How would you rate Pillars of Eternity?

[Hegel]

Look at them white knights trying to protect their princess,how cute.Aren't you people ashamed, gang banging the poor man for having valid complaints ?
The game is not good,it's not what they promised us ''reactivity,C&C,good writing,non-linear storyline'' where at dude? I can't find them in the game guis, or maybe they will be patched in the future ,please tell my guis ,where are they? Stop praising this game so much and tell them the truth ,maybe next time they will wake the fuck up and create something better for a change.

Look retard, there are some valid complaints about PoE, but after playing the game 15 hours and finally getting over some slightly disappointing design decisions (like being unable to equip weapons during battle), I have to say this is downright the best RPG since Mask of Betrayer. In fact I would argue that it is perhaps even superior to it due to better camera angle which always made the NWN2 games a struggle to play (at least for me). Get it through your thick head that different people complaining about minor annoyances does not equal to game being shit. The writing is great in comparison to modern AAA titles, the story has more c&c than Baldur's Gate, the dialogues finally have more than 3 options + skill checks, the characters and voice acting is great, quests are long and interesting and tickle your brain, the combat is almost as good as Baldur's Gate, the graphics are great, the music is awesome, and in short there is a ton of things to like. In comparison to Dragon Age Inquisition, PoE is light years better.

Now, is it good as the old classics? Well, BG trilogy is bigger (but that is 2 games + expansions), it has better combat partly due to an older and more experienced rule set, it has more playable characters, more items, more magic, and it even has romances, but on the other hand it does not have text-adventure screens which allows you to interact with the world in a unique way, it has less c&c, less skill checks in dialogues, and a few other things which I don't care getting into cause its 4:30 and I need to go sleep. Bottom line is this: even if PoE is inferior to BG and older classics, it is still a damn good game and a huge incline. Now would you kindly piss off.

Game is still mediocre brah.No matter how much you retards are trying to prove that this game is ''EINCLAINE'',it is not.It's like the retarded child of Planescape and Baldurs(incest is bad guis).This is what happens when you concentrate more on copying old concepts and settings ,than trying something new.
The game is mediocre in terms of everything:

How could that be incest. BGI and PS:T were developed by different people. BG = Bioware PS:T = Black Isle.

 

[Irenaeus]

9-10: 110 votes
All others: 90 votes

 

[Ellef]

Well the 4 rating suits my attitude but I've finished it, and will play it again so it can't be that bad.

 

[Irenaeus]

Well the 4 rating suits my attitude but I've finished it, and will play it again so it can't be that bad.

Maybe you are a masochist.

 

[Mareus]

Game is still mediocre brah.No matter how much you retards are trying to prove that this game is ''EINCLAINE'',it is not.It's like the retarded child of Planescape and Baldurs(incest is bad guis).This is what happens when you concentrate more on copying old concepts and settings ,than trying something new.

On the first page you wrote quote: "I backed this game because i loved Mask of the Betrayer". So you backed this game on Kickstarter where it was explicitly said the game was aiming for IE fanbase and was trying to copy many of it's concepts. And now you complain about the game copying concepts and setting from IE games, rather then trying something new? You bumbling imbecile...

Oh and please, do mention 1 RPG where the game was set in the same setting. Here is a little hint: THERE ISN'T FUCKING ONE, because PoE is a new franchise set in a world that never existed prior to PoE being made. You muppet...

The game is mediocre in terms of everything:

-Linear storyline ,they shit on every choice you make in Act 2 and then nothing happens till the Act 4.Pretty sad coming from an Obsidian game.

Give some examples or piss the fuck off. I am not interested in your moronic opinions if you can't back them up with some concrete examples.

-A butt load of fetch quests.They even promised they wouldn't have many of them ,yet the game is dripping with dull and mundane quests.

Again, examples. I am just 15 hours into the game, playing it very slowly and am still in Gilded Vale, but so far quests have been a huge incline. Besides, majority of quests in older games were fetch quests too. It is how it is handled that differentiates classics from shitty MMO clones like Dragon Age, and how PoE handles it is like the great games of old. Grab some bones from a dungeon is no different from getting a tome from a dungeon in BG, since in both cases you are forced to go through some puzzles that will tickle your brain, make some choices, go through bunch of lore, clues, interesting characters, etc. There are no quest arrows and no hand holding. You are on your own and it takes hours to finish it. Its not like 'oh here is a letter and now deliver it to the guy 50 feet away' as it is the case with MMO clones like Dragon Age. That is all that matters.

-The overly descriptive dialogue that keeps telling you what the npc does every second( like I fucking care if he's nodding every time I ask him a question).Planescape had this kind of descriptive dialogue but it was simple and beautiful.

How big of a problem is this really?

-The flamboyant and verbose writing made me sick ,everything was over explained ,they made a 3 word phrase into a fucking essay.Again Planescape did this ,but they kept it simple and they didn't need to use the overly flamboyant style.

The same complaint as the previous one. So I will just skip this over.

-The combat is a clusterfuck,even if I finished the game as a wizard on hard,it was unbearable at times.

Why? Examples! Nobody cares about your feelings and opinions. You need to explain why you feel and think the way you do and back it up with some examples, otherwise it just sounds like you are pulling shit out of your ass. Look, I would go so far as to agree that IE games had better combat, but saying that the combat is a clusterfuck is just shit dripping from your fingernails, since you dug it out from your ass, as I already explained.

-The itemization suck

Again! Why?

-The the lore suck (and oh god it's a lot of it),every fucking name in this game sounds like they were invented by an autistic child ''GUDHUMMER'' ''THE BUMB''.

I see no problem with the Godhammer bomb name.

-Oh yhea! The story was bad,they could have done so many things with the Watcher concept like ''Going mad and having your other personality taking over your body,kinda like Aloth '' Imagine having to argue with yourself,ah man I should make my own games.

One rule of good roleplaying design is to never force characteristics on your character. Your concept might be cool if it was implemented through character creation like Vampire Bloodlines did with the Malkavians, but the way you describe it is just retarded. And again, you just claim the story was bad, but never explain why, so again.. probably shit you just pulled out of your ass.

The game deserves a mere 6-7 just because they tried.

6-7/10 is still above average you invalid.

Oh yhea!Fuck you too.

Yawn... Doesn't even know how to insult.

 

[adddeed]

^ Well said. Chumps like him need to go back to Skyrim.

 

[dragonul09]

Yawn... Doesn't even know how to insult.

Why should I waste my energy on a butthurt like you?
It's like we are playing different games or you just have shit taste in games.This game is shit,Wasteland 2 was shit and I doubt any sane person would replay these abortions.
The only decent game that came out from kickstarters was Dragonfall and that's coming from a company that barely had experience when it comes to rpgs.

Read this:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/replay-value-big-spoilers.98185/

^ Well said. Chumps like him need to go back to Skyrim.

Is skyrim that good?Every time I complain about a bad game ,someone immediately recommends Skyrim.Never knew that skyrim is so popular here.

 

[Brayko]

Meh it's better than most AAA shit but I think I'll shelve it until Tim gets turn-based combat going. As far as I'm concerned he's the biggest bro at Obsidian. I like the new attribute system over the nerfed ADnD one from Baldur's Gate but the skills progression leaves something to be desired. Massive Tim Cain turn-based skill balancing megapatch/mod do it up (but don't rush, get it right).

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

3 TIMES? They should fire Avellone, you're the man now. Bitch, there are codexers who have played the game 10 times or more.

Errr, yeah. I wasn't bragging (who the hell brags about the amount of times they've played a game?**) I was illustrating that I'm more than familiar with the last third.

**somebody like you who deserves the dumbfuck tag apparently.

 

[Mareus]

Read this:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/replay-value-big-spoilers.98185/

Everything you wrote in that turd of a post can be applied to NWN2 and Mask of Betrayer, except its much worse in NWN2: MoTB, because your characters at the end of NWN2 just disappear and all you get to their resolution is some fan service in the way of dialogues. Talking about unsatisfying ending and the beginning of a new game. NWN2 engine was horrible for party based RPGs, even with only 4 characters in the party. Rest exploits which allow you to be at full health for every battle. No permanent death. Fetch quests just like the one you describe. Motb has 6 companions which is less then 8 if you can't count. Yet you seemed to like MoTB. So you kinda shot yourself in the foot there son with those arguments. Now don't get me wrong. I still adore the shit out of MoTB, but if you are going to claim that those things you mentioned make PoE an average game at best, at least be consistent and apply the same logic to the games you claim to love.

 

[dragonul09]

Motb was interesting and it wasn't that linear ,you had a few choices along the game and they didn't crushed them as PoE did in ACT 2.In MoTB you really felt the sense of urgency because you had the spirit eater meter that kept you at the edge of your seat every time you had a conversation with someone.


The companions were interesting and pretty darn cool.

You had Okku and by devouring him ,you get One of Many (how is that not fucking original)
You get Kaelyn that reminded me of the succubus from Planescape.
Safyia was decent as well ,kinda dull on the side, but still more interesting than everything from PoE
And then you had Gann ,the dashing shaman.

And their conversations are hundreds of mile ahead of PoE.In MoTB you could easly turn your companions in evil cunts and do your bidding.And let's not forget that motB has about 6 possible endings for each party member.

And let's not overlook the writing,nothing flamboyant and verbose,it was kept simple but boy, it delivered the goods.


Look at this conversation with Myrkul:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW5EMFpEEBY

And how can you forget The Wall Of The Faithless
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2XLzyn344A

And many more scenes that makes PoE look like an autistic child.


Beside the pretty art PoE has nothing on MoTB.MoTB was closest thing that could compete with Planescape.
And fuck off already,i'm sick of your shitty taste in games.

 

[adddeed]

It's like we are playing different games or you just have shit taste in games.This game is shit,Wasteland 2 was shit and I doubt any sane person would replay these abortions.
The only decent game that came out from kickstarters was Dragonfall and that's coming from a company that barely had experience when it comes to rpgs.
.

Dragonwall was a tablet game, while its fun its nowhere near as good as PoE. As I said go back to Skyrim.

 

[dragonul09]

It's like we are playing different games or you just have shit taste in games.This game is shit,Wasteland 2 was shit and I doubt any sane person would replay these abortions.
The only decent game that came out from kickstarters was Dragonfall and that's coming from a company that barely had experience when it comes to rpgs.
.

Dragonwall was a tablet game, while its fun its nowhere near as good as PoE. As I said go back to Skyrim.

You are indeed retarded my friend,i always thought those tags are just cruel jokes, but it seems they really represent the truth.

 

[Irenaeus]

Don't argue with this retard.

 

[Cadmus]

I really like the game so far. There's tons of weird shit that's wrong but it's not important because the game is really maybe the best looking game I've played in years, maybe excluding The Witcher 2.

Actually my biggest disappointment might be that the character portraits aren't as good as in the IE games. I don't know why, maybe it's the fewer pixels that got my imagination racing or they just got the style better back then.
It's fun but too easy and the lore is kinda annoying and stupid in some places.

AND FUCK RTWP WHY OH GOD WHY, THIS COULD HAVE BEEN 4342/10 GAME WITH A TB COMBAT

 

[Mareus]

Motb was interesting and it wasn't that linear ,you had a few choices along the game and they didn't crushed them as PoE did in ACT 2.

As I already explained, the whole NWN2 OC ending and continuation of the shard-bearer story arc at the beginning of MotB takes a giant shit on the choices you made through OC by completely distancing you from the events of OC, the fate of your characters and the ending. Yes, it is an expansion, but MotB is a continuation of the shard-bearer story arc and should therefore be examined as new act in your story, just as you have to examine Throne of Bhaal as part of the Bhaalspawn story arc. Alternatively you can just play MotB and ignore OC, but then you are left with an obvious hole concerning your previous adventures.

In MoTB you really felt the sense of urgency because you had the spirit eater meter that kept you at the edge of your seat every time you had a conversation with someone.

This was actually one of the things I hated about the game. The spirit meter was an interesting concept, not difficult to learn, but its execution was a constant annoyance until you bring your hunger to zero (the good path). Choosing an evil path leaves you with devastating power and the constant need to feed, which looks like this: find an enemy, whole party stops, is placed somewhere to avoid combat except main character, main character changes weapons to useless ones to avoid killing the enemy by accident, main character hammers on the enemy to near death praying to god not to kill it, then devours soul, then has to do this shit 3 more times to make up for travel, rest or just fucking walking around. Yaaaaay! Add to that the alignment issues and I would hardly call this mechanic a feature. It is an interesting and unique RPG concept, but oh boy can it be tedious. One of the reasons actually why I avoid replaying the game with an evil character.

The companions were interesting and pretty darn cool.

I think PoE has interesting characters too.

You had Okku and by devouring him ,you get One of Many (how is that not fucking original)

Devouring him doesn't say anything about how interesting he is, now does it?

Safyia was decent as well ,kinda dull on the side, but still more interesting than everything from PoE

I agree she was dull and I disagree about your description of PoE characters.

And then you had Gann ,the dashing shaman.

Hated the prick.

And their conversations are hundreds of mile ahead of PoE.In MoTB you could easly turn your companions in evil cunts and do your bidding.And let's not forget that motB has about 6 possible endings for each party member.

I would say that MotB conversations were slightly better, but not miles ahead of PoE.

And let's not overlook the writing,nothing flamboyant and verbose,it was kept simple but boy, it delivered the goods.

Doesn't come close to PST, so it therefore sucks. I mean that is your argument so I am just saying this to show you how retarded you sound. I mean, if PoE does not have writing on the same level as MotB, it automatically turns everything else that is good about the game into a steaming pile of mediocracy. By that same logic, MotB does not have writing on the same level as PST, therefore it is a steaming pile of mediocre shit.

And fuck off already,i'm sick of your shitty taste in games.

Yes, a person who loves Baldur's Gate, NWN2: Mask of Betrayer, Planescape Torment, Fallout 1 and 2, Vampire the Masquarade: Bloodlines, Arcanum, Morrowind, etc. has a shitty taste in games.. Hmm..
My diagnosis is that you are a butthurt retard.

 

[tyrannosaurus rex]

Don't argue with this retard.

No. He's making decent points, he isn't as good at verbose as the one he is arguing with.

From what I understand he swallowed the promises whole during the campaign, and if he was expecting some kind of new generation game I understand why he is disapointed. Something with Uber reactivity, almost lifelike setting, while having a modernised version of the ie combat.

I didn't because I know it's impossible after years of following game devellopment. He has naive expectations.

 

[Zombra]

Eh? Deep reactivity was promised?

 

[Grunker]

Something with Uber reactivity

Huh?

 

[Reject_666_6]

The character system is too bland for my taste. It feels like a declawed version of NWN2, with many choices that don't have much impact, and levelling up is underwhelming - it never has an impact on your playstyle past the first couple of levels, it's just numbers++. It also makes too many gamey abstractions for the sake of allowing every build permutation its place in the sun, and you end up with absurd things like genius barbarians.

Combat is probably the weakest part of the game, partly because of the engagement system and partly because of poor encounter design. Fights that would be fair and challenging in BG because of needing to use careful tactics, maneuvering, crowd control spells and preparation after scouting the encounter, if ported to PoE combat, always turn into some kind of WWI-esque trench warfare with an immutable frontline of tanks vs xaurips, with wizards pounding everything with aoe. There are too many trash mobs, their AI isn't very good and later on their compositions make no sense lorewise. For a game where you run the gamut from spiderlings to elemental dragons, it never loses the feeling of being a low level adventure.

Exploration, loot, crafting, sneaking, bell puzzle, etc are ok but nothing special.

Writing is average, with some high points and some low points. The selection of story NPCs is pretty small, it's like half the size of BG, and while their stories and personal quests are pretty cool, there's not much inter-companion conflict or much interaction at all beyond short banter. Nothing like Edwin/Minsc/Jaheira relations or Okku/One of Many relations even Xzar/Montarong relations. Even their reactions to new areas are just a sequence of unrelated remarks one after the other. Quest design is also average, lots of fedex and inexplicable reactions ("You killed my cousins! This is the happiest day of my life!"), but the ones that aren't fedex are pretty cool, especially the handful of detective quests there are.

The graphics and music are wonderful! The backgrounds look great and the animations are fluid (but not perfect). I haven't enjoyed looking at an RPG this much in many years, pretty much since ToEE. With a few patches and some proofreading, the UI can become good as well and fast mode is a godsend for running around the woods checking every nook and cranny. The soundtrack has long periods of silence, especially when you alt-tab back into the game, but when it plays it's a damn treat.

Final score or 6/10, but a decisive advantage of this game is that mods really can fix a lot of the stupid design decisions and lazy content, so it could very well turn out a , here's hoping.

 

[tyrannosaurus rex]

Isn't that the same as choice and consequences. Because they did promise that. Them being not specific, I can understand why his imagination went wild.

*the two posters above the reject*

 

[Zombra]

Isn't that the same as choice and consequences. Because they did promise that. Them being not specific, I can understand why his imagination went wild.

I'd love to see a source. I don't remember that at all.

 

[dragonul09]

Don't argue with this retard.

No. He's making decent points, he isn't as good at verbose as the one he is arguing with.

From what I understand he swallowed the promises whole during the campaign, and if he was expecting some kind of new generation game I understand why he is disapointed. Something with Uber reactivity, almost lifelike setting, while having a modernised version of the ie combat.

I didn't because I know it's impossible after years of following game devellopment. He has naive expectations.

It's not like I wanted something revolutionary but let's be real,this game doesn't deliver in any department ,beside some nice music and pretty art.Come on people, it's not hard to see that this game is not that good and praising Obsidian for crap like this,it's like praising a 5yo painting something shitty and that's bad,because we know that they can do better ,much better.
In the end they went with a boring universe,copy pasted monsters and horrible lore ,that made me sick when I heard the names of provinces,wars,gods.

They focused so much on copying Planescape and Baldur style that they forgot one thing that made PT,BG good ,the writing and the lore.Even now I remember a shit ton of informations from both games and it's not nostalgia, because I played those games a buttload of times and they got better with each playthrough.BG and PT never bombarded you with the lore,they kept simple and compact and unfolded the lore as you went through and that's how it should be.PoE did horrible in this regard and that's what made me lose a lot of interest early on.

I'm not going to talk about the story,quests again because you guys seems to blindly disregard everything I say and that's a waste of my time.

I'm sad that they want to do an expansion and a sequel for this game,because I can't see them going wild in this universe,it's bland and boring and fuck me If I remember someone or something from this game.

In the end I wasn't naïve ,I went in with ''normal'' expecations and got out with a broken soul.

And about the uber reactivity,dude there's none, beside the Roderic quest, everything is barren when it comes to reactivity.

 

[Mareus]

The character system is too bland for my taste. It feels like a declawed version of NWN2, with many choices that don't have much impact, and levelling up is underwhelming - it never has an impact on your playstyle past the first couple of levels, it's just numbers++. It also makes too many gamey abstractions for the sake of allowing every build permutation its place in the sun, and you end up with absurd things like genius barbarians.

Ok, you are not a retard like that Dragonul idiot and you at least know how to make a coherent argument. However, I don't understand why would having genius barbarians be a problem, and I don't understand why allowing every build permutation its place in the sun is a bad thing. I also think you are ignoring some very positive changes like the fact that your attributes and skills matter not only in combat, but inside dialogues, text-adventure screens and they allow you to interact with the world in a unique way, something that very few older games incorporated. For example, in Baldur's Gate playing an intelligent and wise warrior or barbarian was impossible, so investing into those attributes was just a waste. Now, please explain why is that a bad thing?

Combat is probably the weakest part of the game, partly because of the engagement system and partly because of poor encounter design. Fights that would be fair and challenging in BG because of needing to use careful tactics, maneuvering, crowd control spells and preparation after scouting the encounter, if ported to PoE combat, always turn into some kind of WWI-esque trench warfare with an immutable frontline of tanks vs xaurips, with wizards pounding everything with aoe. There are too many trash mobs, their AI isn't very good and later on their compositions make no sense lorewise. For a game where you run the gamut from spiderlings to elemental dragons, it never loses the feeling of being a low level adventure.

Look, I agree that BG handled combat better, but to give it just 2/5 is ridiculous. since it is not that much different from IE combat which it was aiming for. Now true, if you didn't like IE combat to begin with and would give it a 3/5, then 2/5 makes sense for PoE. However then you are going into the area of personal preferences which nobody really cares about. What I care about is how does the combat compare to the IE games. From that (more objective) perspective giving it 2/5 doesn't make any sense. There are some new mechanics which some people seem to have a problem with, but nothing that would justify the amount of criticism it is receiving.

Exploration, loot, crafting, sneaking, bell puzzle, etc are ok but nothing special.

This here I don't understand at all. I mean, does this mean that similar puzzles in Baldur's Gate are nothing special as well? Because if that is what you are claiming, then I would like to know just what would it take for you to consider something special. Need I remind you that these sort of non-handholding things have been NON-EXISTENT in the newer RPGs and I really don't see a difference when I compare it to how BG handled it, except that in PoE you sometimes have more than one way to solve things which is a positive thing. Ok, PST had better puzzles overall, but on the other hand IWD for example had almost no puzzles, yet the consensus is that IWD is an amazing game. Furthermore, crafting didn't even exist in IE games, so I fail to see how introducing a crafting system (no matter how rudimentary it is) is a bad thing. Loot and exploration is therefore the only thing where I can agree with your analysis since there are some valid complaints people raise with the size of areas which really are too small in PoE.

Writing is average, with some high points and some low points. The selection of story NPCs is pretty small, it's like half the size of BG, and while their stories and personal quests are pretty cool, there's not much inter-companion conflict or much interaction at all beyond short banter. Nothing like Edwin/Minsc/Jaheira relations or Okku/One of Many relations even Xzar/Montarong relations. Even their reactions to new areas are just a sequence of unrelated remarks one after the other.

I agree completely here. But again, compare it to IWD or BG1 where you had 0 interactions. Doesn't make it bad or average games, now does it.

Quest design is also average, lots of fedex and inexplicable reactions ("You killed my cousins! This is the happiest day of my life!"), but the ones that aren't fedex are pretty cool, especially the handful of detective quests there are.

I think you are confusing quests with tasks. Tasks are not quests, and quests in PoE feel like real quests. Ok,.. you will say irrelevant semantics, but the thing with PoE tasks is that they are still better than majority of tripple A quests we get today. In other words a huge incline and let us not pretend like smaller quests didn't exist in IE games.

The graphics and music are wonderful! The backgrounds look great and the animations are fluid (but not perfect). I haven't enjoyed looking at an RPG this much in many years, pretty much since ToEE. With a few patches and some proofreading, the UI can become good as well and fast mode is a godsend for running around the woods checking every nook and cranny. The soundtrack has long periods of silence, especially when you alt-tab back into the game, but when it plays it's a damn treat.

Final score or 6/10, but a decisive advantage of this game is that mods really can fix a lot of the stupid design decisions and lazy content, so it could very well turn out a , here's hoping.

Well, I disagree obviously. Not only for the reasons I mentioned, but also for all the positive things you did not mention. Like text adventure elements which allows you to interact with the environment in unique ways, multiple solutions to problems, addition of skill checks in dialogues, addition of crafting system and enchantment, and other things which I don't have time to get into. Also I am very happy that developers are finally catering to the crowd who was starving for real rpgs and that this is a huge step in the right direction, even if it is still not where everyone would want to see it at. Obviously, limited budget and Obsidian's financial problems didn't help things, so I give it 8/10 considering everything. It is not as good as BG or PST, but the fact that it is even comparable with those games is a huge achievement. It is better than IWD and that is a fact which is already putting PoE up there with the classics.

 

[Athelas]

they forgot one thing that made (...) BG good ,the writing and the lore.