Pillars of Eternity Review

Pillars of Eternity is an isometric party-based computer RPG using real-time-with-pause combat.

What is Great about this game:

- Complex and deep story that moves the game along incredibly well
- Deep character creation and multiple classes each with multiple viable playstyles bringing significant variety to your own playthrough
- Rich and appropriate back story, lore, and flavor text added throughout the game that is worth reading
- Enjoyable tactical combat with numerous options for pausing and other options to make the game more enjoyable
- Unique and sometimes fascinating quest lines with multiple alternative methods for success (e.g. talk yourself out of a combat encounter)
- An ending storyline that was possibly the most thought-provoking and intelligently written as any I have experienced

What is Good about this game:

- The game looks quite nice but could have used more art/animantions to improve it further
- The voice acting is quite good where it exists
- Good use of Steam features (cloud saves, trading cards, achievements, etc)

What is Bad about this game:

- The combat could have been significantly improved (although still very good) by including methods to automate companions similar to the systems in FFXII or Dragon Age: Origins
- Given how story heavy this game is, it would have been much improved by including more voice-over work. The voice acting is very good, but is only available sparsely. The writing is more than worth reading, but having it spoken would have been that much more engrossing.

Conclusion:

Pillars of Eternity is the current pinnacle of story-telling in RPGs with a great combat system and a classic style.

9.5 / 10.0