Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Obsidian Edition

Like Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire recaptures the essence of what made the first game so superb, and refines and builds upon it. This is truly a nostalgia trip for me, to play PoE and now this sequel.

Deadfire is a sequel to Pillars of Eternity. That’s important. It is not a second attempt to recreate an Infinity Era RPG. Rather, it looks at what PoE did and strives to improve on it. Baldur’s Gate purists might dislike some of the changes, but the end result is, for the most part, a better game. Deadfire addresses pretty much every complaint I had about PoE: pacing is better, quests are intricately designed, items are unique and interesting, quality over quantity approach. The core of the game have seen plenty of improvements. There is multiclassing, which acts more like rebranding of PoE system – while single class characters aren’t as flexible, the new system is more intuitive and does allow for new synergies. Some leftovers from table-top design were removed – skills are mostly per-combat and health system has been simplified (personally not in favour of the latter one). Companions have much less to say in individuals conversations, and instead tend to join conversations when talking to NPCs, providing a better pacing and make them feel more present throughout the game. However, it is not all roses. While Deadfire addressed all shortcomings of PoE, it also lacks some of what made PoE worth experiencing. An open-world structure and a reactive implementation of companions resulted in narrative of Deadfire lacking focus and momentum. It is not per say, that writing in Deadfire is bad – there is a lot of good in it. But giving a lot of control to the player, meant narrative contrains. A lot of thought and care was put into the world of Deadfire, but it doesn’t communicate it’s ideas very well. A loose structure of the title could be tied up nicely with a strong finale, but unfortunately the game ends on something close to a SequelTease. PoE’s strong vision managed to overcome game’s many shortcomings. Deadfire makes for a much more enjoyable ride, but it’s lacks meaning necessary to make the gray and complicated world of Eora relatable.

This game is everything that PoE1 wanted to be but hadn't the chance. Is it a good game? Definitely? Is it a good sequel? Probably not. The game is expanded as compared to the first game, but it generally fails to deliver a punch that would make it stand out. Good things: The combat is improved greatly, it's fast-paced and beautiful. There are more companions and sidekicks (npcs who can act as a party member). There are multiple, distinct factions you can join or work for them as a mercenary. The game has unique, pirates of the Caribbean feel to it The companions now have loyalty and enmity system. They can like or hate each other. You can now engage in a deeper relationship with a companion Finally, multiclassing allows you to make some sick builds and own your enemies in an awesome fashion After 2hours the game opens up and allows you to explore the game world. The game is free from BG1-like on the rails exploration. Bad things: Music fails to make itself distinct enough from the track from PoE1 Naval combat is not fun and after one or two times you always engage in boarding to cut it short You wait to have your own keep, as in PoE1, but it never happens. Instead, you are given a bad replacement in the form of a ship The reputation system is just eye-candy. It lacks any significant impact After some level, skills like athletics become pointless and you just click through the level-up screen to get to the perk area Combat fails to innovate. Some explosive barrels are out there, however, in most instances, mobs fail to hang around them to utilize their potential. The main plot. I really wanted to like it, however, while side stories are cool, the main plot is just dull. Gods again? Really? Not only that, from day 1 it's all about gods and thus the game fails to surprise you like it was in the PoE1

The biggest selling point was adding a turn based mode. While this can make some fights extremely dragged out (like the last enemy casting Withdraw, or watching 12+ enemies pummel you), it is a total game changer. The addition of Berath's Blessings to be bought with achievements is great, and I felt like the majority of the writing was far less pretentious than the first game (with the narrator and some descriptions being the exception; glorified thesaurus warriors unite). Like, instead of saying the dwarf had a permanent grin, they write "the dwarf's rictus blah bleh." Overall, the voice acting was very well done. My only complaints are that the narrator was a terrible choice (she sounds like a teenage girl practicing community theater), and it boggles my mind why they incorporated her saying the "you must gather your party before venturing forth." That was annoying back in the Baldur's Gate days. Xoti was an extremely fake and annoying sounding Southern gal ("useless as a bump on a pickle" and "that dog won't hunt" 15 times a fight is ear poison), and the Rauitai bounty man who talks with a Southern accent then completely drops it for some parts was a comical blunder. Besides these 3 noticeable fails, the rest are great. There seemed to be a clear agenda that women were "better" (if not more powerful and respected) than most men, but I found it was easier to overlook than most modern games. I'd say you're safe to assume if you're going to meet the "leader" or "ruler" of somewhere, they are going to be a female. It definitely wasn't on the level of Siege of Dragonspear or Pathfinder:Kingmaker where you say to yourself, "OK, I get it! Move on," but it was prevalent enough to notice. My only other gripe was the ending was fairly abrupt and felt unfulfilling, but I can look past that because a satisfying ending is very difficult to accomplish in these types of games. In closing, I listed the flaws because the rest of the game I enjoyed and was very well done.

I played old turn-based CRPGs back in the day like Fallout. I could never get into real-time with pause. But lately I have really wanted to dive into some RPGs. I picked up and played the original Pillars of Eternity and it was great. Then I picked the sequel and Tyranny. PoE2 is an amazing game and as I near the end of it I realize how sad I am that Obsidian is going the route of Skyrim with this franchise rather than sticking to the old school real-time or turn based formula. Divinity: Original Sin 2 may be my favorite game of all time. Wasn't sure another existing CRPG could top it. Then I played this game and while I wouldn't say it is better, it is right up there. I enjoyed turn-based mode more, but it does definitely slow the game down at times. The companions are great, the story is rock solid and the characters are very fun to play/customize. The only 'complaint' I have is I just don't get the ship combat system at all. Even tried a couple of guides... it just seems kind of slow and clunky without any kind of good explanation or tutorial in the game.