Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

There are a few notable pros. It's visually pleasing and the overall aesthetics are nice. Nekataka was pretty colorful, for example. Good voicework, for the most part. The encounters shown in form of a book was a nice idea. Also, the map travelling is fun. I liked sailing around and exploring. But there also are many cons, annoying ones at that. I dislike how they changed the grimoires. The way some quests play out is infuriating. Like that family feud in Nekataka or Pallegina's personal quest. The main quest is hella short and the conclusion doesn't feel special at all. Specifically, the location. It has been hyped up throughout the game and I wanted to see more of it. Fight some cool battles, see unique sights. In short, it was a letdown. Overall, the game is undercooked, imo. At the beginning and the middle it's not noticeable but at the end it feels like the developers just ran out of gas. I did enjoy the game, for the most part. I just wish the the conclusion packed an actual punch. Hell, Sun in Shadow and the fight with Theos was more special and memorable than this.

PRO - the game looks beautiful - fantasy colonies are more interesting than PoE Wales - the battles are more interesting - the characters are finely written for the most part. They are not boring (PoE), but not Joss Whedon teens either (DA:O/BG2) - the exploration part of the gameplay is one of the best in the market. This is as close to Baldur's Gate (the first one) as it gets, and the main selling point of the game CONTRA - still lot's of meaningless trashmob fights (PoE was worse in this regard, but still) - the setting and the main plot is at odds with each other (colonies+politics vs. god walks the earth) - the gods of the setting, which is a main plot point, is not as interesting as Obsidian thinks - the devs put some tought into minimizing rest-spam, but still forgot to add random encounters. This is strange, since this worked well in some of their earlier games (Icewind Dale 1) - still no meaningful AI programing (like in DA:origins). Since you use the same abilities in the same order in every fight, this would be a really good addition. UNDECIDED - no Vancian casting, everything works on cooldowns. Resource management is cut from the game. I personally don't like this, but some players hate Vancian memorization, so... - the system behind the game is very secretive. It is not easy to tell why something happens, the lack of player feedback is still problematic. (players have to read through the battle log) - mages are more like artillery batteries. Players have to buy the spells upon levelups, and these spells are repeatable as per cooldowns. This means that you will cast the same spells in the same order, in every single trashfight. Macro wanted! OVERALL After PoE, I decided to ignore everything from Obsidian, so I had no expectations at all. It was quite a surprise that this game is actually a step forward. I actually think that this is a nice game if the player is mainly interested in exploration, and doesn't mind the boring main plot.

I've now played through this game 8x, and there are still a few more main PC + companion games I would enjoy playing. But I'm going to take a break and try some other games for a while, as I've been playing this almost non-stop since October. Lots of patches have made this a great game (no game is perfect of course), and the 3 DLC are a lot of fun as well. The only thing I stayed away from were the optional megabosses; the ratio of frustration to satisfaction at actually beating 1 (I played on Veteran) was not favorable. There is a ton of content in this game, and like similar games, you can spend most of the game ignoring the main quest. I liked the incredible replayability w/ different main PCs, subclasses, multiclasses, etc. in building a team that synergizes well w/ your main PC. The voice acting is some of the best I've seen (heard); some great returning characters from PoE 1 (including the hilarious Eder); some great new companions. I liked that no many how many times I've played it, each time brought something new to experience (often spoken dialogue from companions). I haven't tried the new turn-based mode, still in Beta I guess, if people are wondering. I pray there is a 3rd game in the future to make a trilogy of it.

It's been a long time since I doggedly played through an RPG with every free minute I could find in a day; and yet here I am, saddened that I've completed the game. It's a fantastic sequel in the tradition of Baldur's Gate 2: a continuation of a story you love, with the characters you recognize, but with just so much more to see and do.

Being a second instalment in the series definetely did the game a good service: it no longer needs a lengthy and tiring exposition, instead relying on Tyranny-like context hyperlinks. I was afraid that transition from dark fantasy to a swashbuckling pirate tale will be awakward and artifical but it's not the case. ​So, the main story.. As it often happens with this kind of games, it's neither the main attraction nor the biggest part of the game. This doesn't mean it's not good though. It's fairly engagin and just the perfect length, at least in my opinion. Generally, POE2 is open-ended and you're free to do whatever you want after the first island. And even after clearing the main quest hubs you still have the free travel mode that lets you explore some of the wilderness locations for an ocassional piece of loot or a small dungeon. It's nothing significant but it feels good after the first game where the overworld map felt depressingly small and limited. ​What else do we have? Combat is probably the next major point. It's very tactical and ​ there is a defined emphasis on positioning, debuffing and choosing tools appropriate for a particular encounter. I see how some people may not like it but for me it felt very fitting. ​ And the last but not least part that sold me on the game is the return of text-based interactions. When the situation calls for it, the game switches to and old school text quest mode. In many places you can skip a significant obstacle by cleverly utilizing your companion's strengths and various tools at your disposal. Such interactions are much more frequent and better designed than in the first game and really set the tone for me. ​All in all, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a stellar game and despite some insignificant shortcomings (mostly related to the game engine misbehaving after a long play session), I easily got ~70 hours of enjoyment from it. Recommended to every fan of the genre and those just starting their CRPG journey.