TLDR: An awesome, story-rich game by a small studio. Loading times and bugs have improved since launch (and look to continue to do so). If you enjoyed PoE and Tyranny, you'll probably enjoy Kingmaker as well. This game has caught a lot of flack, and honestly, I get it. The amount of time spent staring at loading screens gets a little tiresome, and it launched with a LOT of bugged NPCs & questlines. BUT: This is a vast, sprawling game populated by interesting, engaging characters, full of beautiful maps & fun questlines, with a really awesome story to boot. I don't mind having to be a little patient with (in my experience, minor) loading issues/bugs when I am rewarded with such an intriguing world. I bought Kingmaker at full price because I am more than happy to support small developers; I do not regret a single penny of my purchase. More than PoE or other games built on this engine, Kingmaker preserves the feeling of playing a tabletop game beautifully, in all its unpredictable glory. The dice gods (and how you choose to build out your skills) have a heavy hand in your fate, but for me that just makes multiple playthroughs all the more appealing. I love the skill mechanics -- it really is impossible to do everything well with one character, so strategizing how you build out your skills in your party is important. The flexibility of the difficulty settings is AMAZING, seriously the most robust system I have seen in any game. Want punishing combat without having to fiddle with kingdom management? There's a setting for that. Want super easy combat with a more challenging kingdom/diplomacy experience? You can do that too -- and every shade of grey between those two extremes. I love this game. It is vast & awesome, truly a wonderous feat (haha) for such a small studio. The companion characters and, most of all, the storyline make this such a gem of a game. If you love CRPGs and/or tabletop gaming, give it a chance! I think you'll fall in love with it, too.
Deadfire is an amazing second installment of Pillars Of Eternity. The many new or retooled systems are well implimented, such as ship resource management, island exploration, sea exploration, relationships, and multiclassing. While there is plenty of combat, Obsidian did a great job of having a lot of innovative/nonviolent ways to handle many of the situations you encounter. It feels like there is a lot more voice acting in Deadfire than in the first game, and the soundtrack is really beautiful and well done. My biggest complaint is that there isn't more of it! I've sunk well over 100 hours into the game and haven't yet finished it, but I feel like 1) there are serveral areas/factions where there is room for elaboration/expansion of quests & story, and 2) I don't want the fun to end! My second-biggest complaint is that some of the questlines are a bit buggy, especially if you get farther ahead with one faction's quests than the others. I'm confident that is something that will be addressed soon in a patch, though, and there are enough quests to keep me otherwise occupied. Some people's complaints don't seem to take into account the fact that Obsidian is a smaller developer without the backing of the EA hegemony. Is the game perfect? No. But I have played the crap out of it anyway and enjoyed every bit of it. I, for one, am happy to know that my money is going to a smaller developer. Its pretty clear that Obsidian poured their hearts into this game and I am happy to help support their efforts! If you enjoy isometric RPGs with a strong roleplaying element, you will likely enjoy this game. I'd suggest playing Pillars of Eternity first if you haven't, though, since this game is based in the same world with several of the same companions -- gives a lot more context to your interactions with many of the npcs, recent history, some of the systems, and some of your companions. Plus, the first Pillars of Eternity is a great game in its own right!
