Pillars of Eternity

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2683 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,104 out of 2683
  2. Mixed: 308 out of 2683
  3. Negative: 271 out of 2683
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  1. Paulystan
    Apr 6, 2015
    3
    I think I understand why this game has scored so highly but I am still sad that it has as it was reviews on metacritic that firmed me up to buy it. It has all the elements of a good RPG in the style of Baldur's Gate but lacks a sense of... good.

    The characters are only interesting for a short while if at all. The combat is not really very good in my opinion, the music somewhat drab and    I think I understand why this game has scored so highly but I am still sad that it has as it was reviews on metacritic that firmed me up to buy it. It has all the elements of a good RPG in the style of Baldur's Gate but lacks a sense of... good.

    The characters are only interesting for a short while if at all. The combat is not really very good in my opinion, the music somewhat drab and the general feel of the game isn't deep, involving or balanced.

    It is also yet another game that has been assaulted by PC and liberal socio-political dogma which for me takes some energy out of playing it.

    It's games like this, that have so much to offer but for many reasons don't quite make it, that takes me one step closer to giving up on computer games once and for all.    … Expand
  2. Cathinon
    Apr 4, 2015
    3
    I really wanted to like this game. The IE games are the reason I'm a gamer, I've replayed the BG series more times than I can count and I still consider BG2 the best example of the genre. So I'm 100% the target demographic. Unlike a lot of that demographic, I didn't contribute to the kickstarter, as I'm wary of the concept, so I think I'm a little less biased than a lot of reviewers. II really wanted to like this game. The IE games are the reason I'm a gamer, I've replayed the BG series more times than I can count and I still consider BG2 the best example of the genre. So I'm 100% the target demographic. Unlike a lot of that demographic, I didn't contribute to the kickstarter, as I'm wary of the concept, so I think I'm a little less biased than a lot of reviewers. I bought the game based on the 9.2/10 it had at the time, and it falls dismally short of that number.

    It does have some things going for it. The character creation is fun/flexible, an interesting and diverse mix of races/classes/backgrounds and stat/spell/skill choices that will have IE players both right at home while feeling fresher than the straight D&D conversion of IE. The background environments are excellently drawn, and they've obviously put a lot of work into building the new setting from scratch - although it sadly still comes off as fairly generic medieval fantasy.

    Unlike the IE games, it's adopted the darker aesthetic which has taken over the genre since Game of Thrones became big, and so there's a lot of gratuitous swearing, contrived gore (the centrepiece of the first town is a tree hung with 18 rotten corpses) and the like that devs seem to feel is necessary lately.

    The IE games had dark plots and themes, but generally bright and inviting settings. Even PS:T, the darkest of the lot, was dark when it had reason to be, to drive the story, not just gratuitously to create a certain aesthetic which I personally don't feel matches with the "6 adventurers off on an quest" style. Whether you like this or not is personal taste, but as I bought the game to relive my BG experiences, I found it turned me off somewhat.

    Down to the specific issues. The first is relatively minor. The combat is somewhat clunky, enough to detract from the experience. Characters make stupid pathing decisions, sit there for a second or two before executing the commands you just gave them, spells/skills don't go off instantly after you finish casting them, and the transition in and out of combat (which controls which skills you can use) is awkward.

    The second is serious - it's riddled with bugs. A lot of people have had save games ruined completely by this - I wasn't so unlucky, but I encountered enough that they disrupted the game significantly. When a recommendation to play a game is accompanied by a list of dozens of bugs you should memorize to prevent destroying your save, you know something is wrong.

    The third is somewhat mixed. They've made some major gameplay alterations from the IE games beyond the move away from the D&D stat system (which is mostly positive). Some of them are well thought out and add to the game significantly - the ability to stealth as a group, or the ability to speed up or slow down the gameplay, so you can slow down to execute tactics in combat, then speed up to run back across another zone to town.

    Which brings me to some of the bad alterations. The first really detracted from the game for me. They've limited the number of times you can rest, depending on difficulty, 2/Hard, 4/Normal, 8/Easy. After this you have to find more of the (rare) "camping supplies" or go back to an inn to rest and restock them (for a high price). This leaves you stuck with three bad choices - utilizing your per-rest spells to their full potential and constantly running back to town and spending a lot of gold, using the minimum number of per-rest spells you can get away with each fight and leaving the classes which focus around these to spend most of their time autoattacking, or making a party around maxing per-encounter skills despite what you want to play.

    They've also (seemingly at random) made certain spells impossible to use outside combat, which is unrealistic, boring, and, combined with the clunkiness of the combat, frustrating.

    It's also very difficult to make a decent party from the NPC's, and those available (8, compared to 17 in BG2) don't have close to the inter-party dialogue and side quest content of BG2. You can create your own party members at inns for gold, but like the party members in IWD, they have no personality. You don't get your first permanent party member until an hour or so into the game, the second comes shortly after, but only if you pay attention or read a guide - if you run off to do the side quests, you'll miss him and be stuck with 2 characters until you continue the main quest.

    Lastly, the character models are plain and indistinguishable shapes in grey armor, the only way to distinguish one character from another is to mouse over them. The time spent on the different facial options was wasted, because character's faces are too small to see, and usually behind a helmet.

    In summary - it's a bad game which was released too soon, could become a decent game in 6 months with some patches and mods, but will never be the amazing game people are portraying it as. I can't in good conscience recommend it.    … Expand
  3. BoredGamer42
    Mar 29, 2015
    3
    The story is cookie cutter and trite. A son of the Lord of Murder you are not.

    Your main character's a Watcher. You have no strong feelings about this. Your companions are dull, and generally unlikable. The effects of your choices are as profound as the Mass Effect 3 endings. The music sucks (not completely awful, but not stirring in any way). The predominant social model    The story is cookie cutter and trite. A son of the Lord of Murder you are not.

    Your main character's a Watcher. You have no strong feelings about this.

    Your companions are dull, and generally unlikable.

    The effects of your choices are as profound as the Mass Effect 3 endings.

    The music sucks (not completely awful, but not stirring in any way).

    The predominant social model in evidence is amazon lesbian (which could be so, so sexy, but plays out as women having facial hair and deep voices).

    They included a knockoff miniature giant space hamster, but not the lunatic who made it interesting.

    Screw this game.    … Expand
  4. Gamernerd
    Apr 3, 2015
    0
    I wanted to like this so much, but the story feels bland and regurgitated. It may have been low budget? but the voice acting is terrible unfortunately. It is completely buggy in it's current state and normally I would be able to let it slide but just adds to the whole unpolished/bland/lacking-pride-in-their-work feeling

    and then the drama of changing a harmless memorial that a backer    I wanted to like this so much, but the story feels bland and regurgitated. It may have been low budget? but the voice acting is terrible unfortunately. It is completely buggy in it's current state and normally I would be able to let it slide but just adds to the whole unpolished/bland/lacking-pride-in-their-work feeling

    and then the drama of changing a harmless memorial that a backer paid 500$ for due to an unruly mobbing of people who didn't back the game but saw something they could get offended for and spazzed out.

    I loved you obsidian :( but this isn't baldur's gate or even in the same tier as it.    … Expand
  5. Kapilux
    Mar 28, 2015
    1
    A terrible game with horrible combat and lackluster writing. POE is fundamentally flawed at its core, this game would be bad even if it used D&D rules. The only truly good thing in the game are the pre-rendered backgrounds (which are stunningly beautiful), but everything else is either bad, boring or terrible. The combat is awful, exploration is unrewarding, the RPG ruleset is uninspiredA terrible game with horrible combat and lackluster writing. POE is fundamentally flawed at its core, this game would be bad even if it used D&D rules. The only truly good thing in the game are the pre-rendered backgrounds (which are stunningly beautiful), but everything else is either bad, boring or terrible. The combat is awful, exploration is unrewarding, the RPG ruleset is uninspired and even the music is annoying.

    It is hard to believe, but PoE feels like it was made by people who absolutely despise the Infinity Engine games. Baldur's Gate fans, look elsewhere, this is not the game we have been waiting for all these years.    … Expand
  6. campbfh
    Mar 28, 2015
    1
    Antiquated graphics. Quirky combat interface with no AI. Interesting lore & story line. Feel like I wasted $44 to purchase this on Steam. Would have expected more. If you are in this for the Lore, then you'll love it. If playability, user interface, and game experience are important, then I'd pass.
  7. Munkamunku
    Mar 28, 2015
    3
    I've played Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale etc and enjoyed them very much. It's a style of game that doesn't get enough attention these days and I was hoping that Pillars of Eternity would reignite the genre. I have to say that I think it misses the mark. Graphically Pillars is fine and I have no major issues with the gameplay. It seems to have all the elements I would want.

    The problem is    I've played Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale etc and enjoyed them very much. It's a style of game that doesn't get enough attention these days and I was hoping that Pillars of Eternity would reignite the genre. I have to say that I think it misses the mark. Graphically Pillars is fine and I have no major issues with the gameplay. It seems to have all the elements I would want.

    The problem is that the voice acting lets it down badly. I don't think that modern American accents work at all well in a fantasy / medieval setting. They're fine for sci-fi or superhero settings but sound jarring in this type of game.

    I had the same issue with Guild Wars 2 which was also an otherwise good game. I think European accents give these settings an air of authenticity which American one don't. And there are plenty of good American voice actors who can carry it off too. It's a shame, really, as I think this could have been something special.    … Expand
  8. ace99
    Mar 27, 2015
    3
    The game has very good writing, something that Obsdian always excels at, but the gameplay is extremely dull and shallow. The graphics are also somewhat bland (although the backdrops look very good) and the animations are amateurish at best. Obsidian copied the look and feel Baldur's pretty well, but they completely botched the gameplay and combat.

    This is not the Baldur's Gate 3 we were    The game has very good writing, something that Obsdian always excels at, but the gameplay is extremely dull and shallow. The graphics are also somewhat bland (although the backdrops look very good) and the animations are amateurish at best. Obsidian copied the look and feel Baldur's pretty well, but they completely botched the gameplay and combat.

    This is not the Baldur's Gate 3 we were promised and have all been waiting for. Pillars of Eternity has about as much in common with Baldur's Gate as Dragon Age: Origins does, at the core BG and PoE are radically different games.

    If I had to sum up this game in one sentence: Pillars of Eternity is a completely dumbed down Baldur's Gate 1.5. It is a huge disappointment.    … Expand
  9. masc
    Apr 2, 2015
    0
    This game has more bugs one can encounter within the first hour of gameplay than a Chernobyl rat has finger on its hands. And yes, that's why I give this piece of a quality nightmare zero points, because the game is unplayable as of now.

    It is unplayable for me because when I take the time to play something I want to have fun and want to relax and not worry every second about if my    This game has more bugs one can encounter within the first hour of gameplay than a Chernobyl rat has finger on its hands. And yes, that's why I give this piece of a quality nightmare zero points, because the game is unplayable as of now.

    It is unplayable for me because when I take the time to play something I want to have fun and want to relax and not worry every second about if my characters might have stumbled across a debuff bug that kills their racial or class abilities or a buff bug that doubles my weapons properties every time I encounter it. And these are only two examples of dozens of nasty things that can happen to your character. I do not understand how this game could have passed Obsidians quality assurance other than them having none.    … Expand
  10. Oks
    Mar 27, 2015
    0
    I have three main complaints about the game : First I wish there was an option to turn off voice acting. It is generic as hell and pulls me from the mood. If you are going to do voice acting either do it right or do not do it at all. Second the amount of text and information that keeps getting dumped over you is extremely overwhelming. Everyone is a historian in this game and will notI have three main complaints about the game : First I wish there was an option to turn off voice acting. It is generic as hell and pulls me from the mood. If you are going to do voice acting either do it right or do not do it at all. Second the amount of text and information that keeps getting dumped over you is extremely overwhelming. Everyone is a historian in this game and will not hesitate to give you a tedious history lecture if you open your mouth (this is also extremely desensitizing as well). Thirdly to me the companions are mere meh, standard fantasy/ renaissance flair with the classical over used tropes that were present in previous obsidian fantasy games (the voice acting, which makes them sound like the typical nerds you find in a renaissance flair does not help) . The guy wearing robes and the bunny mask at the beginning of the game made laugh out hard, not necessarily on the character itself but on how I am so over that setting. I am enjoying the combat and the artistic graphics, but everything else is so so. Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed that stuff back in its time. BG, PS:T and NVN are my favorite classics, but I kinda grew up from that setting and just going back makes me feel ugh.....

    I guess I am kinda bummed, I kinda wished obsidian would have moved on from this cliched D&D setting to a more grounded setting with fantastical elements, low fantasy if you like or better to an historical epic . This game is almost 80% D&D fantasy and 20% new flavor renaissance/nirvana setting. I kinda wish it was reversed... Am I the only one feeling this? Is anyone else bummed by the setting?    … Expand
  11. JRRN
    Mar 29, 2015
    0
    Spiritual successor, my ass. The IE games never enforced an mmo tank/healer/dps mechanic. You could play with 5 wizards or 5 fighters or 5 clerics or 5 thieves. For some reason Obsidian decided to base a game on the most reviled version of D&D ever. I know 4e has its fans, but in a few years it will be dedicated to the dust bin next to Highlander 2. Too bad, really. POE could haveSpiritual successor, my ass. The IE games never enforced an mmo tank/healer/dps mechanic. You could play with 5 wizards or 5 fighters or 5 clerics or 5 thieves. For some reason Obsidian decided to base a game on the most reviled version of D&D ever. I know 4e has its fans, but in a few years it will be dedicated to the dust bin next to Highlander 2. Too bad, really. POE could have been a great game. It looks fantastic, and the story is adequate, but it's ruined by ****ty mechanics. Maybe someone will make a D&D mod for it, until then, It isn't worth playing. All this game does is make me appreciate the IE games that much more.… Expand
  12. FantasicGamer
    Mar 26, 2015
    0
    Unfortunately, it is just a buggy and quick cash-in nostalgia title via kick-starter.

    Most of the bugs in beta phase are still there in the game, probably even worse in the full release. AI getting stuck, enemies wandering strangely, and companion failing to use ability, or just some mechanics are broken randomly during combat. From the art design and the poor music, it is apparent    Unfortunately, it is just a buggy and quick cash-in nostalgia title via kick-starter.

    Most of the bugs in beta phase are still there in the game, probably even worse in the full release. AI getting stuck, enemies wandering strangely, and companion failing to use ability, or just some mechanics are broken randomly during combat.

    From the art design and the poor music, it is apparent that it is a game made without love of the golden RPG era of Fallout and BG series. Combat is just like some plasic ragdolls colliding on each other without clear depiction of move in animation and impact sound. If you have played Fallout or something similar in the past, you understanding how awesome the impact of combat is in spite of the simple graphic.

    The story is a lackluster one so far, companion and character development are dull as well.

    Also, as a technical side note, the game's min. requirement is 64-bit system, many may wonder why it is so for a game with such small map and low graphic quality. Well, the old beta in fact is just utilizing dual core at most and runs in a 32-bit system. However, just around a month before release, it seems some users had reported crash in some maps in a 32-bit system but not in 64-bit one. So, for whatever reasons, the system requirement is then just boosted up to a modern standard hopefully to reduce complaints of crash after launch.    … Expand
  13. Dafuzz
    Dec 24, 2015
    1
    Certaintly not a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and not a good game either. It isn't even the classic style RPG that it wants to be, it is just a dumbed down RPG for a modern audience with an isometric view.
  14. opor
    Aug 26, 2020
    1
    The character Progressiion and combat feels really bad. You dont have any level progression statwise, you can just get better skills. Also those skills can only be used a fixed number of times before you have to run back to an inn or camp. Feels really unnatural and tedious just impliment mana for gods sake. The addition of endurance to characters as a primary healthpool in combat alsoThe character Progressiion and combat feels really bad. You dont have any level progression statwise, you can just get better skills. Also those skills can only be used a fixed number of times before you have to run back to an inn or camp. Feels really unnatural and tedious just impliment mana for gods sake. The addition of endurance to characters as a primary healthpool in combat also feels stupid an unnecessary.
    When I bought the game I thought it would be more like a Tyranny or a Divinity original Sin but im fairly dissapointed. Instead of doing this they could have given Tyranny an adequate sequel or story extension. By the way in both mentioned games the magic skill system is far better, in Tyranny you can even create your own spells!!!
    In conclusion I reccomend you not to buy this inferior product    … Expand
  15. FKAsavage
    Mar 30, 2023
    4
    I really wanted to like this game, as a fan of Obsidian and the CRPG genre, but after 3 attempts this game feels a bit lifeless. I would say I held some hope for it after the intro sequence, where some interesting things do happen. Unfortunately this is not representative of the adventure that follows it.

    It reads as an inferior Dragon Age Origins, with less engaging characters,    I really wanted to like this game, as a fan of Obsidian and the CRPG genre, but after 3 attempts this game feels a bit lifeless. I would say I held some hope for it after the intro sequence, where some interesting things do happen. Unfortunately this is not representative of the adventure that follows it.

    It reads as an inferior Dragon Age Origins, with less engaging characters, cluttered lore and dry dialogue. It even feels a step back mechanically, which when considering this game is 6 years newer than DAO it's profoundly clear how dated Pillars of Eternity feels.

    I have gripes including, but not limited to:

    Antiquated mechanics and UI/interface
    Excessively long exposition dumps
    Flat, uninspired writing
    Companions that range from dull to obnoxious (Durance), but rarely likable
    Predictable enemy encounters which makes combat feel repetitive
    Complicated mechanics with barebones explanations
    Over rehearsed voice acting that lacks a feeling of authenticity
    Graphically ugly for a game made in 2015

    Despite the above, it is still a serviceable game in the sense that it does evoke the nostalgia + framework of an old school CRPG, and the combat is decent enough - I will admit that I struggle to play original BG1&2 because of how dated they are and this game is just enough of an update to be more playable, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be doing a lot better. Therefore if you enjoy those games and can frame PoE as if it was a early noughties release (along with all the shortcomings that come with that time period), and can see past the plain writing then feel free to disregard this review. I'm writing this however because it has been compared to other contemporary more dynamic, inventive, exciting CRPGs that I have adored, which is why it is disappointing to me that the drop off in quality is so apparent here. Buyer beware!

    Despite all of this, I will be trying PoE2 next, as I have heard that it corrects a lot of the mistakes of the 1st game, has more engaging combat, less monotonous writing and optimisation of its systems. Fingers crossed.    … Expand
  16. Wiebe
    Feb 27, 2020
    4
    I started this game 3 times, but I couldn't get in it. Maybe if it actually came out in 2005, but it was not engaging enough for me now.
  17. monkeyking95
    Oct 11, 2016
    3
    I think there's a reason games like this aren't made anymore. It honestly didn't engage me, I never felt connected to the world or the characters. The gameplay felt stale and bland and I have no nostalgic bias towards isometric RPGs. I think those who have their nostalgic blinders on will enjoy this but if your taste in gameplay, game design and player engagement has evolved and 'moved on'I think there's a reason games like this aren't made anymore. It honestly didn't engage me, I never felt connected to the world or the characters. The gameplay felt stale and bland and I have no nostalgic bias towards isometric RPGs. I think those who have their nostalgic blinders on will enjoy this but if your taste in gameplay, game design and player engagement has evolved and 'moved on' then you won't find much here that will delight you. Pillars Of Eternity is a wilfully average game.… Expand
  18. Gette
    Jun 2, 2019
    3
    Another game I backed for $100 and got massively disappointed.

    The game is supposed to be a spiritual successor of BG, Icewind dale, Planescape yet the game felt more like morrowind in ie. The characters have no emotions, but only serve as info dump. You got this A god and B god over that C and bicker for D but none of them matter in the game, you won't see them. The whole game feels    Another game I backed for $100 and got massively disappointed.

    The game is supposed to be a spiritual successor of BG, Icewind dale, Planescape yet the game felt more like morrowind in ie.

    The characters have no emotions, but only serve as info dump. You got this A god and B god over that C and bicker for D but none of them matter in the game, you won't see them. The whole game feels like you're reading a 40k supplement fluff books on computer screen.

    In torment you only got Morte first and later most companions are linked to the nameless one.
    In IW everyone is generated so you learn the world by interacting itself.
    In BG characters are kept simple and you experience the world most by the player, with a few extra info from your comrades.
    In POE the super convoluted lore comes from companion dialogues that don't really matter in the story, gameplay, nor the world.

    Combat is also boring with trash mobs blocking way all the time it eventually wears off any patience left.

    While some argue New Vegas is the same, I'd say it's totally different. In NV you start with being shot and woke up exploring the world.

    In the start of POE you already got thrown away characters that I cannot remember of, and ingame myth and lore and gods and occupations and curses and names I just don't care about.

    Not recommended. Reading newspaper is more fun than this game.    … Expand
  19. Soupgoblin
    Dec 6, 2016
    2
    Not sure if anyone that has reviewed here actually played Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Icewind Dale and the other CRPGs...

    At best this game is lackluster, sure it has good graphics, and the dialog between the companions is great but IMHO as an old time P&P D&D player, Obsidian has failed by not using any recognizable CRPG game mechanics, and instead dumbing the game down for the    Not sure if anyone that has reviewed here actually played Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Icewind Dale and the other CRPGs...

    At best this game is lackluster, sure it has good graphics, and the dialog between the companions is great but IMHO as an old time P&P D&D player, Obsidian has failed by not using any recognizable CRPG game mechanics, and instead dumbing the game down for the LCD's... Using endurance and heal mechanics, but failing to include a way to actually heal... The lack of really interesting armor stats or gear stats (all armor is pretty much the same. dr and recovery). The abilities and talents choices are horrid, basicly just forcing you to chose the ones that suck the least... They know the genre, yet they decided to make the game player feel as though they have been given a blue ribbon for participation. I'm just glad that a friend loaned me his copy so I didn't have to pay for the game to find out that Obsidian, a company I trusted, would vomit this perversion of a crpg out...

    I say this after re-playing Baldur's Gate 2 last month, this game is a mere shadow of what they did with the D&D mechanics, Obsidian can do better, they have done better, and anyone who gave this game a better score than 5 should feel ashamed that they went fanboi instead of actually telling the truth.    … Expand
  20. nilleratus
    Oct 1, 2015
    4
    I'm very much a fan of this type of games, I've played them all.

    This games starts of extremely well, me and a close mate didn't talk about anything for the first few days. Act 1 is awesome. In act 2, you start getting a little bit bored because the fights are so easy, that could be countered by raising the difficulty though. In act 3 you steamroll everything and you reach max level    I'm very much a fan of this type of games, I've played them all.

    This games starts of extremely well, me and a close mate didn't talk about anything for the first few days. Act 1 is awesome. In act 2, you start getting a little bit bored because the fights are so easy, that could be countered by raising the difficulty though.

    In act 3 you steamroll everything and you reach max level late act 2 or early act 3 depending on how you play. That means the only exploration left is story and loot. This isn't diablo, so loot is only mildly interesting. So rule that out.

    The story then, it's ok, it's not bad and it's not great. I wasn't entirely captured by it but I wanted to get through it, and I did, barely because the gameplay is so **** boring the last act.

    I followed this game from the start and I'm super disappointed unfortunately :(    … Expand
  21. elenaPamelar
    Oct 31, 2015
    0
    Clearly lots of paid reviews on this one. Great graphics? At least they are easy to spot but this is still dishonest. I put nothing past Obsidian, they have a long history of iffy stuff.

    Anyway, the game is pretty bad. I tried to play it on release but couldnt get into it. Decided to give it another chance (while waiting for FO4) and loaded it up. Steam did its update, and off I went to    Clearly lots of paid reviews on this one. Great graphics? At least they are easy to spot but this is still dishonest. I put nothing past Obsidian, they have a long history of iffy stuff.

    Anyway, the game is pretty bad. I tried to play it on release but couldnt get into it. Decided to give it another chance (while waiting for FO4) and loaded it up. Steam did its update, and off I went to forums to see what had changed. Seems they did a lot of "re-balancing".... why do you re-balance a 1 player game? Seriously... the problem I had with it the 1st time was that it was just so boring to play. Too much clicking and the story was basically like a filler episode of an anime. If anything, the game needed to be unbalanced to give it some fun but nope... you know what they did? They made it even more boring by making sure whatever was "overpowered" before, was no useless and that all classes are now just boring and linear.

    Ok so I loaded it up, and started making my character. I had played on several difficulties prior and decided to go ahead and play at PotD (highest difficulty) because I remembered how completely imbalanced the game was and it needed some help. Made a Rogue, discovered the game was stupid. Everything died in a few hits once I had my tanks and I got as far as the bounties when I stopped and re-rolled something else because the game was just retarded with the rogue (too much dps).

    I tried a wizard. Then I remembered just why I didnt like the 1st time... with something slower than a rogue, the game is sooooooooo boring. Things died very slowly the 1st 6 or so levels because he didnt have tons of spells yet. Sure trash stuff was easy, but anything with medium difficult took forever to kill and resisted the wizard waaaay too often even though I had min/maxed him for casting and only chose spells to counter weaker resists. It was stupid. not fun at all. Basically my wizard spent 99% of fights flinging his ranged spam attack... this is not fun. I had surrounded him with support so none of them were major damage dealers except the ranger who was doing ok but all he does is just auto attack because that is all he can do.... boring, boring, boring, boring. Got as far as the 2nd bounty and stopped.

    Re-rolled one last time hoping to find some class that was fun to play so I tried a Cipher. She gets unlimited spell casts but limited number of spells like a warlock in dnd. She was better, but again, very limited. Eventually she became a two trick pony spamming that binding spell, and auto attacking....

    So here is the problem. They went out of their way to make classes as balanced as possible but never once stood there and asked, but are they fun to play? MMO's are usually not very fun because of this type of thing. They only exist for the social aspects of gaming, otherwise, they suck the big one. Why make a single player game like an MMO? Very bad design. Please stop paying people to post reviews. There is no way this game should rank higher than a 6.    … Expand
  22. KuriousJorj
    Sep 3, 2016
    4
    Yet another overrated game by people apparently desperate for ANYTHING in the RPG genre.

    Boring world, boring plot, boring combat, boring game. Long-winded walls of text. Pathetic combat (enemies that move away from your attacks, but if you do the same, you get a "Disengage" penalty. AND NO, just because it's a pause RPG does NOT mean it's supposed to be that way. Does NOT mean it    Yet another overrated game by people apparently desperate for ANYTHING in the RPG genre.

    Boring world, boring plot, boring combat, boring game. Long-winded walls of text. Pathetic combat (enemies that move away from your attacks, but if you do the same, you get a "Disengage" penalty.

    AND NO, just because it's a pause RPG does NOT mean it's supposed to be that way. Does NOT mean it gets a pass on being boring.    … Expand
  23. Storyteller
    Aug 14, 2016
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let me begin this by saying I really wanted to like this game. I desperately wanted to. I tried in as many different ways as I could to convince myself that I just wasn't seeing Pillars from the right angle, that if I tried one more time I could get into it, but in the end I had to admit the truth to myself. Pillars of Eternity is garbage. This game falls flat on its face when it comes to important elements that make a great role-playing game.

    The first is the terrible cast of characters. In a game that revolves around a party of companions, they design an extremely limited (what, six, maybe seven total?) and bland cast of joinable NPCs that would never, ever travel together if you were looking at this from a story perspective. That might be forgivable if they were interesting with their own romances and side quests and intricate backstories, but they're not. The game designers seem to attempt an apology for this by shoehorning in some mechanic to design your own party of characters from the tavern, but for me that's just as half-ass as apologizing for the terrible magic weapons they designed by letting you enchant your own gear.

    The second is clearly the combat. From the basic system to the character classes to the way enemies behaved and battles generally went, it's a big gigantic mess that is not intuitive or fun to play. The basic concept of Pillars combat mechanics are confusing and annoying. Items you find are woefully inferior to the bland generic items you can enchant, and the way stats interact with your class is unbalanced and at times extremely confusing (physical strength dictates the damage wizards do with their spells -- WHAT?). Many enemies are given stunlock abilities or endlessly heal each other (such as the Paladins in Raedrics Keep), and all are automatically designed to rush your weakest characters. There's no real way to stop this, short of sending your fragile characters away from the fight at maximum range, but as soon as they move in to do anything to help, they will get rushed and die. The worst part is that after you finish that tough-as-nails epic fight, you realize you're not a damn step closer to the next level for it because of a pretentious XP system that only rewards quest completion and not body count of defeated foes.

    Third is the lack of immersion or replayability. The game makes a big deal about character race, background, culture and all that, but ultimately those choices have no impact on the actual events of the story. The 'reputation' system they tried to implement is confusing and poorly designed, so that by the time you finish the game, you will have a car crash of many different reputation types. This is made even worse when certain classes (Priest and Paladin) have class abilities whose strength depend on this broken reputation system. Quest lines allow the illusion of choice at some points, but the result is the same regardless of what you do.

    Fourth, and finally, is the story. It's not interesting. The main character can talk to dead people, and some Big Bad Evil Guy in a mask is stealing souls for some unknown, shallow and ultimately pointless purpose. The hook for even placing you where the events of the game take place is immediately revoked a couple hours in after Raedric decides to yank his offer, leaving you as some wandering nobody with no purpose other than to chase down why you have funny voices in your head. Being a Watcher is supposed to be this super-rare unique Kewl D00d power, but the most reaction I ever got out of anyone amounted to: 'You're a Watcher? Huh. That's funny.' As plot devices go it's really weak and I found myself struggling to give a single damn about magic rocks coming out of the ground, hooded people performing nefarious rituals, or my character's involvement in the whole mess at all.

    The fact that this game has gorgeous aesthetic and production value makes all of this worse. With such crucial design flaws, this is literally the RPG equivalent of a hot girl that won't put out. She'll tease you, but in the end you'll walk away with nothing but blue balls, resorting to your only option of finding some relief by drunk dialing your ex.

    That's it. Pillars of Eternity is a hot girl that doesn't put out. End of review.    … Expand
  24. bobbymcd
    Mar 24, 2018
    3
    I don't get it. I've played tons of RPGs over the years and I don't understand why people like this one.

    - Very fiddly. Neither the flow of an action RPG, nor the strategy of a turn based RPG. It falls in the worst kind of middle. - I played about 10 hours and the weapons and equipment seem almost meaningless. I don't see very many interesting choices in this regard. - It seems    I don't get it. I've played tons of RPGs over the years and I don't understand why people like this one.

    - Very fiddly. Neither the flow of an action RPG, nor the strategy of a turn based RPG. It falls in the worst kind of middle.

    - I played about 10 hours and the weapons and equipment seem almost meaningless. I don't see very many interesting choices in this regard.

    - It seems like they allowed the writers to go write to their heart's content. Wayyyy more lore and story than is interesting or appealing.

    - Really odd and esoteric formulas for basic things like hitting an enemy. I had to spend 30 minutes online looking through combat system explanations just to understand how to play it at a very basic level. I don't mind complex systems in an RPG, but this one seems needlessly weird and overly complicated.

    The difference between this and Divinity Original Sin are like night and day. One is fun, relatively easy to pick up, but has incredible strategic depth and POE seemed like a drudge to even get through 10 hours. I didn't play Baldur's Gate, judging from the other reviews I wonder if that's a prereq for enjoying this game.    … Expand
  25. mothballs
    Apr 24, 2015
    2
    My experience of the game is so at odds with popular opinion that I am writing a review on this site for the first time ever.

    Somewhere out there on the internet are a set of composite images featuring the blended, averaged faces of thousands of different humans, male and female. Unsurprisingly, the composite faces are extremely plain and forgettable - placid eyes, neutral semi-smile,    My experience of the game is so at odds with popular opinion that I am writing a review on this site for the first time ever.

    Somewhere out there on the internet are a set of composite images featuring the blended, averaged faces of thousands of different humans, male and female. Unsurprisingly, the composite faces are extremely plain and forgettable - placid eyes, neutral semi-smile, medium-brown unblemished skin.

    The writers appropriated and reused many stock fantasy tropes in creating the world for this game, but they didn't do it in piecemeal fashion - a daub of Tolkien here, a splash of Forgotten Realms there. Instead, it feels like they grabbed every fantasy setting they could get their mitts on, crammed them into a Blendomatic, and hit Frappe. The result is sort of like those composite photos. Everything's been so averaged and smoothed over that you can't even recognize the specific source material any more. All you can tell is that you're in a fantasy setting. That's it. You can tell because there are tall people and short people, and a lot of them have names you've never heard before, and some of the people have swords and shields and others of them cast sparks out of their fingers sometimes.

    There are a lot of words in this game. A lot of lore, a lot of history, a lot of dialogue. Reading is great! I love reading, generally. But reading in this game is like reading the ingredients list on a packet of saltines, or like reading a patent for a new kind of chewing gum wrapper, because the source material is just as bland. I've played for over 20 hours (trying to squeeze my money's worth of fun out of this particular stone) and not once did an element of the world strike me as interesting; not once did I want to explore any more of the dialogue or of the in-game texts than I had to. Compare this to a game like PS:T where I was hooked from the moment I woke up on a cold slab in a transdimensional mortuary and a floating, foulmouthed skull started gabbing at me and I stayed hooked until the credits rolled (and I've played that game again, quite recently, and it's still as compelling as the first time I played it).

    It was said in another review that the game feels like it was made by people who hate the genre and hate its fans. I have to concur. They say never to attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence, but I feel the blandness of this game goes far beyond anything anybody could come up with on accident - it genuinely feels orchestrated, premeditated. A bunch of **** in a board room somewhere drummed their fingers together like Mr. Burns, cackled a dry, rasping, collective cackle and set themselves to the business of creating the biggest **** you" of a fantasy setting that the genre has ever seen.

    There are negative things to be said about the combat, the music, some other miscellaneous gameplay and HUD elements... but why bother? The soul of the game is missing: who cares if the body is flawed as well?

    The only positive thing to say about it is that the prerendered backgrounds are very pretty. I think that's about it, and it's actually amusing that most of the positive reviews start out by warning people who want sexy graphics to seek out a different game. In reality, the graphics are the only thing PoE has going for it.    … Expand
  26. Bongo_clive
    Oct 13, 2015
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Having just completed Wasteland 2 and Divinity: Original Sin, I was very excited about trying another high quality RPG, but I cannot bring myself to finish this drudgery.

    The other 2 games had wit, humour and fun, with crisp, snappy dialogue, truly interesting characters and a quest you could relate to, Pillars had none of these things.

    It is clearly well made, it look pretty good, but it is just so boring.

    And don't even get me started on the number of bloody loading screens.

    I loved Baldur's Gate, but that was 15 years ago. Design has moved on. Wasteland 2 showed how it should be done. This is just a terribly boring game.    … Expand
  27. Athenryn
    Feb 11, 2016
    4
    Appalling dull, generic story and some of the worst RPG combat/level design ever devised! Just replay Baldurs Gate instead, since the only charm this game has is the BG nostalgia trip.

    I am totally done with Obsidian, no-one is better at draining the fun from an RPG, while leaving a miserable story, miserable characters and bizarre difficulty (the early levels are literally almost all    Appalling dull, generic story and some of the worst RPG combat/level design ever devised! Just replay Baldurs Gate instead, since the only charm this game has is the BG nostalgia trip.

    I am totally done with Obsidian, no-one is better at draining the fun from an RPG, while leaving a miserable story, miserable characters and bizarre difficulty (the early levels are literally almost all fights you need to come back and finish in 5 levels, it's So. Weird. To build a game like that).

    Also, YES, kickstarter is a menace with the jacked up player reviews, this is just not a fun product.    … Expand
  28. ZippyZippy
    Aug 5, 2017
    3
    Honestly, this is a inconceivably overrated and generic game. The ancient mechanics receive no modernisation. The game is a sort of methodical map-clearing game, the like of which I thought I'd never have to trudge through again.

    But for me the worst thing is the writing. In a game where little else seems to spark interest, the writing is just so awfully flowery and poorly edited. As    Honestly, this is a inconceivably overrated and generic game. The ancient mechanics receive no modernisation. The game is a sort of methodical map-clearing game, the like of which I thought I'd never have to trudge through again.

    But for me the worst thing is the writing. In a game where little else seems to spark interest, the writing is just so awfully flowery and poorly edited. As someone else comments, every NPC seems to be a historian, which would be fine if the world had a credible past.

    Just awful.    … Expand
  29. steddye
    Apr 10, 2018
    2
    Lost opportunity, that's what comes in my mind playing pillars of eternity. The combat system is terrible. U never know if the action you have set for a character will be performed. When you use a spell you don't know if you're close enough to cast. Companions ai is inexistent.........chaotic unsympathetic and irritating. PLS gimme back dex wisdom strenght intelligence charisma and constitution !!
  30. ShinsFortress
    Oct 12, 2016
    2
    The game itself was fine, and is the second best of it's ilk to come along since all those old Infinity Engine games. Visually I liked it, sound was fine and the party system was fine. Quests and story? Fine. What's wrong with it?

    Minus a few points for very poor encounter design & planning in certain locations. Minus a few points for overdoing it with the backer placement stuff.    The game itself was fine, and is the second best of it's ilk to come along since all those old Infinity Engine games. Visually I liked it, sound was fine and the party system was fine. Quests and story? Fine. What's wrong with it?

    Minus a few points for very poor encounter design & planning in certain locations.
    Minus a few points for overdoing it with the backer placement stuff.
    Minus a zillion points for there *still* being serious bugs (e.g. entire character inventory disappears).    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best PC Game of 2015
7
#7 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
25
#25 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 71 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 71
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 71
  3. Negative: 0 out of 71
  1. RPGamer
    Jul 7, 2015
    70
    Pillars is a title that should make old-schoolers happy while still offering a solid core game, story, and a rich setting for new-schoolers.
    Read full review
  2. LevelUp
    May 25, 2015
    93
    Pillars of Eternity stands on its own merits without resorting to nostalgia too much. Truly a CRPG masterpiece, the game offers old school, real-time strategic combat, and a vivid world to explore. Not only do you get an overall well-made experience, but also a challenge you haven't seen since the 90's.
    Read full review
  3. Games Master UK
    May 24, 2015
    82
    A sprawling game in a familiar setting, and a clever tune-up for the cRPG. Just what the backers hoped for. [June 2015, p.74]
See all critic reviews »