Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth

I read the books and devoured them which led me to be curious about the game. But that was a long time ago and I only remembered a little here and there about the story while playing the game. The characters once again came back to life in this amazing game. The music is wonderful, the choices and conversation choices are very good. I like the balance between small arcade mini-games, map journeys in other times, puzzles and lots of storytelling. The only things I can complain about is the LACK OF A PAUSE button! There are long monologues and stories that are very important to what is happening in the game. I have kids. I don't have that long to be able to pay attention and needed a pause button severely. Another person noted a small but annoying bug of the character's mouths not matching the audio. It was tolerable. I was impressed with how they didn't back down from the gore and rawness from the book. I felt that it helped the game feel very much like the book. I felt this was a good choice. At times, the game was a bit scary but again it matches very well with the book. Overall, I very much enjoyed this game and will consider playing through again to see if I can come up with a different storyline based on different decisions. In my game, Richard died. I don't remember him dying in the book. So I played the chapter again and he still dies..... so I'm wondering how much power we really have through the choices.

Each chapter more compelling than the last. Art/Music, Languages, and Culture. Everything a good story should have. Well done.

Having managed to catch this title in its complete state with all Chapters and Books available as of now, I've got to say that this experience was welcome in quite the unexpected. Putting it simply, what exactly would you be getting into with this game? The experience essentially boils down to an interactive book (or visual novel really) that tasks you with choices and (extremely light) gameplay elements to hold your attention at key moments. Obviously, these kinds of initiatives aren't necessarily new as Japan has been at the forefront of visual novels for years. What impressed me with this besides the awesome source material that this game is based on, was the technology or engine behind this game. Daedalic's Visionaire Studio tool set is quite the marvel to behold for this genre. The atmosphere of the game especially within the audio department including full Surround sound support is masterfully built. As is the Art Direction and voice acting that really sells you on the experience on offer. Clearly, from my experience this title comes through as a labor of love. The devs simply went through with adapting a great story based on the prolific writer Ken Follet's books and came out the other side with a great piece of work. Honestly more book series like this should be considered for self-publishing by Daedalic. If this team can be given something like the entire "Wheel of Time" series to adapt then we fans of narrative driven experiences may be in for quite the treat.

An epic story on a grand scale full of religious and political intrigue whilst interweaving different characters through a setting and period of history not normally used in videogames. Being based on a novel adds lots of depth and details to the story, setting and characters (and one that I’m getting engrossed in), but does mean it is pretty slow going. The graphics are a bit cartoony but suit the setting and are well animated. The voice acting is mostly good, but the background noises don’t work right and can become a bit of a distraction, as do the long load times and bugs which get worse as the game progresses. It’s quite light on game mechanics, mostly limited to conversation choices, fetch quests and quick time events, but the choices do offer some replay value and overall, it’s an interesting point and click adventure in more ways than one.

Beautiful medieval adventure with magnificent story, unique visual style and mellow music. As you play this game, you affect the destiny of game characters and the end of the game. I highly recommend it to everyone, who likes interesting storyline.