Pillars of Eternity: Hero Edition

I don't understand all the fuss around this game. I started playing, played a few hours and quitted. It's so far in quality and realisation from the BG saga, Arcanum, Fallout, PST that I couldn't endure it anymore. The game seriously lags, background is dark and boring, very complex system of classes, sub-races, stats, a lot of narratives and cutscenes with screens showing text and primitive drawings, no much freedom of action like in the above games, combat is boring, characters are boring, writing is amateurish trying to copy the BG writing, even the "miniature giant space pig" is a replica to Boo. No, guys, this doesn't work, back to the games proven their quality by time.

Bought this game on a "replay cRPGs" phase I had recently. Always loved the classics that you all probably know, BG, IcewindDale, Neverwinter Nights, Fallout, etc. In the process I also acquired new releases of the genre as I had also tried Divinity OS 2 and liked it a lot (combat balancing stupidity aside). The first feel I got of this game after a little while playing it was: this is such a massively unnecessary slog of text! I don't usually have any problems with this as I loved every single one of the previously mentioned oldies and they are largely based on text as well. PoE however does it in a way where I get bored and disinterested after a couple of dialogs. It's just so thick to read and dull, mostly just spewing out irrelevant information while I try to find out what the actual point of the conversation is... Combat is quite simply a clusterfuck most of the time, many of the actions you take aren't very transparent, movement and AI are weird as hell during the fights, the AI of the party members resembles that guy in your MMO party that went AFK to make a sandwich mid-fight. Almost every fight I've handled either was a massive victory or quite simply frustrating (where it should be tactical). As far as the story goes, it's just so dull and bland. The protagonist can sense and talk to souls, big whoop. Then I chase a robed guy I apparently saw at the start and gave me this power. Bureaucracies from defiance bay ensue and I have a stronghold (that serves no purpose...). After dealing with the duc and going for the second major zone I just couldn't handle the generic, bland feel of the game as the only thought going through my mind while playing PoE was "Why am I playing a crappier version of BG?".

I'm still wrapping my mind around how good this is, especially after so many kickstarter disasters. It is really wonderful that this style of gaming has returned, in defiance of contemporary norms. Between the Dragonrun reboots, Divinity: OS, Wasteland 2, and now this, it seems like there is a renewed taste for substantive and thoughtful gaming. I have to say, I am really looking forward to Torment: Tides of Numenara now. It is an especially happy thing, given how many of my favorite franchises have seemed to go bad lately. I am a huge Mass Effect fan and was very disappointed by 3. Ditto for Dragon Age, which just got worse and worse after the first, amazing, game. I really hope that developers pay attention to what is happening now and that it rubs off on the next round of AAA next-gen releases.

First off the TLDR review. If you enjoy Icewind Dale and Temple of Elemental Evil then you will like this game. I love both of them and my cleric shoots people with a blunderbuss so obviously this game is awesome. Okay let's talk about a few things. First off Baldur's Gate 2 is my favorite game of all time. This is not Baldur's Gate 2, but that is okay. Baldur's Gate 2 is the only Baldur's Gate 2 so if you can't come to terms with that then stop playing anything that isn't Baldur's Gate 2. That being said, this game is great. You can create an entire party or use the NPC companions that the game has. The artistic style is beautiful and timeless. I do not need next gen graphics, I need graphics that are timeless. I know that when I play this game in 10 years (and I will), that the game will still look good. The focus on little details is what makes this game really work for me. I love how your secondary weapons show up on your back. I love that you can speed up the game when you are walking somewhere that you have been. I love that some fights are very difficult and you have to think about what you are going to do, or be prepared to come back later when you are tougher. I backed this game on Kickstarter years ago and forgot about it until it came out. I did not expect much, I just backed it because I like good companies to be able to create the games they want. This game is definitely worth the price. I have bought several copies for my friends since I started playing it and I enjoy it more and more each hour I spend. Get it. I can't imagine who would regret it.

Pillars of Eternity was everything we hoped it would be - a modernized redux of every classic CRPG we loved and grew up on - or so we thought. PoE sets the mood with ease. The visuals, the musical score, the storyline - the aesthetic is remarkable. Falling in love with what you see and hear from the game will be easy, but that's about it. PoE may have the aesthetic appeal, but it severely lacks in the gameplay aspect of design. It may seem unbelievable, with its "DnD-style" complexity and strategy. However, as you know may know, CRPGs are much deeper than combat alone. Major features that diversify CRPG gameplay are gone. There are no "Diplomacy runs" or "Thief runs", as the game shifts more towards a "Hack-and-Slash" approach to completing the campaign. Even "solo runs" are not viable. Enemies will scale to your character as he progresses, much like the Elder Scrolls series, making "Party stacking" a must for progressing. Even with the more linear style of gameplay, PoE manages to execute it very well, but don't be fooled for a second that it delivers the same satisfaction and re-playability that its genre predecessors do; you will be disappointed.