Pillars of Eternity: Definitive Edition

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4.1/5

( 143 Reviews )

4.1

143 Reviews

English & 7 more

Posted on: November 8, 2021

brendenru

Verified owner

Games: 87 Reviews: 2

A boring chore.

I gave this game a fair try. I tried to like it. I spent about 20 hours playing. I just can't like it. It's too bad, because there are parts that are quite innovative and enjoyable (I like the stronghold system and weapon customization). This game just has too many different options with little explanation of what they mean. Just the character building alone is a chore. You are asked to weave your way through a dozen options with a very poor explanation of what they mean. A couple of hours into the game you will have 20+ quests with little explanation of where to go or what to do. Leveling is a grind, as mobs don't respawn so I guess you're supposed to run through the 20+ boring quests. That wouldn't be so bad if it didn't force you to go online for a better explanation of what the quest wants. Combat is confusing and clunky. You can just let the AI do the fighting but later on you will get obliterated. I suppose this game might have an appeal for people who enjoy experimentation and figuring out confusing rulesets. It's not for me.

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Posted on: January 31, 2022

Ariod

Verified owner

Games: 345 Reviews: 4

The negative reviews were right

Unfortunately... but I had to see for myself since I love this genre. Well-polished experience in terms of UI, stability, apparently well-thought out RPG systems... but who cares about any of that when you haven't built a compelling game-world, plot, or characters to get involved with. This game has bland-ness in spades - really its hard to put it into words. "Extremes of blandness"? "Strikingly bland"? Something like that. I was barely able to force myself to complete the first town/hub area and the surrounding maps before my fingers found the uninstall button. At that point in, I had yet to encounter a single memorable character, experience, fight, location - there's just nothing here. Some half-interesting plot device about a local Lord gone mad and hanging people left and right had potential.. but went nowhere, as I never met any subjects of said Lord who I gave a crap about enough to really care to get involved. And I don't know what to say about an RPG where you can't tell which NPCs are male/female until you click on them - but that sure doesn't help with the blandness factor. The combat system doesn't save it either, as encounters go straight from brain-dead simple to staggeringly difficult with no medium ground or build-up in between. And once you do get into more involved fights you realize they decided to implement the MMO-ish "tank healer" concept heavily. Those fights become irritating, whack-a-mole type experiences. And if all that isn't enough, the game brashly destroys any immersion you may have somehow developed with its constant nods to its kickstarters, with lame out-of-place characters hanging around the taverns that are basically statues that exist to "tell you their story" of their amazing past exploits. But they don't actually move or engage you in conversation or anything. Don't they care that the local Lord is hanging people and such? Well no, they're not actually there.. Avoid this game if you like excitement in your RPGs.

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Posted on: July 4, 2018

colonius

Games: 120 Reviews: 4

Frustrating, boring, too expensive

The game is alternating between fights that are too easy and fights that are too hard. Character development sucks. Very often, the game is just plain boring (e.g. walls of text all the time, useless NPC "Touch the Soul", dull quests). Oh, btw: you will spend more time in front of the loading screen than actually playing the game. Every tiniest little map (second floor of a house) requires loading. Getting from that second floor back outside, load screen times two. You get the picture. Pricing for the game is too high (AAA title) for what you get (unpolished indie game).

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Posted on: April 26, 2020

rhin0

Games: 212 Reviews: 7

Forced myself to finish it

There are a lot of things that the game does right - inventory management, loot variety (once you reach Act 2) and the combat system is... fine. Overall, an okay CRPG, at least mechanically. However, the things that PoE does wrong almost prevented me from finishing the game if not for PoE 2. I want to play the sequel and I wanted to continue from my save file. I found the world and lore VERY difficult to get into. There are a lot of info dumps way before I figured out what anything means. This barely improves as the game went on - lore dumps just keep on coming as you advance the main quest. But my main criticism is that the game felt... bland. I'm not sure why, it tackles quite a few interesting concepts but I found myself bored more than once. I'm glad I'm done and I don't think I'll pick up the sequel soon. Tyranny (also made by Obsidian) was much more enjoyable. To be fair, Tyranny was launched after PoE, so perhaps the devs applied what they learned in Pillars. Perhaps I should have played PoE before Tyranny but, alas, too late.

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Posted on: May 29, 2023

Unfallen_Satan

Verified owner

Games: 604 Reviews: 78

Obsidian's War and Peace

Like War and Peace, regardless of how much critical praise it garners, many people who pick it up will never finish. Unlike War and Peace, whose required dedication is known beforehand, most players do not appreciate the time Pillars of Eternity asks of them. There are fewer people who finished PoE on GOG than the number of Kickstarter backers who redeemed the game here. Length is my only major complaint about the game. Yes, there are issues with inventory management, with ease of progression, with some missing quality of life features, and a narrative that at times gets lost in the woods. However, Obsidian set out to create their first original, truly fleshed out world. On top of that, they were also creating a workable, partially original RPG system. Obsidian did its best to make the two parts complete but fell short when making them lean. "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter." True of us all. I disagree with the reviewers who say PoE is not excessively long because the core plot is of average length with a lot of time taken up by side quests. All great Obsidian games have been built on the strength of their side quests and side characters. I say without hyperbole that Eder is like a brother. I am sorry for the way things turned out between me and Pallegina. And I miss my companions who did not make to the Deadfire. On the other hand, I do not recall a single Obsidian antagonist who was epic enough to utter the line, "You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it." PoE is no exception. The big events of PoE feel petty the way big events in the real world feel petty. I have always appreciated that about Obsidian, but perhaps it is time for a game with larger than life characters and struggles. For most, Pillars of Eternity is not the game to make you fall in love with Obsidian. If you already love Obsidian, however, and have a lot of time for games, you won't be disappointed at the end.

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