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. zexxx
    Aug 28, 2023
    0
    A deep and thoughtful RPG with strong story elements. this is, to me, an improvement on the big RPGs of old. The narrative is engaging and there's a lot of encounters sprinkled throughout the game that you'll never feel like any skill or ability is "just there".

    the fact it's real-time with pause is a something I've missed since BG. This game packs a lot into it. you manage a party    A deep and thoughtful RPG with strong story elements. this is, to me, an improvement on the big RPGs of old. The narrative is engaging and there's a lot of encounters sprinkled throughout the game that you'll never feel like any skill or ability is "just there".

    the fact it's real-time with pause is a something I've missed since BG.

    This game packs a lot into it. you manage a party (if you choose), you manage a castle! you're exploring the world and under your castle! there's a lot to see and do and many ways to solve encounters.

    there are layers of mechanics in this game but fear not, you don't have to go too deep if that's not your cup of tea as different difficulty levels will allow you to play the way you like.

    I can't stress enough how much I love the art and the style of this game. it's very reminiscent of RPGs of old and yet completely new and improved.

    This one is a *must* for any RPG fan. this is digital D&D at its finest!    … Expand
  2. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 24, 2023
    9
    New world, new lore, new game mechanics... with all the essence of the Baldur's gate saga. Very well rounded cRPG plenty of options with a deep history and an immense quantity of (very well written) text. Some punctual strange decisions, as some illogical relation attributes/abilities or the stronghold management, impede the 10/10
  3. apokalipto
    Aug 23, 2023
    9
    Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.
  4. gracjanski
    Aug 16, 2023
    10
    Many good improvements to the already great Baldurs Gate & Co. gameplay. So yes, here you can build up many characters, not just one and yes, it is complex :) Finally the inventory is big enough and the graphic looks well. Only the manual should have been bigger (definitive edition)
    The story is good, especially there are a lot of details to discover, for example the story of the world.    Many good improvements to the already great Baldurs Gate & Co. gameplay. So yes, here you can build up many characters, not just one and yes, it is complex :) Finally the inventory is big enough and the graphic looks well. Only the manual should have been bigger (definitive edition)
    The story is good, especially there are a lot of details to discover, for example the story of the world. Sound/Music are perfect.

    But there should be less text to read. And some cinematics to improve the presentation of the story could be great also.    … Expand
  5. bigbigtimeboy
    Jul 18, 2023
    10
    These guys had a VISION. Awesome birds eye isometric RPG - cool story in a world rich with lore and side quests - all kinds of NPCs to interact with and impact your decisions/endings. Great character customization, some crafting and base building tossed in. And the UI for the combat/spell system is super easy to learn. Just the right amount of depth!! I played The White March pt 1 andThese guys had a VISION. Awesome birds eye isometric RPG - cool story in a world rich with lore and side quests - all kinds of NPCs to interact with and impact your decisions/endings. Great character customization, some crafting and base building tossed in. And the UI for the combat/spell system is super easy to learn. Just the right amount of depth!! I played The White March pt 1 and 2 (both add-ons) and they really added to the storyline.… Expand
  6. Woolee
    Jul 11, 2023
    7
    ivinity looks better but lacks the writing, both are my most recent favorite RPGs in recent memory. This will go down as the game that broug
  7. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    6
    Overall a miss for me. Too reliant on dense lore exposition, a setting that is dreary and not particularly interesting, and a story that is overall forgettable.
  8. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    9
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»
  9. Hyperfailure
    Apr 29, 2023
    8
    A well made tRPG with a gripping story and characters (most anyway). Combat felt fair and interesting, character classes well balanced and certain builds kicking arse hard.
  10. Barrage
    Apr 24, 2023
    6
    An homage to Baldur's Gate. I liked the ending, but the characters in the game are completely unmemorable.
  11. ErayTellezi
    Apr 5, 2023
    7
    40 saatin sonunda bitti. Divinity Original Sin serisini büyük keyifle oynamış birisi olarak bunu pek beğenmedim. Tam anlamıyla sıra tabanlı olmaması, kendimizin durdurmak, turları ve süreleri takip etmek zorunda olmamız, ekranda oluşan kaos nedeniyle combat'ı takip etmeyi zorlaştırıyor. 6 tane parti üyesini, üzerinde durum etkileri, canları vesaire takip etmek çok zor.

    Oyundaki    40 saatin sonunda bitti. Divinity Original Sin serisini büyük keyifle oynamış birisi olarak bunu pek beğenmedim. Tam anlamıyla sıra tabanlı olmaması, kendimizin durdurmak, turları ve süreleri takip etmek zorunda olmamız, ekranda oluşan kaos nedeniyle combat'ı takip etmeyi zorlaştırıyor. 6 tane parti üyesini, üzerinde durum etkileri, canları vesaire takip etmek çok zor.

    Oyundaki yetenekleriniz tekrar yapabilme açısından ikiye ayrılıyor, çatışmadan sonra yenilenenler, dinlenmeden (kampta veya handa uyuma) sonra yenilenenler. Yeteneklerin büyük çoğunluğu dinlenmeden sonra tekrar kullanılabilir hale geliyor. Hal böyle olunca bu yetenekleri kullanırken iki kez düşünüyorsunuz. Bu da savaşlarda tüm gücünüzü kullanmamanıza ve bu nedenle kısır ve keyifsiz bir oyun tecrübesine neden oluyor. Bir de ben oyunlarda ekstra cimri birisiyimdir. Aman belki sonra ihtiyacım olur diye güçlü şeylerimi kolay kolay kullanmam. Bu oyun bu yüzden mahvetti beni. Lan yeni büyü edinmişim, dağı taşı oynatacağım, sonra kullanayım diyorum. Şu mekanik olmasa oyundan aldığım keyif iki katına çıkardı.

    Dinlenme mekaniği bence çok saçma olmuş. Adamlarınız zamanla yaralanıyor, canları azalıyor vesaire. Bunları gidermek için ya ebesinin nikahına gidip bir handa uyuyacaksınız ya da yanınızdaki kamp ateşiyle hemen oracıkta dinlenebileceksiniz. Daha da saçma yanı kamp ateşinden maksimum 4 tane taşıyabiliyorsunuz yanınızda. Bu da uzun zindanlarda daha stratejik oynamanız demek oluyor. Kısacası oyun sizi bir türlü salmıyor. Kendi ayağına sıkarak, kendine bu kadar zarar veren bir oyun daha oynamadım.

    Oyunda ilk sıkılmaya başladığım yer şehre geldiğimiz kısımdı. Saatlerce full diyalogla, neredeyse hiç savaşmadan oynuyorsunuz. Oraya git ona bir şey de, şuraya git ondan bir şey al. İki dakika salın da beni bir yerler keşfedeyim, yok maalesef. Oyunun hikayesinden falan orada koptum zaten.

    Çoğu yan görevi yaptım. Ama sonlara doğru sıkıldığım için bir kaç tanesini salıp direkt ana göreve daldım.

    Neticede comat'ı karmaşık ve kısıtlayıcı olduğu için sevemediğim bir oyun oldu. Dos serisi gibi adam akıllı sıra tabanlı olsa daha çok keyif alırdım. Bu konuda çok eleştiri gelmiş olacak ki ikinci oyunu isterseniz bu modla oynayabiliyorsunuz. Belki bir ara bakarım.    … Expand
  12. TianLong1
    Mar 31, 2023
    9
    My first time playing a Baldur's gate-like game, and it made me fall in love with the genre, making me hungry for more games like this. Lots of customization and the possibility to create your own characters to join your party. Great RPG game.
  13. 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
  14. Draethorian
    Mar 16, 2023
    0
    all the 10s are overrated so you get a 0 for the act 3 difficulty spike, drove me away from the game...
  15. Pmstz
    Jan 25, 2023
    8
    Just an excellent RPG video game.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  16. hileger
    Jan 19, 2023
    6
    (оценка графомания) от текста бошка болит какой он скучный никчемный и бессмысленный.
  17. PenetratorGod
    Jan 16, 2023
    3
    It's a game for the tasteless and nostalgia obsessed. It's a terrible copy of Baldur's Gate.
  18. FlamesoFF
    Dec 6, 2022
    6
    Let’s describe it briefly.

    Advantages: Interesting lore, profound character scripts and story. Disadvantages: pretty much everything else. Graphics: was outdated even at its release. Looks like Sacred 1 game with better resolution. Sound: it exists. Nothing special. Music: couple of ambient tracks and very annoying only one single battle music track. Absolutely generic. Controls:    Let’s describe it briefly.

    Advantages: Interesting lore, profound character scripts and story.
    Disadvantages: pretty much everything else.

    Graphics: was outdated even at its release. Looks like Sacred 1 game with better resolution.

    Sound: it exists. Nothing special.

    Music: couple of ambient tracks and very annoying only one single battle music track. Absolutely generic.

    Controls: gamepad controls are terrible. Every time when it’s need to switch from one character to another camera moves to this character. Why it’s so? Super inconvenient. Environment is also difficult to explore due to disappearing pointer. Unable to map commands queues. Basically everything is super primitive.

    UI and interface: poor usability, lack of information, requires lots of repetitive actions to do a simple thing, and some parts are simply ambiguous.

    Gameplay: Fight is nothing special, primitive point and click. Loot system is disgusting: exploration is not motivated, because usually all cheats contain random trash, and enemies most of the times don’t drop anything useful. Almost no random quests. Basically your “journey” will look like: read some dialogs - fight, fight, fight tons of similar enemies - repeat.

    In conclusion: Pretty solid CRPG, with lots of unfortunate flaws. Could be way better. But feels like only script writers were motivated, but not the developers of core mechanics.    … Expand
  19. codsworth
    Dec 3, 2022
    7
    Not as good as its predecessor Baldur's Gate, but a strong contender when it comes to updated visuals and gameplay. The narrative is weak and plodding at times, which is problematic in such as story-driven RPG, but there's definitely enough to keep your interest here, especially with the White March expansions.
  20. Elkedacion
    Nov 22, 2022
    9
    Za mne skvělé RPG. Taková klasika.
    Navic se dá do hry stáhnout čeština.
    STEAM + GoG verze - 9/10
    EPIC-Store verze - 1/10 ODPAD!
    Důvod je ten, že Epic úmyslně poškodil soubory hry, aby nemohly být použity modifikace a čeština.
  21. WanderinMelmoth
    Nov 18, 2022
    2
    The game's major flaw is that it's real-time with pause. That coupled with a braindead AI requires micro-managing each of the 6 party members every 2 seconds because if you don't the mages will just run into melee and get themselves killed.
    Real-time with pause was terrible in Baldur's Gate and it's terrible here and it really REALLY needs to die. I love isometric RPG's but only if they    The game's major flaw is that it's real-time with pause. That coupled with a braindead AI requires micro-managing each of the 6 party members every 2 seconds because if you don't the mages will just run into melee and get themselves killed.
    Real-time with pause was terrible in Baldur's Gate and it's terrible here and it really REALLY needs to die. I love isometric RPG's but only if they are done like Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2 or Baldur's Gate 3.

    Another huge downside: it does the same BS that the outdated BG 1 (& 2) did: only a couple of words of some conversations are voiced - and there are a LOT of conversations. Might as well read a novel and don't have to deal with the terrible combat system.

    PoE 2 at least added the option for superior turn-based combat, but that is only a band-aid option as the game is still designed around real-time and it shows.    … Expand
  22. Onemoreartem
    Nov 14, 2022
    9
    Первая CRPG, которую я прошел до конца залпом и не снижая сложность под финал.
  23. Wineneeder
    Sep 2, 2022
    7
    I like it, an Infinity Engine type game updated. The combat is good and the mechanics make sense (a nice change from third edition's THAC0, and other quirks). The paintings and art and design is alright, but the character models aren't great. Jagged, boring, lower quality, even too much so for a PC game from 2015.

    There's also way too much pointless writing... I know some of it is    I like it, an Infinity Engine type game updated. The combat is good and the mechanics make sense (a nice change from third edition's THAC0, and other quirks). The paintings and art and design is alright, but the character models aren't great. Jagged, boring, lower quality, even too much so for a PC game from 2015.

    There's also way too much pointless writing... I know some of it is optional backer reward stuff, but it makes my eyes cross where other RPGs don't. Walls of text, and there's some weird desync in how text is formatted and how the spoken lines come out. I'm not sure I can describe this at the moment, I'll come back when I've finished the game.

    Anyway, I'm not very engaged in the story, but not dead bored and lacking direction, like in Baldur's Gate post mines. The world isn't exactly to my tastes, a bit high fantasy generica, with the big crystals, etc... it's hard for me to be engaged in that kind of setting, if I'm not actively roleplaying. I'm not immersed. A more involved story and mechanics that tie into it might have helped, but perhaps there's time, I'm not very far.

    On the flip side, you couldn't pull me away from Disco Elysium. Anyway, I'll come back to this and surely rewrite it when I'm done.    … Expand
  24. DankNemes
    Jul 25, 2022
    10
    I've read the story of the game in Blood, Sweat and Pixels (great book that you should definitely read) and it shows that the hard work that the developers went through with crafting this game has paid off, good game.
  25. JasonBaro
    Jul 25, 2022
    8
    Love the game and the gameplay, graphics and story. It is a bit difficult when you start, if you don't know the RPG system from before. Once you break the code, you can create some epic characters that will be almost invincible (paired with the right team-mates).
  26. BananaSurf
    Jul 20, 2022
    6
    Some good parts, but the story is very..soulless, ironically enough for a story about souls being stolen. It starts out OK but about halfway through it becomes a bit of a slog.
  27. Tomplexthis
    Jul 7, 2022
    9
    A generally flawless RPG game that has more depth than any single bethesda garbage you will ever chew up and spit back out. Mods keep those games alive, but Pillars of Eternity, stands on its own two feet. especially if you like Baldurs Gate, or any other CRPG, this is pretty much the best one ive played
  28. RevUBrah
    Apr 14, 2022
    6
    The entire reason this game exists is to serve as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, one of the greatest CRPGs of all time, but it greatly falls short of the mark. Tyranny copied its combat system from this and it's just as bland here as it was there, and Chris Avellone was barely involved (even he says the story is too linear and uninspired). A good RPG doesn't need two hoursThe entire reason this game exists is to serve as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, one of the greatest CRPGs of all time, but it greatly falls short of the mark. Tyranny copied its combat system from this and it's just as bland here as it was there, and Chris Avellone was barely involved (even he says the story is too linear and uninspired). A good RPG doesn't need two hours to draw the player into the world, and I can't give this game any more time than that.… Expand
  29. RedDragonSchool
    Apr 9, 2022
    10
    Pillars of Eternity is a rightful successor of Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series, with fantastic nostalgy vibes (and with some less fantastic oversized lore dumps but that's totally forgivable, considering the overall high quality and amount of quality content in the game). The music - absolutely beautiful - is a perfect marriage of Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate themes.
  30. Wrathzo
    Mar 21, 2022
    7
    Pillars of Eternity is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive. The game is a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series, along with Planescape: Torment. Obsidian started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for it in September 2012. The game uses the Unity engine. The game takes place in the fantasy worldPillars of Eternity is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive. The game is a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series, along with Planescape: Torment. Obsidian started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for it in September 2012. The game uses the Unity engine. The game takes place in the fantasy world of Eora, mainly inside the nation of Dyrwood. The infants in the Dyrwood are plagued by a recent phenomenon in which they become "hollowborn" upon birth, meaning they are born with no soul. During the beginning of the game, the protagonist experiences an awakening of power due to a disastrous supernatural event, discovering they are a "Watcher": a person who can see past lives and interact with souls. The objective of the game is to find out what caused their awakening and how to solve the hollowborn problem.… Expand
  31. JackPlack
    Feb 2, 2022
    7
    Good/not great. Still i like more BG1 and BG2. Good idea with improving castle. Main disadvantage - u can easily make bad team and skill set. Its difficult to finish the game with that case. Another thing - so many magic/healer spells - without good auto AI or programming its very too much reading, browsing,... I dont at all idea remembering spells - dumb. Maybe good for board game. ItsGood/not great. Still i like more BG1 and BG2. Good idea with improving castle. Main disadvantage - u can easily make bad team and skill set. Its difficult to finish the game with that case. Another thing - so many magic/healer spells - without good auto AI or programming its very too much reading, browsing,... I dont at all idea remembering spells - dumb. Maybe good for board game. Its little like unused potion skills section in Witcher 3 (by almost everyone)… Expand
  32. Topfpflanze
    Jan 4, 2022
    6
    I am facing a problem. Pillars of Eternity is certainly one of the best RPG games I know. But: it is indispensable to read and understand the lengthy texts that are displayed to you, because they contain important hints. Depending on the hardware (resolution and display), this is an imposition. And that's why I think this is one of the best games that are unplayable.
  33. Odal
    Jan 4, 2022
    8
    I think it was a great game in many aspects. I really loved the atmosphere especially, like the endless path with it's music and mystery (even though you thought it would never end).

    The idea with the castle was really fun. But sadly it falls short since it didn't really matter how much you built. So why build at all? It could have been a really fun aspect of the game though with    I think it was a great game in many aspects. I really loved the atmosphere especially, like the endless path with it's music and mystery (even though you thought it would never end).

    The idea with the castle was really fun. But sadly it falls short since it didn't really matter how much you built. So why build at all? It could have been a really fun aspect of the game though with improvments.

    The story and setting was also intriguing to me. However, the first part was better than the second part of the game. A few characters were really good, I liked Kana, Eder and Aloth for example. But generally I do think the game would have needed more interesting characters to choose from. The sidequests were really good sometimes, to take an example I stumbled upon a dungeon and there I found a temple with worshippers of revenge in the name of Skaen. Very unexpected and cool.

    The area where the game really falls short to me and made me not want to play it was the combat. The live-combat mess was just pure annoyance to me, not fun. Usually lacked tactics as well. Either you completely stomped the enemy and then it didn't matter much what you did, or you got stomped yourself and then it felt the same. I much prefer the Divinity way of doing things with turn based combat. Yes I know, you can turn it on, but a game which is not made for it in the first place is just not as good in turn based as Divinity for example.

    Personally I do not like that you cannot turn the camera as well, it gives you less freedom. I know this mimics the games of old, like Baldur's gate. But it's more annoying than adding anything to the gameplay.

    Pillars of Eternity 1 was a lot better than Deadfire, in my opinion at least.. especially when it comes to setting and story. But also the whole aesthetics of Deadfire with African italians in European clothes with weird accents just felt off to me.

    Anyway. It's worth 7.5 or 8/10. Worth playing once at least, for sure.. for any RPG fan.

    +
    Music
    Setting
    Mainstory
    World
    The idea of castle building

    -
    Too few good characters
    Combat
    Castle building not having any impact    … Expand
  34. Tabbou
    Dec 20, 2021
    6
    Could have been better :
    There are lot of choices and consequences + a cool story and lot of quests
    but the building a team and fighting part are not well made, battles are mid turn by turn and mid real time wich made them both slow and hard, I didn't have much fun except for the firsts ones.
  35. ylnylmn
    Nov 12, 2021
    9
    It took me 98 hours to finish the game. What an adventure it was. An awesome story. Each character has their own story and they are very good. Although it doesn't impress me as much as Baldur's Gate, it's just as good a game. The world is wide and there are many things to do. Side quests, dungeons are nice. You have your own stronghold and it added fun to the game. I did all bounty quests.It took me 98 hours to finish the game. What an adventure it was. An awesome story. Each character has their own story and they are very good. Although it doesn't impress me as much as Baldur's Gate, it's just as good a game. The world is wide and there are many things to do. Side quests, dungeons are nice. You have your own stronghold and it added fun to the game. I did all bounty quests. The variety of items is nice, the abilities we use are many. In some battles, we may need to play more strategically, which makes the game more enjoyable. Except for the final boss and the Endless Path Boss, the gameplay wasn't difficult. Of course, I finished it on normal difficulty. But if you are confident in yourself, I say play harder. It will be more enjoyable. It was a great game in general, and so was the music. I definitely recommend.… Expand
  36. Bioreactor1987
    Oct 19, 2021
    8
    Вроде ничего так, но на середине задолбала.
    Много спорных моментов, да и количество мобов на кв.м. раздражает.
  37. RafaelgFaria
    Sep 23, 2021
    10
    It's a great game, with so many contents, a rich story, and a beautiful world. It's a dense game in terms of dialogue and quests, so, the lovers of an enjoyable reading will enjoy the game and its contents.
  38. IloveCookies
    Sep 6, 2021
    10
    One of my favourite games! Especially with the White March DLC. Love the characters, especially Aloth, Eder and Kana. So happy I backed it on Kickstarter.
  39. seriousboris
    Aug 13, 2021
    10
    One of the greatest rpg's of all time! Honestly, every rpg lover must play this if he didnt yet!
  40. GreK4
    Jul 27, 2021
    3
    I so expect this game. I want play in 2015, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. But all the time just put out for my plan. And now I just take my balls in hand and buy this game. Ough.
    And... I disappointed. What is this game? I think this game only for geeks, who love played in Dungeon together with friends in a garage. So difficultly and not interested gameplay mechanics. And ok, if this one point,    I so expect this game. I want play in 2015, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. But all the time just put out for my plan. And now I just take my balls in hand and buy this game. Ough.
    And... I disappointed. What is this game? I think this game only for geeks, who love played in Dungeon together with friends in a garage. So difficultly and not interested gameplay mechanics. And ok, if this one point, that disappoint me, but not - in game bad a plot. The plot is boring and not interested me. Don't worry. I don't want get your angry and disappoint you. I just write my emotions on a paper. Don't worry.
    Game is not cool ever.    … Expand
  41. jani7
    Jul 20, 2021
    10
    This is how RPG should look like. After 5 years still the top! Many studios could learn from this one how to make a storylines and whole living world. Good job guys!
  42. razorwind
    Mar 29, 2021
    10
    I'd say it's too difficult for the casual player, but the writing is unparalleled. Josh Sawyer is a legend of storytelling, and it shows. The plot is rich with nuance, detail, horror, and grief - but not without a faint ray of hope. I hope this genre will become more popular in the future, and Obisidan will continue to make games like this one.
  43. Antictra
    Mar 10, 2021
    6
    Being from Baldur's Gate / Planescape: Torment generation had played Pillars of Eternity with open mind, yet I finished having a "meh ..." attitude. Simply in the end I did not feel engaged by either story or the characters, which I have not found memorable. In my opinion it is a dud, probably will be forgotten in the future just like Torment: Tides of Numenera.
  44. PrincessRose
    Feb 19, 2021
    6
    I like exploring and seeing where the story takes me.
    I dislike the combat of CRPG's and since Iam in it just for the story and exploring there is an option to make combat very easy for those that want to get through the combat as fast as possible and just focus on the story and exploring. But even on very easy I was not able to beat the Adra Dragon as I found it extremely difficult. Iam    I like exploring and seeing where the story takes me.
    I dislike the combat of CRPG's and since Iam in it just for the story and exploring there is an option to make combat very easy for those that want to get through the combat as fast as possible and just focus on the story and exploring. But even on very easy I was not able to beat the Adra Dragon as I found it extremely difficult. Iam sick of how ridculously hard it is and hate not being able to defeat it
    I find talking to NPCs with the reach into the soul thing pointless as it doesn't lead anywhere, it's annoying and I just choose the leave option as soon as it happens.

    At times I felt bored and just wanted to rush it though. Doesn't feel like it has enough depth.
    I can't recommend as I hate frustrating fights and just want to be able to get through it.    … Expand
  45. Gorlumov
    Feb 8, 2021
    9
    Настоящее возвращение в мир классических изометрических CRPG! Хорошо знакомые любителям такой классики как Baldur's Gate и Icewind Dale стилистика и интерфейс. Но самое главное потрясающий загадочный мир полный мистики и тайн, уводящих в глубь мироздания этой вселенной.Настоящее возвращение в мир классических изометрических CRPG! Хорошо знакомые любителям такой классики как Baldur's Gate и Icewind Dale стилистика и интерфейс. Но самое главное потрясающий загадочный мир полный мистики и тайн, уводящих в глубь мироздания этой вселенной.
  46. Geralt123
    Dec 29, 2020
    8
    I enjoyed this game overall. I would say it is a solid 8/10. I enjoyed it, but sometimes it was a bit boring with all the political stuff going on.

    This game is very long if you do all the quests and DLCs (about 200 hours). The first 10-20 hours (until you get to the big hub city) are a bit boring but once you reach this city, your questlog will explode and you will fight a lot! So    I enjoyed this game overall. I would say it is a solid 8/10. I enjoyed it, but sometimes it was a bit boring with all the political stuff going on.

    This game is very long if you do all the quests and DLCs (about 200 hours).

    The first 10-20 hours (until you get to the big hub city) are a bit boring but once you reach this city, your questlog will explode and you will fight a lot! So have a little patience.

    Pros
    -------------------
    - Dark setting felt good to me, also the cozy atmosphere with the old houses and the bonfires
    - Dialogues are good
    - Complex, deep story
    - Good interaction of companions
    - Combat ist so much fun with many different spells as a Wizard
    - Graphics are made with love and attention to detail
    - Likeable companions in party
    - Complex biographies of companions, complex personalities
    - Day and Night cycle

    Neutral
    -------------------
    - Story is a bit boring at times with all the gods and animancer stuff. There is very much political and religious stuff going on.
    - The reading is a bit dry sometimes

    Cons
    -------------------
    - Loading screens every time you enter a house, enter a map or go to another floor in a dungeon. This is the worst part of the game!
    - Combat has some smaller problems like pathfinding problems and no transparency in fights what is actually going on. But it's not that bad.
    - Not all dialogues are voiced. For example, the first two lines might be voiced and the next lines not. Only mainstory voiced.
    - Insane amount of reading (soul texts etc.)
    - Per Rest system for Wizard spells: Your spells are not refilled per fight but per rest. Bad thing about this is that you can only rest with Camping Supplies of which you can carry only 4. But for many dungeons, you will need more than 4.
    So you will be using your Camping stuff in the Dungeon and then travel back to the inn in order to rest. This can be very annoying.

    I would recommend this on sale for max. 10 Euros / Dollars.

    Compared to other games I would say: Divinity 2 > POE > Patfhinder: Kingmaker    … Expand
  47. CaptainChaos
    Oct 18, 2020
    9
    If you miss the old Baldurs Gate, I find this game to be substantially the same more or less, in many ways except for the "city management." Great very old school mechanics, wonderful rich lore, decent writing, very little voice acting but it's excellent. I am only in Chapter 1 but apparently have 120 hours (on hard difficulty) so no complaints at all really.

    Combat sometimes is both    If you miss the old Baldurs Gate, I find this game to be substantially the same more or less, in many ways except for the "city management." Great very old school mechanics, wonderful rich lore, decent writing, very little voice acting but it's excellent. I am only in Chapter 1 but apparently have 120 hours (on hard difficulty) so no complaints at all really.

    Combat sometimes is both too hard and way too easy on Normal, so I'm not sure what to say. I suspect when I'm in areas I belong with the correct party, pausing every 2 seconds and well rested, it goes to the way easier side. When I'm not (I went too far into the keep for my level but I didn't know that) it was difficult even untenable. I wish there was some way to gauge this or maybe I just haven't figured it out.

    The resting system is very old school, and I thought I would really miss that, but I have to say, all it does is force me to go all the way home instead. They fix this with camping supplies which are ... cheap or expensive depending on how you spend your coin on other things, but you can only carry a limited supply I don't understand the point of that. I think better would be to significantly (1) increase the price of camping supplies (2) take the limit off (3) making resting elsewhere more risky to go back or something or expensive. Despite all this blah blah it's really not a big deal. Doesn't detract from the game that much, and for 1980s, 1990s fans, may enhance it.

    The Keep ... is ... interesting but I find certain aspects frustrating. I have absolutely no idea how much security I need, or how many if anyone I should hire - they are expensive. Some are very expensive. I prefer the party combat and rpg side, but I don't mind some of the activities and story around the keep. Some people might be very turned off by it though. It does act as a huge money sink though for now.

    (SAVE GAME ORDER) DEVELOPERS: THE ONLY REAL CRITICISM I HAVE, is that the top save game in the list is frequently NOT the most current. You have to painstakingly look through your manual saves, quick saves and auto saves to determine which has the correct time stamp. WHAT? Please fix this. It's awful, and inexcusable 30 years into this.

    Done Well: Combat speed and steal controls. Hot keyed properly you can go in and out of that with ease, managing the whole party or individuals very nicely.

    So far, I totally recommend, particularly for those Jonsing for an old school BG adventure, but keep the comments above in mind.    … Expand
  48. Stryker_777
    Sep 11, 2020
    8
    This game is quite underrated. For someone like me who can't stand modern games for how linear and easy they are, Pillars of Eternity is highly relieving and satisfying because it is built on an old-school formula that made games deeper and more open-ended. I especially like to customize my party with custom portraits and unique characters that I designed. So in a way, I get to participateThis game is quite underrated. For someone like me who can't stand modern games for how linear and easy they are, Pillars of Eternity is highly relieving and satisfying because it is built on an old-school formula that made games deeper and more open-ended. I especially like to customize my party with custom portraits and unique characters that I designed. So in a way, I get to participate in the storytelling.
    The combat is much better than Baldur's Gate IMO. On Path of the Damned it is challenging enough without being frustrating. There are myriad ways to solve battles and the creativity strategizing in combat is one of the richest aspects of the game. They've done it well.
    I wish there were more types of enemies, some of them are reused too much. There's weird moments like looting an item that you can't equip because it went straight into your stash, but you can't access your stash until you campfire. So basically it prevents you from equipping an item you just found! That is a totally unnecessary mechanic.
    The itemization is fine to me. Some people complained about it but I don't see a problem. There are enough unique items and finds along the way. The loot is similar to Baldur's Gate, it 's somewhat sparse and not the main focus of the game. This ain't Diablo. You can also upgrade any of your favorite items so none of them become obselete, which adds a nice element of gear customization that didn't exist in Baldur's Gate.
    The game doesn't constantly reward you, sometimes you'll just waste your time or do a dungeon only to discover a very mediocre item in the end. Unlike modern games it doesn't pander, there is no such thing as an "Achievement" (which I've always thought were pointless) and it won't string you long with shiny rewards. You have to roleplay a lot and become immersed, and what did it for me was having my own unique 6-character party and imagining their personalities as I went along. The stronghold also adds to the roleplaying giving your character a home in the world and getting to roleplay as a Lord sitting in his throne, hearing petitioners and while the events are inconsequential, it still adds a lot of roleplaying & immersion.
    The setting is unique and really has its own flavor, it is somewhat reminiscent of Planescape: Torment. Some have called it trite but I disagree, it is perfectly dark for me and while I never read any of the in-game books or know much about the overall lore, I still enjoy what I've absorbed as I played through.
    This is the ultimate evolution of Baldur's Gate, a highly refined game and a true RPG so don't listen to the critics and give it an honest attempt! You might fall in love.    … Expand
  49. 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
  50. almax
    Jul 19, 2020
    10
    Wonderful classic rpg with interesting story, huge world and enjoyable combat.
    Do not miss it
  51. WeNeedAliens
    Jul 19, 2020
    9
    A very solid RPG. Had a lot of fun with it, would recommend to anyone that enjoys these type of games.
  52. ErhanCeylan123
    Jul 17, 2020
    7
    This game have a general and unsolveable performance issues.This game universe is not interesting for me.
  53. bucefalo33
    Jul 2, 2020
    8
    My rating:
    Sound 8/10
    Graphic* 9/10
    Gameplay 9/10
    Replay value 7/10
    Story 8/10

    Total 8/10**

    * Graphic rating has to be contextualized for the year of the release.
    ** Total is a weighted average rounded up where the weight for every element is:
    Sound 1
    Graphic 2
    Gameplay 3
    Replay Value 1
    Story 3
  54. skdursh
    Jun 28, 2020
    8
    Do you like Infinity Engine games? Do you miss the golden era of CRPGs? Then buy this. 8.5/10 game that carries the torch and proudly pays homage to some of the greatest games ever made.
  55. theirrelephants
    May 20, 2020
    8
    Great RPG but combat started being a boring drag when I was over halfway done with the game. Glad it had a 'story mode' (even though I make fun of them) because I was sick of dealing with random mob of fish people # 531 where I knew I was never going to lose but boy it was going to take half an hour to clear them out of cave # 13.

    Weird how they gave one of the dragons autism though.
  56. Baltifru
    Apr 19, 2020
    6
    I think many people love Pillars of Eternity and rightfully so.

    I didn't like the game though, for one main reason: it is uselessly complex, and both words in "uselessly complex" matter. First of all, the combat system is quite atypical. While it can be played easily for someone who plays the game in easy mode and doesn't care about tactics, it can rapidly give headaches given the    I think many people love Pillars of Eternity and rightfully so.

    I didn't like the game though, for one main reason: it is uselessly complex, and both words in "uselessly complex" matter.

    First of all, the combat system is quite atypical. While it can be played easily for someone who plays the game in easy mode and doesn't care about tactics, it can rapidly give headaches given the number of possibility offered: there are (too ?) many classes within the group each having its own gameplay. For each them, too many choices are offered. For instance, the mage has like 30 spells, that can even be customised (maybe there are hundreds of possible spells in the whole game ?). Status are also too numerous. Can't count now but it looks like there are at least 20 of them, which end up being very difficult to sort out for people like me who don't have the patience to learn them all.

    The statistics are yet another example of this useless complexity: the game relies on a system of a double set of statistics. One set can be directly customised at each level up and determines the possible interactions of your character during dialogues and off-combat sequences. The other one determines the strengths of your character in combat, but you cannot tune it manually: each stat is computed based on the first set of statistics in a non-changeable fashion. This makes the RPG aspect of the game "uselessly complex" is the sense that this additional layer of complexity doesn't, in my opinion, serve any purpose. Complexity in a game can be welcome if, through it, you can extend the possibilities offered by the gameplay. That is not the case here.

    I am sorry to drop this game midway, because for the rest the lore is very interesting, the world and atmosphere imagined by the devs are great and the decision mechanics make this experience very customisable. But the truth is I was forcing myself to play this game up to now. Giving up.    … Expand
  57. Filmanwalt
    Apr 16, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a top classic RPG with modern techniques combined.

    Story

    The Story is very interesting and has a dark tone in it. Its well written and the dialogues are just beautiful made. With that comes a very good score in the background.

    Gameplay

    Its a classic RPG but it has some clever modern mechanics. First of the Partymember system and Skillsystem is very well made. Only the crafting part wasnt my favourite. Besides that the game gives you an own fortress, where you can do quests or decide about proposals off supplicants. The degree of difficulty is very challenging and you have to think about the fights.

    Graphics/Bugs

    Graphics are good but could be better and I had some glitches or little bugs here in there, just save the game often.

    Summary

    Modern classic RPG with a beautiful story and writing 9/10.    … Expand
  58. vdanja
    Apr 14, 2020
    8
    Although I've started to play with it in 2017, finished in 2020, spent 50 hours, although I won the game before I could complete some major quests. I cannot say, it is absolutely my game, but I still loved it. I will definitely try out Winter's March I, II and POEII. I wonder if there is any relationship to our history (e.g. from multi-gods to single-god or no-god?). Loved the graphics too.
  59. awolcz
    Mar 2, 2020
    9
    I grew up on games like Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale. Pillars of Eternity is not only great nostalgia, but also en epic journey. i'm love this game!
  60. 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.
  61. Family_Guy
    Feb 23, 2020
    0
    Its not Baldurs Gate. Its utter **** Vague story, shallow characters. Thx god Larian make BG3, not this morons
  62. laertan
    Feb 5, 2020
    8
    Awesome game with deep story, great dialogues, interesting companions (Devil of Caroc is best of them) with huge personal quests, management of the keep, enormous amount of content. Battles are a little bit too hard for my taste.
  63. Prometheus1241
    Jan 19, 2020
    9
    Pillars of Eternity( i will call it just POE) is the second game of "returned classic"( the first one was Divinity: Original Sin). POE brings back everything we liked in CRPG- good plot, party managing, interesting side quests and more. But yet, i can't recommend this game to anyone. Firstly, it is very hard for the newcomers to get along with the CRPG( i recommend to start from DivinityPillars of Eternity( i will call it just POE) is the second game of "returned classic"( the first one was Divinity: Original Sin). POE brings back everything we liked in CRPG- good plot, party managing, interesting side quests and more. But yet, i can't recommend this game to anyone. Firstly, it is very hard for the newcomers to get along with the CRPG( i recommend to start from Divinity or Dragon Age) and secondly, it is consisted of way to much texts, which somebody mind find boring. But if you are not afraid of big amount of word and have played some CRPGs, POE is your choice.… Expand
  64. bskierys
    Dec 17, 2019
    9
    This review is based on playing the game with all the DLC's installed s few of my comments may not apply to the base game.
    The score says a lot. The game is amazing, huge and full of content. It took me 110 hours to complete it - almost 5 months and I don't regret spending my evenings with it. Some people sais that PoE is the worthy successor of the Baldur's Gate and other isometric    This review is based on playing the game with all the DLC's installed s few of my comments may not apply to the base game.
    The score says a lot. The game is amazing, huge and full of content. It took me 110 hours to complete it - almost 5 months and I don't regret spending my evenings with it. Some people sais that PoE is the worthy successor of the Baldur's Gate and other isometric RPG's. In my opinion, this game in many aspects is much better than the classic ones. I just loved the mechanics for storytelling - dialogue mechanics, little paragraph games, possibility to look into people souls and even just that you can click on some objects not to interact with them but just to get a basic description. Basic game mechanics has also improved compared to BG games. All of it seems just more intuitive and less annoying to use. I also loved the story, both in main and side quests. It is all connected to the lore of the world. It is nothing surprising but the length of the game and how the story is told just adds a lot to it. And one of the best things in the game - companions. Each of them has its own character, attitude, story and side quest. I loved the fact that they were commenting on events in the story - both in main and side quests. They were talking to you, with each other and with people they met. And it just not the base game characters. I was surprised that the final boss spoke to one of the characters from the DLC directly mentioning her own, personal story.
    The graphics and sound are amazing. This is what I expect from an evolution of isometric RPG formula. After so many hours of gameplay, the music gets a little repetitive but nothing you can't handle.
    Now let's talk about what is wrong with this game - the combat mechanics. At the beginning of the game, I was overwhelmed by all the statistics and modifiers. The game does nothing to ease the pain, so I studied what does what from the game wiki. When I finally learned it (at least a little) the game started to make more sense. But then after about 30 hours, I got tired of it. The combat becomes boring and felt like a painful duty. Same goes for leveling characters - it felt like a punishment rather than a reward. And there is a lot of fighting in the game - especially in DLC's - and there is no possibility to skip it.
    I mentioned that I loved storytelling. The game presents the story great with various mechanics, but the language it speaks is sometimes too confusing and too convoluted to handle. Sometimes I had to look to the journal and to the game wiki just to know what the vision I just saw meant. I would prefer to be told some things directly.
    To sum it up - great game with amazing story and characters but with a combat system that got me tired. I will play a sequel for sure, but I need to rest from the first part for a bit.    … Expand
  65. Aeryx
    Dec 3, 2019
    10
    When a game allows you to murder people in town and betray quest givers, you know you are playing a great game. My most memorable moment in Baldur's Gate 2 is when you do a mass murder rampage in town and the guards are sent after you. If you are powerful and skilled enough, you can kill them all. Eventually, the game will send the Magisters, which are the boss of the guards, and they'llWhen a game allows you to murder people in town and betray quest givers, you know you are playing a great game. My most memorable moment in Baldur's Gate 2 is when you do a mass murder rampage in town and the guards are sent after you. If you are powerful and skilled enough, you can kill them all. Eventually, the game will send the Magisters, which are the boss of the guards, and they'll tell you how great they are and then you'll fight, if you kill them, you'll get some really good loot and no more guards will come after you even if you commit crimes. It's really awesome when a game accommodates evil players. PoE allows for such actions, because why not? And you'll know it from the start as the game features some really creative choices, writing and dialog. It will introduce its seriousness by killing off most of your party early on. Funny how games nowadays don't have the cajones to do that. With over 40 hours of fun, I've experimented with builds and even respeced my characters. I love that the game allows this. I like the dark themes and the Stronghold. But the best part I find, is that ALL ITEMS DO NOT HAVE STAT OR LEVEL REQUIREMENTS. This means you can wear the best items in the game right from the start if you know where to find them. This is truly brilliant and makes me wonder why and how so many games missed this important and very immersive attribute of RPG games. The story is also deep and great and complex from a lore perspective. Levelling up is a slow process but meaningful. And if like me, you intend to play Path of the Damned difficulty, you better learn how to min/max stats or your are finished. Real-time with pause gameplay means you have to this fast and have a strategy for enemies. Party formation is critical to your survival and you act like an idiot in PoTD difficulty, you will be dead in seconds. Pillars of Eternity is hardcore CRPG at its finest. But like all great games, it has issues. Some of them include certain types of weapons not having or having very few legendaries while some others have several. The Stronghold doesn't give you too much control over events, such as when bandits attack you even when your party is at the stronghold, they just do damage while you are sleeping and you can't stop them with your party. This isn't a game for people with short attention spans. Despite these issues, PoE is a true winner and the successor of the long lost art of CRPGs.… Expand
  66. Solarka
    Jul 19, 2019
    9
    This was my first isometric RPG of that kind. If I didn't play this game, I wouldn't be able to experience Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment.
    Pillars of Eternity is accessible to modern players - it is simpler, more forgiving to newbies, doesn't seem as alien as Baldur's Gate for someone who didn't play game older than 2010. However, it gives you the same feeling the classic games    This was my first isometric RPG of that kind. If I didn't play this game, I wouldn't be able to experience Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment.
    Pillars of Eternity is accessible to modern players - it is simpler, more forgiving to newbies, doesn't seem as alien as Baldur's Gate for someone who didn't play game older than 2010. However, it gives you the same feeling the classic games gave. No other modern game, not even the genius Divinity games, can do that.
    The only problems of the game are probably the weird armor system, a weird health system (not such a problem, just weird), you don't make as much choices as you could (nonetheless, there are choices, and powerful ones). The plot and general writing are great. Combat is probably the best thing you saw in the genre (turn-based Divinity combat doesn't count). Locations are interesting to explore, NPCs are fun to talk to, enemies are fun to beat up. Plus you have a personal fortress you can build.
    All in all, it is a definite must-play for both people who love classic PRGs, and for those who just want to get into them.    … Expand
  67. Shmelke
    Jun 15, 2019
    9
    Best Baldurs Gate clone in recent years. Second only to first Dragon Age. Both in my opinion are better than the original. Great fun that lasts for many hours.
  68. 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
  69. MicLes
    Apr 13, 2019
    10
    I have just recently finished my first play-through, with both DLCs, and really took my time to explore and do everything. After over 300 hours, a part of me wanted to end, but I also did not want it to end. The moral depths of the story and characters are touching and memorable and this game is really one of those rare few that I will always remember. Hats down to the story writers andI have just recently finished my first play-through, with both DLCs, and really took my time to explore and do everything. After over 300 hours, a part of me wanted to end, but I also did not want it to end. The moral depths of the story and characters are touching and memorable and this game is really one of those rare few that I will always remember. Hats down to the story writers and also to the voice actors. Of course, the whole crew at Obsidian deserves my thanks, but my point is to convey that this game has soul. Long live Obsidian.

    NOTE for new players :

    * Read the preferences/settings and select pauses if you want to play it as an almost turn-based game (I took my time).

    * Story and character feel is the strong point of the game. There is plenty of combat, but if you dislike role-play (RPG) or reading a book, you will not like it as much as I did.

    * I will contradict myself here : with so many classes, weapon choices, trying solo or with a small party (1 to 5 companions at a given time in a party)), difficulty settings (you can change some of it midway), hardcore Steam achievements, etc., some people enjoy the combat challenges you can face. Personally, my party was overpowered near the end (you know, level 16 party, after over 300 hours :P), so I just never rested to make it a bit challenging on the last sprint.

    nb: I am also watching the documentary The Road to Eternity about the development of the game.    … Expand
  70. Nimbus1701
    Mar 22, 2019
    8
    Good game. Especially enjoyable if you are a fan of Baldur's Gate (and the like). Good artwork, music and writing. Treats the player with a level of respect, and expect you to apply intelligence in return.
  71. Nemo888
    Feb 27, 2019
    8
    Update, They finally fixed it so I came back to give it that 8.
    .I would give this game a solid 8 if it was close to finished. As it is I got 75% through before my save games were too corrupted to play. Comparing it to Baldur's Gate it is not as good. The graphics are better than BG of course, but everything else seems unfinished. The story is good, but secondary characters and plots are    Update, They finally fixed it so I came back to give it that 8.
    .I would give this game a solid 8 if it was close to finished. As it is I got 75% through before my save games were too corrupted to play. Comparing it to Baldur's Gate it is not as good. The graphics are better than BG of course, but everything else seems unfinished. The story is good, but secondary characters and plots are not finished. Voice overs are incomplete. There are not enough variety of weapons and armour. Wizards are crap and have horrible spells. There is no character AI so you have to micromanage six characters. They even deliberately waste your time by only letting you rest 4 times before you have to return to a town an buy more supplies. Padding a mediocre unfinished game. That says it all. This is not a quality crafted game. It's greedy devs trying to cash in on nostalgia.    … Expand
  72. Kunray
    Feb 17, 2019
    10
    It's a great game, a long game though! Took 90+ hours to complete! One of the best RPGS i have played.
  73. nik_balani
    Feb 13, 2019
    6
    I played Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights and loved them both. Pillars of Eternity, whilst being of a similar genre, was too heavy on the story (with excessive amounts of reading), but very unoriginal and unchallenging in its gameplay. I played for a good 40 hours as I am the type of person who like to finish anything I start, but in this case simply had to give up as the gameplayI played Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights and loved them both. Pillars of Eternity, whilst being of a similar genre, was too heavy on the story (with excessive amounts of reading), but very unoriginal and unchallenging in its gameplay. I played for a good 40 hours as I am the type of person who like to finish anything I start, but in this case simply had to give up as the gameplay simply had nothing more to offer.… Expand
  74. Ydun79
    Feb 11, 2019
    7
    I tried to play this game twice. Twice around thirty hours of playtime. Just can't sink my teeth into it though I'm an avid rpg gamer. It just never gets online for me, never really gives me the feeling that those characters are mine, doesn't suck me into the story. No doubt I will try again in some years.
  75. frank2046
    Jan 18, 2019
    8
    really appreciate all the effort went into the world building (mainly the polytheism deities.) Very rich dialogues, an overwhelming number of spells. However, I don't appreciate the choices where you feel like you're missing something no matter what decision you make, and some of the quests are too covert to complete without relying on a guide.
  76. sotnhs
    Nov 18, 2018
    6
    Years later, I'm giving this a try. To be brief, this isn't in the same class as the old Bioware games. Pros, the battle system I like. Maybe more so then the strict D&D2.5/3 rules of old. Cons, if certain missions are done in a certain order, the story kind of breaks. e.i., you trigger an event, go back talk to an NPC with a specific party member which triggers a different event thatYears later, I'm giving this a try. To be brief, this isn't in the same class as the old Bioware games. Pros, the battle system I like. Maybe more so then the strict D&D2.5/3 rules of old. Cons, if certain missions are done in a certain order, the story kind of breaks. e.i., you trigger an event, go back talk to an NPC with a specific party member which triggers a different event that doesn't really make sense to be happening after the previous event. It's a poor man's Baulder's gate as far as story is concerned. I felt like the stakes weren't high enough for the main character. It's like why the hell should the main give a **** about going through all this? To get some information? You're killing people and going on this wild goose chase for some information. You need something more concrete than that. Amateur hour devs who aren't smart enough to learn from the past, other games and other industries (movies) and apply it to the game. e.i., inciting incident, high stakes, etc.… Expand
  77. supercagan
    Nov 17, 2018
    6
    Bland story, combat got very boring and repetitive after killing the same thing for 44535 times. It has that good old soul of Baldur's gate though. I enjoyed TYRANNY way more than i enjoyed this game. Do not really worry about your stronghold in the game, just keep playing the main quest, you will get bored way before than...on the plus side it has good graphics and environments.
  78. Alexyaaay
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    Great game. So much to depth to this game to explore whether it be the combat, character builds, lore or even just play the story which is FANTASTIC! This is really a game i can draw the curtains for and just sink into its world for a couple of hours. Can't wait to get home and play through again!!!!
  79. Ivan9173
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    Hello from Russian fan! Прекрасная игра, низкий поклон перед разработчиками, вы лучшие!
  80. jsharbour
    Oct 9, 2018
    0
    The 10-star reviews are from **** who did not complete the game, they spent a few minutes or a couple hours looking at it and it reminded them of the old days and they immediately reviewed the game.

    Because you CANNOT finish this game. The load times become exponentially higher with every minute of gameplay. I call **** on anyone who claims to have finished the final act of this game.    The 10-star reviews are from **** who did not complete the game, they spent a few minutes or a couple hours looking at it and it reminded them of the old days and they immediately reviewed the game.

    Because you CANNOT finish this game. The load times become exponentially higher with every minute of gameplay. I call **** on anyone who claims to have finished the final act of this game. It is fraud. It is ****. It is unplayable.    … Expand
  81. ShawnD
    Jul 22, 2018
    3
    Very boring.

    There's just nothing to pull me into the game. Steam says I have played this game for 8 hours, but I still couldn't tell you what the game is about. It might have been stated in one of the thousands of pages of boring text, or maybe it wasn't. What is my character's motivation? Where was I going and what was I doing before any of this started? Why should I keep playing the    Very boring.

    There's just nothing to pull me into the game. Steam says I have played this game for 8 hours, but I still couldn't tell you what the game is about. It might have been stated in one of the thousands of pages of boring text, or maybe it wasn't. What is my character's motivation? Where was I going and what was I doing before any of this started? Why should I keep playing the game?

    Another weird problem is that maybe 10% of the dialog is voiced. I can understand not every character having voice actors, but the voice acting isn't even consistent with the same character. You'll be talking to someone where there is voice acting for 3 screens of them talking, and then there's no voice acting for the 5 screens after that.    … Expand
  82. raporgi
    May 18, 2018
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. boring and extremely generic. the races and classes are copy pasted from DnD but lack the interesting mechanics or lore behind them. Story is sleep inducing drivel you'll find yourself going from trash mob to trash mob while be dropped the most pathetic bits of story. Choices have no consequences that really matter. the tacked on stronghold minigame is basically facebook level crap. Encounter design is annoying and unfun. crafting is crappy. stick to playing the original IE games. I backed this game when it was first came out. Ai scripting was not even present. Your characters would just stand idle while being beaten to death by the enemy. Josh Sawyer needs to get a slap on the head.… Expand
  83. evesea
    May 17, 2018
    8
    TL;DR A solid game - needs work. (PoE2 is that improvement)

    I absolutely love the setting & the story (after reading lore for a couple hours). The problem is accessibility, the writing is FAR more pretentious than it needs be, which causes more eyerolls than engagement - and the combat isn't exactly intuitive. Chances are half the game will be trying to like it, and the other half    TL;DR A solid game - needs work. (PoE2 is that improvement)

    I absolutely love the setting & the story (after reading lore for a couple hours). The problem is accessibility, the writing is FAR more pretentious than it needs be, which causes more eyerolls than engagement - and the combat isn't exactly intuitive.

    Chances are half the game will be trying to like it, and the other half will be actually liking it. My second run through I absolutely adored the game. So I'd cautiously recommend it to any RPG fan, and any isometric fan is bound to find it worth their time.    … Expand
  84. TanSula
    May 14, 2018
    9
    Для меня в РПГ главное сюжет и интересные квесты, а тут в этим всё в порядке. А вот к боёвке и другим техническим аспектам есть вопросы.
  85. ChosenUndead99
    Apr 29, 2018
    9
    An extremely fun RPG that you will easily be able to tell is very similar to games such as Baldur's Gate. There are lots of quests to be found and exploring is always rewarding!
  86. 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 !!
  87. 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
  88. frankielee
    Mar 5, 2018
    9
    Thank god obsidian and inexile are still actively making games that rests on frp tradition.
  89. JavierTaco
    Jan 17, 2018
    9
    This game is excellent. It is my first tabletop RPG, and it got me interested in this style of game. It does practically everything right. I love the music, I love the combat, I love the characters, I love the choices you can make, and I love the presentation. Also, it has that classic Obsidian Entertainment feel to it, so expect tons of dark humor.
  90. Hack
    Jan 15, 2018
    7
    An enjoyable story in a wondrous land that's spoiled by engine choice and technical problems. Pillars uses the Unity engine which is known for having performance issues and it's no different here, during combat the frame rate swings wildly on hardware that far exceeds the recommended specifications, beyond that the game also suffers with a tremendous amount of load screens which are alsoAn enjoyable story in a wondrous land that's spoiled by engine choice and technical problems. Pillars uses the Unity engine which is known for having performance issues and it's no different here, during combat the frame rate swings wildly on hardware that far exceeds the recommended specifications, beyond that the game also suffers with a tremendous amount of load screens which are also quite long even on a SSD. There's even a delay before you can loot after a fight, everything in Pillars just feels a bit clunky and it all comes down to picking Unity for this project.

    The highlight of the game is the story and voice acting which is absolutely top notch, it's just a shame only about 50% of the dialog is actually voiced which results in a ton of reading which did get a little overwhelming at times. Where the game collapses is the gameplay, the combat is unsatisfying and quite awkward, with really awful pathing issues that prevent your party from attacking.

    Overall the game was good but let down by technical problems and a fairly janky combat system, if you're a fan of RPGs of this type I'm sure you'll enjoy Pillars, I did but I was left a little disappointed.    … Expand
  91. DukeBalek
    Jan 7, 2018
    8
    A very good game if you like this type of rpg. for me it is better than the divinity original sins series, the world where you evolve is better done and the music ( really awesome) is perfect. Nonetheless it's true, the fights are better in DOS (it's the main value of the game imo), and they are too confusing and often unreadable in PoE (speed issue), but the game have a spirit and a moodA very good game if you like this type of rpg. for me it is better than the divinity original sins series, the world where you evolve is better done and the music ( really awesome) is perfect. Nonetheless it's true, the fights are better in DOS (it's the main value of the game imo), and they are too confusing and often unreadable in PoE (speed issue), but the game have a spirit and a mood far more immersive, and i prefer that. If you are a rpg fan, you loved the baldur's gate series, you have to do it (with the two add-ons if possible)… Expand
  92. nitorita
    Dec 25, 2017
    6
    (This review was written back in '15, when the game was first released. It doesn't factor in any DLCs released since then.)

    I've played the game for a good amount of time so far. Unfortunately, I didn't really get the thrill that I had hoped to get from it. Putting aside all the hype and background with the game, from an unbiased, ordinary gamer's standpoint, this game is pretty    (This review was written back in '15, when the game was first released. It doesn't factor in any DLCs released since then.)

    I've played the game for a good amount of time so far. Unfortunately, I didn't really get the thrill that I had hoped to get from it. Putting aside all the hype and background with the game, from an unbiased, ordinary gamer's standpoint, this game is pretty "boring." And I shall elaborate.

    First off, it's quite evident that the game is story driven. There is a heavy emphasis on story, and you're constantly driven into situations where you must make conversational choices that could potentially affect your gameplay later on. And that sounds wonderful! But, just because a game has a great story base and intriguing lore doesn't necessarily mean that it's a great game to play, especially if you're not much of a reader who prefers walls of text (believe me, you're given pages and pages of text in this game).

    The main issue which caused me to give this game such a low rating was because I found the combat rather uninteresting. If you're looking for the thrill of fast-paced gameplay, you're better off looking at other RPGs. This game was developed solely for the patient gamer.

    Throughout the game, due to the difficulty of the fights, you're forced to always utilize the pause feature to issue commands to each individual character every 2-5 seconds. The AI in the game is pretty poor on your end; it can't seem to figure out how to make educated decisions during combat (even if you have auto-pilot (anti-idle) enabled in the game's settings), and often causes characters to just stand still and do nothing. This can become a bit of a chore if you have some one-dimensional characters you'd prefer to just do whatever while you control the more important characters that have many abilities.

    Another major issue is the lack of character progression and improvement. You characters do not change much over the course of several (real-life) hours. What that means is, the game forces you to use the same set of abilities for an overly long period of time. This can bore the average gamer pretty easily.

    Not only that, but for whatever reason, the developers decided to eliminate "healing potions" by replacing it with a health and regenerating armour system, which is familiar to those who play shooters. The game also incorporates a "Final Fantasy cooldown" feature for attacks and skill usage, as well as unrestricted movement while it's happening.

    This could make or break the game for you, depending on if you can work with this new system of gameplay. "Hit and run" tactics would work, if not for the "issue" where enemies can "back attack" you while you're running. And this happens because there are stats in the game that involve dodging attacks, and allowing you to avoid attacks physically would remove the point of said stats. Most enemies move quicker than you do, which makes attempting to run pointless unless you are a distance fighter.

    Levels don't come often, but that's because progression doesn't come often either. Ironic how that works. Regarding equipment, you're generally stuck with the same set of starting weapons and armour and won't find any better ones until much later on in the game. Unfortunately, you probably already be bored by that point in time.

    You earn pennies selling the junk you don't need, and the equipment sold in stores are impossibly expensive. The stores aren't tab based, which makes finding items a chore. Especially since your sold items are shown as well.

    I think all of these "cons" exist solely because the developers wanted to create a realistic role-playing game and strongly believed that in a real fantasy world, this is how you would progress. Basically, no progression at all for long periods of time.

    Anyway, in terms of what I like about the game, I can't really say much. There's a strong emphasis on decision making and story, but that's about it. If you aren't much of a fantasy lover or a book reader, you probably won't like this game. It becomes a chore really early on. I suggest buying it only after it hits sub-$20.    … Expand
  93. RagingPoet
    Nov 2, 2017
    8
    Pillars of Eternity is amazing but a bit too long in my opinion.
    Difficulty drops significantly in the second half of the game, so you might wanna switch to a higher difficulty level when it happens if you are playing on normal/hard.
  94. CoolDadTx
    Oct 19, 2017
    6
    Had potential to be a good RPG but just left me depressed and unimpressed. Overall the leveling system is weak. Skills supposedly interplay with conversations but pretty much every conversation ends with a fight no matter what you choose. This is especially frustrating with the main and side quests. Almost every one acts like you have a choice but ultimately the choice is always eitherHad potential to be a good RPG but just left me depressed and unimpressed. Overall the leveling system is weak. Skills supposedly interplay with conversations but pretty much every conversation ends with a fight no matter what you choose. This is especially frustrating with the main and side quests. Almost every one acts like you have a choice but ultimately the choice is always either kill someone or leave them in a bad situation. There is never a case where you can actually do what you want to do (short of ignoring the quest). In one case you have 3 different options to prevent an innocent person from attacking you. But all 3 options eventually lead to that very conclusion irrelevant of any skills or abilities you have. This isn't roleplaying at all. This is a numbers game which ultimately make the entire RPG aspect pointless.

    The stronghold, which is hyped up early in the adventure is a complete waste of time. No matter how much you upgrade and how many mercenaries of any quality you hire, ever time you earn money bandits take at least half. There is absolutely no way to prevent it. None. Who thought this was a good idea. Ultimately the stronghold adds no value to the game or your character. The minimal amount of XP and money you could earn is irrelevant by end of game.

    Combat itself is a little flaky. There are some balancing issues. Late in the game you can pretty much roll over everybody but there is an encounter or two that, for no other reason than the devs decided to, you basically cannot win without luck even at max level. And some of these are tied to either irrelevant side quests or just random encounters. It makes saving often necessary, just in case.

    Overall this is a disappointing game. The quests are just one depressing encounter after another, the leveling is lackluster at best and the combat really boils down to a numbers game.    … Expand
  95. Klewer
    Sep 19, 2017
    7
    Having played BG 1 & 2 and enjoying them, I found this a little more of a struggle to get in to. While overall it is very similar in many mechanics I could not get in to the overall story and found it a drag after 20 hours of gameplay.
    Fans of Baldurs Gate style games will definitely enjoy this, if you after more of a Diablo type experience maybe stay away.
  96. 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
  97. zmmby
    Aug 3, 2017
    9
    Lovely game.

    The game can feel abit clunky sometimes, and some of the spells arent really creative. You have three familiar spells with different colours and names. I'd love to see some new creativity on that. Story is good. Nothing special but it's good. Gameplay works fine with pause and tactics. Music can be repetetive sometimes. Especially if you play the game for 8 straight    Lovely game.

    The game can feel abit clunky sometimes, and some of the spells arent really creative. You have three familiar spells with different colours and names. I'd love to see some new creativity on that.

    Story is good. Nothing special but it's good. Gameplay works fine with pause and tactics. Music can be repetetive sometimes. Especially if you play the game for 8 straight hours and get the same fighting music all over again.
    But these are minor picks. It's a great game if you like to read and play CRPG.

    Im already pitching in the Kickstarter for Pillars 2 at 2018.    … Expand
  98. minusfive
    Aug 3, 2017
    10
    As a huge fan of the Infinity Engine games, I must say that Pillars of Eternity is simply amazing in every way. It's a true spiritual successor - not only a faithful tribute to the grand legacy of BIS and BioWare but also a new chapter in the isometric CRPGs evolution, an important milestone for the whole genre.

    Particularly, the character classes are very impressive. To all who    As a huge fan of the Infinity Engine games, I must say that Pillars of Eternity is simply amazing in every way. It's a true spiritual successor - not only a faithful tribute to the grand legacy of BIS and BioWare but also a new chapter in the isometric CRPGs evolution, an important milestone for the whole genre.

    Particularly, the character classes are very impressive. To all who critcize PoE (for whatever reason) I can say this: name any other RTwP CRPG from the past decade featuring eleven distinct classes ("distinct" meaning that each class has its own mechanics and is vastly different from all other classes) or shut up. I'm dead tired of subpar RPGs and their warrior-rogue-mage repertoire.

    The game was already great on release but now with the the White March expansion and improvements brought by patches it's nearly perfect.

    Absolutely 10/10, can't wait for PoE 2.    … Expand
  99. Barnews
    Jun 18, 2017
    8
    It was fun. I really enjoyed Pillars of Eternity but i am also upset a little, because it miss many things that made legendary Baldurs Gate 2 so good. Dont get me wrong. PoE is good game but it is still steps behind BG2. Not in every aspect of game. Some things are better in PoE, but overally there are still a lot of things to be improved.

    PROS - Almost all things in game are good or    It was fun. I really enjoyed Pillars of Eternity but i am also upset a little, because it miss many things that made legendary Baldurs Gate 2 so good. Dont get me wrong. PoE is good game but it is still steps behind BG2. Not in every aspect of game. Some things are better in PoE, but overally there are still a lot of things to be improved.

    PROS
    - Almost all things in game are good or at least mediocre.
    - Graphics are OK. Developers did good job to bring you same old BG2 feel in modern coat.
    - Sounds are mediocre not bad but nothing that will excite you enough.
    - User interface, journal, inventory, world map, character sheet, etc... everything is good with place for improvements. Game tries to provide you with plenty of informations about almost everything, but there are still a lot of basic game machanics that you need to find on internet.
    - Quests have more results, You make a lot of decisions during you gameplay and it does matter. Overally I had very good feelings about this part of game. There are a lot of ways how to solve conversations and various events. Your reputation is based on your conversation and quest decisions.
    - Items, Armors, Weapons, etc..., are good. Weapons have different damage types and armors have different damage reductions.
    - Very nice ending where the game tell you what happend with towns, villages, party members, factions after your victory.

    CONS
    - Stealth system is not as good as i would like it to be. You can sneak around to know where your enemies are and what are they numbers but that all. No sneak attacks no quiet situation solve.
    - Combat system is flat and very straightforward here. In BG2 you had a lot of different ways how to solve different situations. Here it is too, but poorly executed. Is there a room full of fireball traps but no one to detect it and disable it? No problem just cast cast protecting spells on our warrior and let him to trigger it all without harm. In BG2 yes. But not in PoE you cannot cast defensive spells when out of combat :-D.
    - There are a lot of spells for same thing. Its sad because in BG2 were a lot of spells too, but for different situations with various combat changing effects. You will find it here too but very rarely. Here you are just casting some spells on some enemies and in most situations it doesnt matter what spells on what enemies :-D.
    - Although items, armors and weapons are good, their special magical properties are not as interesting and cool as they could be. You can even enchant your items with another stuff you found on your adventures which is nice addition but its same like with spells. A lot of varios magical properties with same effect. It almost doesnt matter what magical properties your items have.
    - No multiplayer. I was shocked when me and my friend bought game expecting to play together (in BG1 and BG2 more than 15 years old game it was possible) So we were forced to play it solo.
    - End game comes quickly. One time you think you are in half of game and several hours later you stand before main boss. And when you defeat him, the game ends (Very nice ending). But you cannot continue in your gameplay. Every unfinished business is lost without warning. And thats very sad because i think it could be done better.
    - Combat pace is very quick by default and it was necessary for me to play in slow combat all the time. The combat and spell effects are also very chaotic and it took some time until i got used to it.

    8 / 10 is maximum i give to PoE. Developers tried hard and did very good job. In some aspects they overcame BG2 but in others they failed.    … Expand
  100. Voukras
    Jun 5, 2017
    6
    Pillars of Eternity is a pale shadow of what Baldur's Gate 2 once was. The story-writing is vastly inferior and I'm baffled by how most people don't really notice it at all. As long as it moves and quacks like a Baldur's Gate, it's a Baldur's Gate, right? Wrong.

    The villain is poorly characterized and their motivation is weak. The climax of the plot is weak and unsatisfying, I could    Pillars of Eternity is a pale shadow of what Baldur's Gate 2 once was. The story-writing is vastly inferior and I'm baffled by how most people don't really notice it at all. As long as it moves and quacks like a Baldur's Gate, it's a Baldur's Gate, right? Wrong.

    The villain is poorly characterized and their motivation is weak. The climax of the plot is weak and unsatisfying, I could barely will myself to care about anything in this universe at all.

    The actual gameplay is decent. I found the combat system dreadfully boring and repetitive, but hey, that's how I feel about almost every RPG from this genre. It's not bad if you're into experimenting and finding op builds.

    The exploration and ways of solving quests were acceptable. Almost, but not quite good, with quality varying from area to area. Essentially once you get passed what feels like it should be the half of the game, you're actually 20% away from finishing the game. Not that the game is short. The length isn't the problem. The problem is that the pacing goes completely out of whack and gives you a feeling of unsatisfaction through the remainder of the progression.

    The universe is as cookie cutter as it gets with nothing special in its presentation and not much to make you feel attached to any particular area. I'm torn between feeling like "I'm being unfair, the Devs really tried and it just wasn't up to my unique and weird tastes" and "The Devs knowingly recycled the Baldur's Gate formula with a mediocre plot and universe." I still feel the latter characterization is highly uncharitable but after finishing the game I can't shake off that feeling.

    If you really want another RPG from the Old Bioware/Black Isle style, you should certainly check it out, but otherwise I would suggest playing any of the other RPGs from this genre: BG2, Planescape Torment, Numenera, Tyranny.    … 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 »