Review RPG Codex Review: Pillars of Eternity, by PrimeJunta

[Delterius]

I don't think so. A lot of adventure and puzzle games only have one real solution to every obstacle. And one single story to sit through. They aren't necessarily replayable but many are still worth your time.

 

[Sacred82]

I don't think so. A lot of adventure and puzzle games only have one real solution to every obstacle. And one single story to sit through. They aren't necessarily replayable but many are still worth your time.

I'd say the thing is: the impetus to play or replay a game is entirely subjective and has almost nothing to do with how good or bad the game objectively is, as can be seen in mobile games. Also there might be people who replayed the Dragon Ages to explore new romance options. So when we talk about replayability we must postulate that the motivation to replay a certain game exists in the first place. And then it does come down to how many choices the player is given.

I've wanted to replay Ultima VII for a long time to rekindle those childhood memories but there just isn't much I could do differently than 20+ years ago (especially with Forge of Virtue installed). And no a better combat system wouldn't change that as I never did mind the combat system.

 

[Delterius]

And then it does come down to how many choices the player is given.

Well, yes. Of course a game's degree of Replayability is a comment on the game itself and not the personal motivations of the player. Heavily scripted games like Dragon Age and Bloodlines are essentially the same in every run, variance being a matter of perspectives allowed. Such as being Malkavian or romancing the gay elf instead of the crazy murderous psycopath with a fixation for shoes and theology.

Most games however provide variance through systems. That's the case of Pillars/BG2, as well as just about every Strategy/Action/Competitive game out there. Adventure games are like RPGs, they run the whole spectrum. There are free form puzzles where you given a set of tools to work with and scripted puzzles, which you can only solve in a given way. One might replay the latter for any number of reasons. Because they mostly forgot the solutions, out of the game's story and aesthetics. But it doesn't change the fact that the game doesn't really do anything to empower said replayability.