Pillars of Eternity

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Pillars of Eternity" (2015) is amazing RPG genre game. It has everything one could hope for : great story, interesting and involving quests, tasks and main story, tons of weapons, races, classes, armors, enchanting, dungeons and etc. Everything clicks here on highest level to create a highly involving adventure, one that is very hard to put down - it's a highly addictive game. The of aspect of this game isn't a standout - it's graphics. They are nice, and has that classical look and feel, but in 2015 it looks a bit dated.

Overall, if you like those classical RPG games - you simply have to play "Pillars of Eternity". It's so good, so addictive that it's hard to stop playing it. Currently i have played around 25 hours, and I'm somewhere at the middle of it i think. Thy this game, but to do it - have some free time, because when you'll start it, it will be very hard to put it down.

I'll start by saying that I played this on PS4 and I think that really skewed my overall experience to the negative. It's very apparent early on that this was chiefly designed with PC players in mind. The interface is clunky and downright unpleasant to use, particularly when it comes to navigation. A game I could have otherwise spent a hundred hours on became something I couldn't get through fast enough.

With all of that being said, I still spent around 40 hours playing. The world building is top notch, the voice acting and characters are engaging and interesting, and the graphics are pretty for it being a classic RPG style game.

I know it'll never happen, but I wish this could be remastered to streamline the experience for console. I badly want a Dragon Age-style game with this same story and world. And actual cinematics would be absolutely lovely as well. Maybe I'm missing the point of the experience, but I very much felt like I was playing an older RPG that was released in 2015 with the same gameplay shortcomings as something released a decade earlier. I really hope Deadfire has some quality of life improvements for console.

I have just recently finished my first play-through, with both DLCs, and really took my time to explore and do everything. After over 300 hours, a part of me wanted to end, but I also did not want it to end. The moral depths of the story and characters are touching and memorable and this game is really one of those rare few that I will always remember. Hats down to the story writers and also to the voice actors. Of course, the whole crew at Obsidian deserves my thanks, but my point is to convey that this game has soul. Long live Obsidian.

NOTE for new players :

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

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

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

nb: I am also watching the documentary The Road to Eternity about the development of the game.