Pillars of Eternity is a reminder of a different time and not only because it tries to recreate the atmosphere of the immortal classics, but because it treats the player the same way the games a decade ago did. It doesn’t straightly assume that the players are clueless (can be read as stupid) and doesn’t hold their hands in everything they do, instead it gives the players the opportunity to learn through trial and error and discover the game by themselves. Difficulty and logic are notions almost lost to this new generation of games and with some producers saying that their games are more difficult than they should be (when it is quite the opposite), the future doesn’t look so bright. Games like this one come to stand against the current trend and their success show that there is still hope.
Pillars of Eternity is not a flawless game and knowing Obsidian’s work, that was never going to happen, as the people working there have a huge history with bugs dating before the existence of this studio. The game makes an appeal to nostalgia for a time that is never coming back, but it stands on its own and shines like a diamond, a little rough on the edges, in a sea of carbon yet failing to be the masterpiece of this age.
This title also stands as proof that Kickstarter crowdfunding is not a way of just cashing on the hopes the fans, redeeming this concept from the latest mishaps.
If I can let my suppressed subjective side speak freely for a short passage during this review, I want to say that I enjoyed this game immensely, more than most of the games in the last couple of years. It was a heart breaking moment for me when I heard that Obsidian Entertainment was so close to bankruptcy and I’m glad that the fans of this genre and of this studio made their continued existence possible. By the time I write this review, Pillars of Eternity is a known success, it has an expansion in works (already announced during Kickstarter) and this can only make me happier.
Obsidian Entertainment (inXile and some other smaller studios), don’t ever leave us, because without you and your games, the PC gaming industry and the RPG genre will be much bleaker.
As an ending note I would like to say this: The Witcher 3, Shadowrun: Hong Kong and Torment: Tides of Numenera, come and challenge Pillars of Eternity if you can, because this RPG is high up there!


Pros:
+ Perfect combination of artistic and painted-like 2D graphics with 3D characters
+ Epic soundtrack
+ A story full of adventure, mystery and choices
+ Extremely well written dialogues and some captivating characters
+ Tactical combat with many challenging fights
+ The DnD vibe
+ The Endless Paths
+ Loot system and the itemization
+ 60-70+ hours of gameplay and enough replay value
+ Infinity engine games feeling

Cons:
- Enough game breaking bugs and lots of other glitches at launch
- Some of the combat mechanics don’t work too well
- The skills system is an underwhelming copy of DnD
- Many small maps
- The stronghold is nothing more than a money spender/maker
- The big number of loading screens can become a nuisance
- No vegetation animations

Read the full review at:
http://thegameslashers.blogspot.ro/2015/04/pillars-of-eternity-review.html

An exceedingly high quality RPG drawing inspiration from the the golden age of the genre, and PC gaming itself.

The easiest way to describe it is as a spiritual successor to Bioware's Infinity Engine games, like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale most notably. I don't want to devalue it with that term (same as how I felt another excellent game in the CRPG revival scene, Wasteland 2, was too often simplified as a successor to the isometric Fallout games) as it has a lot going for it. If anything I think it drew a lot of inspiration from Planescape: Torment, as well as 2009's cult classic Inquisitor. Pillars actually strongly reminds me of Inquisitor, just with tighter mechanics and better production values.

The lore itself isn't too out there, it's a fairly Tolkien-esque world. What really lifts it is the excellent writing quality and sheer abundance of it. The last game I can remember with such good writing was the aformentioned Planescape: Torment, back in late 1999. The game's lore is richly crafted and with a huge attention to detail. You can really get lost just reading the books and the cyclopedia. The in-game dialogue is similarly well done, it really has that cosy feel of DnD and 90s CRPGs but on a higher level of quality.

The other two strong points are the graphics and the strategic combat. The visual style of the game is just fantastic. Enviroments almost look like paintings and the lighting effects are especially notable. The production value of the game is as a whole, really good. Sound effects and music are both very well done too.

The combat is excellent too, it really pairs well with the deep RPG elements and character building. The system is based off DnD but is pretty much custom made for the game and it works very well. The combat is consistently enjoyable and different classes offer many different options for the player to approach and conduct combat with.

All in all, the game is another excellent release in the CRPG revival of recent years. Highly recommended for any RPG fan and practically a must buy if you're a CRPG fan. In the era of the action RPG, it's great to see games like Pillars of Eternity keep the old-school flame alive.

Honestly, this is only a thumbs-down because there is no way of putting something 'middle ground', and with all those positive reviews, potential buyers must beware of this game's flaws.

Before starting, I'm a veteran of this kind of rpg, Baldur's Gate Saga, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment (my favorite of all time), I've played it all, so you know I won't be some 'noob' who bumbles around with the controls and is incapable of handling a manual.

Pillars of Eternity is an important game in this generation that was forcefed games made by publishers that had no contact with their public, it was successfully financed by the public, and from that standpoint Obsidian was more than successful. This game was made with love, and with lots of holes...

Starting with the good aspects, every companion so far has interesting stories to tell and different personalities that can be deep. The way the characters are generated are meant to avoid Minmaxing, every single stat can help any kind of character in some way, enabling different builds for different classes. Speaking of which, equipment works differently. Every weapon has pros and cons, and any class can use anything. A wizard can use heavy plating, a warrior can use a long-range wand, heavy armor makes actions slower, and certain enemies are immune to certain kinds of damage, so you can't rely on a single sword all the time. The music made by Justin Bell is... practically a carbon copy the old rpgs like Baldur's gate's Michael Hoenig (Which is a good thing). There is a diverse set of quests for you to take care of, some have pretty emotional stories to tell, and there is always something hidden for you to see.

Other good thing is the time manipulation, you can not only make time run faster, but slower, good to micro-manage a fight. SPOILERS, you get a keep, and the ability to manage some sort of building or fortress is always welcome on my book, provided you be able to -really- manage it (I'm looking at you, Baldur's gate 2, the precursor for 'hero gets a keep', but that frustrated me awfully due limiting said keep to just gain gold from time to time.) and in an interesting twist, you have not one, but two kinds of fame, local fame, and personal fame. Some actions can brand you as a specific kind of person, be charitable, and people will find you benevolent, be harsh, and you might get points as a Stoic person. And with bad/good reputation systems per region, like Fallout 2, you can really make yourself a hero of a thousand fames. I can't tell much about the plot, but it has its ups and downs. The game not only acknowledge helpers, but celebrate them, and here and there you will see names of backers in the shape of special npcs with unique stories and messages on cemeteries.

Now, for the bad part.

Every single trait explained before has huge, huge, huge flaws.
Every single point explained can be insanely frustrating, sometimes nearly gamebreaking at times. The backers? You will see thousands of those characters just lying around waiting to be clicked and expecting you to read their stories time after time after time. After the first city, I started to ignore them altogether. They are EVERYWHERE and sometimes they can be downright immersion-shattering. None of them interact with you, in any way, they are just there to be basked upon and so their 'awesome stories' can be read.

Combat is a mess. The Allied A.I is so idiotic that it's nearly impossible to have a single fight without micromanagement. If they set on a target, they won't disengage from it without a direct command. Meaning, they can be mowed down by 'opportunity attacks' made by the enemies and worse, step on traps, run inside the area of a fireball (friendly or foe), and much worse. You can't tweak the A.I to me more specific than "kill everything in sight" "Only move if the enemy attacks you", and as another reviewer noted, the enemy AI knows how to work VERY WELL as a team. You can't buff your team before fights, you can't lay more than ONE TRAP and ONE SPELL TRAP, which severely limits strategy. The cleric spells are nearly useless, since many of the status effects that low level enemies can cause on you (Paralysis, Dizzy, Charmed) can be only countered with high-level spells. Which you won't have. Skills are another mess, they are rarely used, useful, and only the main character can use his skills in interactions, meaning, if you are a wizard and spent all your points in lore, no matter if you have two super-warriors with 10 in athletics, you will have to waste a rope or cheat.

The devs wanted to avoid minmaxing? Awesome! Then why in the name of Bhaal they chose to put So many interactions with such a high stat requirements? I had to use 18 intelligence to haggle prices with a courtesan, but had to use -Resolve- to talk about an ancient relic with a scholar!? Oh, and you can't stack boosts given by items. Nice, no problem, except that the boosts given are just +1 or +2, items with +3 are awfully rare. Oh and either you get a cape, or a necklace... WHY!?

The quests... where to begin? I'm not against straightforward good vs. evil plots. Baldur's Gate 1 main criticisms was that evil characters were screwed because of the dualist nature of the game. I agree with the criticism, but I don't mind that, the game itself was honest in acknowledging it's nature. but many (thankfully not a lot) of quests in Pillars will offer a false sense of morality. A Moral Conundrum is when you can't choose based on the fact that each choice has equally convincing and important arguments. Pillars just pretends to give 'hard' moral choices by offering either something 'good', or something 'evil' that will give you an item, boost, or more money. Again, it would be all fine and dandy... except that Reputation hardly matters except in key points. It doesn't help you buying/selling stuff much, no random groups will try to hunt you down. And the game pretends to always offer you a 'third choice' if you have stats/skills, which it doesn't in points that would really matter. And many, MANY are severely flawed or bugged. There was a quest in which I had to save a group of soldiers from a banshee that enthralled them. I killed the banshee without a single soldier dying, only to discover that the devs never gave you an option of saving said soldiers. You have to kill them. Also, without a warning, you might be suddenly drafted into a faction without the option of getting out, if you merely accept a quest. And many, many personal quests with your companions won't change a SINGLE thing in their story. You could treat certain members awfully, insult them, but... nothing changes, you just gain xp.

The game allows you to make items, potions and scrolls, yaaayy! To make something really useful, you will need rare ingredients that rarely appear. The enchantments that you can place on a piece of armor or weapon are severely limited and expensive due said ingredients being rare, so you're better off buying weapons with a shopper, or finding special gear in dungeons.

For the last part, the Keep. Having a keep in itself is awesome, a place to call home, a base to build... except that the mechanics are utterly broken. See, to avoid making the players just sit on their asses waiting time to pass to collect money, the devs made time pass in the keep in two senses, turns, and days. Days are used to build stuff like walls and houses, and turns only pass when you finish quests. It has two special stats, security and prestige. They SUPPOSEDLY should bring you more money and guests (prestige), and protect said money and guests (security). I maxed them both, and my money kept getting stolen by bandits.

So, it's a good game, but be warned!

Amazing old school RPG experience, Baldur's Gate-like interface with pros (+) and cons (-)
+ Way Better Graphics (detailed).
+ Really Interesting Story (Tons of Lore to read).

- I would expect more areas to be available, the game even though holds you for 50+ hours, it feels somewhat short.
- The ambient music intervals are not that frequent even in the highest possible setting! The music is excellent and worth to be as blended with the gameplay as possible.
- Some minor pathfinding issues and other bugs.

Buy it without any doubt if you 're a fan of Baldur's gate, otherwise wait for a sale. Can't wait to test the expansions on a better platform

Tactical combat gamers will love this. Story gamers may well find the story too shallow. I did.

Old school RPG for the modern times.

You will feel right at home if you ever enjoyed games like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale and the original Fallout. If you never played such games, here's what you need to know:

This a Classic Isometric RPG and it doesn't focus on action, but rather STRATEGY and MICROMANAGEMENT.

As such, it could be overwhelming to those new to the genre, however the developers have managed to make it accessible to everyone with a wide selection of difficulty options that range from "almost godmode" to "dark souls on cocaine". Also the narrative is delivered through text. A LOT OF TEXT. Seriously there's enough to read here to fill a novel and if you don't like reading, you'll be in trouble. The plot is good, albeit not mindblowing, but what is worth praising is the detailed Lore created for this game.

PROs
+ Amazing pre-rendered 2D backgrounds packed with details
+ Music fits perfectly with the high fantasy genre
+ Loads of details in the lore and narrative
+ Lots of hours of gameplay, especially with the expansion
+ Works great on older systems

CONs
- The lore is dumped on you quite abruptley and can cause confusion in the beginning (it gets clarified later on)
- Central plot could've been more interesting
- Minor inaccuracies in the in-game descriptions of items and spells
- Steep learning curve on account of the lackluster tutorials


Easy to find at a decent discount these days, worth every cent!

A challenging RPG with fantastic voice acting and action-packed gameplay, Pillars of Eternity will not disappoint fans of the genre. Obsidian Entertainment has "WOW"d me twice, the first by way of South Park, a solid RPG that was actually fun to play. PoE is very different in style and design; it has that fantasy appeal... very Bard's Tale'ish.

Pick it up & enjoy!

Great gameplay, customization, story, characters, and dialogue! GET THIS GAME!

It's a good game. however I must say I don't like the developers' approach on "blance the game" instead of making underwhelming classes more enjoyable, they kept nerfing other classes. it's all too discouraging for the players who got used to certian play styles, and made them completely unenjoyable or unplayable when an update comes. I know the developers are trying to let you enjoy all classes and skills more, but such overhaul is just bad planning.

Added party member Hiravius (sp?) and now party roster selection is completely broken. Googling found many others with the same complaint, and submission dates indicate it's been a reported bug since at least early 2015. I was enjoying this game till this point, but this is a game breaker for me.