Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Imagine if The Hobbit followed The Lord of the Rings, or better yet, Silmarillion as an official sequel, a new tale in the world you fell in love with. How hard it would be for you to push past the fact that the tale is so much simpler and so much more primitive now, to finally accept that it’s a really fine book? The setup explained in the opening hour of the game is about half of its entire main storyline. A lot of the writing in Deadfire is incredibly weak by Obsidian standards. Most of the stories in the game aren’t just predictable and run of the mill for an RPG, but more importantly they’re told in a very boring way. There are occasional crashes and constant loading screens, that together with a surprisingly barren world that's slow to explore make things fare less exciting than they want to be. Though, a lot of things were learned from the first game and several other titles made by or with the help of Obsidian in recent years, and the game does try a few new ideas as well. And the adventuring with these systems is pretty nice and is what’s holding the game together. The beginning hours of the game aren’t a good example of that, but several hours in you’re free to sail, fight, find ancient temples and do quests. The factions at play build an interesting conflict and you almost constantly have an option to just say “screw this” and kill everyone you see. I guess this type of free roaming gameplay was the main focus of the game, because it does give you a lot of freedom in how you can approach problems. To me, this game was a disappointment. But if you're fine with playing a rather simplistic and fun pirate themed adventure, you can give this one a go. If wish to play a good well written story-driven RPG instead – well, give Tyranny a go. Or just replay Pillars of Eternity again. Or any of the classic titles.

What should I say that hasn't been spelled before... Incredible atmosphere, gorgeous presentation, a serious and believable setting, deep role-playing, exciting tactical action combat, countless builds to be played, incredible amount of gameplay customization (RTwP auto-triggers for Pause are a game changer, plus it offers TB mode too), the music, the art, the voice-overs, the stories, the feelings it all gives... It's a real gem.

This is a very enjoyable old-style RPG that is endlessly replayable due to the multiclassing system and the ability to easily mod the game. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoyed playing older games of this type, such as BG, BG 2 and IWD.

Better than anything except BG3

Follows up wonderfully from the first game in terms of mechanics while expanding the setting. A solid spiritual successor to the old Baldur's Gate games and an engaging world in its own right with immense lore and fun combat.