PILLARS OF ETE RNIT Y II: Deadfire

Andy: In terms of writing, quest design, and worldbuilding, Obsidian is at the top of its game in Deadfire. This nautical sequel continues the story established in the first Pillars, but is standalone enough that you can dive into it without any prior knowledge. And what a grand adventure it is, making you a ship captain and letting you sail the deadly, alluring waters of the tropical Deadfire Archipelago. For the most part this is a classic Infinity Engine-style RPG, with reams of vivid, descriptive text, enchanted items with lengthy descriptions, dungeon diving, and magical beasts. But being able to crew and maintain a ship and sail between islands, gives it a compelling twist.

The Deadfire Archipelago is a beguiling, strange, alien place, and uncovering its wellrealized culture, politics, and history makes spending time there a delight. There are dozens of rounded, interesting characters to meet on your journey, quests that start small then spiral into something wild and unexpected, and a whole lot of deep, tactical combat for you to indulge in. Steven: What I love the most about Deadfire isn’t the excellent story, characters and writing, but how smart Obsidian has gotten at being able to distil all that information in a way that doesn’t require me keep a lore wiki open in the background. Pillars of Eternity was an intimidating game to get into, in part because it front-loaded every bit of dialogue with proper nouns and slang that I didn’t understand. Deadfire does the same, but tooltips give you useful bits of context when you need them. Fraser: Pillars of Eternity was a fantastic CRPG that managed to be a lot more than nostalgia fodder, but it still stayed within the lines, with the Infinity Engine games serving as a cornerstone. Deadfire is bolder. Sure, the systems are familiar, but the setting, tone and broad roleplaying options help it escape the shadow of Baldur’s Gate II and the rest of the gang. It’s a freewheeling adventure, a sometimes unsettling story about colonialism, and even when it delves into the familiar realm of gods and prophecy, it always leaves the door open to something unexpected.