Review: Pillars of Eternity
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มี.ค. 2015
- Disclaimer: One time at Dragon Con I had a soda with Chris Avellone and he said I was a cool dude for playing 250 hours of New Vegas.
Pillars of Eternity on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/291...
Gog: www.gog.com/game/pillars_of_et...
Last time on the TOVG Podcast: Nintendo making shitty mobile games, juick Kojima office drama, and Steam acknowledging and then snubbing EU refunds www.thatonevideogamer.com/cate... - เกม
" its 2015 "
me watching in 2020 ( more like 2021 ) . damn time flies
I was just thinking that same thing.
I'm watching it cause i redownload the game. I remember playing the game when it released. Time does flies as you say.
Indeed ...
2022 here lol
me relizeing i have not touched it since 2016. well that was more my patato at the time.
"Hundreds of unoccupied enemy armors" is the coolest way I've ever heard "stuff looted from corpses" spun.
That's not a review. That's a love letter.
Yeah... but that is not a compliment.
A review CAN be a love letter. Theyre not mutually exclusive, butt-ass.
And the OP can say that without being a bad thing...
A love letter indeed...
Well done
Not really, he was pretty critical of it for the first 9 minutes.
This is six years later but I just wanted you to know this is an astoundingly well written review. This is succinct and detailed in equal measure and a review worthy of such a timeless classic of a game.
PS:
"You must gather your party before venturing forth"
....the feels and the chills (and a lot of nostalgia tears)
Obsidian's great. Kotor 2 being one of my favorite games of all time along with New Vegas. They come in and seem to really improve upon a franchises tropes, even with the very small amount of development time they usually get. I'd love for them and Bioware to collaborate and make Kotor 3 together, and maybe help Bethesda make Fallout glorious again. I think they're one of the best devs out there right now.
But I have a feeling Bethesda won't have them come in for the simple fact that it will ultimately show that Bethesda's writing has gone down hill and Obsidian is better in that respect.
+Brandon Encinas Mass effect always felt like a spiritual successor to Kotor to me at least.
And then they even made South Park the Stick of Truth one of the better RPG's out there. Sadly I'm not one into top-down games like this because of their usual length and reading which I have no time for but I wish I could.
+Charron Top 5 for what game? Kotor 2? If so, you only make your main character.
+Charron Top 5 You make your main character.
This review inspired me to finally buy Pillars of Eternity. I play games on a very strict budget, so I'm normally very leery of purchases that aren't extremely discounted. But this convinced me it was worth it. Thanks a lot.
I wanna know how you feel now! Was it worth it? I dive in today. :)
For me it was worth it. I recommend this game.
How u like the game?
it's free now.
@@alphabee8171 where
Wow 70+ hours in a single week. That's pretty intense man.
Well he is a game reviewer. So it's kinda like his job as well.
@@GuyLogen He's working a full time schedule on double shifts
Can't say I feel too bad for him. :)
you gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers!
Bah. That's nothing
as a regular salary man. 70+ is phenomenal.
Shovel Knight was my game that made me feel Kickstarter was legit.
There were so many excellent games prior to SH on Kickstarter, it's not even funny. SH's just popular, so it gets more love.
Shovel Knight was the first one that grabbed me personally :P. I don't PC game though, so only kickstarter games comign to Wii U, ps3, 3ds are in my wheel house.
I really liked Skull Girls but I was on the fence with it at the time still. The crowd funding was for more characters. They already had a base.
For me it was FTL but why play the "which was first" game x)
For me it was Starbound. Love that one.
Thank god I'm not the only person who spins my character around like a top in inventory screens just to see their cap whirl around. Come on, its fun.
Love hearing George happy
*****
it's just that both the community and the latest releases sucked do hard last year. I keep on going just because I know something like pillars is just behind the corner...maybe.
Elegant Cat While there's life and savedata there's hope. There're some decent indie games every now and then, and obsidian being this succesful paves a road for future endavours. Age of Decadence could be really good next classic isometric rpg.
***** TBH Infinity engine was demanding too when it came out, most computers choked on the 3d effects. Not enough time/cash for optimzing the engine probably.
*****
Because it's not an old game. Its appearance and play-style is deliberately like the earlier (so called 'classic') role playing games, (that was the point behind making it); but the engine and rendering techniques are current, and quite demanding.
Really hoping we'll get a critical close-up from you on this game in the future. All that excitement and love deserves to be channeled into more than such a brief review (which oddly pointed out a lot more of what you didn't like than what you did). This doesn't look like my kind of game, but it sounds like the kind which I'll enjoy watching no shortage of analytical videos about from the RPG fans I follow!
What kind of RPG fans do you follow? Bunnyhop didn't make a follow up video and I'd like to hear what other fans of the genre thought of it.
lmao
I saw this review when it came out and the game scared the crap out of me, primarily because of the frequent pausing George mentioned. A week ago I picked it up, and yes, it is absolutely as good as he says it is.
I'm going to make one caveat to this review that might've made me pick it up sooner. In the options menu on the title screen and in game you can turn on auto-pausing. Maybe this is a feature that was added later, but I can set the game to pause the combat automatically. Frankly the amount of modularity you have in the options menu for this feature is fucking staggering. I have it set to pause whenever anyone in my party uses an ability or attacks an enemy, whenever enemies or traps are spotted, whenever a character finishes an ability (like a spell) and whenever a character gets to low health. There are maybe 10 more options I could turn on in that menu. It makes the game much easier for noobs like myself.
If you are afraid of this game because you've never played anything like it I urge you to pick it up and toggle some of those options and put it on easy mode (you can switch easy mode off once you get the hang of it). It's an absolutely gorgeous and emotionally rich experience with deeper morality and player choice than I think I've ever seen before. Play it. Please. It's so goddamn good.
Any thoughts on the PS4 version?
Wow! I haven't heard you be this positive about a game in forever! This is awesome!
I'm definitely gonna check it out now.
I've bought 3 games the last 2 weeks, City Skylines, BloodBorne, and Pillars of Eternity. Needless to say i have 3 amazing games to somehow find the time to play between my 50 hour work weeks.
I just wish I didn't have to get a toaster to play Bloodborne, doubt they'll even port it over to PC ever because it's the only reason to own a PS4. I'll either have to wait for an emulator or someone gives me their PS4 for free. No reason for me to spend money on that crap. Though, imagine how fast the loading screens would be on PC compared to PStoaster4. God... I hate consoles.
Nokturnal Lex Or you could stop being a bitch and get a console, problem solved.
Dtwo Synua Oh why didn't I think of wasting money on an inferior computer of which runs everything worse solely because the developers were paid off by *Insert evil corporation here* to take a game hostage in order to force consumers to buy an inferior computer.
I'd rather not condone such vile acts. Especially since the series has already been on PC for 2 games now, taking it away from PC is just a big fuck you to the PC gaming community and to that, I say, no, Fuck you, you can't have my money.
Nokturnal Lex
Sony's vile acts happen to include funding both Demon's Souls and Bloodborne. Where the fuck was Gaben when semi-obscure independent (at the time) studio From Software known primarily (if at all) for the Armored Core series needed an AA budget for a brutally hard and conceptually weird game loosely based on King's Field?
I'm not going to lie I'd rather not need the toaster either but stop acting like you were entitled to a game that would most likely not even exist without Sony.
Nokturnal Lex From Software has revealed themselves as huge dickheads after calling a petition to bring the game to PC as "entitled."
Like PC gaming doesn't deserve to get their game or something, that's what I got from their response and it's ridiculous. They are swimming in Sony's bribery.
Nearly five years later and I just got the name of the game. PIllars of Eternity, built on the foundation of Infinity.
LoL! I never got that! xD Do you really think is on purpose?
Posting this 3 hours before release man? Rub it in why dont you
in all fairness, this is a very strange point to lift the embargo. however, i'm glad that it's not to cover any bullshit or anything.
imstill notusingmyname Paradox has embargo policy, where you can do "Lets Plays", but no reviews, they´re for release
RELEASED! :D
On GOG at least
***** More like an hour dude.
Bloodborne, Pillars of Eternity and Witcher 3 have made this year one of the best in recent memory for me.
I'm all giddy and shit.
this is the game i hoped dragon age inquisition would be in terms of its mechanics, a genuinely intriguing non cliche story that treats you like an intelligent adult that doesn't pander to you at any point, the renaissance of the crpg genre is truly underway.
this was made by Obsidian? I didn't knew! I must buy it now.
I did not knew either, it must be great.
JavaKnight *it's
Divinity Original Sin vindicated crowdfunding almost a year before Pillars of Eternity, and there were some solid titles before that as well.
It was a very good game indeed..but the story and writing was lacking badly..this is a proper CRPG and successor to the epic writing of Infinity Engine games. (PST, BG, IWD).
90sgamer92 FTL (Ok this was to make the game have more content, but still) and Shovel Knight helped. Too bad Broken Age and Might No. 9 are the poster boys of Kickstarter games.
He stated that Pillars was one of those games that came out during the whole Kickstarter fad. Back when people believed it could do no wrong. Back before we got all of the cases of people misusing the system.
Been a BIG fan of Shadowrun Returns and Dragonfall myself. Harebrained Schemes did almost as good a job with their game as this one even if they are only superficially similar.
It's just a shame that Tim "Minorities are sock puppets" Schafer and Mighty Number 9's awful community manager are smearing the other kickstarter budgets by association.
Vallorn
Shadowrun Returns was nice but it was so small scale and limited that it doesn't really compare to D:OS (or POE/W2): D:OS could've been a legit retail relase in the early 2000s, it's a 65-75 hour game with tons of polish. I've read that the new Shadowrun is much more unlinear and larger than the first one.
This is one of the best reviews I've watched about anything on TH-cam. Thorough, yet succinct, and manages to glowingly praise the game while still criticizing what minor flaws there are. Well done! I can't wait to play this game.
Goosebumps from graphics and soundtrack already. Look forward to startup in a few hours. Thanks for a nice and informative review!
One of the most interesting, informative, and intelligent reviews I have seen in years.
Zero expletives, thank you for this point alone.
With an obvious love of the game reviewed, and yet objective.
Kudos. You are one hell of a reviewer.
Honestly, I knew this was going to be an incredible game when in the early part of the game my Barbarian, during one of those story-telling portions, threw his axe to save another party member. After the scene ended and I got control of my character again, the axe was gone, lost because I threw it. I don't know why that detail impacted me the way it did, it's not even that unique of a thing, to remove an item from inventory. It was just... The way it happened, how I used it to save someone only to actually not have it anymore. It made me a little giddy.
I wish Diablo 3 had similar graphics to this
Why is the video so choppy sometimes?
I thought it was just me. Good to know.
Must have been a capture issue. It seems unlikely the game runs like that.
mrbitbot ...
+mrbitbot Framerate. The game has sections of horribly optimized terrain for some reason. The opening circle of about 25 feet runs at 30 fps on my Gtx 970 and i7-4790k. As soon as I take one step out of that circle my framerate maxes out and mostly never drops.
It's really strange, it's like there is bits and pieces that the devs forgot to optimize correctly, and even stranger that the first bit of gameplay in the entire game runs the worst.
+Kolbe Howard One trully wonder why.
Each time I see something related to Pillars I want to return to its deep beautiful world.
I hear they're making a third installment, called Avowed.
"The pillars of eternity stand as a stellar reminder of a forgotten genre and an inspiring beacon of what could come in the future"
And here we are today, huh? It's almost inspiring.
Aye. CRPGs are back, and they are better than ever.
Definitive Edition will be free on Epic Games Store in a few days for a week, i will definitly be checking this game out
It's 2019; and a fine older review for what has now become *Pillars of Eternity Definitive Edition* has by and large convinced me to pull the trigger on a sale even when the purchase is totally unplanned. Fine work sir.
I just wanted to say this was probably the best review I have ever seen. So polished and professional, well done my friend, very very well done.
Shadowrun Returns, Wasteland 2, and Divinity Original Sin have already more than vindicated Kickstarter to me. This is just the cherry on the top. Sure they have been the disappointments with some kickstarter projects, but I view it just like pre-ordering a huge budget AAA title. Sometimes it delivers and sometimes they fail.
Wow. Now THAT is a hardcore RPG. Looks gorgeous tho. BTW weren't those guys the ones Bethesda fucked with in New Vegas?
Yeah, refused to give Obsidian their bonus pay because they were a couple points out of Bethesda's desired metacritic score. Although issues mostly lied with the mess that is the creation engine, a issue from Bethesda.
Its a deal Obsidian agreed on before even making the game. Saying bethesda is the only one at fault there is absurd.
Roin7 Not really. They were close to the mark and all the issues were the engines fault. Bethesda coulda gave them an updated engine and not the janky engine they were given or let them use a different one but they are money grubbing bastards.
That doesn't change the fact obsidian agreed to the meta critic deal. They didn't HAVE TO accept it.
I enjoyed NV even more than I did 3, personally. The only thing 3 has over NV is a much better intro (living in the vault and stuff).
The engine this uses is beautiful.
I would love to see obsidian take a knack at a post apocalyptic rpg using this same engine.
The isometric fallout 2 sequel that we always wanted.
Socomnick They did, it’s called Torment: Tides of Numenera or try Wasteland 2
It's actually just the Unity Engine. It goes to show that a game engine is not a limiting factor, it's the ability of the team to make good use of it.
This game puts to shame all the AAA crap we've been exposed to in years...
Dragon Age: Inquisition got it's ass kicked by a Kickstarter game - AAA clowns have a lot to learn about making quality RPGs and quality games.
word
DA:O had potential but it fell short
this game is what the sequels should have strived to be
Dragon Age: Inquisition was successful for their targeted audience. Which is console gamers.
The bigger the budget on a game the wider the appeal has to be. I'm sure Pillars of Eternity is going to sell lots of copies but probably not enough to cover a AAA budget
AAA rpgs are about stuffing as many swords and sorcery tropes into your game as possible. Skyrim and Bloblivion are some of the most unimaginative and souless RPGs I've ever played, but they're what sells.
Last Second Bloomer As long as they keep making more money with mediocrity instead of greatness they wont have to learn a damn thing.
Can you do a review on The Witcher franchise before 3 comes out? Or a retro review on the Half Life games
The other close thing to that is "Age of Decadence" check it out
Good job on the thorough yet quickly uploaded review. I don't think any of the major sites have a video review up.
I think Paradox sent codes out last week, so this likely took some 8+ hour days of gaming to complete in time. It's a challenge but really appreciated when people get these reviews out on day 1 :)
very, very, very good review. I want to listen to you more. I am happy to find such a good channel.
I am a huge RPG fan, but I have never played any kind of "old-style" RPGs like this one. I have tried to play the first Baldur's Gate but I couldn't get past the tutorial (I know... noob) because the combat system is so much different from any RPG I have played. It was so overwhelming that it discouraged me from trying harder, since I don't have a lot of time to play videogames. I turned to turn-based classics like Wasteland 2 and the first 2 Fallout. The point is: I'd really love to enjoy a Baldur's Gate or a Pillars of Eternity, so could someone please point me in the direction of a similar game with a good tutorial and a similar but easier to play battle system, just to ease my way into this kind of RPGs?
dragon age origins
You just need to play the game and learn how to play the game by playing it.
like dark souls
Dragon Age Origins is a good comparison, that games is really hard at the lower levels though, borderline unfair when Revenants have enough health to tank hits for like 5 minutes straight.
But it's pretty easy to get the hang of.
*****
the patches made DA:O easier
A obsidian game that is polished, I-i don't know what to say, I always loved their games, but felt that QA was the thing that their games needed to just to great. Well I was originally not going to buy this game based on its cost, but now I just might.
A bit unfair considering that they could release this game on their own schedule and the publishers that pushed them to release other games too early almost made them go bankrupt, don't you think?
woolver42 Alpha Protocol was delayed twice, with 3 bugged extensions. That didin't help it. Besides, I'm hearing people having quest bugs, headless wolves, audio bugs, etc. It's not a technical mess, but still an Obsidian game.
Trevor Redfern You do realize publishers tend to be in charge of QA, right?
Obsidian has famously had a tough time with publishers pushing them around on release dates. They make 4th wall breaks about it in Fallout 2, and the numerous buggy games speak for themselves.
***** KOTOR 2 is the best piece of Star Wars media ever. In Obsidian fashion it drops the binary moral choice and gives true meaning and depth to every choice.
[MINOR SPOILER] - I will avoid being too descriptive - [MINOR SPOILER]
Early in the game in one of those text-box/choose your own adventure bits, as my character and two early companions escape disaster, when one of the characters is grabbed by an enemy, I was pretty happy with the options it gave me. Due to my Barbarian's stats, it had some options that weren't available (like throw a rock), but it gave me the option to throw my weapon, which I did, saving him. When we loaded into the next scene and my weapon was gone, I was actually pretty happy about it. I hampered myself slightly to save a companion, and while in the end it was kind of moot, it just... I can't really accurately describe it. It just added this feature that made it feel all the more like a tabletop campaign. I love it for doing that.
A fantastic review. Excellent use of vocabulary. You are articulate and fantastically descriptive. Thanks for not 'dumbing down' your review. I'm sold.
*subscribed.
"Kickstarter has made a masterpiece" Yeah Shovelknight was great I agree!
"Kickstarter has made a second masterpiece!" =P
progste more like fifth.
***** I still like FTL the most :D
still waiting for Hyper Light Drifter. That game looked beautiful. I really hope they don't mess it up.
munnypantz Meh, its all preferences, I'm not into platformer so Divinity was my shovelknight.
Yup FREE now on Epic get over there and get it!
Great review! Thank you for taking the time to put this together! Well done.
WOW. What a review! Very well spoken and written. I will be subscribing to the channel. Keep up the excellent, articulate and thought provoking work.
Almost all the reviews unanimously say its a very polished game. Obsidian despite being RPG heavyweights are known for their buggy releases. Thankfully they have finally got rid of their resident 'bug programmer'.
And the Fallout/BG like RPG revival continues on a rampage! DivinityOS,Wasteland2, This......Next up Torment.
Obsidian's "bugginess" was mostly a result of publisher interference and unreasonable deadlines, though - they've only recently had the money, resources, and creative freedom to make games according to their exact wishes and on their own timetable.
Maybe I'm not smart enough, but playing this game felt like visiting an art museum. You know that everything you see is amazing, and maybe you have people with you explaining why, but at the end of the day (unless you try really hard to be invested in the story, and believe me I tried) nothing felt eye-catching or even interesting.
You are smart enough. It's retro nonsense. A trip down memory lane for some, bragging rights of being a real "hardcore" gamer for others.
Triple A fan boy I assume. This game isn't about nostalgia, I didn't even play those old infinity games and I still loved this game. You have a poor understanding of game design if you think this game is "nonsense".
xyst
You ignored half of what I said. For some it's nostalgia and for others (that's you) it's about signaling what a "hardcore" gamer you are by telling everyone how shit graphics and antiquated game mechanics is actually awesome.
Again you're missing the point. A great game doesn't have to be about the latest game engines and graphics. Great graphics don't equate to great games. Just like HD movies aren't equally good just b/c they are filmed in the same format. This game is amazing b/c it requires something of the gamer. It invokes imagination, problem solving and creativity which results in you, the gamer, truly feeling invested and meaningful in the world created for you. There's there's nothing "hardcore" about this game unless you have a problem with reading and attention span.
is not your fault, the story of the game is very bland, very well writen, but bland at the end of the day. Fallout or planescape torment have universes and dialogs way more interestings.
Pillars is definitely a game worth checking out just for its presentation alone. Exploration is pretty much obligatory to know quest-relevant locations (and trust me, there are a lot of them), but the xp reward, the satisfaction of filling in the maps and the loot you can find make it worthwhile.
The combat is pretty heavy though, and it's pointless looking up and copying builds without understanding what everything means. Multiple factors compose your defense and attack, and keeping track of them all can be overwhelming. While my first instinct was to find armour with the highest values, using it means your character takes longer to carry out actions - which can oftentimes be a death sentence if not tanky enough.
One element that I found very interesting were the Soulbound items, which rank up in power as you use them. Their description boxes are decorated with a beautifully drawn sketch, which really makes them pop, but I feel they weren't used to their greatest potential. There was very strong narrative potential in binding a character's soul to an item, but there's no impact to having or lacking them in the story. Likewise, there were simply too few of them, and the grand majority were in one of the DLC packs, with only one showing up in the base game. I only wish there'd been one Soulbound version of each weapon type, but oh well.
The fact there was a huge rich internal lore was the one thing I loved most about BG back in the day. When I first played BG1, I was around 10 years old or so, I had NEVER played Dungeons and Dragons (no-one in my area had even heard of it). I was a constant reader of fantasy books, and most of my gameplay was spent reading books. I absolutely fucking loved it. The world seemed so huge and expansive, even if most of what was in those books just wasn't there. Although I never visited Amn, I nonetheless became an expert on its history.
If only their could be a game like that, but without combat as a priority or a major part of the game...I know I can't enjoy that kind of combat (because it's not how I personnaly enjoy it) but, gosh, I wish to have that kind of game, nice writting and all with a thick social system / human interaction based gameplay.
If you haven't yet, i would suggest playing disco elysium.
@@trevorcooper3268 played it and LOVED it ! Great detective game too !
@@SebLeCaribou hell yeah
I can't play Infinite engine games for long, because the real time system battles are too distracting. I prefer turn based RPGs because i can think about what to do next and just rush the battle if that kind of thinking is not necessary, while pausing all the time gets boring fast.
Tom Fisher Are you trying to troll me? LOL. I'm just talking about games like Baldur's gate, where you need to control a full party in real time. I love Dark Souls and other action RPGs, wich are real time.
You triggered me because party based real time RPG's are the best games ever! Everyone has their own taste is games tho.
Tom Fisher Yeah, turn based is my jam
You do know you can just set the game to auto pause every few seconds right? Also, how exactly is constant pausing any different than turn based? They work out more or less the same, except that real time with pause goes by faster if you aren't required to make a decision atm.
I never played this game specifically. In the games i played, unless you don't use mages, then you have to pause the game all the time, so it is a little pointless to have it in real time
Great review, looking forward to playing my Kickstarter edition. Thanks!
The best review I have ever seen on YT.
There have been lots of fantastic Kickstarter/crowdfunding successes, not sure why this one vindicates. I mean, great for them making a good game, but still, it's not the first. Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin, Shadowrun Returns, Banner Saga, FTL, Kentucky Route Zero, The Escapists, Risk of Rain, Thomas Was Alone, Darkest Dungeon, Chilvalry, Spintires, Shovel Knight, heck, even with it's issues Broken Age Act 1 was pretty well received overall, and I've actually really enjoyed the Dreamfall games so far,
I've heard great things about this game, but lets not bash on Kickstarter games too much, there have already been more than enough successes with the format to justify it's further use as a potential customer/investor.
I'd say Pillars (along with D:OS, WL2, SrR etc.) does more to cement that isometric strategy RPG's are a legit genre that needs to be paid attention to by non-indie developers. If there is this much demand for the game type on crowdfunding, you'd think they would figure it out and try to provide some competition in that marketplace. Instead like EA/Bioware, they feel a need to abandon the tactical/strategy genre and turn everything into an action or shooter game.
T H I C C
Just bought it. Love your channel dude and thanks for recommending this.
Really nice review, i'm looking forward it even more! :)
You're a great writer and reviewer. Thank you for sharing that talent and making these videos.
Also I just splashed Irn Bru into my eye. Fuck sakes.
+Carl Golli dont do that
+Richard Lane I didn't try
Carl Golli try to not do that then
For some one like me who isn't really big on constantly pausing combat, what are my chances of getting anything done in this game?
How handy are you with Cheatengine?
Gargenville Is it 7.62 high calibre tier?
So my odds aren't good. Guess I'm not playing it.
*****
Hell, I like micromanaging stuff too and I still bumped it down to easy. Like SBH said, all that micro DOES get fatiguing after a while.
thehorror2
There is an easy mode? That is great to hear and I will probably pick this up. Was a fan on the 90s games Baldurs Gate etc but it has been so long since I've played them so if there is an easy mode to ease you into the game a little bit (not pausing every frame) then I think I will check this game out.
Will finally be playing this next week. Am quite looking forward to it.
I'm sold just by seeing the beautiful isometric view and the art style.
Holy shit, this got me hyped.
Huh. I saw this on steam and immediately skipped over it because its name sounded achingly generic, 'X of Y' and all.
edgy
GR I dont think you know what that word means.
GR how is that edgy? pretty solid reason if you ask me.
There are plenty of achingly generic games with imaginative names. Just look at the indie sidescroller scene.
And, your arbitrary mask has no meaning. World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Binding of Isaac have nothing in common.
In short, you're full of bison dung. Hope that answers your questions.
GR
X of Y where X and Y are both ambiguous, vaugely "fantasy" or "myth" sounding things, dumbfuck. It made it look, at a quick glance to someone skimming over the steam shop, along with the entirely generic art, like something not wotrh looking at. Why the fuck are you acting like this? I never said the game was shit. The whole fucking point is that its a shame that if its a good game, itd be so immensly easy to skip over from the shop.
Great review as always, thanks for all the amazing content Super Bunnyhop
Coming back to this review was refreshing, just for it being a review, as George didn't have as many canned phrases he pulled out like 'time of my life' or whatever. The whole thing just sounds more genuine and thought out for it.
You had me at "Unlimited inventory space"
Something makes me feel like the game is “thick”
Other than using the same words over and over to describe things you do really well reviewing games mate.
dummy thicc
Great review! So glad it turned out great, I love obsidian's games so much. Can't wait to get it soon (I have to finish dragonfall first...).
I turned off Quest markers and never fast travel in Skyrim. I'm 40,000 hours in on my first 5 quests.
Maybe the best Review I've ever watched on TH-cam. Definitely you deserve the sub.
The way you tell about all the background information reminds me of how I felt when first playing skyrim. Who are the thalmor, blades and stormcloaks anyway? Gods, princes, what, why? But skyrim has a lot of quirks that you would mention so this game has done it right.
i take it skyrim was your first elder scrolls? because most of the things in the lore were already established ever since daggerfall (retcons notwithstanding) i.e more than a decade ago :P
Seven Sete *Waves from the 'Morrowind First' seat* I miss Silt Striders and the clunking, ticking Dwemer ruins made of metal and not stone.
That's why I loved that game more with every playthrough. Every time I was less of an outsider and more of a character in the world.
Vallorn didn't skyrim have metallic ruins? Or were those just the various gadgets that were metal?
I miss a lot of morrowind and would love to see them bring back some of those concepts in a new way, but I still loved skyrim. The world felt so alive and reactive, then I found out about skyre and frostfall. Elder scrolls games are great once other people fix them.
DriscolDevil
skyrim's dwemer dungeons were a mix of stone and metal
in morrowind they were 100% metal
Very nice review, I have never played an old CRPG like this and you make it seem like there is something really quite epic hidden in this concept. I think I will pick it up, wondering which version should I get.
The word "Thick" was used so many times
tl;dr THICC
I didn't leave the character creation page for 7 days now, hope i get to the intro soon
That hit the spot.Belive it or not it took me 2 and a half hours to pass the character creation screen :D
Grats on being in the pillars of eternity documentary. I was like "Hay I know that voice"
looking forward. just got it
This or Divinity Original Sin?
Bartek Bierbasz Both are great games. Original Sin has a simpler combat system if you can call it that... But Pillars has better roleplay. Both games are worth more then what you will pay for them.
Amaziyah Aryeh
Yea but Original sin has better game play plus with the map maker people can make and add to the game all they want. The down fall of Original sin is that you really only have one role to play. Class has no impact on the story. But on the plus side it's good to see more of these games making a come back.
I agree about the better roleplay but so far as far as the story goes in POE ehh... It's ok. It's a bit over hyped. The roleplay is great but the story isn't that interesting.
Bartek Bierbasz I like this more personally, but I was a big fan of the IE games when I was a kid, so this is also a nostalgia trip for me.
D:OS was a really good game as well.
Bartek Bierbasz divinty was much more difficult..wow i can't believe i'm saying this
Man I wish there were versions of all these hyper-old school RPGs that just simplified the fucking combat. I know something like Dark Souls has a reputation for obtuseness but that's not nearly as bad as stuff like this, and there it at least feels like that obtuseness serves a purpose. In games like this it just feels like it gets in the way.
The gameplay gets in the way in a video game? And since when is late 90s hyper old school for RPGs? :D You should take a look at Realms of Arkania if you think that IE (inspired) combat is too tedious.
The combat does serve a purporse, it's there to test the build of your party.
90sgamer92 yeah but like, it gets in the way of the actually interesting part of the game - the dialogue, characters and story. I'm not suggesting they should remove it, I'm sure plenty of people are into it, but I expect vastly more people are interested in these games for the roleplaying elements, so a mode that just makes the combat easy enough where you don't have to worry about it preventing you from progressing would be nice.
Jim Bob
But the combat is just as big and interesting part of the roleplaying as the story, as it tests how well you've built your party. That's what separates RPGs from other games, your characters' stats rather than your reflexes determine how we'll you'll fare and how you'll play the game. Just like if you remove stat checks (and other reactivity) from dialogue options, the game becomes a glorified choose your own adventure book. If you don't like that style of gameplay, there's plenty of adventure and action adventure games out there. George recently made a video rant how these days every game and genre plays exactly the same, the fact that we're starting to see more games catering to different niches/genres again is a good sign. But if you want to give the game a try, there's an easy mode in PoE so you can play it with out a problem. Though even then there's quite a bit of micromanagement in it since the game isn't turn based, but that's an inherent part of Real Time with Pause combat systems (which this game has since it's a spiritual succesor of Baldur's Gate).
90sgamer92 Yeah I've been seeing people tweet about how even on easy mode the game is brutal for people who don't have a lot of experience with this genre. And don't get me wrong, I will try the game, but the combat stuff will only get in the way of the fun dialogue stuff for me, I think.
And I wasn't suggesting removing stat checks from the dialogue, that's a cool part of the role-playing for me, it's just the unwieldy combat that bothers me.
I must be the only person who thought that Dark Souls was a pathetic RPG. It has atmosphere in spades, but the combat just felt like a more boring version of the first fifteen minutes of DMC, and it never really evolves past that. It was horribly grindy, buggy, and poorly optimized. The multiplayer gets used as a vehicle for griefing neighbors about 80% of the time, and help about ten, with the rest being disconnects w/o contact, unless I mod my game and draft up my own friends to play with me. I really do not understand the love of this game. I think a lot of it is fueled by people who equate difficulty to value (its not really hard, it just doles out rewards at a shitty rate to control avatar strength, just like every hack RPG, with the edition of a death mechanic designed to waste as much of your time as possible), sycophants, and weeaboos.
9:15 At least both of the Icewind Dale games started like that, so I don't think it was about the budget but rather a creative decision.
Edit: of course there was a video of some sorts in those games too but each chapter always began with a crawling text against a painted background.
Must say, good review. I think I'll get me this one. Well done, sir.
Having never played this kind of oldschool RPG, I tried this one, and my interested died after around 10 hours. To be sure, I gave a shot at Baldur Gate II. And man... 54 hours and I'm still playing. At least two points where BG2 is superior in my humble opinion:
1.LEVEL DESIGN: every single freakin' screen is full of meaningful play with things to see, do, discover, solve, etc. I didn't feel that in PIllar of Eternity.
2.DIALOG: I read carefully the hundred of pages of incomprehensible lore, dialog and LSD trip that Pillar offers, but it didn't make me feel anything beside boredom and incomprehension, where BG2 offers sharp, fast paced repartee that cleverly make the NPC and the wolrd alive to me.
This is quite subjective for sure. But thanks to this review, I'll probably give another shot at Pillar.
Yeah. You hit the nail on the head. This sort of retro trip is just for kids who want to appear cool.
I'm old enough to have been around when these games were cutting edge (actually long before that) and no, they are not any better than games are nowadays. Indeed they are much worse. The hype is all posturing and gamer cool signaling. Liking retro shit is a badge of honor to some and I feel sorry to everyone tricked into buying ancient fucking history for modern prices.
+PanzerKami So people can't actually, genuinely like the game?
Rikter Terran
I'm not reacting to people "liking" the game, I'm reacting to the ridiculous hype surrounding games build on outdated technology, outdated game system design and outdated UI's. Can you like it? Sure. Is it "better" than modern games? Fuck no. Objectively no.
PanzerKami Wait, why compare it to modern games? What kind of modern games is this usually being compared to?
Sorry, I don't really play CRPGs besides Fallout.
I'm pretty sure he meant that the gameplay hasn't evolved since then and that's the selling point, to sell a nostalgia field trip to the bored consumer by today games standards, but just because it's a call back to those old games it doesn't mean it's better than them, it is as he said an outdated experience that fills a certain niche
How many outstanding games have to come out of Kickstarter before people stop talking like it needs some kind of redemption?
George, your videos are fantastic. Keep up the amazing work.
Your review was featured in the "Road to eternity" documentary by Obsidian.
Who else came here cause this game free at epic games 😂😂lol
got nothing else to do today. here we gooo
Lol thanks to epic that i get to know such a great game like this
Gonna mod the shit out of it. Millennium is back baby.
And here I am unable to cast a spell in Baldur's Gate just because I missed one line of dialogue.
Great review. I'm just waiting for my download to finish and will be starting this today.
Definitely not a game for the 'Modern warfare Generation'.
I REALLY REALLY (trust me) REALLY wanted to get into this game (as i never played baldurs gate, older diablos etc. or any other isometric game).....but i just couldnt.I HATED the way dialogue bombards you with lore and its demand that you know the lore before you play the game (or you need to spend hours reading it to understand).The problem with this wouldnt be big if i liked the world (any game set in Tolkien world, id read shit out of it) but when they force you to read on the world you may end up not liking in the end, is bad design.
Dragon age Origins did this perfectly.Just enough lore in dialogue to give you understanding of what is happening with more info in codex.If you end up liking the games lore, you can read more in codex (ones you didnt read) or online or w/e.
Another great problem is its combat.....i dont like the whole old system (yes, im a casual) where theres 50 stats, 50 options, these affect his n that, you need rolls for this and that, and generally the system from DnD.
Again, DAge Origins was amazing from gameplay point of view, perfect blend of pausing mid combat, with real time 3rd person action RPG mixed with isometric view....i loved that camera and gameplay.
But i really loved art of PoE, i loved the interactive comic parts, look of the world, some of the lore etc.But it wasnt streamlined enough for me (a filthy casual, i know) but w/e.
Im sad that i gave this game 2 shots and still didnt love it.......
I don't blame you. Frankly, reading in games isn't something I particularly like. I played through Baldur's Gate I and II but I don't think the dialogue is memorable, but I do remember the quips from two companions, Xan and Minsc, because they had very interesting personalities. Don't get me started on Planescape: Torment. I knew what I was getting into and read everything, but I feel like I have such a low attention span that I didn't fully appreciate the highly-praised, dense story that much haha.
But if you're still up for it, I would recommend giving Baldur's Gate I and II a try (start with 1 because 2 doesn't make any attempt to familiarise new players to the series with the story). I don't think I had any problems where the game forced the lore down my throat.
Hell, Planescape Torment, the most dense and dialogue-heavy game didn't really force anything down your throat. On my first run, I completely missed all of the character's dialogue quest lines, because you have to talk them yourself just to activate them. Oops.
As for the combat system for Baldur's Gate and PoE, I fully agree that it is completely overwhelming for a new player and you'll definitely need to read up on the best strategies on your first run. You don't need to a crazy min-maxing nut to get the most out of the system, but you'll definitely need a good base. But once you get use to it, it's one of the most tense and rewarding combat system out there.
thnx, i just might get BG 1.....try it out.
No offense, but what you described as negative i see as positive. You are a stranger to the world, you are not omnicient and can be deceived and depending on what information you get into contact with first your perception on certain things can be very different, although the main story, while epic and complex, is quite straight forward and unveiled as the game progresses.The thing is, you can stumble through the game by understanding basic themes and mechanics, like speed basically being the end all be all of stats for the most part. But in the end combat just isnt the focus of the game, and that is good in my book. Yes, it is demanding, but i rarely felt overwhelmed with a few optional boss encounters being the exception, and even then, it only challanged me to adjust my approach to the encounter with the knowledge i gained by getting destroyed the first times. But in the end, if minmaxing isnt your thing and you want to fly through the game, there is a difficulty option for that. As for the story, it is another part, if you don't want to immerse yourself in the world for whatever reason, there is no straight arrow pointing to what you should do to achieve x outcome most of the time, so you will miss a lot of the story and what makes this game great. But at that point the likely truth is that the game probably isn't for you.
I feel like PoE is to DAO what Game of Thrones is to Lord of the Rings. In PoE it is more about politics with all sides having valid points while at the same time being somewhat scumbags, while in DAO the frontiers and factions are more clear with the eventual corruption going on. at least in the grand picture.
As for Planescape Torment: I hate the gameplay, combat is just not fun ( i also didn't like combat in the first 2 Fallouts and to a lesser degree in Arcanum). So the writing is basically everything it has to its name imo, but it surely is excellent, it's just not something i would recommend to anyone who just wants to have some fun doing battle and not read every bit of information there is. At that point it just doesn't matter how good the writing is, if you don't care for it or rather even the task of reading it.
In fact for me it is the opposite when it comes to strategy games, i tried to get into the Total War series (especially Shogun Total War 2) multiple times and just never cared for the battles, and at that point Civilization becomes far more attractive every time to me, while others love the feeling of epic battles, i am perfectly fine with a chance based abstract combat by dragging a unit from one square to another, its just a different focus meeting different expectations.
Maybe you are just more into Dragon Age Inquisition and the like, it's not half as bad as some people make it out to be, or Skyrim as long as you keep the tracking enabled (you can basically disregard most of the lore and finish the game without losing much imo), or even Kingdoms of Amalur, the game had a great combat system while being rather repetitive and underwhelming in some parts such as enemy design etc. due to various reasons, but i loved that single player WoW feeling i got, grinding through hordes in my shiny complementary armor that simply looked badass =). I just don't feel like you will be happy with Baldurs Gate (although i hope im wrong on this one, as the game is a highly praised classic for good reasons), because it is very stat heavy in the way PoE is, and later on, say BG2-Throne of Baal, you basically pause every other second to give out commands and cast a ton of spells (even before you go into combat). In general, maybe give CRPGs a shot, but maybe ARPGs are just more your thing, there is nothing wrong with that.
SpaceMonkeyEntertainment Wow, thnx for the long reply.
I dont mind the politics side of games, im just not fond of when games makes you feel dumb if you dont get all the things in the world.
For example i played half of witcher 1 and watched 2nd half as a story gameplay (with main story and few side quests), and i am now playing witcher 2 and the game bombards you with names and places and expects you to understand it.FIrst sentence in the game "kingdom of Nilfgaard attacked prince Charte of La vallets second father to the cousin of Arte DuPont the leader of faction Grimvaar based in south regions of Jukstun which is rulled since ages by Throthgaar family" etc etc etc.
And as some1 who has kinda OCD of completing and understanding stuff 100% (why i watch explanations for most movies to get max out of them etc) i feel bombarded with names which i should care but i have no interest because i dont love the world (yet).
Thats the very reason i couldnt get into GoThrones books....i mean GRRM throws family names and trees in hundreds in first half of 1st book, and i just couldnt mind keeping up.
But when i do fall in love with the world (Elder scrolls, GoT, LotR etc.) then i get the wish to learn more and THEN i read up on lore, history etc.
Thats my whole point, i dont like when im forced and shoved by names.Skyrim was easy, the very first minutes of that game (my first EScrolls game, i came back to play oblivion) were just setting up the world simplisticly.You get to know ulfric killed some big hot shot, he is stormcloak, rebelious organisation against imperials and thats it.From then on no one bombards you, its all up to you to read the books, ask people etc.
Even games with no "active" lore (no one to tell you about it, no books to read etc. mostly is up to your interpretation and figuring out) like Dark souls, made me fall in love with them.I want to read up on that world soooo badly.
And then there are games like Kingdoms of Amalur, with its grind gameplay (which gets repetative), boring side quests which get repetative and forgetable characters (i couldnt remember 1 character name, not even my own....)
Thats why i like Bioware games (both Mass effect series and dragon age alike).They hands down (to me at least) make the best characters.I can name any important character in ME or DA series, the companions are AMAZING, each wonderful and special, and they dont force feed you lore (unless you ask in dialogues).Even witcher (which im forcing myself to get into) has good characters.I wont forget Siegfried, Kalkstein, Zoltan, Dandalion, Triss and many more.
Idk, maybe i just dont like DnD gameplay/setup with lots of classes and atributes.....and maybe that makes me hate the games more than i should or that they deserve (that is for sure truth).But i just cant get myself into playing them because of the gameplay.
Ive played Neverwinter Nights as a young kid, and i always wanted to replay the game me and my bro had hours of fun with (as complete noobs) but as a grown up, now i cant even finish first chapters both in NWN 1 or 2......But then again i loved Diablo 3 (for what little i played on PS3 in my friends house) so theres that.
Anyway, thnx for reading.Im still searching for some good RPGs :D
I'm a big Neverwinter Night D&D fans and even so this game drives me nut.
I feel like this game get lots of free pass slack from reviewers for being a budget POOR MAN kickstart. Some frustrating mechanics are there not cause they are good nostalgic, but because they are from original games. Heck most are felt cut and paste from Dungeon and Dragon, like they are not even trying with creativity, same term and all. Spell charge per rest, spells vs. fortitude blah blah.
Here are some negativities, and I'm not even talking about the graphic.
1) This game is heavy micromanage, your party members AI are STUPID, unless you order them what to do EACH TURN, they will just stand there while their party get mauled by monsters. Even so, chance is they will stuck behind some walls or random object collision. (ex: I order my mage to cast a spell, he either 1) stuck behind some wall 2) run up front to enemy 3) fell asleep after casting that spell, no auto attack) Talk about bad programming
2) The world are bunch of wall of texts after wall of texts after wall of texts. And not even straight to the point, they give you some Shakespeare poems just to tell you the castle is ruin >_> I feel like I'm reading a novel, which if I wanted to read a book, I'd go do that instead of playing.
3) Most dialogs provide multiple response options like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but they all lead to the SAME RESULT, what's the freaking point.
4) This game is very Dungeon and Dragon combat, multiple things can happen in battle, evasion, resistant, critical happen. However unlike other D&D games, they are not very well described. Sometime you hit enemy with area spells and nothing happen, no text no number, since the game fails to let you know why.
Overall I feel like this game has some enjoyment if you have no other RPG games to play. But it's not as good as reviewers claim.
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I freaking loved the music, it's really really immerssive it just fitted really well while I was reading through the text it really took me to that world I felt I was there it's simply amazing
100% agree. One thing that I love love love about BG 1-2 and PoE is the beautifully touching soundtrack.
one of the best reviews I've ever seen. Good job ;)
I wish Diablo 3 has this kind of graphic. Their current one is kinda cartoonish.
Hisyam M. you mean style and aestetic.
the graphics meand the raw things like textures, models, lights what you talking about is arstyle.
yes im a very nitpicky person
also forgive my grammar and spelling mistakes
Good thing I watched this review because I was going to buy it based on the high score it got from Metacritic but now I won't. There are two branch of RPGs that I can't stand: turn based and micro-managing. The only turn based RPG that I've ever played and finished was South Park: The Stick of Truth and Divinity: Original Sin (although DoS requires micro-management, it is minimal enough to keep my interest). The only micro-managing RPG that I've ever played and finished was Dragon Age: Origins. As soon as I found out this game requires a lot (maybe a lot is an understatement) of micro-management, I was instantly turned off by it. My favorite of all RPGs is real-time RPGs. Can't wait till The Witcher 3 is released.
Well that's because you're dumb.
You prefer Action RPGs. Nothing wrong with that.
VersionBest I feel sorry for you
Sorry you're getting shit on by the PC Master Race for having an opinion. They can be fucking obnoxious, can't they?
VersionBest Well it's really the only kinda games around that offer strategic management on that level at this point. There's clearly a very large number of people who want to see more of that.
great review, can't wait to play this. remembering bg1 and bg2 and one of my favourite stories of all time
IMO it is better then BG1. Not as good as BG2. But still a really good game.
Super helpful and informative review. Thank you!