Pillars is a homage to the Infinity Engine Games. You create a character, run trough a huge world and discover your fate. Obviously the developers have put great effort into the game, and you certainly do not make a mistake if you take a a look at it. Still I did not enjoy the game like I did with Baldurs Gate II. Here a list of things where Pillars falls short in my eyes, so you can make an informed decision: The places do not feel alive. In Baldurs Gate people chatter in the background and sometimes people pass by, or run to you to tell you something, this creates the impression of a very active city and a great atmosphere. Dialogues are often well written, but occasionally they are not. An additional problem is, that especially the long dialogues often lack quality and even have orthographic errors in them. Third, the combat. In Baldurs Gate combat was moderately quick, if you lost, you can overthink your strategy and had a much better chance at winning. Every class felt very different. In Pillars my tactics are: Send the fight in front, he can take all the damage from all enemys at once. A change in tactics is rarely useful. All other characters are glass cannons, be it the mage, a Ranger, a priest or chipher. Their abilities read very different, but in combat its almost only useful to use their damage abilities. And there is so much combat, not in the city, but outside I often spend hours fighting before I find a single event or a person, this is not what I want from an RPG which compares itself with Baldurs Gate. I give 3 stars for my playing experience, 1 star for the huge effort put into the game.
This is one of the best DnD Games ever made. Of course the story cannot compare to Baldurs Gate. But what makes this game special is the engine. Good graphics and infinite possibilities. There are so many and so different mods for this game, you will never run out of good ones. The reach from good RPG stories over trading cards games to puzzle games like a quite accurate remake of the original Zork. The first addon, Mask of the Betrayer has a great story. The other original stories are good but not great. Here a short list of mods which I can recommend: Planescape (RPG) Harp & Chrysanthemum (RPG) Dark Waters & Dark Waters 2, Pirate Cards Trading Card Game included (RPG) Icewind Dale Remake (RPG) ZORK – Rediscovering the Great Underground Empire (Puzzle) Asylum: A Bet, A Corpse (drives you crazy)
