Official Score
Overall - 80%
80%
Overall the game is really fun and you can expect to lose yourself in it for hours on end. As I said above the combat may draw some players away because of how tactical it is as opposed to a hack and slash game, but I didn't have a problem with it. This Kickstarter project is one that paid off!
After a successful Kickstarter Pillars of Eternity finally makes it way to Steam and onto you computers. Was the Kickstarter worth the investment? Or should you skip out on the journey all together? Read our honest game review and make your choice!
Pillars Of Eternity Review
Pillars of Eternity takes place in the world of Eora. You begin your journey in Eora by traveling with a caravan headed for a place known as the Gilded Vale. The Gilded Vale is a place where you can settle down and make a new life for yourself. Before you can do that though you will need need to make a character. The game has a bunch of classes, races, and back grounds to choose from so you can literally be whatever you want. You have your melee classes like Fighter and Paladin as well as ranged classes like Hunter and Wizard. There are plenty of variations on each of those as well.
After you pick your class the game will introduce the core concepts of the game. You will be searching for some items and getting a feel for the combat here. Thankfully you can click tab to highlight all items in you area so you aren’t forced to search all squinty eyed at your screen. The combat is a little weird for someone new to this type of game. When you enter the game will pause so you can pick who is fighting what and who is using what abilities. This may be a turn off to some people but you can always turn that off in the options menu. Sure when you are fighting a single wolf or a couple bandits it isn’t a problem, but later in the game it is better to have on so you don’t get overwhelmed. After you collect the berries you need to collect the story starts to move a bit quicker.
You return to camp only to run into a Biawac which is rare to see but even more rare to survive. After you escape that and get out of the ruins you end up coming to some sort of ritual on the other side that awakens your powers as a Watcher. A Watcher can see souls in the world and sometimes interact with them in various ways. Often times you will be walking around in the game a random ghost like figure will appear on screen and move or do something they were doing before they died. You can also gain insight into certain NPCs with this ability in towns around the world. Once you gain this power and learn more about it you have to go find out why it happened and find out what you can do about it.
After that you can quickly gain access to stronghold and a house. The Stronghold is a place where you can rest, pick new party members and upgrade the buildings. This quickly becomes a mini game in itself as you want to upgrade everything while questing outside of your Stronghold. Certain buildings will offer you temporary boosts for sleeping and others will add security or protection from invaders. Yes, your Stronghold can be attacked and you will need to defend it. Keeping your Stronghold in tip top shape will net you extra cash and the occasional vendor who will sell your rare items. Make sure to invest some time there.
While you are adventuring you will gain new companions along the way who will help you on your quest. You can bring 5 people with you at at time with the others will wait at your Stronghold. There are 8 pre made characters who you can find in the world and they will have their own history and quests you can do. You can also create adventurers to join you if you are looking for a certain class on your journeys. The created companions don’t have as much depth as the premade ones but sometimes you need a certain class and the game doesn’t provide them all. Party management becomes crucial to success later on in the game.
On top of all that you need to also worry about your reputation. Who you talk to and what you say could come back to bite you at any time in the game. This means if you make someone mad enough you can expect them to send a squad to take you out at sometime during the game. On the other hand if you do enough to help them they may come to you for help with a major decision that effects their entire faction. Just remember that if you are pleasing one faction you can expect to be making another faction mad.
Overall the game is really fun and you can expect to lose yourself in it for hours on end. As I said above the combat may draw some players away because of how tactical it is as opposed to a hack and slash game, but I didn’t have a problem with it. This Kickstarter project is one that paid off!
