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. ZaPaAl
    May 13, 2015
    8
    It's a long game, but be prepared for spending hours looking at the loading screen. Even with a SSD. Every map change brings it up, and most maps aren't big at all. It looks good, the 2D scenery is nicely done. I liked playing it most of the time, but the story ... honestly, it couldn't motivate me beyond the first stages. Same for the followers, or your keep. Some side quests are nice,It's a long game, but be prepared for spending hours looking at the loading screen. Even with a SSD. Every map change brings it up, and most maps aren't big at all. It looks good, the 2D scenery is nicely done. I liked playing it most of the time, but the story ... honestly, it couldn't motivate me beyond the first stages. Same for the followers, or your keep. Some side quests are nice, but for me the game was more about exploring, strategic fighting, getting better equipment and skills. Not overly difficult on the highest normal mode difficulty setting, with one exception, completely of the charts. It has far too much to read. I gave up on the books, they don't matter at all. Same for the backers characters, standing around, some have interesting little stories, but they really aren't part of the game. It was ok, but finally, I'm glad it's over. Getting IE Mod is probably a must.… Expand
  2. JustCriticiseIt
    Mar 28, 2016
    5
    "It's over?! I've played through this game for hours, waiting for something interesting to happen and all that you're giving me are some contradictory universe mechanics and some half-assed, mostly unexplored "noble lie" concept?" - my thoughts when I finished the game that say everything about my opinion
  3. Amazing
    Mar 31, 2015
    7
    It was great fun until the bugs started coming in one after the other. Stat bug, companions inventory deletion bug, load and save times going from 3 seconds to 40. I really like this game but its doing everything it can to brick my save.
  4. 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
  5. giskarduk
    Apr 1, 2015
    7
    What we have here is a graphic novel with interactive areas and a bolted on RPG system, leveling seems to take place once every blue moon and I have found characters with a 7 in lore could not use scrolls that needed 2 in lore, so the RPG side is simply not working.

    It relies heavily on text based story telling to create game play, combat, exploration, all seem secondary to this one    What we have here is a graphic novel with interactive areas and a bolted on RPG system, leveling seems to take place once every blue moon and I have found characters with a 7 in lore could not use scrolls that needed 2 in lore, so the RPG side is simply not working.

    It relies heavily on text based story telling to create game play, combat, exploration, all seem secondary to this one part of the games design. Unfortunately the story just is not that interesting, I have put books down that have been more interesting than this.

    If you check the steam stats and achievements for the game, you will notice a trend, most of the advanced features of the game are not getting used, most folk use the creator an adventurer feature, only 25% have actually finished act 1. This should tell you a lot.

    It actually reminds me of a computerised version of the old paper and pen RPGs where the dungeon keeper tells you what you are looking at. Trouble is, this is computer game where we can see what we are looking at and half the time it does not match the text.

    I have seen this compared to Baldurs gate a lot, honestly, it is not Baldurs gate, its not even in the same league as Baldurs gate but the game does have its charms if you sit back and treat it like an interactive book with pretty average if long winded story line.

    If I was to give it a score it would be 7 out of 10. Worth owning but not for £35. I would say pick this up when the price hits £22 which is closer to its truth worth.

    I would ask obsidian one question though, where did the $4 Million dollars from kickstarter go because this game is not worth $4.

    Worth buying but wait for the sales.    … Expand
  6. Idiota150
    Jun 19, 2015
    7
    I like it, but there are so many flaws. The one thing that keeps me playing it, is the story/stories, even if it can become very confusing at times. I feel combat has been ruined by confusing terminology, math, and mechanics. Too much magic which you never can use, too few meaningful weapons/armour upgrades. Many things in the game prove to be practically meaningless, but then there areI like it, but there are so many flaws. The one thing that keeps me playing it, is the story/stories, even if it can become very confusing at times. I feel combat has been ruined by confusing terminology, math, and mechanics. Too much magic which you never can use, too few meaningful weapons/armour upgrades. Many things in the game prove to be practically meaningless, but then there are some things you can miss which makes it very difficult. This game could have been so much better, so it's clearly not a 10.… Expand
  7. Lostframe
    Apr 18, 2015
    5
    the game is paradise of bugs.w nwe veags is polish game for this garbage. this is just robery , not a game.
    obsidian.    the game is paradise of bugs.w nwe veags is polish game for this garbage. this is just robery , not a game.
    obsidian. buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu    … Expand
  8. Indissentient
    Mar 28, 2015
    6
    + Story seemed to be good
    + Characters are fairly interesting
    - Combat is extremely poor - Visuals are terrible - Interface is inconvenient and ugly Overall, it feels like the game wants to feel old for no reason whatsoever, and that developers didn't learn anything in last 20 years. Yes, the game lacks a lot of annoying cliches of newer RPGs, but it also lacks their improvements    + Story seemed to be good
    + Characters are fairly interesting

    - Combat is extremely poor
    - Visuals are terrible
    - Interface is inconvenient and ugly

    Overall, it feels like the game wants to feel old for no reason whatsoever, and that developers didn't learn anything in last 20 years. Yes, the game lacks a lot of annoying cliches of newer RPGs, but it also lacks their improvements over old ones.    … Expand
  9. SherlockHolmess
    May 24, 2015
    6
    Starts of great but gets lost pretty quick. Battelsystem is this realtime with pause key, which i find pretty ugly.
    Even worse, most of the harder battles are very undeterministic and forces to lots of quicksave/load with totally different results.
    Well anyways the story is not that bad at all, you can see into other peoples souls which is funny at first but then you realize that it has    Starts of great but gets lost pretty quick. Battelsystem is this realtime with pause key, which i find pretty ugly.
    Even worse, most of the harder battles are very undeterministic and forces to lots of quicksave/load with totally different results.
    Well anyways the story is not that bad at all, you can see into other peoples souls which is funny at first but then you realize that it has no impact on whatsoever... so it becomes unnecessary pretty quick. The end is good again but during the game the storyline just idles...
    The Characters you meet and can group up with are most of the time very good designed but are too few to really select between.
    So all in all the game is a newer version of Baldurs Gate which is not bad at all but far form being a great RPG.    … Expand
  10. Shamansdrum
    Jun 29, 2015
    6
    Pillars of Eternity stands out. I didn't have so much fun with RPG since Dragon Age Origins (and I did play most pc rpg's inbetween those titles). It's also sort of a disappointment and here's why...

    Although being a beautifully realized BG clone, or how they like to say it "a spiritual successor" it doesn't necessarily carries all the beauty inherent to the original. Way too often I    Pillars of Eternity stands out. I didn't have so much fun with RPG since Dragon Age Origins (and I did play most pc rpg's inbetween those titles). It's also sort of a disappointment and here's why...

    Although being a beautifully realized BG clone, or how they like to say it "a spiritual successor" it doesn't necessarily carries all the beauty inherent to the original. Way too often I felt torn apart by two ambivalent tendencies of the game, that is storytelling and hack'n'slash. I bow before Obsidian for filling all those immense dungeons with fair amount of content, creatures and treasure. It's the good type of hack'n'slashing - sandboxed, handcrafted and polished. The thing is that for "a spiritual successor to BG" I expected more story-driven content, something interesting and meaningful to get me through all those stale, repeatable combats. The main story-line is pretty good, which is extraordinary, taking into account how badly written some critically acclaimed rpg's are (remember Dragon Age 2?). Dialogues between your teammates are also poised and funny. After playing more than 24 h I started realizing that the game somehow lacks a consistent direction. The lore and immersion in it seems a bit half-baked. The script, how good wouldn't it be, is still incomplete. For me, this game is constantly on the verge of delivering the experience it so loudly aspired to deliver. I'd even say : They almost did it. I hope they will make the sequel better.    … Expand
  11. dinin70
    Aug 3, 2015
    7
    Don't look at people saying the combat is boring or the game is buggy. Those are people playing on a Commodore 64 and that unfortunately don't have any finger on their hands.

    The combat is good, the graphics are great, the gameplay is very intuitive. I really enjoyed playing it, however I can barely recommend it. You are looking for an old style RPG, ok go for it. You are looking for    Don't look at people saying the combat is boring or the game is buggy. Those are people playing on a Commodore 64 and that unfortunately don't have any finger on their hands.

    The combat is good, the graphics are great, the gameplay is very intuitive. I really enjoyed playing it, however I can barely recommend it.

    You are looking for an old style RPG, ok go for it. You are looking for a new Baldur's Gate? Nope...

    I don't think that I enjoyed BG because I was a teenager and now I grew old, the game is just not playing in same league.

    - Epicness of BG2 - Forget it. Are you saving the universe, thanks God no. However, are you following such an interesting story as to replace the Lord of Murder himself? No... Or are you seeking who you are and are throwed in a story you don't know where it will end (PST)? Not really... The story is just average.

    - Variety of BG2 or even Icewind Dale - Forget it. In those games you were exploring so many places, each of them being extremely different than the previous. Here... No, the World map is just too small... The cities are empties and few things to do. You are in the capital, you feel alone. In BG2, only in Amn (representing a very small part of the game) you had so many quests to do, so many things to make. Every neightboorhood had plenty of zones, plenty of people to speak to...If you were playing a fighter you could your castle, and it was feeling alive. Here in PoR, you are in your castle, stupidly you think that as you are upgrading it people will come, you'll see farmers, bartenders, a court... No... There's just no one throughout the entire game... Feels extremely empty on that side.

    Apart from that the game as serious other flaws of which the MOST AWFUL one: loading time... This is just horrible... You cannot camp as many times as you want. Which is a good idea in theory, but practically you just want to quit the game... "Ok, limited camp supplies, I have to watch out, play strategically, cannot screw up". Good, but... You can play as good as you want, your mage-retarded psycho elf is tired after having done 300 meters... So, you are in the Endless Paths, 3 screens away from the surface. 3 loading screens. Then walk up to the tavern, enter the tavern, loading screen. Walk on the first floor, loading screen. Sleep, go away and again 5 other loading screens to go onto battle... Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus...

    So all in all... The game is good, and any people who like occidental RPG will like it and should go for it, but it's not even 50% as good as Baldur's Gate or IceWind Dale. In every point it's just below...    … Expand
  12. 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
  13. suneater
    Oct 25, 2015
    8
    Pillars of Eternity is a good CRPG that feels held back by a bland story and combat that gets easier and tactically simplier as the game progresses. There is plenty of content to explore (including a personal castle to upgrade and a deep dungeon to explore for fancy loot, room for actual roleplaying with extensive dialogue options, and unique classes that alone are enough to make me wantPillars of Eternity is a good CRPG that feels held back by a bland story and combat that gets easier and tactically simplier as the game progresses. There is plenty of content to explore (including a personal castle to upgrade and a deep dungeon to explore for fancy loot, room for actual roleplaying with extensive dialogue options, and unique classes that alone are enough to make me want to replay the game) but the majority of it is too similar to previous games in the genre to really stand out on its own. While I love Obsidian, this repurposing of old ideas and design choices just doesn't feel like the dream project it was supposed to be.

    PoE gives you plenty of important decisions to make and lets you know every chance it can that these decisions matter. However, one very important sequence of events near the halfway point in the game in particular stood out in breaking that illusion. At one point you reach a crossroads between two factions, one of which you previously sided with. Various speech options let you continue to side with them or roleplay other options. However, the Big Bad shows his face and spits on your decisions, making your previous questing and choices moot. It is very frustrating to play through because you're just stuck there watching it play out with no input on what is happening, only to suffer the consequences later. Something more cryptic happening off-screen during these events would've been better writing and would've had the same effect without being so frustrating to play through.

    The end boss also feels very contrived and added for the sake of having a last boss for a video game. Most of the game you're chasing him and always 2 steps behind him and yet in this last bastion he decides to face you face-to-face. I feel like he was supposed to be an Irenecus clone but he comes off feeling whiny and shoehorned. I would've really preferred pushing him and the "twist" leading up to the final area into a sequel or expansion because it really detracts from the rest of the game.

    While I enjoyed my time with PoE, I find it hard to recommend. Overall, it felt quite bland and dry compared to CRPGs of old with only the few unique classes and the deep character interactions really standing out to me. If you've played CRPGs before and are on the fence about this, try a pillar of the genre such as Baldur's Gate 2 or Icewind Dale before dropping cash on this.    … Expand
  14. Greywolf2001ca
    Dec 11, 2015
    7
    Good game, but I really hate those stupid pseudo real-time turn-based combat crap. Makes the game look really dumb. Aside from combat, which you cannot avoid at all in the game, you have a good story. It does not seem that your choices matters in the game. I've done like 25% of the game, and my choices have made no difference and had no impact on the story.

    There are some nice and    Good game, but I really hate those stupid pseudo real-time turn-based combat crap. Makes the game look really dumb. Aside from combat, which you cannot avoid at all in the game, you have a good story. It does not seem that your choices matters in the game. I've done like 25% of the game, and my choices have made no difference and had no impact on the story.

    There are some nice and unusual options in the options menu of this game. You can actually hide metagaming information, which increases replayability... well, it would increase it alot if the choices you take would change the story like in Age of Decadence, which is a much better game overall, especially in the storyline department (you live according to your choices. Went through half the game without fighting a thing, just talking, plotting and manipulating people into doing things for me.)

    Pillars of Eternity is not really worth the price tag it currently has, but it's worth paying 20-25$ though. More if combat was better.    … Expand
  15. Artur_
    Dec 6, 2015
    7
    It is a good alternative to so called "AAA games", worth 70 hours of playing. Freedom of team buiding, comfortable equipment management, good crafting, reasonable battle running. Nice 2D graphic, sound, isometric perspective and a very stable game. Story is ok, although I didn't feel involved, so minus 2 points - it is RPG game after all. Third point deduction for one insta-kill beast.It is a good alternative to so called "AAA games", worth 70 hours of playing. Freedom of team buiding, comfortable equipment management, good crafting, reasonable battle running. Nice 2D graphic, sound, isometric perspective and a very stable game. Story is ok, although I didn't feel involved, so minus 2 points - it is RPG game after all. Third point deduction for one insta-kill beast. Overall - play and have fun ;-)… Expand
  16. hag9600gt
    Nov 23, 2015
    6
    I'm a big fan of the genre, I played most of the similar games. Since my english is not perfect, I sum up the good and bad in short sentences:

    Good: Nice graphics, well written text, good atmosphere. Bad: Below average UI, broken character and party selection, camera does not follow the characters (seriously?!?), constant problems with font sizes (too big in the chat window, too small    I'm a big fan of the genre, I played most of the similar games. Since my english is not perfect, I sum up the good and bad in short sentences:

    Good: Nice graphics, well written text, good atmosphere.
    Bad: Below average UI, broken character and party selection, camera does not follow the characters (seriously?!?), constant problems with font sizes (too big in the chat window, too small everywhere else).

    I can't believe this game has so muc updates and patches, and the developers didn't fix the obvious gameplay settings. They should take a look at Divinity: Original Sin.    … Expand
  17. 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
  18. kharnikhal
    Mar 27, 2015
    6
    Its basically a 15 year old game published in 2015. If thats your thing, then by all means bump my score up by 2.

    I played on Normal difficulty, no expert-mode and no trial of iron (permadeath). First things first: The graphics are horrible. Zoom in and it actually looks like a game from 2000. There is no anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering, graphic options are severly lacking and    Its basically a 15 year old game published in 2015. If thats your thing, then by all means bump my score up by 2.

    I played on Normal difficulty, no expert-mode and no trial of iron (permadeath).

    First things first: The graphics are horrible. Zoom in and it actually looks like a game from 2000. There is no anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering, graphic options are severly lacking and the overall look of the game is blurry and muddy. Not much color to it, its made from shades of brown and grey.

    The battles are alright at first, but when you play further in to the game you will soon realize that you have to be constantly pausing, micromanaging abilities and movement to stay alive, and its pretty tedious. This is especially true with caster classes (wizards, ciphers etc). One little mistake (like your own guy running into your aoe-spell) and you can expect a party wipe. Its essentially a trial and error way of playing. Venture somewhere where the game doesnt want you to go (yet), get killed, load and go do something else. Your own skill has nothing to do with, but some people enjoy this type of stuff. I don't.

    The exploration and enemy level mechanics are archaic, meaning that it constantly puts impossible enemies and quests near your area. This means only one thing: Backtracking. Lots of it. You will have to ignore like half of the quests in the area, move to the next area and take the easier quests there (and you wont have any idea which are easier), level up, buy gear. and backtrack to finish those quests (if you wish). And the problem then is that the rewards for finishing those quests aren't gonna do any good to you since you're already overleveled for that area. Its stupid and I hope it gets patched.

    The story, as far as I could play this game before I got bored (about 5-6 hours), is filled with your standard fantasy-tropes. Evil wizards, ancient evils and all that jazz. The voice acting is quite dull and predictable, nothing good but not unbearable either. Also expect to reads walls and walls (and I mean WALLS) of text. All the time. Every time. You will probably spend more time reading than doing any other activity. At that point I'd rather pick up a decent book than play this game.

    I didn't run into any noticeable bugs or glitches, and the AI pathfinding worked fine for me.
    The best time I had with this game was when I fired it up the first time, and spent maybe an hour figuring out what kind of character I want to create.

    Its not a bad game, it just feels old. Outdated. If this was released 10 years ago, it would've been amazing.    … Expand
  19. SanctumRevel
    Mar 27, 2015
    6
    to set some things straigt sure for players who know their way around this games is ok for newcomers the lack of quest track enemies level hint or something expierence lack of defeating enemies it s like the game is pushing you to do other things no matter if u want to do it or not the easy dificulty can be frustrating for new commers to this game it s clear that this game was intended forto set some things straigt sure for players who know their way around this games is ok for newcomers the lack of quest track enemies level hint or something expierence lack of defeating enemies it s like the game is pushing you to do other things no matter if u want to do it or not the easy dificulty can be frustrating for new commers to this game it s clear that this game was intended for veterans of D&D and baldurs gate and thats is sad for me… Expand
  20. brindle88
    Aug 9, 2015
    8
    I previously reviewed this game low, I think because I was frustrated that the rules and mechanics differed from baldurs gate 2 lol. Having replayed this game and after getting used to the rules and mechanics I am loving it. I would have rated this game a 9 or even a 10 but I didn't because you can tell it has been made on a reduced budget; script cards instead of cinematics, reducedI previously reviewed this game low, I think because I was frustrated that the rules and mechanics differed from baldurs gate 2 lol. Having replayed this game and after getting used to the rules and mechanics I am loving it. I would have rated this game a 9 or even a 10 but I didn't because you can tell it has been made on a reduced budget; script cards instead of cinematics, reduced audio and voiceovers, relatively few areas to explore, lore no where near the level as bg2 and they could have added more hidden areas, items ect...

    I can only prey they make POE2 with a big proper budget. Well done obsidian.    … Expand
  21. iamthespark
    Apr 3, 2015
    6
    19 Hours in.

    The good: Character Creator: The level of detail when it comes to choosing race, class, background and social status is outstanding. I enjoyed the creation of my unique character (and others) very much. Animations: There is a lot of detail when watching the characters fight, I really enjoy that. Story: Even after 19 hours in, the story has not yet fully unfolded,    19 Hours in.

    The good:

    Character Creator: The level of detail when it comes to choosing race, class, background and social status is outstanding. I enjoyed the creation of my unique character (and others) very much.

    Animations: There is a lot of detail when watching the characters fight, I really enjoy that.

    Story: Even after 19 hours in, the story has not yet fully unfolded, so I can't comment on it, other than its slow and steady.

    Inventory: The party chest is very helpful and the loot variety is good. Crafting is fun too -- I'm a sucker for finding all the ingredients and seeing what they can make.

    Voice Acting: I am very glad it exists at least; reading walls of text was something I was afraid of doing in this game, and thankfully the gist of the dialogue is voiced.

    Difficulty: The game really wants the player to be careful with each battle; resting is very important, so you'll find yourself camping and buying camping supplies quite often. On Normal, I found this game difficult, only because I'm used to blasting through levels and dungeons with other games.

    Levelling: So much fun! The abilities add strategic value!

    The bad:

    Lack of engaging companions: Hard to say because I only picked up my second companion and I am at the start of the game. The NPC companions don't have much to say yet.

    Lack of Romance: This is a big one for me; travelling around the big world with no romantic interaction is boring. For me the concept of romance has become a core desire in epic RPGs. Playing for 100 hours without it has become tedious.

    Battle after Battle: Expect tons of battles, all the time. Apparently no one just lets you go by and all the animals are out to get you. This also becomes tedious after awhile.    … Expand
  22. Shoyras
    Apr 1, 2015
    1
    I Had nerdgasm when I heard about this game on youtube and kickstarter, but now that has to be the biggest disapointment ive gone trought in years. I waited a long long time for this to release ...

    First thing I did when I got the game is quickly attempt a solo game with a wizard. Result : Painfull. Well basicaly dont expect anything like BG or IWD this game want you to make a tank,    I Had nerdgasm when I heard about this game on youtube and kickstarter, but now that has to be the biggest disapointment ive gone trought in years. I waited a long long time for this to release ...

    First thing I did when I got the game is quickly attempt a solo game with a wizard. Result : Painfull.
    Well basicaly dont expect anything like BG or IWD this game want you to make a tank, healer and range dps or w/e. Wizard are weak as ****. Abilities dont depend on main attributes at all, only on level. In fact nothing really depends on attributes beside some extra % of efficency I guess. There is very little strategie in the fights its more like tank and spank. Dont expect to take down a massive group of ennemies with some good wizard's placed spells. Every class should have a main stats that make them more powerfull like sorcerer's wisdom and paladin's charisma ! This is just plain bad I find literaly no logical use to perception and just take it down a max to add up that power stats which basicaly just increase the dmg you deal by 3 % per point ? .. That has nothing to do with D&D.

    Nothing like the real IE D&D games hardcore purist like me love and still play when were bored. This crap is like a dumbed down version of it.    … Expand
  23. notchedbandit
    Apr 4, 2015
    4
    I was hoping that PoE would have a story that would keep me interested, however the sad truth is that the story is very bland and generic. There is nothing that stands out. The way the story is told is bad as well, considering all they do is just throw a bookful of text in front of you to read. No visual suspense at all. Just read a book instead if you like a good story.

    I stopped    I was hoping that PoE would have a story that would keep me interested, however the sad truth is that the story is very bland and generic. There is nothing that stands out. The way the story is told is bad as well, considering all they do is just throw a bookful of text in front of you to read. No visual suspense at all. Just read a book instead if you like a good story.

    I stopped playing the game 10 hours in mainly because of the story, and secondary because how little environmental interaction there is. All the game does well for me is the combat, which is exactly what I was not interested in.    … Expand
  24. Xharlie
    Apr 3, 2015
    4
    My friends and I were gathered around a table, dice at hand. Our dungeon master gave the following advice: "Unless you are excellent at accents, talk normally." In Pillars of Eternity, every voice actor and every script writer could benefit from that advice. All of them sound like Americans trying too hard to force a "cool", nonchalant or wise accent and they all fail miserably. Even theMy friends and I were gathered around a table, dice at hand. Our dungeon master gave the following advice: "Unless you are excellent at accents, talk normally." In Pillars of Eternity, every voice actor and every script writer could benefit from that advice. All of them sound like Americans trying too hard to force a "cool", nonchalant or wise accent and they all fail miserably. Even the written text reads like it was carefully sculpted to give this very impression. The resulting level of immersion is nil and the story falls flat.

    The level of immersion remains bland, throughout, and there are frequent moments that break immersion entirely. Some conversation branches are voiced for one paragraph, not voiced for the next paragraph and then voiced again. All of the voiced sections are read immediately, regardless of the unspoken descriptions that appear in the same paragraph, forcing you to read the paragraph twice or out of order. The narrator is the weakest voice actor of the cast and you are often dropped onto a screen featuring nothing but a sketch and some text that this narrator proceeds to read.

    The game-play offered is also very unsatisfying. The old Infinity Engine games worked because of a simple principle: your party was truly powerful if you were truly cunning. Even if the odds were stacked against you, you could still win by careful planing and preparation, positioning and a bit of luck.

    In Pillars of Eternity, this is not the case. Min-maxing, use of dump-stats and certain party recipes will give you a stupidly over-powered party but, if you don't exploit these, you're actually very very weak and there isn't much you can do about it. You can't prepare for a battle because you can't buff your party outside of combat so reconnaissance is useless. The dungeon design does not really lend itself to ambushes and the like and positioning during the battle seems to have little effect. Even magic is rather unhelpful because nearly every spell is area-of-effect and nearly all of those inflict friendly fire. (In Bladur's Gate, a the perfect spell at the opportune moment could give you a victory in the face of certain failure and the satisfaction that brought was immense!)

    Nearly every encounter follows the same formula: line up your party, send in the tank to "draw" the mobs (being exceptionally careful not to draw more than one encounter-group because there's no way you can handle two at once if you aren't a munchkin), retreat, engage, fire a few uninspiring spells, watch and see.

    Stealth is not only useless, it is also incredibly annoying: you have to put your entire party into stealth-mode to detect traps and you have to do that in every room with containers in it.

    Lastly, be aware that the game has shipped with several disastrous bugs that will ruin your experience if you don't wait for them to be fixed. Even if you do play it, don't play it now!    … Expand
  25. eelegendo
    Mar 26, 2015
    5
    Not a bad one, but over 90%? Are you serious? 10 years ago I would have drooled over it, but now? A bit better than the Enhanced Editions. No translations of voices? Really? 2015?
    Otherwise it is a classic one in any ways: the same old song. A Baldur's with sharper textures. So 0% is also stupid, it isn't that bad.
    With these ratings of 10 here I only see the marketing machine in work.    Not a bad one, but over 90%? Are you serious? 10 years ago I would have drooled over it, but now? A bit better than the Enhanced Editions. No translations of voices? Really? 2015?
    Otherwise it is a classic one in any ways: the same old song. A Baldur's with sharper textures. So 0% is also stupid, it isn't that bad.
    With these ratings of 10 here I only see the marketing machine in work. The first few "reviewers" on top have only 1-2 ratings/reviews. And the negative ones are going to the bottom as always.
    Good for some nostalgia, but FOR THE SAME PRICE AS AN AAA GAME? Oh, I see: they need the money for the marketing...    … Expand
  26. flexy123
    Apr 5, 2015
    4
    The comparison with Baldur's Gate is an insult. What made BG so great was being able to play with friends/roommates in the party over the network! PoE doesn't even have multiplayer - a shame since isometric RPGs IMHO are just the perfect thing for multiplayer! This is MEGA lame! Second...people rate the game highly because "it is a good read". If I want to read something I get my Kindle.The comparison with Baldur's Gate is an insult. What made BG so great was being able to play with friends/roommates in the party over the network! PoE doesn't even have multiplayer - a shame since isometric RPGs IMHO are just the perfect thing for multiplayer! This is MEGA lame! Second...people rate the game highly because "it is a good read". If I want to read something I get my Kindle. Sounds to me this is just another crappy indy game with crappy graphics and a complete lack of multi-player/co-op. Thanks. NO.… Expand
  27. garhent
    Apr 7, 2015
    3
    If you like the suck, this is the game for you. The developers set up an old school system, completely ignoring 15 years of game progress. DO NOT MAKE A SPELL CASTER, again I repeat DO NOT MAKE A SPELL CASTER, they limited the times you can camp to reset spells and if you make a caster you will be running back to the Inn wasting 5 minutes after every battle. The game is just BAD.If you like the suck, this is the game for you. The developers set up an old school system, completely ignoring 15 years of game progress. DO NOT MAKE A SPELL CASTER, again I repeat DO NOT MAKE A SPELL CASTER, they limited the times you can camp to reset spells and if you make a caster you will be running back to the Inn wasting 5 minutes after every battle. The game is just BAD.

    Issues with the game:

    #1. Aggro. The tanks don't have a way to hold aggro so the mobs go wherever they want and one shot down your casters.

    #2. Resting. The developers decided to require you to bring camping materials (max of 2) to camp in a dungeon. If you use your skills, you have to camp to reset them. You basically are forced into playing a game with auto attacks. Loads O Fun there, might as well watch paint fly.

    #3. Forced to use Auto-Attack. Due to the limits on resting to reset skills you are stuck using auto attack. You basically end up needing to make a tank party to progress.

    All in all the art is beautiful but the game developers made some of the worst decisions I've seen in a very long time. Kudos to them, burn in hell.    … Expand
  28. TPETb
    May 11, 2015
    7
    Let's face it, we were expecting so much more from this game. Unless this was so long awaited dearest child of Obsidian, the successor of BG, this game would easily worth 10, not question about it. If it wasn't...

    The game would always give me this feeling "oh, this was such a great idea but they just ruined it halfway": + new IP, new world, new races, so much to explore! - main    Let's face it, we were expecting so much more from this game. Unless this was so long awaited dearest child of Obsidian, the successor of BG, this game would easily worth 10, not question about it. If it wasn't...

    The game would always give me this feeling "oh, this was such a great idea but they just ruined it halfway":

    + new IP, new world, new races, so much to explore!
    - main story line is so abstract from the world — it could just happen in any other world without any changes
    - to feel and live this world, you are to read the books and companion quests give very small glimpse on the world, otherwise world doesn't unfold, no immersion
    - the whole world is like a dull countryside. where are immense cities? where are wizard academies and stuff? where is something magical, charming, fairy, inspiring?
    - the story... well I must admit that unfurls the right way, I was "guessing", imaging and "inventing" how it should end till the last scene. and this last scene was nowhere near my expectations.

    + weapons are quite realistic: there weapon types and there multiple levels of quality
    - there is nothing really special about any weapon type
    - some weapons are just crappy in every situation, others are good in all situations. doesn't matter too much if you fight a goo or a skeleton, your choice stays the same. you are a fan of dual-dagger slinky shady rogue? tada, daggers do no damage in this game no matter what!
    - artefacts are a complete bummer. almost all of them are sold by merchants in towns... unique artefacts are sold by generic merchants, Karl!!! more on it, there is almost no way you acquire an artefact out of a boss/location/quest, you generally buy them. and almost all of them are rubbish. there's maybe 2-3 artefacts in the game that actually a bit better then normal items

    + new deep mechanics, health/endurance mechanism is damn awesome! I mean it!
    - while races carry new names, acute observant will easily find matches with canonical races
    - non-restricted class choice is somewhat ridiculous from lore perspective. tanking elf monk? fragile Aumaua (half-orc) druid? sensitive dwarf cipher? oh come on, this is crippled.
    - intellect allows barbarian to make wider swipes... might improves spell damage... facepalm
    - race choice makes no difference with it's +2 to attributes comparing to 75 attribute points to distribute without progressing "price"
    - there should be more spells!

    + many checks against attribute/skill/race in dialogues
    - totally no impact. doesn't affect the story, doesn't allow to avoid bloodshed (except for 2 or 3 minor occasions), doesn't change anything but the text of next phrase by NPC
    - party member skills do not help. my party with 12 lore skill mage couldn't read a simplistic writing that required 4 lore because my main character had no lore leveled
    - dialogues are reduced to meaningless chatter and some checks vs skill/attr. no branches and varying outcomes. you don't need to think what you are saying, pick random options and you end up with totally same story/behaviour/attitude
    + punishment for not having skill for party members
    - in practice this only relates to athletics and worst thing you may face out of it is like 6% damage reduction till next rest

    + there were such nice stretch goals: stronghold, 2nd big city, crafting...
    - stronghold is nothing but cosmetics. no noticeable bonuses
    - crafting is something you will use once or twice during whole game
    - 2nd big city... there is actually no even single big city to be honest.

    Looks like I can continue all night. And it's so sad that the game "encourages" so much whimper and complains.

    Main positive thing: it looks like there will be PoE 2 and it will actually become a master piece. After all, BG 1 was nothing close to BG 2.    … Expand
  29. TemplarGR
    Sep 9, 2016
    5
    Let me tell you kids, as a gamer who "was there" when Baldur's gate launched: This is nothing like it. Terribly overrated for no reason, this is a mediocre Baldur's gate clone that has no place in the modern era. I suppose it was cheap to make, and people are starved for meaningful RPGs, so they take what they can get, hence the overinflated scores, but still...

    The original Baldur's    Let me tell you kids, as a gamer who "was there" when Baldur's gate launched: This is nothing like it. Terribly overrated for no reason, this is a mediocre Baldur's gate clone that has no place in the modern era. I suppose it was cheap to make, and people are starved for meaningful RPGs, so they take what they can get, hence the overinflated scores, but still...

    The original Baldur's gate had a much better story and richer world, a far better rpg system (obviously due to D&D second edition), great graphics for its time, and better designed gameplay. This is just a horrible immitation. For its budget, not bad, but we as gamers don't judge budgets, we judge the experience, and in 2015 this won't cut it.

    If you exclude the graphics, if this was released side by side with Baldur's gate, it would have flopped. No reason to play it, unless you really want an old school RPG and you have already played BG to death.    … Expand
  30. reavor
    Oct 9, 2015
    7
    A solid attempt to revitalize the genre of pause and play RPGs, but with a lot of strange mechanics regarding resting etc. The world in general felt kind of lackluster, less bright colors, and without some of the humor permeating the BG games. But the effort to make something original and craft a story trying to tackle some deeper questions is appreciated.
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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.
    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]
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