder
    Too many things felt off with this game. From the weird aesthetics of African italians in European clothing with weird accents (woke?) to the whole theme of pirates and Islands. Characters were pretty weak as well. Apart from Eder, Aloth, Xoti and Serafin, there wasn't much there.
    And even then Aloth and Serafin are not the best characters ever created exactly. I did like Xoti and Eder is a likeable classic from PoE though.

    Some may like it better than PoE 1 and it did have some great moments, but overall a very "meh" experience. Especially comparing to Pillars of Eternity 1 in my opinion.

    The plus of the game is the movement with the text-RPG, those I really liked. But the story, atmosphere, characters and quests were all worse than PoE. The terrible combat from PoE was neither improved. The music is pretty good, but not again as good as Pillars Of Eternity 1.

    Still as a fan of RPG:s, I say, give it a try. However, I personally burned out pretty quickly on the game and had to force myself to finnish it.

    I hope if they make a PoE 3, which I hope they do, that they take it back to a classic adventure setting without pirates and that they improve on the things mentioned as negatives in this review: aeshetics, setting, combat, mainquest, characters.

    +
    Text RPG moments
    Beautifully made enviroments
    Music

    -
    Aesthetics
    Setting
    Character choice (too few good characters)
    Factions
    Combat
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  29. Jun 9, 2023
    8
    Huge step up over its predecessor. Interesting concept of a pirate rpg, the story and setting are both very engaging. There are many interesting questions posed to the player, small and large. Combat is fun and did not wear out its welcome. Characters a bit hit or miss but some real stars in there. Soundtrack and presentation appropriately mythic.
  30. Jun 25, 2018
    8
    Solid game. I'd rate the first game at 7/10, and this one is a solid improvement in just about every way.
    - combat is better and easier to see what's going on
    - better itemization - ship exploration is cool some nitpicks: - the story is slow at times. To me this has the effect of making the experience feel less epic than it should. - too many spells/abilities are carbon copied
    Solid game. I'd rate the first game at 7/10, and this one is a solid improvement in just about every way.
    - combat is better and easier to see what's going on
    - better itemization
    - ship exploration is cool

    some nitpicks:
    - the story is slow at times. To me this has the effect of making the experience feel less epic than it should.
    - too many spells/abilities are carbon copied from the first game
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  31. Sep 9, 2018
    10
    One of the best RPGs ever. Real rating is 9 but I gave 10 to compensate for the 0 ratings. Combat is complex and balanced, items are great, and the main story is great although too short. Plenty of interesting choices to make and side quests+factions to play. Lots of exploration to do. PoE1 had more plot for the central story, and much less side-quests, which I prefer. One thing IOne of the best RPGs ever. Real rating is 9 but I gave 10 to compensate for the 0 ratings. Combat is complex and balanced, items are great, and the main story is great although too short. Plenty of interesting choices to make and side quests+factions to play. Lots of exploration to do. PoE1 had more plot for the central story, and much less side-quests, which I prefer. One thing I don't like is that there is nothing extreme in the combat, so advantages are gained from many small adjustments that add up over time. This is what easily allows for so many different ways to do combat, however in a perfect world they could balance more extreme gameplay. Expand
  32. Sep 28, 2018
    9
    Anyone reading this. Path of the Damned difficulty is the best way to play it. I'm giving this a 9 solely based on the game play and not on the crappy story. I've played the first on for hundreds of hours and this one is just as good. Forget the story, play the game. It would've been a 10 if not for the bad story.
  33. Sep 23, 2018
    10
    Haven't played a game this fun since Dragon Age: Origins. Have done about 4 or 5 complete playthroughs and plan on doing many more. Satisfies my need for pirates, exploration, companions, fun combat and lots of choices.
  34. Aug 31, 2018
    9
    I am surprised! I absolutely hated the first PoE; everything about it sucked: the dialogue, the story, the game play! PoE2 improves on everything. The graphics and gameplay in particular deserve praise. Very few games get the real-time-with-pause tactical gameplay right ( like the DA series ) and while I would've preferred turned based gameplay, what PoE has to offer is not bad at all!
  35. Sep 22, 2018
    9
    I was late to the party and played PoE2 right after I had played through PoE1 for the first time and what a great rpg experience both games were. Improvements from game 1 in almost every area. I know some found the ending lacking but i enjoyed the philosophical finale. Minus 1 point because of some technical issues on high end pc
  36. Jun 15, 2018
    5
    Lots of content and deep mechanics. Great replay value due to endless numbers of builds and branching storylines. The game falls short in its character design choices and writing, vital to fantasy games. When the 999th big aggressive female appears to show you how women can be strong too, you start to get the feeling that their goal isn't to create the most immersive and magical fantasyLots of content and deep mechanics. Great replay value due to endless numbers of builds and branching storylines. The game falls short in its character design choices and writing, vital to fantasy games. When the 999th big aggressive female appears to show you how women can be strong too, you start to get the feeling that their goal isn't to create the most immersive and magical fantasy experience but rather to change the thinking their misguided and uneducated players. This repeatedly drags you out of the fantasy, which sadly ruins the game. Expand
  37. Aug 13, 2018
    10
    Best game i played ever. I loved PoE 1, but i did not like tyranny. I began to play thinking that it would be more like tyrany, but i have never been so wrong. Poe 2 is a more balanced game, have a cool exploration system and a great story.
  38. Oct 23, 2018
    10
    Ещё один шедевр от Обсидиан, ребят, вы лучшие! Obsidian, you're best!
  39. Jul 19, 2020
    8
    Very good sequel which, unlike other wonderful rpg (e.g.dragon age or fallout 3 ), do not upset the original title transforming it into garbage.
    Only the story is, from my point of view, a little less addictive than the first one but you should not miss it if you liked pillars of eternity
  40. May 24, 2018
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. *Review contains some points that may be considered spoilers *

    Deadfire is a great game. Tons of things to do, lots of quirky details, heaps of laughs, companions with different personalities, some of which you can romance. The player experience is varied and doesn't just involve hitting stuff. There's a huge city to explore, ships and ship combat that can be approached in a variety of ways, scripted interactions and lots of quests that can be resolved in a number of ways, sometimes peacefully, which is nice and adds flavour to different types of characters you create. Multi and subclassing as well as non combat skills you can upgrade (such as diplomacy, bluff, alchemy, explosives, etc) offer endless variations of gameplay. In general, it's a lot of fun and much better than the first one imo. This island setting makes it less sombre than these types of games often are, as in spite of creepy dungeons etc, the overall scenery and ambiance is colourful and pleasant. There are various factions with pros and cons you can help, or not and a complex approval system with companions both for your character and one another.

    Negatives are that the game is buggy and to some extent appears unfinished. A number of quests bug out or make no sense if you do them in the "wrong" order, although as it is open world, the right order is not obvious. Weps have faulty descriptions, etc. You can also end up with negative rep simply by going to the wrong place at the wrong time, and so on. While that's not really bad, I imagine it could be off-putting to some people, especially as you won't know why it happened unless you played it before or google. Also, I imagine it would be very confusing if you haven't played the first game, and the companions from the first game treat you like they do not know you approvalwise, irrespective of your prior relationship with them and are harder to almost impossible to get positive rep with, making the choice to play an established character from a previous game a tad pointless. Combat is arguably too easy at times if you are used to this type of system, and the main story is somewhat lackluster. Finally, the narrator overdramatises to the point of it becoming extremely irritating.

    So all in all a fantastic game that does suffer somewhat from a feeling of having been thrown on the market to reach the ultimate deadline when it wasn't really polished. I do hope these issues are fixed in later patches as it would be a pity to leave something with such potential lacking due to what I can only assume were oversights caused by lack of time.
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  41. May 20, 2018
    10
    Amazing game, almost everything is improved from the first PoE. The combat is much smoother, although I still prefer the combat in Tyranny. Great quests and really good music. There is a lot of reading in the game, so be prepared for that. If you want to do every side quest, the game can last over 50 hours.
  42. May 26, 2018
    9
    I just finished playing this game. It was a great ride. Loved it more then POE 1. But there is room for improvement. Especial difficulty level is way to easy for experienced players. Main storyline is a bit simple and short but there is enough content in the game to help you forget that. Loved the multiclass system and after a while i even started to like the ship combat system. I thinkI just finished playing this game. It was a great ride. Loved it more then POE 1. But there is room for improvement. Especial difficulty level is way to easy for experienced players. Main storyline is a bit simple and short but there is enough content in the game to help you forget that. Loved the multiclass system and after a while i even started to like the ship combat system. I think this last also has some room to improve.

    I love the moral conflicts i sometimes experience with quest lines. Loved the side quests. And this is the only game where i read every aspect of quest line. The fact that actors did a great job in the quest dialogue draw me in every questline.

    All with a a worthy sequel to POE but it has room to improve in its current state ( v 1.02) .
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  43. Jun 23, 2018
    5
    If you liked the first game this will disappoint you a little. The drop to 5 party members is unnecessary, the ship combat feels unfinished, the side quests are boring, there are not many interesting locations, factions or characters, and the caster system is way worse than in the first game.
  44. Jun 21, 2018
    10
    This game is a masterpiece. I'm playing it for 40 hours and I love the areas, music, the factions, the setting, the freedom to explore, the plot, dialogues, etc.

    I played Infinity Engine games and I must say that with Pillars of Eternity 2 I'm enjoying the game as I did almost 20 years ago with Baldur's Gate.
  45. Dec 18, 2018
    6
    This is a rather good traditional D&D inspired RPG a la Baldur's Gate, with a decent story so far, nice character interaction and affinity system, nice NPC side stories, lots of spoken dialogues, kind of pretty map design in cities in particular (the small outdoor maps for certain encounters are absolutely boring).
    Combat system is nothing new, exactly similar to BG with pseudo real-time
    This is a rather good traditional D&D inspired RPG a la Baldur's Gate, with a decent story so far, nice character interaction and affinity system, nice NPC side stories, lots of spoken dialogues, kind of pretty map design in cities in particular (the small outdoor maps for certain encounters are absolutely boring).
    Combat system is nothing new, exactly similar to BG with pseudo real-time and pausing system... ship approaches and combats are fun in a way, even if a bit of a repetitive dice-throwing exercise.

    But... BUT... It's major drawback, the reason that makes me hesitate to return to it, is the absolutely crazy loading times. You spend 20% of your play time waiting for a map to load. It is just unbareable in 2018. You enter a buidling, 20 seconds. change floors, 20 seconds. Go to the balcony (ie load the main city map you were on before) 30 seconds... repeat ad vitam eternam. We are talking smallish, barely animated 2D isometric maps with few characters on them! Even loading the map for boat trips takes unreasonable amounts of time. Compared to the seamless wanderings of your party on massive outdoor maps in Dos2, which is to me way more detailed and animated, it makes PoE2 an insult to modern graphics engines.
    My time is precious, and I have a decent computer config to avoid such issues. I am writing this very review during the loading time breaks. Luckily enough, Alt-Tab works ok...
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  46. Sep 18, 2019
    10
    Easily one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Its on par or better than any RPG you've ever played. Its not even up for debate. Amazing.
  47. Aug 27, 2019
    9
    Deadfire represents Obsidian laying down the burden of the Infinity Engine, and as a (perhaps ironic) result the sequel is the superior game in the series. Freed from nostalgic expectations, Obsidian manages to make various improvements to the game systems: The multiclassing system is a fine fit for Josh Sawyer's signature balance philosophy, allowing for an unmatched variety of partyDeadfire represents Obsidian laying down the burden of the Infinity Engine, and as a (perhaps ironic) result the sequel is the superior game in the series. Freed from nostalgic expectations, Obsidian manages to make various improvements to the game systems: The multiclassing system is a fine fit for Josh Sawyer's signature balance philosophy, allowing for an unmatched variety of party compositions; unique items, each with their own mods and upgrade paths, address the blandness found in the first game; the greatly reduced number of filler combat encounters and the swashbuckling open-world put the emphasis on exploration.

    An underappreciated strength is the sheer customization possibilities of the experience: Five difficulty levels, any combination of eleven challenge modes and new game bonuses, extensive AI scripting capabilities and even a turn-based mode ensure any RPG player will find something here to enjoy. And if you still need more, the DLCs are uniformly excellent. Just ignore the plot.
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  48. Sep 7, 2019
    5
    Compared to the first episode, this one is bad :

    - bugs (disappearing ennemies, crash) in August - September 2019, more than 1 year after the release date ! Of course, the latest patch was applied. - a few spells require some time before launching (fireballs) whereas enemies move : fireballs often explode when enemies are no longer in the area. In the first Pillars of Eternity, these
    Compared to the first episode, this one is bad :

    - bugs (disappearing ennemies, crash) in August - September 2019, more than 1 year after the release date ! Of course, the latest patch was applied.

    - a few spells require some time before launching (fireballs) whereas enemies move : fireballs often explode when enemies are no longer in the area. In the first Pillars of Eternity, these spells were launched immediately.

    - enchanting is far too expensive.

    - areas are still too small.

    - impossible to turn around the combat scene which makes impossible to have a clear view.

    - naval combat is really bad and does not work : I had destroyed the enemy ship sail so it shouldn' move. I chose to move forward with my ship many times and the distance between the 2 ships does not change ! The developer never played Assassin's Creed naval combats which is miles better than this ****

    - Technically, a disaster : with a high-end PC (9900K, RTX 2080 TI, 32 GB RAM, Intel Optane 900p), there are stutters, the loading times are too long and occur too often, as soon as I move in a building or change area ! Really, the developers should learn from CD Projekt, the Witcher 3 developer.

    I liked the first Episode, despite a few mistakes. I hoped that the developer learnt from them but is it not the case. It is my last Pillars of Eternity.
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  49. Nov 21, 2018
    8
    I am a big fan of this kind of RPG but I have never been a massive fan of the Pillars world. There have been better crpgs but this is still a very worthy and enjoyable title.
  50. Jul 6, 2020
    9
    Deadfiire archipelago is such a new mood compared to POE1 and old Baldur's Gate games. It is a fun game that got me hooked to finish it 4 times(Noob numbers) with different endings. My only problem with he story is it was too big. I prefer a small but important story that will echo as time goes by throughout Eora. Ekera?
  51. Aug 29, 2020
    10
    I believe Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire was not a commercial success because of very poor marketing. I played and loved the first episode in 2016, and I realized a sequel existed only in August 2020, and only because it was mentioned as a positive comparison in another game's review.
    I will give it a 10, despite the very long and unjustified loading times between even small areas. The
    I believe Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire was not a commercial success because of very poor marketing. I played and loved the first episode in 2016, and I realized a sequel existed only in August 2020, and only because it was mentioned as a positive comparison in another game's review.
    I will give it a 10, despite the very long and unjustified loading times between even small areas. The gameplay (both real time and turn based) is great, as well as the story, the graphics, the music, the character progression system and the companions (Eder is still the best). I also enjoyed the new naval combat and ship management system, a refreshing evolution of the "player's stronghold" concept. Belfetto! (Almost).
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  52. May 23, 2018
    9
    Great game all in all, haven't finished the main quest yet, but the side quests I have finished are really fun, especially the pirate quests.

    So ... a couple of things: 1) battle mechanics are out of whack right now, so if you are like me and hate 1st person hack and slash RPGs, and love tactical combat where you can use and control every aspect of what's around you, I would wait a
    Great game all in all, haven't finished the main quest yet, but the side quests I have finished are really fun, especially the pirate quests.

    So ... a couple of things:
    1) battle mechanics are out of whack right now, so if you are like me and hate 1st person hack and slash RPGs, and love tactical combat where you can use and control every aspect of what's around you, I would wait a month until they roll out an update, I read it's supposed to be mid-to-early June, that said though there is also some mods you can use to get it closer to what Obsidian is known for, and I expect they will deliver, especially in what I experienced playing the Beta, good combat!! Did anyone else get wiped by the Sand Blights over and over again???

    2) Some of the side quests are too short, but nothing that would stop me from recommending.

    3) Do miss the Endless Path's style dungeon of the first game, but if I remember correctly Baldur's Gate 2 really didn't introduce a huge dungeon until the expansion, so curious what the DLC will deliver.

    4) I actually like the whole ship combat mechanic, adds a good break and options in exploring the world.

    Other than that fun, fun, fun!! And a good RPG.
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  53. Oct 21, 2018
    10
    Same as its prequel. This game would be masterpiece. if devs used some normal engine, not this unity half ass crap. Terribad fps on high end machine, characters getting constantly stuck in combat (meele standing in row, one behind another, stuck, not engaging enemy, etc).
    Rest is pretty much beautiful (character animations could use some work as well). Lovely RP possibilities, deep
    Same as its prequel. This game would be masterpiece. if devs used some normal engine, not this unity half ass crap. Terribad fps on high end machine, characters getting constantly stuck in combat (meele standing in row, one behind another, stuck, not engaging enemy, etc).
    Rest is pretty much beautiful (character animations could use some work as well). Lovely RP possibilities, deep story, etc. I am giving 9/10, more than it deserves in general, because of these.
    EDIT i decided to play with 3.0.1 after some pause, and fps is average 3x higher. Changing score to 10, and thank you for fix Obsidian, this is finally something.
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  54. May 17, 2018
    10
    On of the best CRPG´s i have ever played. A truly outstanding game with lots of choice and consequence. Good work Obsidian.
  55. Apr 26, 2020
    10
    Great RPG. My only "problem" with the game is that there's so much great stuff in the game I sometimes feel like I'm not up to the task. My advice is play through it and enjoy it, don't save scum, and try not to look up stuff online.
  56. May 18, 2018
    8
    Project Eternity sought to revive the style of the infinity engine games using crowd funding because major publishers don't make anything like that anymore. This was a success, POE and a few other games showed that there was still a market for this type of game and now the genre is back in full swing.

    The sequel improves on that game massively. It looks so much better than the last
    Project Eternity sought to revive the style of the infinity engine games using crowd funding because major publishers don't make anything like that anymore. This was a success, POE and a few other games showed that there was still a market for this type of game and now the genre is back in full swing.

    The sequel improves on that game massively. It looks so much better than the last game, the art style is fantastic. The last game had beautiful 2d environments but the 3d character models looked a little dated and out of place but that is not the case here, the character models are for the most part really good and the new lighting and vfx really brings the game to life.

    the majority of dialogue is voice acted and the VO is for the most part great. All the important npc's have hand painted portraits now, Obsidian used a simpler watercolour technique which allowed them to create portraits for every quest relevant character. This really helps make each character seem more unique a problem i had with the last game was that very few of the side characters were all that memorable and this really helps with that.

    The world is more open and it's a lot easier to explore the many islands in the Deadfire Archipelago. There are also a lot of side quests most of which are well written and interesting. You have a ship and there are many ways to upgrade, customise and even buy new ships in the game. There are many potential crew members for your ship. You can either hire them from taverns or more interestingly there are npc's dotted throughout the world who can potentially be hired as crew members. This is a nice touch for example I was able to recruit an ogre as my ships cook who was tired of her job cooking in this dive of a tavern.

    The combat is more fun and the new subclass and multiclass system is for the most part fantastic it adds so much more customisation to the game, some classes have more versatility than others but then you can always multiclass. I do think in the current state though the combat is a little too easy, that is supposed to be being patched some time soon.

    The game really reacts to the way you customise your character, there are all kinds of skill checks and background checks. For example you can play as a "godlike" which is essentially a person who has been touched by a god and blesses with certain godlike characteristics, this is supposedly rare and people react strongly to it. In POE though there were other godlike everywhere and reactivity to godlike characters was uncommon. This is not the case in this game it comes up a lot which is really nice to see.

    I am not giving this game a perfect score because there are a couple of problems, for one thing the intro forces you to either import a save from the last game or choose a preset world state (you can also make a custom world state in the options menu without importing). This would seem to imply that your choices from the last game matter in this one but many of them simply do not. Sure they come up a lot in conversation but most of them have very little in the way of consequences. Even some choices that should have major consequences don't at all. The import system is also quite buggy but that has already been patched for the most part.

    The main plot is not as long as I would like and there isn't really a way to change it much either, this was the same with the last game and it was my biggest gripe but at least that one had a longer main quest that didn't feel bogged down either. This one could probably do with being about twice as long as it is. Don't get me wrong though the game isn't lacking in story content, it's just that there is a lot more focus on side quests and specifically faction quests.

    Another problem I have is the companions, they just feel less important than the ones in the last game. Even the returning ones I feel like they are just along for the ride. There are also "sidekicks", I would be fine if that was like Baldur's gate where some companions just had less content but sidekicks have so little after the initial meeting that they seem pointless and not worth taking. They should have some party banter and a few comments and reactions to certain quests here and there to make them feel worth taking. It's a shame too as some of these characters have potential. The companion relationship system is also quite buggy so lets hope it gets patched soon.

    I would definitely recommend this game, despite a few flaws it improves on the last and I am already enjoying my second play through.

    Disclaimer: I backed this game
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  57. May 15, 2018
    10
    I'm not a big fan of piratey things but Pillars II is a masterpiece. It builds on foundations of the first game and improves on pretty much everything (other than maybe the companions at first, but they slowly grew on me). Good job Obsidian, keep up with good work. Now just give us good modding tools and we will be forever happy.
  58. May 20, 2018
    10
    It is a beautiful game full of fun activities, the story is good, the audio excellent, the combat entertaining also obsidian always fulfills what it promises. In summary goty 2018
  59. Jun 9, 2018
    9
    Never played the first game. Finished Deadfire in 48 hours. Amazing game. The story is quite engaging and intriguing. Very nice and different characters. You also have morale choice to make from time to time. The graphics are pretty good. I got some skipping when too much lighting were involved. The combat requires tweaking the auto-pause in the options. You can disable it too. There was aNever played the first game. Finished Deadfire in 48 hours. Amazing game. The story is quite engaging and intriguing. Very nice and different characters. You also have morale choice to make from time to time. The graphics are pretty good. I got some skipping when too much lighting were involved. The combat requires tweaking the auto-pause in the options. You can disable it too. There was a bug when a character levelled up, where you have your weapon inventory unequipped the last item. A bit annoying. The quest system leave text indications but they are not really helpful. There is no arrow or objective pointers to where to go and what to do. Because of the amount of side quest it would have been great to be able to know where to go. The music was really sweet and some parts fun to listen. I give the game a 85%. Totally worth buying it if you are into that style of RPG. Expand
  60. Jul 14, 2018
    10
    This game is the absolute best isometric rpg to this date, nothing can compete with it. 340 hrs and im still enjoying it.
  61. May 14, 2018
    10
    POE 2 is what BG2 was to BG!

    I am 30 hours in and the amount of content is amazing! Graphics are great! I never thought I would see another isometric RPG let alone of this graphic quality and beauty.

    I cannot thank enough Obsidian taking a risk and making one of the best cRPG ever! Please give us more!
  62. May 22, 2018
    10
    Some of the bad reviews here are amazingly vapid. This is a better version of the first game in nearly all aspects. I'm 50 hours in (the end is nowhere in sight) and am having a blast... which is all that counts.

    I have a high end PC (7700k, 1080, 1440p display) and I get a constant 120 FPS and have yet to experience a game/quest ending bug. I've had two crashes, both had autosaves that
    Some of the bad reviews here are amazingly vapid. This is a better version of the first game in nearly all aspects. I'm 50 hours in (the end is nowhere in sight) and am having a blast... which is all that counts.

    I have a high end PC (7700k, 1080, 1440p display) and I get a constant 120 FPS and have yet to experience a game/quest ending bug. I've had two crashes, both had autosaves that were only a minute or two behind where I was.

    It's a great game with many mechanics (even ship upkeep/sailing/cannon fighting... down to what sort of food you give to your crew and how it affects their moral...) in a world with almost too much to do/explore. Almost all of it voice acted (which is amazing).

    Definitely and highly recommended for anyone into classic RPGs.
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  63. May 14, 2018
    9
    The Good:
    -the graphics are fantastic, easily the best-looking isometric game ever save only for Divinity Original Sin 2 perhaps
    -combat has been improved -multiclassing is lots fun and add tons of replay value -exploring is fun -the game feels far more expansive than the previous one -the side quests are much more involved -the music has been imrpoved -the game feels more reactive
    The Good:
    -the graphics are fantastic, easily the best-looking isometric game ever save only for Divinity Original Sin 2 perhaps
    -combat has been improved
    -multiclassing is lots fun and add tons of replay value
    -exploring is fun
    -the game feels far more expansive than the previous one
    -the side quests are much more involved
    -the music has been imrpoved
    -the game feels more reactive to the player
    -the Deadfire Archipelago is a lot more interesting and exotic than the first game's setting
    -the faction relationships are well done

    The Bad:
    -the characters are once again kind of bland; they're not bad, some are even likeable but there are no stand out companions like Minsc and the cast of Baldur's Gate II or even Durance from the previous game
    -load times are slow at times
    -the main plot is a bit unfocused
    -ship-to-ship combat is not fun

    The Ugly:
    -the bugs, not that I didn't expect that from an Obsidian game at launch

    Overall a massive improvement over the original PoE, but still some room for improvement.
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  64. Jul 17, 2018
    7
    Well, I'm torn.

    I loved the original Pillars. The story, writing and mechanics were excellent. I was drawn into the world and spent many hours there. Deadfire improves on some of the weaker aspects of Pillars. Graphics are sharper and the AI is smarter (with the exception of wizard Ai...ye gads, those fireballs.) Combat is more fluid, but a little dumbed-down, and significantly
    Well, I'm torn.

    I loved the original Pillars. The story, writing and mechanics were excellent. I was drawn into the world and spent many hours there.

    Deadfire improves on some of the weaker aspects of Pillars. Graphics are sharper and the AI is smarter (with the exception of wizard Ai...ye gads, those fireballs.) Combat is more fluid, but a little dumbed-down, and significantly easier . However, the narrative is decidedly weaker. Pacing is a serious issue, especially at the beginning. The main quest is short--it is interesting, but a little flaccid, and not entirely sensical. Maybe the biggest problem with the game is that, apart from the main quest, there seems to be little reason to engage with the world. There is nothing comparable to exploring Caed Nua or hunting nigh invincible dragons. The bounty quests are much less engaging. The "factions" seem under-developed.

    It's not all bad. Some aspects of the game are down right exceptional--like the sea shanties! They have been stuck in my head for weeks.

    My first run of the game was 40 hours (down nearly 30 from first run of Pillars.) I am usually a completionist, but felt no need to stick around here...

    I'll update this review after a second play. Maybe a solo nightmare run will spice things up...there's hope here.

    *And here's an update after 2 runs and 98 hours of play. I'm left with an inescapable impression of "meh." The game is sometimes inspired, beautiful and rich in many ways...and yet somehow feels empty. The weakness of the main quest is difficult to overcome. I was leaning toward upping this rating to an 8 for most of my second play, but just felt so let down by the anti-climactic finish that I'm stuck with a solid 7. This is a good game that flirts with greatness, but falls short. We'll see what the DLC brings.
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  65. May 14, 2018
    10
    Great game but currently broken unplayable because it is far to easy and nearly impossible to get killed.

    In urgent need of patch to make the POTD difficulty more harder
  66. May 29, 2018
    9
    Pillars of Eternity 2 blossoms from its deep crpg roots and surpasses its predecessor in every way. This is the closest feeling to a tabletop campaign ive experienced in a rpg, i only wish i could of shared it with my friends.
  67. May 24, 2018
    10
    I'm a big fan of rpgs. Played Bg1&2, Icewind Dale, Dragon Age, the Witcher series, Planescape torment, Fallout 1&2, and so on. Wasn't a big fan of the first Pillars. Dont know if its because I didnt invest enough time in it. This game, I've played like 30 hours in one week. Was a long time ago since a game really captivated me like this. Some of the characters are lacklusting, and theI'm a big fan of rpgs. Played Bg1&2, Icewind Dale, Dragon Age, the Witcher series, Planescape torment, Fallout 1&2, and so on. Wasn't a big fan of the first Pillars. Dont know if its because I didnt invest enough time in it. This game, I've played like 30 hours in one week. Was a long time ago since a game really captivated me like this. Some of the characters are lacklusting, and the optimization is quite poor. That being said, its a really fun game. The combat mechanics are rewarding, the skill and leveling systems are also rewarding, the story is good, you just have to invest time into it. As a guy said who gave it a low score "its about chasing a big blue dude, just talk everywhere, there is no story". Dont listen to this guy. He's gotta have ADHD (i have a adhd diagnosis, but these game really keeps my interest). The story is in the fine details, all the amazing dialogues, and options. The number of different ways to play this games dialogue and options is quite breathtaking. All in all
    Pros: Good graphics. Good gameplay mechanic. Fun quests (most of them) and story.
    Cons: Bad optimization, some bugs, some lackluster characters (just a few)
    All in all, i give it 10/10 Bhaals.
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  68. Jun 19, 2018
    6
    So I just finished the game after about 80h of game play and the felling I got after finishing the game is somewhat ambivalent. Let me explain. POE2 is a good old BG2 style RPG with nice graphics, voice overs, combat system and generally seems like a type of game I would enjoy. However there are few problems for me that prevent me from giving it a higher score.

    The first problem in my
    So I just finished the game after about 80h of game play and the felling I got after finishing the game is somewhat ambivalent. Let me explain. POE2 is a good old BG2 style RPG with nice graphics, voice overs, combat system and generally seems like a type of game I would enjoy. However there are few problems for me that prevent me from giving it a higher score.

    The first problem in my opinion is the main story itself which is not very interesting because you don't really know what's going on until the very end where they dump all the exposition on you within an hour of the ending. Another problem with the main story is that it clashes with the "free open world RPG" nature of the gameplay instead of supporting it. The story introduces you to a great threat that needs to be dealt with immediately. Furthermore you learn very quickly exactly where you need to go to confront the threat. The problem is that you can't just go there - you need to level up first of course as in any other RPG. This process however takes about a year of in-game time but there is really no good in-game explanation of why you delay and do bounties and side quests first other than the knowledge of the game mechanic that you know as a player. Also the delay does not make sense within the logic of the story (without getting into spoilers). This is the reason why the story does not work very well in this game in my opinion. It could work with few tweaks, few more "in-between" things you'd need to do before you can go after the main threat and some exposition you'd learn along the way would make the story more interesting. Unfortunately they didn't do that. Ultimately the main story ends up not being very satisfying anyway and the game ends with a whimper rather than a bang.

    But "forget the main story, the meat of the game is the exploring and side questing anyway" I hear you say. Well, the problem with that is that the side quests are not terribly interesting neither. There are not many interesting locations, factions or characters. During the 2nd half of the game the exploring felt more like a chore I had to do to level up before I can get this over with. There are only few somewhat interesting places you can find but mostly it felt like a dime a dozen, especially if you've played other RPGs before. Also most of the side locations are quite small and there's usually not much to do other than a side quest or two. The bounty islands are usually completely generic. There were few nice quests/story book interactions, etc but they were too few and too far between. Also unfortunately the devs did not learn from POE1 and doubled down on unpronounceable names of everything so after I just literally finished the game I cannot remember a single NPC/island/creature name, excluding few main names like Nekataka where you spend half of the game, but what was the queen's name for example I have no idea and she's one of the main NPC characters in the game. Okinawa or something, wait that's not right. Anyway the NPC characters generally, including the main ones, have just few "tell me about yourself/this place" interactions and once you've read them that's it, there's nothing else to them. It does not help that the NPC characters are not very interesting or memorable but the weird names of everything on top of that makes it impossible to get invested in anything.

    It seems like I'm giving the game a hard time but it's not all terrible. The game play itself is enjoyable enough so that I finished the game but I have no interest in 2nd play through. As it is the game is average in my opinion. It's not terrible, you'll get your money's worth but in the end it does not really excel at anything in my opinion which makes it average. This game could have been great with better writing in my opinion, the basic game play is there and it is mostly solid, unfortunately the writing does not elevate it but rather brings it down which is unfortunate as a good story, quests and characters is what makes a good RPG in my opinion. POE2 lacks in all of these departments. Ultimately at the end the game feels unsatisfying and lacking the details that would make it really great. I applaud the devs, clearly fans of the genre, in their efforts to revive the good old BG2 style game where story and gameplay is more important than newest graphics, etc. Unfortunately they did not quite hit the mark for me.
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  69. May 26, 2018
    10
    Absolutely beautiful game! It's definitely a must-buy for players who love rich story telling. Don't just complete the main quests, also try finishing the side quests. In total, it took me more than 60 hours to complete this game. It's definitely worth it. Please don't hesitate to buy it. We need to support talented studios like Obsidian entertainment. I know there are people who'll beAbsolutely beautiful game! It's definitely a must-buy for players who love rich story telling. Don't just complete the main quests, also try finishing the side quests. In total, it took me more than 60 hours to complete this game. It's definitely worth it. Please don't hesitate to buy it. We need to support talented studios like Obsidian entertainment. I know there are people who'll be complaining about this game since there aren't any explosions and fps online matches. But it's not aimed for the general public, it's for the mature audiences who love to read through amazing stories and experience an enriched single-player journey throughout a beautifully crafted fantasy world Expand
  70. May 26, 2018
    10
    I really love this game, just as I loved the original. I was tempted to rate it a little lower because it lacks one thing; a little bit of polish. There's still a few bugs and a balance pass is required but Obsidian consistently delivers extended support for their titles and I have no doubt this will be no different.

    Anyone who loves isometric RPGs will at least like this and its only
    I really love this game, just as I loved the original. I was tempted to rate it a little lower because it lacks one thing; a little bit of polish. There's still a few bugs and a balance pass is required but Obsidian consistently delivers extended support for their titles and I have no doubt this will be no different.

    Anyone who loves isometric RPGs will at least like this and its only gonna get better.
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  71. May 11, 2018
    10
    I am a big fan of CRPG such as Baldur's Gate and this game delivers on all fronts. I am glad that there are still making games like this because we all know that these are nowhere as profitable as multiplayer games with in-game monetization.
  72. May 11, 2018
    9
    TL;DR - If you like Classical RPGs or D&D games, buy it.

    The only reason this game gets a 9 out of 10 from me is the fact that I'm bored with classic RPGs (I just don't like the gameplay), but the last 3 titles from Obsidian (PoE1, Tyranny and PoE2) got me playing. Great plot, great story, top down isometric camera with good detail in graphics, brilliant interface (They paid
    TL;DR - If you like Classical RPGs or D&D games, buy it.

    The only reason this game gets a 9 out of 10 from me is the fact that I'm bored with classic RPGs (I just don't like the gameplay), but the last 3 titles from Obsidian (PoE1, Tyranny and PoE2) got me playing.

    Great plot, great story, top down isometric camera with good detail in graphics, brilliant interface (They paid attention to EVERYTHING!), time mechanics... you can feel the love that was cast into this golden piece.

    Obsidian deserves praise for this.
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  73. May 12, 2018
    10
    I play mostly RPGs, and Pillars of Eternity II Deadfire is so far one of the best cRPG's ever for me! Fanstastic atmosphere, realistic graphics, beautiful lighting effects, sound effects and soundtrack, great combat improvement, story is very good for now.....and thanks for walking option :)

    Great job Obsidian, keep it up...
  74. May 16, 2018
    10
    A magnificent game. Astounding graphics and fantastic storyline. An absolute must for true rpg fans out there. I was quite literally blown away. The effort that has gone into this game is evident, a joy to behold. It is very refreshing that this has been made in an age where so much content out there is quite mindless and mundane, this is a throw back to a time where you could sit back,A magnificent game. Astounding graphics and fantastic storyline. An absolute must for true rpg fans out there. I was quite literally blown away. The effort that has gone into this game is evident, a joy to behold. It is very refreshing that this has been made in an age where so much content out there is quite mindless and mundane, this is a throw back to a time where you could sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Expand
  75. May 9, 2018
    10
    I have to give this a ten, simply because of how meticulously next gen it is. The graphics (incorporates 3d, animation, light and shadow), the sound-tracking (which is very effective), the full voice acting, the sense of atmosphere and exploration, the new mechanics and focus of player choice. The story itself is full of intrigue and the npc's memorable. It's compelling, immersive andI have to give this a ten, simply because of how meticulously next gen it is. The graphics (incorporates 3d, animation, light and shadow), the sound-tracking (which is very effective), the full voice acting, the sense of atmosphere and exploration, the new mechanics and focus of player choice. The story itself is full of intrigue and the npc's memorable. It's compelling, immersive and satisfying. The setting also introduces a lot of colour. The first one was great, but this sets a new standard for the isometric rpg Renaissance.

    Also noteworthy is it's extensive guides to help players unfamiliar with pen and paper or rpg mechanics, making this style of game more accessible.
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  76. May 11, 2018
    10
    You might think that as a backer, I might be more willing to forgive any shortcomings this game might have, but it's quite the opposite: The more I'm invested in a game and anticipate it, the more I tend to be bitterly disappointed (Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age 2 are examples).
    Not so this time! I was a bit torn between 9 and 10 as I didn't initially like some of the changes to the
    You might think that as a backer, I might be more willing to forgive any shortcomings this game might have, but it's quite the opposite: The more I'm invested in a game and anticipate it, the more I tend to be bitterly disappointed (Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age 2 are examples).
    Not so this time! I was a bit torn between 9 and 10 as I didn't initially like some of the changes to the combat system, but 10 hours of game play later I can say combat is a lot of fun, although it lacks some of the depths of its predecessor. But the story, NPC, and especially dialogue make more than up for that - I don't miss it at all.
    A serious cointender for best RPG of all time, let's see how it plays out.
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  77. Jul 13, 2018
    6
    Rewrite of earlier review. The gameplay is excellent and lots of classes give you many options. The fighting is lots of fun except for the ship battles where I used to just ram the other vessels (for getting the battle over faster) most of the time even though your crew pick up injuries this way. The loot and stuff you can buy is good but I thought the first game had better items.

    The
    Rewrite of earlier review. The gameplay is excellent and lots of classes give you many options. The fighting is lots of fun except for the ship battles where I used to just ram the other vessels (for getting the battle over faster) most of the time even though your crew pick up injuries this way. The loot and stuff you can buy is good but I thought the first game had better items.

    The story is simple and doesn't really surprise you at all. Compared with other classic RPG's where you could get captivated and immersed in the story this is very poor. The same can be said for companions/NPC's. There is no meaningful dialogue apart from some banter and the odd comment.

    All in all, if you like party based RPG's and only want good gameplay then this is recommended, but if you want a decent story also then you might be disappointed as I was.
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  78. May 27, 2018
    10
    Incredible crpg, Imho, the best one in decades. Far superior to PoE 1, sense of freedom, wonderful exploration. Cant recommend it enough
  79. Jun 15, 2018
    7
    If you enjoyed Pillars of Eternity, there's a good chance you will enjoy part two as well. The writing is still relatively pretentious at times, the voice acting ranges from excellent to mediocre (some npcs seem to change accents mid conversation), the ship to ship combat is dull and feels unfinished, especially considering the time you will spend on it. I get a piratey vibe but with fewIf you enjoyed Pillars of Eternity, there's a good chance you will enjoy part two as well. The writing is still relatively pretentious at times, the voice acting ranges from excellent to mediocre (some npcs seem to change accents mid conversation), the ship to ship combat is dull and feels unfinished, especially considering the time you will spend on it. I get a piratey vibe but with few supporting features. The story gets you going for a couple hours if you played the previous game (how dare he destroy my castle?!) but quickly turns dull. The new graphics, dialogue system and combat feel like a great improvement. There are some lost opportunities that keep this game from being very good. I can still recommend it for fans, newcomers should wait for a sale to grab it! Expand
  80. Sep 29, 2020
    5
    Feels a lot shallower to the first game in almost every aspect despite having a lot more mechanics.
    Also gets very boring after a while.
  81. Oct 9, 2021
    9
    Великолепная ролевая игра, далеко шагнувшая вперед после 1 части. Рекомендую к покупке каждому поклоннику партийных РПГ.
  82. Dec 1, 2018
    10
    One of the best crpg out there: the open world exploration, the improved graphics and combat, the unique atmosphere of seas adventures that take a leap from the classic fantasy cliché. Hours of fun with a huge replay value make this game a gem that will stay a LOT on my hard disk, recommended beyond measure.
  83. Nov 22, 2018
    10
    Many people told me that this game is solid but that's it. And progress in compare to PoE1 is unimpressive. Because of this I made myself to play this game only now. And you know what? **** them.
    This game is absolute marvellous. While main plot is not that good, fractions quests and side quests are gorgeous. Many ways to complete them, interesting and touching situations(hello, Gullet!),
    Many people told me that this game is solid but that's it. And progress in compare to PoE1 is unimpressive. Because of this I made myself to play this game only now. And you know what? **** them.
    This game is absolute marvellous. While main plot is not that good, fractions quests and side quests are gorgeous. Many ways to complete them, interesting and touching situations(hello, Gullet!), deep characters, good writing.
    Companions is nice. Relationship between them are fascinating. Your previous decisions with characters from PoE1 will affect their relationship and their character now!
    Gameplay changes is ****ing blast. Recharging spells from battle to battle makes fights more dynamic and interesting. Multiclasses create Ship is WAY better than stronghold. Actually that ship reminds me of good old game Space Rangers 1-2. And that is a compliment to PoE2.

    To summ this all up - this game is best roleplaying game in this year in my opinion. It'll give you amazing experience. Even if you don't like this whole pirate stuff.
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  84. Dec 27, 2019
    9
    A great classical role playing game - of course, only if you like dialogue-heavy CRPGs.

    If you are more the action-loving guy who isn't willing to read tons of text to understand a very different fantasy world - well, then PoE II might not be your game at all. Most negative reviews of this game make clear that it is about taste in genres, after all. You can't review a CRPG negatively
    A great classical role playing game - of course, only if you like dialogue-heavy CRPGs.

    If you are more the action-loving guy who isn't willing to read tons of text to understand a very different fantasy world - well, then PoE II might not be your game at all.

    Most negative reviews of this game make clear that it is about taste in genres, after all. You can't review a CRPG negatively because it has "to much text", that's like rating an shooter badly because it has to many firefights...

    After finishing the game i give it 9 / 10 points, simply because it wasn't perfect. There are some minor performance issues, there are some minor bugs and there are some minor design flaws. But all in all, it is a very good game.

    If you like games like Pathfinder: Kingmaker or Divinity: Original Sin II, you will most likely like this game as well, unless you make the mistake to dislike it for not being exactly the same as the aforementioned games ;-) Seriously, try to embrace minor differences instead of disliking them!
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  85. Feb 15, 2021
    6
    This game has great tactical combat and and many interesting classes and multiclasses to build. RPG system was pretty meh in PoE1(percentages everywhere, graze/hit, overly convoluted and shallow at the same time) and it was somewhat improved here, but nearly all character builds focus around the same stat spread, which again shows that its not a great system. Overall gameplay is veryThis game has great tactical combat and and many interesting classes and multiclasses to build. RPG system was pretty meh in PoE1(percentages everywhere, graze/hit, overly convoluted and shallow at the same time) and it was somewhat improved here, but nearly all character builds focus around the same stat spread, which again shows that its not a great system. Overall gameplay is very enjoyable. Graphics are good, they even fixed ugly character models and bad animations, which plagued all kickstarter RPGs of that era. A lot of quality of life changes(like city navigation) are also appreciated.
    Why the score is so low you ask?
    Well because everything else is from mediocre to terrible.
    Soundtrack still puts you to sleep.
    Setting of Deadfire is a step up from the generic medieval fantasy, but its still not that interesting(because the real world cultures it was copied from are not that interesting either).
    Overreliance on textual adventures for everything gets stale very quickly. SHOW, DON'T TELL.
    Unity is still sluggish, stuttering mess, as usual(yeah its not the engine, its the programming, except when 99% of the games have exactly the same problems and its all somehow the fault of programmers).
    Writing went from boring in PoE1(except Durance, who was written by one who shall not be named) to outright amateur purple prose. Story is unengaging, short and pointless, characters are one dimensional and unmemorable. But this is expected to happen when you hire a bunch of amateurs and drive out the real talent. They had a fairly interesting setting, but then they force feed you its lore by the cartload, until you want to puke every time "soul" is mentioned. Soul this, god that, soul, god, soul, god, soul, god. No character development, no strong motivation, no revenge story, no political nuance, no twist, no emotions, no finale, nothing but countless babble about souls. Not every writer can manage to make you hate the lore that you initially though was cool.

    My advice to new players is ignore the story and just play this game for the combat. Its polished and you see people who were involved into its development knew what they were doing.
    Don't bother reading every sentence, its no planescape torment, not even kingmaker. Unless you can tolerate fanfiction tier writing, you won't get any satisfaction from reading Deadfire.

    My advice to Obsidian is to sack all its "writers" and get some people who can actually write themselves out of a paper bag.
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  86. Mar 28, 2020
    9
    I liked POE1, but combat was too confusing for me. Thanks to addition of turn based combat, POE2 is 9/10 for me. It hase same excelent story and RPG elements as the first game but adds more improvements and is much more enjoyable to play for me.
  87. Oct 24, 2019
    10
    This is probably a 9 out of 10. Maybe a 9.5....but I'll give it a 10 to balance out the 0's. This game is an absolute masterpiece and a treat to play. The trick is....to play it like a role-playing game. Invest in your character and his/her stories. Invest in your companions. Invest in the world. Role play it.
    If you like pen and paper RPGS, and enjoy a great story, great dialog, and
    This is probably a 9 out of 10. Maybe a 9.5....but I'll give it a 10 to balance out the 0's. This game is an absolute masterpiece and a treat to play. The trick is....to play it like a role-playing game. Invest in your character and his/her stories. Invest in your companions. Invest in the world. Role play it.
    If you like pen and paper RPGS, and enjoy a great story, great dialog, and great characters, then you will most definitely enjoy this game.
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  88. Nov 16, 2018
    10
    If we forget a few small problems (the not very exciting boat fights, the long loading times) we find ourselves with an RPG close to perfection.
    My favorite game "Fallout 2", has just been destroyed, after 20 years of reign by this Titan.
    The player creates his own story as he moves forward. Very beautiful graphics, a rich, complex and non-Manichean history, colourful characters, a
    If we forget a few small problems (the not very exciting boat fights, the long loading times) we find ourselves with an RPG close to perfection.
    My favorite game "Fallout 2", has just been destroyed, after 20 years of reign by this Titan.
    The player creates his own story as he moves forward. Very beautiful graphics, a rich, complex and non-Manichean history, colourful characters, a hundred hours of play, varied and numerous classes... I could talk about it for hours, but I prefer to summarize it for you: It is the best CRPG in the last 20 years.
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  89. Oct 9, 2019
    10
    I have never played the first Pillars of Eternity; I have to say Deadfire is so well made that it stands alone without any help, superior to any rpg I have played as of yet.

    It is, without spoiling, an amazing game with a depth that is easily missed first play. And also a game which you have a lot of different path for the world and story to take, if you only have the will to find the
    I have never played the first Pillars of Eternity; I have to say Deadfire is so well made that it stands alone without any help, superior to any rpg I have played as of yet.

    It is, without spoiling, an amazing game with a depth that is easily missed first play. And also a game which you have a lot of different path for the world and story to take, if you only have the will to find the secrets of the deadfire
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  90. Dec 6, 2019
    9
    Jogo completo, todas as histórias são interessantes, há uma infinidade de builds e as tramas envolvendo os companheiros também são bem elaboradas, apesar de algumas ter um fim muito repentino é entendível pelo orçamento limitado com o qual o jogo foi feito. Em fim, estou com 90 horas de jogo e ainda falta muito pra terminar.
  91. Jul 13, 2020
    10
    Apparently a lot of people are giving the games 0 because of Deadfires 'Leftist Agenda'.

    Get laid.

    This is an incredibly rich game with a compelling storyline, interesting characters and relationships and an expansive world with plentiful lore. Voice acting is incredible. Lots of options to play classes and characters as you wish. A true soul successor to the old 90's isometric RPG's.
  92. Feb 13, 2020
    10
    Fantastic in depth story telling and stunning art make this tactical rpg worth playing over and over
  93. Jun 21, 2020
    10
    The best isometric RPG ever! I see some places where the gameplay could be improved (for example make sea exploration like in Sunless Sea or tactical pause like in Tower of Time or bigger size of location like in Divinity: Original sin) but all together looks flawless.
  94. Jan 4, 2021
    10
    Shocked at how good this game was, I thought I didn't like CRPG's... I was clearly just choosing the wrong ones. The breadth of class customization can seem a bit daunting, but If you can get over that hump it is a fantastic experience. The world building is exceptionally well done - economics, government, religion, race, npc's just living their lives... it makes DOS2 seem extremelyShocked at how good this game was, I thought I didn't like CRPG's... I was clearly just choosing the wrong ones. The breadth of class customization can seem a bit daunting, but If you can get over that hump it is a fantastic experience. The world building is exceptionally well done - economics, government, religion, race, npc's just living their lives... it makes DOS2 seem extremely amateurish in that regard. Gameplay is fluid, and action is frequent.

    Unfortunate there are so many low votes due to bad optimisation... it quick saves and quick loads better than any game I've played, but going into fresh areas can take quite a while.
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  95. Feb 25, 2021
    8
    The Good:
    - The game is quite fun.
    - The tactical combat can be quite challenging, and interesting. - There are lots of places to see, characters to talk to, and moral dilemmas to consider. - The epilogue felt like a satisfying accumulation of my decisions along the way. - The story definitely fits well with the Pillars mythology and is a good sequel to the original game. - I got 80
    The Good:
    - The game is quite fun.
    - The tactical combat can be quite challenging, and interesting.
    - There are lots of places to see, characters to talk to, and moral dilemmas to consider.
    - The epilogue felt like a satisfying accumulation of my decisions along the way.
    - The story definitely fits well with the Pillars mythology and is a good sequel to the original game.
    - I got 80 hours of fun game play out of the game, and hadn't quite tapped all the game's potential.
    - Worth the money. I'd buy a sequel.

    The Bad:
    - Director Josh Sawyer said that sales of this game were low and he didn't know why. I can explain what the missing "je ne sais quoi" is from my perspective. While the game is fun (as stated above), the story is very fragmented. There are tons of side quests and factions to support, but the main storyline is pretty short and not well-developed at all. The game starts off well, with lots of richness in the story and characters, but that fragments into a ton of little side quests and things to keep you occupied. Don't get me wrong, those things are fun, but they don't add up to a story that feels really satisfying. There are plenty of hack & slash and MMO games that offer tons of diverting side quests. I think people play an Obsidian game for the story. Pillars of Eternity II did not deliver here. The ending is interesting, but getting there felt... meh.

    The Ugly:
    - two of the playable characters are cardboard cutouts--this is apparently due to the game having gotten insufficient funding from backers. Some of the characters are full of personality and have things to say at various points in the game, and have their own personal quest and epilogue, whereas there are a few that say virtually nothing and seem like ghosts. I would have preferred that the cardboard cutouts be removed entirely rather than haunting the game.
    - I didn't really like *any* of the factions presented. They were all unlikable in my opinion. At least, on the bright side, the game-makers gave me the option to go independently.
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  96. Jun 6, 2021
    9
    Tolles oldschool rpg. Das Karibik Setting ist erfrischend. Hat mir besser gefallen als der erste Teil. Die Story ist nicht so sperrig und man hat nochmal mehr Möglichkeiten was die Kämpfe angeht. Die Schiffskämpfe haben mir auch gefallen, auch wenn diese textbasiert sind.
  97. Apr 29, 2023
    7
    In spite of improving on its predecessor in many aspect, the sequel simply does not reach the same heights as the first instalment. While mechanically much more sound, the story and characters do not feel as endearing as the first game.
  98. May 19, 2018
    10
    I'm 54 hours in and I have to say this is an phenomenal game. If you liked the previous title or the old infinity engine games, I can recommend this. This almost as big of an improvement to the original title than BG2 was to BG1...
  99. May 14, 2018
    10
    Improvements everywhere, the wonderful feel of going Sid Meyer's Pirates with an -actual- rpg toon you raise from prequel to stop an Irresistible Force or die trying. Godlike!
  100. May 10, 2018
    10
    Well done!
    My favorite genre. I'm really glad that such type of non-commercial projects are still exist. It makes me to believe that game industry are still has a soul. Just because of someone who can work with such love and passion.Thanks!
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 71
  2. Negative: 0 out of 71
  1. May 7, 2019
    70
    Those with an appreciation for the tabletop games and classic PC games this pays homage to will likely have an enjoyable experience. The learning curve is a bit steep, the seas may get choppy, and the deck can get rather slippery, but with some patience and perseverance, even the greenest sailor can go from lowly deckhand to decorated captain.
  2. Oct 22, 2018
    95
    With DLC called 'The Deck of Many Things' and rules system that very closely mirrors the fundamentals of D&D right down to individual spells, it's sort of a crying shame that the powers that control licensing on both sides were unable to consummate this obvious marriage. Pillars of Eternity, for me, is the best D&D series there never was.
  3. Sep 4, 2018
    80
    Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is not for everyone. The web of intertwining features and mechanics are as deep as they are complicated, but for those looking for more from their RPGs – more character, more wonder, more life – Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a fantastic homage to the true roots of the RPG genre.