Pillars of Eternity Reviews
Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity revisits the company's Black Isle roots, resulting in a High Fantasy, party-based RPG in the traditional style. Strong thematic hooks, well-written characters and reactive quest design, all resting on an original set of tabletop-inspired mechanics, make this a triumphant return.
Pillars of Eternity is a masterclass in role-playing game development, recapturing the essence of the genre's past triumphs and repackaging them for a universal audience.
This is the type of game that needs two scores. One for the diehards of the genre and one for the newbies. The development team catered to their core group, and I feel they made the game that they wanted to play. But ultimately I also feel I have to hold them responsible for making a game that feels inaccessible in so many ways. Once you get over the learning cliff, there is a better game out there than this score represents. Pillars of Eternity is like a speakeasy. If you know the dirty, dark alley you need to go down and have the password for the doorman, there is a wonderful, vibrant, and robust world on the other side filled with dancing girls, jazz music, booze, and cigarettes.
It's the best new, isometric RPG to come out in years.
Pillars of Eternity is the definitive signal of a return to the origins of electronic role-playing and establishes, paired with Divinity, a benchmark with which all products from now on will have to clash. Between the two which one to choose? Both, if you have two hundred hours to devote to us. Alternatively, we are faced with two different aspects of the same coin. While Divinity is all gameplay, curious interactions and puzzles a bit weird but always interesting, Pillars does not seek innovation and prefers a classic approach, succeeding in the enterprise like no other has succeeded so far. The plot, the social interaction between the protagonists, the characterization of an entire world down to the smallest detail are rare and precious values, difficult to find if not in sporadic and superb equally successful productions (we mention Dishonored, Human Revolution and World of Warcraft, to make the idea).
Review in Italian | Read full review
Whether you're a veteran of role-playing games with Dungeons and Dragons sauce or just a curious man attracted to the genre, don't wait: Pillars of Eternity is a perfect synthesis of the mechanics that made the heyday of typical PC RPGs, when Planescape: Torment or Baldur's Gate reigned supreme. With a captivating story, a real richness and careful writing, Pillars of Eternity is an unmissable role-playing game. The only shadows on the board: the many loading sequences and text up to indigestion. But apart from these little details, Pillars of Eternity is a case of school: well written, well finished, beautiful and rich at the same time, it is a huge adventure that reaches out to you and that will keep you busy for hours ... or for eternity.
Review in French | Read full review
Obsidian had a daunting task before them: to make a spiritual successor to a series of games that are inextricably tangled up in nostalgia, over a decade after the height of those games' popularity. This is not the Baldur's Gate of 2015, it's Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, the best parts of the lot of them wrapped up in something new and brilliant. And before you venture forth, don't forget to gather your party.
Is Pillars of Eternity the perfect game? No, but it is an incredibly good one.
Pillars of Eternity demonstrates that a great RPG is as much in our own heads and hearts as it is a developer's vision relayed through a monitor. A must-play for fans of the genre, old and new.
Pillars of Eternity is a wondrous return to form, the latest and greatest from a recent move to revisit RPG classics. It's certainly the best RPG experience I've had for many years, and a massive part of that is how it approaches its story telling. If you enjoyed the Infinity engine games, you will have an absolutely fantastic time with Pillars of Eternity. It's a huge reminder of all the things I never knew I sorely missed from the roleplaying genre.
Fans who contributed money hoping Pillars of Eternity would feel like a return to the era of Baldur's Gate-style RPGs will not be disappointed. Gamers who never played those Black Isle games may be frustrated by some of the "classic" gameplay elements, but Pillars offers a lot to like for those who want tactics and story in their RPGs.
This time, the money from Kickstarter was not wasted. A hellishly experienced team has created a classic RPG that is a natural development of ideas from Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Pillars of Eternity is an epic that either meets or exceeds all of my lofty expectations. Minutes turned to hours, hours turned to evenings and evenings turned to days as I immersed myself in the wonderful world that Obsidian has created. You must gather your party before venturing forth—a dangerous and exciting world awaits you in Pillars of Eternity.
The best RPG Obsidian has ever made. Just be ready to read.
While elements such as the writing and level design are on point as always when it comes to the developer, there are a few things that newcomers should be aware of coming into this modern interpretation of a beloved period of time for Western RPG fans.
Pillars is a great western RPG, a very rich title, with complex gameplay, with this curated, beautifully written dialogue and an impressive care for almost every aspect. However, much of its greatness comes from those who preceded it, those Baldur's Gate and that Planescape Torment that traced the furrow on which Obsidian's last work calmly lingers. It is difficult to criticize the house for the choice made, given the solidity of these classics, but a little more courage we would have appreciated it, especially with a rival like Divinity on the pitch.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Seriously, if you love your role playing games lore heavy, challenging, and fun, you literally can't go wrong with PIllars of Eternity. With the amount of pleasure I've had playing this game, it can easily stand tall and proud as one of the most tactical, thought provoking, and enjoyable RPGs I've ever played.
Great storytelling and presentation as well as engaging and deep combat mechanics. Crafting and itemization leaves a little to be desired but the overall package is a high quality return on investment.
It may seem like I am being too harsh on Pillars of Eternity, but in truth the game is one of the better Kickstarter titles to be released, and gives a lot of independent and even some AAA titles a run for their money.