I really love these CRPGS, and I'm a big fan of Obsidian. This game was no disappointment! It's very satisfying, a lot of fun, and really engaging. Awesome story, and being the bad guy isn't going to cause you problems in this game. It deserves 5 stars because it's an expertly made game, but I'm only giving it 4 because it gave you so much to build on... then it all ended before actually building anything. I was really sad when it was over. It felt like Act 1 of a game that should have 3 parts. - It is short game. The problem is, it's really easy to miss things you can do. I thought I could come back to places and finish later - nope. Get it right the first time, or miss out. - I found myself out of money to keep upgrading things by the end, and there were no more bad guys to go level up on. You really have to be careful to level up well, because you don't get many levels. I beat the game at level 13. - There were so many interesting things to build.... and no money, resources, and time to build them all. You really can't "complete" all the things you want to do in this game in one playthrough. You'd have to play again and take a different path to experience it all. And I'm going to play it again and take a different path because it's that good. - The ending was good for the end of a chapter, but for the end of the game? I really wanted more. It was like ordering a ribeye steak, craving the whole 12 oz thing, and then being given a 4 oz tenderloin instead. Really enjoyable. Amazing! Love every bite! But I wanted the 12 oz ribeye. The reality is that Pillars of Eternity is the 12 oz Ribeye I wanted... except I enjoyed playing Tyranny a lot more. The problem is that the ending felt like it came too soon and too easily. My choices did affect the ending, which was satisfying, but I got the ending of an ultra powerful character without feeling powerful yet.
If you're looking to play the best of the best RPGs, this is not one of them. It is still a good game worth playing, though. The good: -The characters are great. There are a large variety of characters, each with different alliances and motivations, The characters have good back stories, interesting situations, and convincing problems. The entire game is very character-focused - more so than combat, story, or any type of RPG character-building/ leveling up system. - The locations are great! They are interesting and fun to explore. They look pretty. There are plenty of quests for each area. - The combat system is really flexable. If you're feeling like lazily playing through a game with an interesting setting, good characters, and a story, then this game is perfect for you. If you want a challenge, it can be. It's up to you. Either way, the combat system is very basic (just click your mouse at the right time and you win.) The ugly: - The game clunky. Definitely playable, but clunkly. Even though this is the "enhanced edition," the camera, controls, and system is not smooth. This gets very annoying, and can definitely affect the outcome of combat. The camera moves on its own when you don't want it to. It zooms in and out when you don't want it to. Geralt doesn't always respond to my mouse clicks. He often uses the wrong sword even though I keep switching back to the one I want him to use. If all of this was fixed, the game would be much better. - There is hardly any overarching story, just lots of little stories that you play through. I don't feel totally submerged into the world because I'm not given enough detail. Most of the quests end up being "fetching" quests because of this. -Some of the game mechanics are unnecessarily confusing, and not efficient or well-designed. Forging weapons, for instance, is just a mess. The bad: Nothing is "bad" about this game. It's just too simple. It feels like a great idea that needed polishing and better mechanics.
