PILLARS OF ETERNITY II: DEADFIRE

Developer Obsidian Entertainment Publisher Versus Evil Format PC, PS4, Xbox One

For Obsidian to successfully capture and reproduce the spirit of the Infinity Engine RPGs, it had to look forward as well as back. Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment and

Icewind Dale didn’t thrill because of their trademark isometric perspective or AD&D rulesets, but because they offered a new depth of world-building and roleplaying.

Baldur’s Gate began a five-year run of releases from Black Isle and BioWare that changed what we expected from the genre. No longer simply clicking the left mouse button on Kobolds, RPGs were the preferred vehicle for experimental storytelling and characterisation.

Pillars Of Eternity II’s mandate was next to impossible, then: conjure a familiar atmosphere, while innovating. And it fulfilled that mandate. The most surprising touch is the vein of Sid Meier’s Pirates that runs through it, and indeed how natural it feels to command a ship in naval warfare and manage rations for your crew in a fantasy RPG. The first Pillars played it safe with a Euro-fantasy setting that would have been indistinguishable from

Ultima or Might & Magic were it not for the presence of its arrogant gods, clinging to power however they could. The sequel takes a risk in transporting players who were expecting Baldur’s Gate IV to a tropical archipelago, and ultimately it’s the depth of writing that silences any dissenters. The political skullduggery between the Valian Trading Company, Principi, native tribes and mercenaries all scrabbling for valuable Adra feels more characteristic of a great Infinity Engine RPG than leafy meadows.

In the far reaches of its archipelago, wonderful sidequests await. Like Nemnok the Devourer, in which an Imp wielding a magical amulet poses as a god and demands human sacrifices. Or the island full of zombies who don’t know they’re dead. In every corner, Pillars II delights and surprises.