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. charlfourie
    Mar 30, 2015
    10
    Not only is this a successor to other Infinity Engine games but it the most fun I've had playing one to date. Sitting at 15 hours to far and can't wait to play more.

    Graphics are rich and atmospheric, Sound is wonderful and voiced beautifully, the Combat is brutal and requires a fine hand and then there is the story, words can not describe how rich the world is.

    Buy it now!
  2. Vidicus
    Mar 28, 2015
    9
    A true throwback to the glory days of RPGs. If you were a fan of Baldur's Gate or Plantscape Torment, you owe it to yourself to try Pillars of Eternity. There really is no major flaws with the game, it has the bases covered from the ground up as a near perfect 3D isometric view turn based RPG. Do not miss out, this is worthy of opening your wallet for.
  3. cdcondrici
    Mar 28, 2015
    10
    This is my first review for Metacritic so i am extra happy to be able to review probably the biggest comeback in gaming history for my debut. And what a comeback it is! all the magic ingredients the ones that made games like Baldur's Gate and Planescape : Torment and KOTOR unforgettable experiences and instant classics are mixed together again this time in a shiny new cauldron andThis is my first review for Metacritic so i am extra happy to be able to review probably the biggest comeback in gaming history for my debut. And what a comeback it is! all the magic ingredients the ones that made games like Baldur's Gate and Planescape : Torment and KOTOR unforgettable experiences and instant classics are mixed together again this time in a shiny new cauldron and bottled in amazingly crafted bottles. Don't listen to the people who think this game is only for wRPGs aficionados and dice rollers experts. This is mainly a wonderful adventure game and a personal journey through an amazing world. I love the new mechanics the game feels like a perfect combo between old school D&D and the modern times Role Play sophistication. nothing feels so far much different than Baldur's Gate and this is a fantastic feature considering that the system developed by Obsidian is so fresh. the graphics are absolutely gorgeous and the story so far, as expected, is to say the least engrossing. Also it's amazing how smooth the game runs on any average specs. so to conclude the game is definitely a must buy and must have for everyone who even remotely (still) enjoys playing PC games. is a labor of love and restored my (lost) faith in the future of gaming in general and RPG in special. Fantastic work Obsidian. can't wait for the new Planescape!!… Expand
  4. tander
    Apr 8, 2015
    10
    This is the game RPG fans are waiting for years to come,and it delivered.Rich text grabs your attention every so often,the experience is so sucked in. anyway ,recommended for true RPG lover .
  5. Dattatreya
    Apr 10, 2015
    10
    I have seen numerous user reviews before me that reiterated how if you are a fan of BG2 or Planescape: Torment , you will be immediately hooked on to PoE. While I don't disagree with them, I should come out clean and say - the very first tactical RPG I played was Dragon Age: Origins. So, naturally that was the benchmark for me when it came to games like these (and I never played BG and itsI have seen numerous user reviews before me that reiterated how if you are a fan of BG2 or Planescape: Torment , you will be immediately hooked on to PoE. While I don't disagree with them, I should come out clean and say - the very first tactical RPG I played was Dragon Age: Origins. So, naturally that was the benchmark for me when it came to games like these (and I never played BG and its IE ilk). However, PoE for me trumps over DA: Origins in all almost every aspect - be it gameplay or the core lore itself (perhaps DA: Origins was only better in its sense of 'epic' scope).

    Simply put - Pillars of Eternity is a game that demands your attention in numerous ways, with a breakneck yet tactical combat system that is 'fair' as opposed to its watered-down brethren. This is complemented by one of the best writings I have ever come across in a game world, along with some (not all) nifty quests. In other words, PoE is a game that also deserves your attention.

    As an ending note, when I played DA: Origins, I thought it to be a great game that deserves a 9. To that end, PoE certainly deserves a 9.5 (a score which unfortunately cannot be given on Metacritic).    … Expand
  6. orctown-troll
    Apr 24, 2016
    6
    The game itself is good enough. It does however have one BIG problem. It will waste the MAJORITY of your play time with loading screens. I guess you should definitely have an SSD hard drive. Will that actually fix this? It is 2016. 'Old school' games should load before we fall asleep waiting.
  7. Batbamb
    Aug 24, 2015
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well, I did not expect Pillars of Eternity to be such a failure in terms of world-building and writing.

    First of all, let's recall that Obsidian's main selling point on Kickstarter was to draw inspiration from Baldur's Gate and the likes. So,to some extent, PoE had to use an imaginary world full of magic and wonders: you will find no small amount of mighty heroes, spells, adventures and exotic races in the world Obsidian designed.

    But these are just cosmetics. The true themes are dark and serious: soulless children, obscurantism, death of gods, and so on. It seems like Obsidian was more attracted to dark fantasy (a genre where the magic world falls into chaos/horror).

    As a consequence, humour and delight are close to nonexistent in the world of PoE. That alone doesn't necessarily makes it a bad game: grim worlds can be interesting too. The problem is that the dark fantasy themes are severely underdeveloped. Indeed, Obsidian could not stray too far from high fantasy: they had promised a game similar to Baldur’s Gate, after all. So, compromises had to be made...

    The main storyline is a good example of it. After the first hour or so, your avatar is supposed to be gradually losing his/her sanity.

    You never, ever feel it. Apart from some casual ghosts apparitions. Boo!

    In this instance, the gameplay does little to support the story (Mask of the Betrayer did that better). The consequence is that you are not invested at all in your character’s specific state. But this is only one of the main topics of the game, so what’s the point of developing it, hey?

    Another key feature of the story, the Hollowborn curse, did not convince me either: its concrete presence and influence on the population is hugely overlooked. I can only recall two characters who seemed psychologically affected by the situation: Raedric and the Grieving Mother. It’s as if the game was not at ease with its own main topic.

    So, PoE refuses to be only a high fantasy game, while not really daring to be a dark fantasy one. The result is that this game hugely lacks vision. Ironically, you could say its world has no soul.

    I also think the game suffers from its attempt to reproduce the style of Planescape: Torment, whereas the world of PoE is not quite as inspiring. Torment had an exotic, surprising and mysterious world, full of sense of wonder: an ever-burning corpse in the middle of a tavern, an alley giving birth… Such motifs supported the imaginative, philosophical writing very well. The writers of Torment could constantly show what they meant: the words and graphics merged to create intricate and delightful images.

    In PoE, the writers’ mantra turned into “telling rather than showing”: since the universe lacks vision, the narration mainly embroiders emptiness.

    And it does so in large quantity: the texts seem even longer than in Torment… but they are far less compelling. The descriptions are constantly bloated, trying to inject depth into a world that severely lacks it. For example, the dialogues give systematic descriptions of the characters’ physical attitude (“she frowns”, “he purses his lips”, etc.). Sometimes it can be amusing to read. But a lot of it doesn’t add anything, which dilutes the relevant descriptions into an indigestible mess. I concede that the vocabulary is rich (I certainly improved my English a lot while playing this game). And some passages are genuinely beautiful, as in the dialogues with the gods. But often, the writing is just uselessly verbose.

    A word about the fights: the combat system is nice… but the encounter design is atrocious. 90% of these encounters consist of trash mobs. Only a few fights will make you change your tactics. Too bad. The most challenging fights are entertaining, though.

    Apart from that, there are a few instances where PoE deserves praise.

    Firstly, I liked the roleplay options and the variety of dialogue choices in general. Consequences lack, but at least you can create a personality for your avatar.

    Then, the construction of the secondary quests was mostly excellent. You generally have several options to conclude them, all of which are morally defendable. And the few FedEx missions (the bounty quests) included most of the more interesting fights in the game, so that’s a good compromise.

    Moreover, the companions were well executed and varied. They have a history and a personality, which are not forced upon you: it’s up toyou if you want to know more about them. I found Durance to be particularly fascinating. The Grieving Mother’s tremolos and melodramatic tales, less so.

    And of course, the graphics are stunningly beautiful. The icy tones of Noonfrost are breathtaking.

    So, there are some good points in PoE. But the narrative aspects and the fight design ruined this game for me. At least, PoE provides a valuable warning for the future attempts at building imaginary worlds with depth and soul. Nowadays, a lot of RPG do not even show us mistakes worth reflecting upon.    … Expand
  8. Noesis
    Apr 4, 2015
    10
    This game quite simply sets new high standards in the world of computer RPGs.
    If you were into old school cRPGs, you must absolutely play it (old gamer from the times of Ultima VII, Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment here). But even if you never played one of those games, you should definitely play Pillars of Eternity as well. Because it does much more than just offering an old formula,    This game quite simply sets new high standards in the world of computer RPGs.
    If you were into old school cRPGs, you must absolutely play it (old gamer from the times of Ultima VII, Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment here). But even if you never played one of those games, you should definitely play Pillars of Eternity as well. Because it does much more than just offering an old formula, it innovates and rethinks an old formula to offer a new modern RPG experience.

    Games like this tell you what an incredible experience you can have by investing into amazing writing quality over voiced lines, incredible stories over mainstream movie-like tropes, hand-painted landscapes over flashy 3D and FX, world building and immersion over cheesy entertainment. It's the difference between being amused by something and being fascinated and involved by something. There's nothing wrong in being amused, but you got to try the difference once in a while...

    As a side note: those who reviewed and gave 0s to this masterpiece have just left a record of their absolute incompetence at evaluating games. Everyone has obviously a right to an opinion, but dumb and incompetent opinions speak much more of those who express them than about the subject of their evaluations...    … Expand
  9. Mamoulian
    Apr 6, 2015
    10
    This is it! The long wait is over and yet again thanks to the Kickstarter can we see what huge lie have we been fed by current games publishers. We were taught to give up all hope and think that the glory days of fantastic intelligent gaming are gone. We were taught that only mindless hack and slashers and MMOs are the way of the RPGs now. But we were being lied to over and over again.This is it! The long wait is over and yet again thanks to the Kickstarter can we see what huge lie have we been fed by current games publishers. We were taught to give up all hope and think that the glory days of fantastic intelligent gaming are gone. We were taught that only mindless hack and slashers and MMOs are the way of the RPGs now. But we were being lied to over and over again. 70.000 backers on Kickstarter showed the world of gaming yet again that we can battle commerce by sponsoring games we all really want to play and that we are many. Pillars of Eternity is the fruit of our unified effort, a treat all oldschool RPG lovers deserved. Its huge, bountiful in stories untold, beautiful to behold and perfect to play for many long hours. A perfect gem an RPG. Thank you Obsidian, thank you Kickstarter. This is a dream come true!… Expand
  10. boomba66
    Apr 3, 2015
    10
    A tactical, crpg that has you exploring every inch of every map. While it does not have the deep rich history of the forgotten realms to give you those moments of running into characters you have read about for years, it makes up for it in the world building it does on its own. It plays very much like the old infinity games with a few noticeable differences.

    Pro's 1. Great NPC's to tag    A tactical, crpg that has you exploring every inch of every map. While it does not have the deep rich history of the forgotten realms to give you those moments of running into characters you have read about for years, it makes up for it in the world building it does on its own. It plays very much like the old infinity games with a few noticeable differences.

    Pro's
    1. Great NPC's to tag along with you.
    2. Great Story and Character progression
    3. Interesting progression system for gear and skills with a bit of a learning curve.
    4. Really cool story.
    5. Take the NPC's or create your own party feature. This could make re-plays much more viable.
    6. Really great new classes, Cipher and chanter are really neat classes with brand new(overpowered) abilities.

    Cons
    1. Few annoying bugs still
    2. No multiplayer
    3. Stat system is a little weird(tank with a 6 strength)
    4. No Multi-Classing    … Expand
  11. monkeyking95
    Oct 11, 2016
    3
    I think there's a reason games like this aren't made anymore. It honestly didn't engage me, I never felt connected to the world or the characters. The gameplay felt stale and bland and I have no nostalgic bias towards isometric RPGs. I think those who have their nostalgic blinders on will enjoy this but if your taste in gameplay, game design and player engagement has evolved and 'moved on'I think there's a reason games like this aren't made anymore. It honestly didn't engage me, I never felt connected to the world or the characters. The gameplay felt stale and bland and I have no nostalgic bias towards isometric RPGs. I think those who have their nostalgic blinders on will enjoy this but if your taste in gameplay, game design and player engagement has evolved and 'moved on' then you won't find much here that will delight you. Pillars Of Eternity is a wilfully average game.… Expand
  12. BlackIsle
    Apr 7, 2015
    10
    My expectations were very high and Pillars of Eternity exceeded them. This is the best game I have played in the last 15 years. This score of a "10" was not given to offset the "zero" trolls, this is the actual score I would give this game. The future of PC gaming is bright indeed.
  13. divine1976
    Apr 3, 2015
    10
    Only Kick-starter I backed because I'm a fan of Obsidians games and was not disappointed!

    Can only echo previous reviews: Fantastic writing with choice, customisation and a great tactical old school feel.

    If you like old school RPG's like Baldur's Gate, Torment etc, you are probably already playing, but if not, GO AND BUY IT!
  14. MikeLane
    Apr 3, 2015
    10
    I don't give a lot of tens - this is a ten. Classic isomorphic RPG with excellent writing, suitably tough combat, detailed storyline and the joyous immersion of Planescape:Torment, Baldur's Gate and the very best of the golden age of RPGs. If you ever enjoyed an Infinity Engine game, you will love this.
  15. Amfibios
    Apr 2, 2015
    10
    guys this is the real deal! i haven't played a more perfect rpg in years! playing it feels like i'm a kid again where i'd start playing a game and then i'd be so excited and into it that i'd be looking forward to keep playing with every chance i get!
    you may have to neglect your responsibilities if u start playing this, u've been warned!
    i never thought someone would step up nowadays    guys this is the real deal! i haven't played a more perfect rpg in years! playing it feels like i'm a kid again where i'd start playing a game and then i'd be so excited and into it that i'd be looking forward to keep playing with every chance i get!
    you may have to neglect your responsibilities if u start playing this, u've been warned!

    i never thought someone would step up nowadays and make a real old school rpg masterpiece like this, i thought i was doomed to be playing only dragon age-y rpgs from now on.    … Expand
  16. softpsyche
    Apr 22, 2015
    10
    Great game, ignore bad reviews - unless you are an impatient millenial brat who cannot bother to read a game wiki or are too lazy/dumb to understand game mechanics without them being spoon fed to you. At first the game is frustrating because the combat system is not standard rpg and their is a learning curve. However, once you start to piece it together the game gets better and better. IfGreat game, ignore bad reviews - unless you are an impatient millenial brat who cannot bother to read a game wiki or are too lazy/dumb to understand game mechanics without them being spoon fed to you. At first the game is frustrating because the combat system is not standard rpg and their is a learning curve. However, once you start to piece it together the game gets better and better. If you invest in this game and give it some love it will give you love back. In this regard - it is EXACTLY what you would want to recapture the old school magic. I did not give it a clean 10 because I do believe it could have received a bit more polish and mainly because the old school 'pause to play' combat system just seems dated nowadays. They could have added some character AIs like baldurs eventually did but I think something even better should have been created. The chanter is a really great character and I think they need to develop more solutions like that so combat can roll fluidly if they are going to leave it 'real time'. Or they could have simply switched it to a turn based system (like divinity orginal sin) but this would definitely have violated the whole 'Baldurs' gate successor mantra.

    UPDATE: I had reviewed this at a 9 but made it a 10 after i saw how much content is in the game. there is a HUGE amount of content and as such it deserves a solid10.    … Expand
  17. Damascus
    Mar 27, 2015
    10
    This 10/10 is for the best writing and rpg-presentation of any game in history. Game-mechanics are better than dnd, but still need both refining and further development.
  18. Zarunil
    Apr 2, 2015
    10
    The best thing to happen to the cRPG genre since Baldur's Gate 2. Beautifully hand-drawn backgrounds, interesting characters with great voice acting, a nice new twist on the classic D&D ruleset, an interesting storyline and much more.
  19. faceless-1
    Apr 5, 2015
    10
    Obsidian made again superior RPG. They promised Baldurs gate like experience and that is exactly what this game is. This game is not 100% bug free, but i encountered nothing major. Must own to old school RPG fans.
  20. Jsan
    Apr 7, 2015
    10
    Uno de los mejores juegos que puedo recordar de lejos. Jamas crei que me aportaria casi 80 horas de inteso juego y aun asi me dejo atras detalles. Me ha encantado todo, desde la prespectiva hasta la historia pasando por la calidad narrativa. Compratelo!!
  21. ArminW
    Mar 31, 2015
    10
    I backed this on Kickstarter for much more than I ever paid for a game before. I desperately wanted this game to happen and thus had absurdly high expectations. Now, after more than 60 hours into the game (within 5 days ant NOT quitting my day job yet...) I can sincerely say: PoE managed to surpass them all.
    So, I'm, giving a 10 for the first time, not because I want this game to be rated    I backed this on Kickstarter for much more than I ever paid for a game before. I desperately wanted this game to happen and thus had absurdly high expectations. Now, after more than 60 hours into the game (within 5 days ant NOT quitting my day job yet...) I can sincerely say: PoE managed to surpass them all.
    So, I'm, giving a 10 for the first time, not because I want this game to be rated highly, but because I truly think that this game, and Obsidian for making it this way, deserve it. I can find nothing among it's short list of minor issues that would warrant to take down my score by even 1 point.
    The Art is gorgeous, and proof that well-painted. lovingly detailed backgrounds beat High-Res textures and technical gimmicks every time. It's simply fun to explore every single area, just to revel in all the detail.
    The writing is a class of it's own, with a major wall of text hitting me like in Planescape:Torment days, a ton of well-rounded and interesting characters far off the beaten cliches, a fantastic world and a story that made me cut hazardously short the third night of sleep in a row...
    Nothing is simple, nothing is black-and white, and no one is simply a fantasy troupe repeated the umptieth time. The choice feel like they really have weight, and my character, with abilities, background and reputation, has never mattered so much (except, perhaps, the aforementioned PS:T)
    And the RPG system that obsidian came up with is to date, hands down, the best compromise between pen&paper complexity and cRPG ease-of-use mechanics I've encountered. It offers endless choices, tactics and possibilities and makes for interesting, tough but fair battles. With *meaningful* difficulty settings (not just numbers raised on enemies) to boot.
    Really, for me, this game is close to perfection and I openly admit - this 46 year old fart has turned into an enthusiastic fanboy. 10. Thank you Obsidian.    … Expand
  22. 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
  23. MothExploit
    Apr 5, 2015
    10
    I backed this game on KS, got my hopes up for awhile, during its first few months of development, then played the backer beta and resigned myself to the likelihood of the final product being buggy and excruciatingly difficult. I figured I'd still like it, and it'd be a fun throwback to the glory days of CRPGs, but I never thought it would turn out as amazing as it has.

    I'm so glad they    I backed this game on KS, got my hopes up for awhile, during its first few months of development, then played the backer beta and resigned myself to the likelihood of the final product being buggy and excruciatingly difficult. I figured I'd still like it, and it'd be a fun throwback to the glory days of CRPGs, but I never thought it would turn out as amazing as it has.

    I'm so glad they surprised me.

    The extra time they put into polish really, really shows. This game feels like a classic in its own right, not just a nostalgic love-letter to something long-gone.

    I love the fiction -- not just the overall lore, but the way it's presented in the writing. Your free to ask the dumb questions and have everything spoon fed to you, but you can also play the game as though you are a character who's familiar with the setting, and it's still perfectly easy to pick things up. There's very little of the awkward and obvious data-dumping which plagues much of the writing in these sorts of games. You can tell the writers loved the world they created, but they've also exercised impressive restraint in delivering that world to you, which makes the story feel more elegant than the norm.

    The mechanics draw from the classics for all the positive elements, but I honestly think they've improved significantly on the old Infinity Engine gameplay by distancing themselves from D&D and focusing on rules which lend themselves to the computer. I found the backer beta overwhelming, but in the game proper as you're acquiring skills more gradually, the learning curve is very comfortable. The game's encyclopedia also provides good explanations of the mechanics, if you choose to seek them out.

    My one minor gripe is that I wish they'd provided more portraits for the character creation. The only male Nature Godlike option does not jive with my character at all -- but, I'm sure the community will churn out a good selection of alternatives in the near future.    … Expand
  24. sirrat
    Apr 5, 2015
    10
    Great if somewhat flawed game. If you don't want to micro-manage combat obviously this game isn't for you. The pace felt very slow to me at first but I gave it a chance and it paid off--learning the systems matters and making decisions about your gear and build (and party makeup itself) matters. Some nasty bugs (unfortunately sort of par for the Obsidian course) but so far they've fixedGreat if somewhat flawed game. If you don't want to micro-manage combat obviously this game isn't for you. The pace felt very slow to me at first but I gave it a chance and it paid off--learning the systems matters and making decisions about your gear and build (and party makeup itself) matters. Some nasty bugs (unfortunately sort of par for the Obsidian course) but so far they've fixed the major game-breakers I ran into. I don't care about voice acting really but imo it does the job well enough. I am giving it a 10 instead of the 8 or 9 it really deserves because of the "gamergate" reviews ranting about "SJW". Nothing sets off my retard detector more vigorously than someone using the phrase "SJW".… Expand
  25. Smilingcookie
    Apr 29, 2015
    8
    It's ok, but not great. For me it's a lot less inspiring than Wasteland 2. Certainly not on par with Baldur's Gate 1 & 2. Still an enjoyable crpg. Some of the new classes like the chanter are actually fun to play with and give a fresh taste to the game. Story and setting didn't grasp me so much. It seemed like an uninspired crossover between Planescape torment and dark souls. 7,5/10.
  26. adff500
    Jun 18, 2015
    7
    + + + Pros + + +
    1. Very long campaign with plenty of maps and side quests.
    2. Nice graphics,great level design and amazing soundtrack. 3. Smooth gameplay,interesting characters,writing and dialogues with lots of choices. - - - Cons - - - 1. Plenty of unnecessary loading times (even when you are on the same map). 2. No voiced dialogues (text only). 3. The combat rules,casting and    + + + Pros + + +
    1. Very long campaign with plenty of maps and side quests.
    2. Nice graphics,great level design and amazing soundtrack.
    3. Smooth gameplay,interesting characters,writing and dialogues with lots of choices.

    - - - Cons - - -
    1. Plenty of unnecessary loading times (even when you are on the same map).
    2. No voiced dialogues (text only).
    3. The combat rules,casting and survival handicaps the player greatly (and the A.I. is one of the worst I´ve seen in a while).

    Classic RPG with modern graphics and some annoying old-school and technical flaws. Overall an enjoyable experience.    … Expand
  27. invizo
    Apr 7, 2015
    10
    Already 100 hours in, simply a masterpiece. The only RPG in a long time whose limiting factor is the player's intelligence and ability to micro-manage. POTD difficulty is a god-send and makes the re-playability amazing.
  28. Soupgoblin
    Dec 6, 2016
    2
    Not sure if anyone that has reviewed here actually played Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Icewind Dale and the other CRPGs...

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

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

    I say this after re-playing Baldur's Gate 2 last month, this game is a mere shadow of what they did with the D&D mechanics, Obsidian can do better, they have done better, and anyone who gave this game a better score than 5 should feel ashamed that they went fanboi instead of actually telling the truth.    … Expand
  29. Veska
    Mar 27, 2015
    9
    Welcome home, my child.

    Baldurs Gate

    If you sometimes play games as Baldurs Gate, you would love it. This game is game for fans! Hard and long play time.
  30. nilleratus
    Oct 1, 2015
    4
    I'm very much a fan of this type of games, I've played them all.

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

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

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

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

    I followed this game from the start and I'm super disappointed unfortunately :(    … Expand
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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

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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.
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  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.
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  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]
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