Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
THE CLASSIC ISOMETRIC RPG FINALLY GETS THE SPIT-SHINE IT DESERVES.
From US$59.95 | PC | eternity.obsidian.net NOSTALGIA IS A powerful force in today’s entertainment landscape, but even given the sheer abundance of throwback media products on offer, it’s rare to see a revival that can truely match the source material. Pillars of Eternity II is, to its enormous credit, one of those “exceptions that make the rule”. A follow-up to the 2015 original, it’s a game built largely in homage to Baldur’s Gate and the isometric PC RPGs that were popular throughout the 1990s. Pillars II, however, outdoes its predecessor in several key areas.
It still gets the basics right. This is a game that’s as much about negotiating your way through conversational conflicts with myriad multicultural fantasy denizens as it is about killing monsters in dungeons. Critically, though, Pillars II rethinks the original’s handful of weaknesses — all in-game dialogue is now fully voice-acted, for one. It’s hard to overstate how much of a difference this seemingly small change makes to the experience as a whole — it dials up the immersion and engagement, and really makes the world come alive. Developer Obsidian has also made some smart snips, like limiting your party to a slightly more manageable five characters, rather than six, and they’ve combined that with a customisable and reasonably flexible party AI system that means less stop-starting (and micromanagement) while in combat.
The world map has also been overhauled to give players much more freedom — with the setting having moved to the Deadfire Isles (which resembles a sort of colonial-era Caribbean), your home base is now a ship, which you can freely use to sail and explore wherever you like... although there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to handle what you’ll find. All those new ingredients add up to a reformulated recipe that, while keeping the core flavours largely unchanged, makes Pillars
II friendlier, more consistently pacy and — for those who like this kind of isometric-RPG dish — an absolutely scrumptious affair. This is a delicious masterwork that equals the best the genre has to offer.