Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 127 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 75 out of 127
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 127
  3. Negative: 27 out of 127
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  1. Achebomb
    Sep 22, 2017
    4
    I just don't know what I'm missing here. I very much enjoyed the PC version, but got distracted with a move and never quite returned to it to finish it up. I've been doing a lot of PS4 gaming lately so I was excited to get back into this world to finish up the adventure, but man...what a mess.

    Between the godawful interface (and I mean, it's just terrible) and the interminable load    I just don't know what I'm missing here. I very much enjoyed the PC version, but got distracted with a move and never quite returned to it to finish it up. I've been doing a lot of PS4 gaming lately so I was excited to get back into this world to finish up the adventure, but man...what a mess.

    Between the godawful interface (and I mean, it's just terrible) and the interminable load times (I can wait sometimes a minute or more when going from one floor to another in a dungeon), and I just cannot believe this game wasn't pilloried by reviewers (professional or otherwise). I remember the load times on the PC were pretty bad, but this is "screw this, I'm uninstalling" territory especially when considering how small most area are, with each requiring a load screen.

    I'd give this adaptation one star if it weren't for the awesome game it's based on. The story is still great and the mechanics and play style are a wonderful throwback. Nevertheless, I'm giving this one up and going back to my Steam copy and wishing I'd spent the money on Original Sin instead.    … Expand
  2. sedra42
    Feb 6, 2018
    2
    I signed up to Metacritic just to leave this review.

    I like fantasy games and I like RPGs. I don't care about graphics. This is just a terrible game. Poor in so many ways. Fanservice - you get an unskippable loading screen to tell you about Kickstarter. You get other loading screens that mention it. Then you get many random NPCs that are written by Kickstarters. Then there are    I signed up to Metacritic just to leave this review.

    I like fantasy games and I like RPGs. I don't care about graphics. This is just a terrible game. Poor in so many ways.

    Fanservice - you get an unskippable loading screen to tell you about Kickstarter. You get other loading screens that mention it. Then you get many random NPCs that are written by Kickstarters. Then there are all the memorials dotted around the map written by Kickstarters. Does anyone care about immersion anymore?

    Loading screens - 36 seconds every time I want to enter a room or area. If you want to talk to someone on the upper floor of a building, it is a two minute wait to get in and out, all together. If you need to reload because you made the wrong decision, it's a good minute and a half of loading screen. I spend more time reading my book than "playing" this.

    Combat - you enter a new area, you meet a couple of huge beetles you dispatch without issue. You open a door - surprise! Six enemies that can kill you without effort. There is no indication in some areas of how tough you need to be in order to advance.

    Quests - you should NEVER be allowed to unwittingly make a choice that means you cannot advance another quest. I am thinking about letting the spider queen live, which means you can't enchant a weapon. Is there a warning? No. Does it make sense? No. Why should you kill something that is no threat to you?

    The reputation thing - far too easy to end up with a grab bag of reputation. How can I have a reputation for honesty and deviousness? Wouldn't it be a sliding scale?

    Unplayable. I'm in Act II and I have decided to try to sell it.    … Expand
  3. Tjohnson
    Sep 20, 2019
    0
    If you like a game that crashes constantly with ps2 graphics then this is the game for you. If you want a game that that allows you to take a bath between load screens, yes this game can accommodate you! The story is decent but the constant pause screen that automatically pops up every 10 seconds during a fight is insanely annoying. I’m around 90 hours into it and still have a dlc toIf you like a game that crashes constantly with ps2 graphics then this is the game for you. If you want a game that that allows you to take a bath between load screens, yes this game can accommodate you! The story is decent but the constant pause screen that automatically pops up every 10 seconds during a fight is insanely annoying. I’m around 90 hours into it and still have a dlc to start. It is a huge time commitment. I like long games but every time you go anywhere, whoop you get an extensively long load screen. It’s probably a good game on computer, but the ps4 just can’t handle it correctly. Nothing is more fun than fighting a boss for half an hour and then having the game crash. Which it does 5 or 6 times every time I play it.… Expand
  4. Kai82
    Dec 19, 2020
    3
    A truly great game and I would give a 9/10 or 10/10. However it has a serious bug that will drop my rating. When in the PS4 version your save-file gets to big you are prevented from loading your save-file. Customer help was not that good and this destroyed the experience. It happen at approx 50% of my play-through. Games should be shipped in a working state and this is unforgivable. AnyoneA truly great game and I would give a 9/10 or 10/10. However it has a serious bug that will drop my rating. When in the PS4 version your save-file gets to big you are prevented from loading your save-file. Customer help was not that good and this destroyed the experience. It happen at approx 50% of my play-through. Games should be shipped in a working state and this is unforgivable. Anyone who defends this and even a day 1 patch should rethink about this insanity (Would you accept a car in this state?). The game itself was a spiritual successor to Baldurs gate and a positive example for a successful Kickstarter crowdfunded game. It is set in the world of Eora in the region of the Easter Reaches. The world is a fantasy setting with technology in a development state past the middle-ages as firearms were invented but are not common. A scientific breakthrough has proven the existence of souls and a transfer is possible atop of other possibilities. A plague occurs since a few years were some children were born without a soul. Your player character starts his journey when his caravan is attacked and shortly after he witnessed a strange ritual were he gains the powers of a Watcher. Basically it is a blessing and curse as you can interact with spirits, relive some past events and more. With this you start to investigate the plague and events that changed you. The main story is pretty good, well written and kept me entertained. This is also valid for sidequests and character related once. The recruitable party members have their own personalities, quests and start conversations with each other from time to time which I enjoyed as it gave them more depth (Like in Baldurs Gate 2 and Dragon Age). Special praise for Aloth here. There are also multiple outcomes for some and I was invested in them (Also multiple outcomes / approaches for side quests). Gameplay-wise you create your player character and I advice you to use care and read a guide or two as a few descriptions are a bit of and the mechanics are interwoven. It is comparable to D&D. Chose your race, attributes and character class with its skills / spells / abilities. As you level up you improve the characters. For me the Cipher w( A kind of mind mage) as an interesting concept and got really good later on. Remark: Your chosen background has actually some effects and can help you in certain situations. I have nothing to complain for graphics, soundtrack and art style. It is all excellent. Bonus point for the stronghold and exploration of the underground levels. From this alone we are in the 9-10/10 realm but there are negatives. The already mentioned critical bug should never been in a released game and I will never take people who defend this malpractice serious. You would never accept other products which such flaws like food, your car or your gaming PC. A minor complain is that it took a bit until the game took momentum. Could be below the threshold of others. With this I mean that they stop playing the game shortly after the beginning and wonder why others praise this game. Overall this is an excellent game but I wished I had bought the PC version instead. I want to decrease my rating to 1/10 but think it would be too hard. I will give a 3/10 and it should be a clear sign how good it was that I tolerated this bug so much.… Expand
  5. CoreGamer1408
    Nov 2, 2019
    3
    Wow the constant lengthy frequent load times and the worst A.I. pathing ever. Yeah they really went for the old school feel not just on the artistic level, but the actual technical level ( sarcastic.exe. executed ). The story and combat was not compelling enough to override the technical mess. I was out after several hours of what is supposed to be a seventy hour journey or something. GladWow the constant lengthy frequent load times and the worst A.I. pathing ever. Yeah they really went for the old school feel not just on the artistic level, but the actual technical level ( sarcastic.exe. executed ). The story and combat was not compelling enough to override the technical mess. I was out after several hours of what is supposed to be a seventy hour journey or something. Glad we can still trade in games on console unlike PC woo hoo!… Expand
  6. Mooteddy
    Apr 21, 2020
    0
    F*** ZERO!

    I'll tell you why: This game has an enormous reliance on stats! And there's are enemy types like ghosts that take sh*t on your stats. SINCE 2015 has this not been fixed. FOR FIVE YEARS NO PATCH. This defeats the purpose of an RPG. You can't do anything against this enemy except praying. I don't care how great your story or writing is, okay? You're selling an RPG. If your    F*** ZERO!

    I'll tell you why: This game has an enormous reliance on stats! And there's are enemy types like ghosts that take sh*t on your stats. SINCE 2015 has this not been fixed. FOR FIVE YEARS NO PATCH. This defeats the purpose of an RPG. You can't do anything against this enemy except praying.

    I don't care how great your story or writing is, okay? You're selling an RPG. If your RPG has enemies that you can't do anything about except getting on your knees and praying for the dice to roll in your favor - F*** OFF. I wasted two hours figuring out how to challenge those ghosts only to read on the forums that those are basically balance bugs and there's nothing one can do really. GREAT.

    WORTHLESS GAME but a great book.    … Expand
  7. DevilSurvivor
    Nov 18, 2021
    4
    I really wanted to like this game, I went in without any expectations other than I really want to like it, but I couldn't even get past the 2nd story arc. Everything is just so god damn BORING man... The combat is boring even on higher difficulties, the characters all feel bland even though they have some interesting stories... And the locations are the most dull I've ever seen... By theI really wanted to like this game, I went in without any expectations other than I really want to like it, but I couldn't even get past the 2nd story arc. Everything is just so god damn BORING man... The combat is boring even on higher difficulties, the characters all feel bland even though they have some interesting stories... And the locations are the most dull I've ever seen... By the way, whose idea was it to have a huge city separated into 5 different districts with a LOADING SCREEN every time?? And whose idea was it as well to make all of the quests happen in different districts, so you keep having more loading screens than gameplay??

    The story also looked to be your bland WRPG story, wow something totally not predestined and obvious happened to you and now you're whacky whacko special, great.    … Expand
  8. Mully79
    Aug 5, 2020
    3
    So I ran out of games to play and decided to pick this up. Hands down one of the worst RPG’s I have ever played. The game is physically exhausting to play. All the effort put in to create an immersive experience is wiped away with the constant loading screens at every turn. Divinity Original Sin is 100 times better at ever turn.
  9. Jajooka
    Nov 14, 2020
    4
    I just cannot take this much loading time. Otherwise the game would probably be around 7. I liked the story very much, the voice acting is great, the battles are a bit chaotic and found the window of tactical possibilities a bit narrow, but still decent. I feel like they just stole the whole class and progression system from D&D, but since that is decent too I don't really consider it aI just cannot take this much loading time. Otherwise the game would probably be around 7. I liked the story very much, the voice acting is great, the battles are a bit chaotic and found the window of tactical possibilities a bit narrow, but still decent. I feel like they just stole the whole class and progression system from D&D, but since that is decent too I don't really consider it a downside. So it would be a good game really, but the long loading screends just suck the good out of it. I would want to finish it but cant make myself doing it. I could accept if it had like 5 minutes loading time between 2 big areas. Then I would drink, pee, take a short break while it is working. But it has like 1 min loading screen between two levels of a house, or when you enter a tiny cave or anything similar. Imagine: the task is simply to speak with someone in town. You are already in that town but she is in the neighbour-disctrict and in a house on the second floor (ex. one of the main quest giver is like this) that means 5 (FIVE) f*kin loading screen. Out of town when you don't have that much closed spaces it is tolerable (just barely, but it is). But in town it is just too much.… Expand
  10. Aliensymbiote00
    Jan 2, 2021
    2
    People say this is one of the best rpg of all time and I just don’t see it! This game feels more like work than fun. It’s combat system is it’s greatest flaw. It’s the pause, select action, wait for it , repeat - system. It almost forces you to play as a tank character, Which I hate! I love a stealthy build but it’s too frustrating for this game. First off, you are so fragile (which isPeople say this is one of the best rpg of all time and I just don’t see it! This game feels more like work than fun. It’s combat system is it’s greatest flaw. It’s the pause, select action, wait for it , repeat - system. It almost forces you to play as a tank character, Which I hate! I love a stealthy build but it’s too frustrating for this game. First off, you are so fragile (which is fine I like a challenge) but not in this game where it takes forever to do anything. Need to take a potion? Hope you can wait 10 seconds while being beat by a mob for your character to slowly pour himself a healing Cocktail. Then the heals work over time so you’re dead before you can get it’s effect. Want to sneak up on an enemy? Well expect your party members to barge in and ruin the element of surprise! Want to select your ability and fire a range shot on an unsuspecting mob? Nope, by the time the animation happens they may notice you and cancel your action! I dumped 8 hours into this before I rage quit this broken , dated game ! cocktail… Expand
  11. BadLuckTulip
    Mar 8, 2021
    0
    Good story and great characters. It ends there.
    Combat has some complexity which can be very enjoyable if you give yourself time to work through understanding it.
    HOWEVER the game is unbearably buggy. Constant crashes when transitioning screens. Minor bugs that break the immersion (e.g. such voice lines jarring or clipping in the environment/characters with each other) to major bugs that    Good story and great characters. It ends there.
    Combat has some complexity which can be very enjoyable if you give yourself time to work through understanding it.
    HOWEVER the game is unbearably buggy. Constant crashes when transitioning screens. Minor bugs that break the immersion (e.g. such voice lines jarring or clipping in the environment/characters with each other) to major bugs that make it unplayable (e.g. combat unable to end due to frozen characters or ongoing effects that freeze and crash the game).
    Would recommend avoiding the PS4 edition.    … Expand
  12. t_bone
    Dec 20, 2021
    2
    This game isn't really one I'd recommend. It's a slog at best, a bore at worst. Here's why:

    1) The story: This game confuses "intricate" with "interesting". There's a large amount of lore, sure, but it just.... isn't interesting? The writing/plot is so mediocre and unimaginative that there's no emotional investment you can really have in regards to the broader story, characters, or    This game isn't really one I'd recommend. It's a slog at best, a bore at worst. Here's why:

    1) The story: This game confuses "intricate" with "interesting". There's a large amount of lore, sure, but it just.... isn't interesting? The writing/plot is so mediocre and unimaginative that there's no emotional investment you can really have in regards to the broader story, characters, or world at large. They're all exceptionally dull. The entire game just devoid of any human element: the story is walls of facts about things. None of it is meaningful: just complex. After a while, it starts to feel like the complexity is designed to make up for the lack of quality in the writing. This doesn't work. And it feels like the devs know this-- they try to put in "shocking" plot twists and philosophy, but it's all one-dimensional and cliched. Nothing feels surprising, nothing feels intellectually stimulating. Compounding this issue is the fact that the game's text is almost a parody of bad fantasy writing-- a constant stream of proper nouns washes over you at all times. It's designed to make you feel like you're learning about the new world, but it's the only trick in the writer's tool box. This means it gets old. Quickly.

    In short: it feels bad to buy a largely text-based game with bad text. If you want a good game with a lot of text, don't buy this.

    2) The combat: Without a good story to draw you in, you would hope the game is fun to play. Well, I had the same hope; I was sorely disappointed. The RTS combat is less enjoyable/interesting than you would think and far less enjoyable than you want. It is best when it is monotonous, and at it's worst when it's involved. This is because the combat controls are clunky. That said, if you're an RTS nut the game hits all the right notes (or at least, as well as it can given the interface issues).

    3) The dialogue: In addition to having nothing which -feels- human or even interesting about any of the characters, a lot of the dialogue is just... simple. You can click on the bad answer, the good answer, the mean answer, or the nice answer. Data on which ones you click is compiled and that score then gives you a reputation. It's not hard to game that system to get the one you'd like, as it's always pretty obvious which result gets what. At times it can be interesting-- legitimately so, which is why I am giving this 2 stars instead of 1-- but 99% of the time it reads like a child trying to write a videogame. Divinity 2 and Disco Elysium have it beat here if you're looking for an isometric RPG.

    4) The Controls: the inventory management system is clunky, the combat is clunky, the game itself is clunky. Eh.

    5) The world: Again, intricate is not the same as interesting. There's a surplus of information, but little of it is relevant/interesting/communicated well. It's markedly less memorable than other full-sized RPGs (Fallout, Divinity, Yakuza, Skyrim, Disco Elysium, the Outer Worlds, the Witcher, Borderlands, etc).

    6) The load times: this game (intentionally) has 1996-tier graphics. Why, in 2021, does it move like a snail in molasses every time you switch maps?

    I generally enjoy isometric RPGS; I wouldn't recommend this one. Divinity 2 or Disco Elysium are better Isometric RPGs. You'll find a more interesting story in the Yakuza games, Disco Elysium, Divinity 2, or Skyrim.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best PS4 Game of 2017
91
#91 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
42
#42 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. The Digital Fix
    Oct 23, 2017
    90
    Not for everyone but if you can see past its issues, herein lies a phenomenal old school RPG.
    Read full review
  2. RPG Fan
    Oct 16, 2017
    85
    Although the porting issues affect the experience enough to bog it down a bit, they're not so extreme as to ruin it. PoE is that rare game where each of its components, from the story and writing to the audiovisual aesthetics, are individually exceptional yet manage to combine into something greater still. It presents a level of immersion that leaves a lasting impression, and you owe it to yourself to experience it firsthand.
    Read full review
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Oct 15, 2017
    80
    A love letter to old-fashioned RPGs, but like all passionate romances you'll need to take the rough with the smooth. [Nov 2017, p.92]
See all critic reviews »