Game News Pillars of Eternity Released

[Melcar]

I laughed at the sys. reqs. for the game. I mean, you have to.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Looks like the thread has been invaded by dumbfucks. I'm impressed they've stayed away this long.

On my second playthrough as a cruel and vicious psychopath monk (I was basically a good two shoes chanter on my first playthrough).

Still love the game.

 

[jdinatale]

I'm a storyfag, how is the plot in this game? Compelling? Interesting characters / villains?

 

[Ninjerk]

I'm a storyfag, how is the plot in this game? Compelling? Interesting characters / villains?

lol

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I'm a storyfag, how is the plot in this game? Compelling? Interesting characters / villains?

Yes.

 

[Sensuki]

The plot is, I hate to say it, disappointing.

 

[Ramireza]

Well, its clearly better then the BG1 Story...

Its not as epic as the (total over the top) BG2 Story, but with MUCH better wrtiing.

Its of course better then the IWD "Stories".

Its not as good as the PST Story.

No, its not disapointing.

 

[Sensuki]

BG1 had a better plot. Pillars of Eternity's story might be better, although I didn't care for it that much, the plot however has some issues and seems very disjointed.

It's a well-written average story with plot issues (not plot holes, but issues).

 

[Haba]

I'm a storyfag, how is the plot in this game? Compelling? Interesting characters / villains?

Depends. How low can you lower your expectations?

 

[naossano]

I am not very advanced into the game so far (so little time to play), but i have mixed feelings so far.
They made a bunch of hand holding features optionals, but some other aren't, like free teleport's fast-travel, infinite inventory, stronghold management from anywhere even if you unchecked the option. Those are still in the way of immersion, IMO. Also, i am not fond of the system they used to pass time with some of the dungeon options. I get it mechanics wise, but lore-wise, it makes no sense to have to wait for additionnal quests to gather the taxes.

The writting is good so far, with lot of text, lot of insight, well-defined companions/characters, great introduction, but the gameworld itself seems less dynamic than BG1. Can't complain about being a dead world as dead has a lot of relevance in the games, but most npc feels static and there isn't many npc to interact with (at least in Gilder Val/Cad Nua). I recall that in BG1, all the way between the first few town, you met ton of people in the road, not just people to recruit there, but also people that might re-appear later, random travelers, assassins, etc.. It felt like not only the town, but also the roads were lively. In POE, you meet way fewer people in road/towns, those are much more static. On the other hand, most of them are living encyclopedia.

I dunno if we should sacrifice one or the other, but as much as i enjoy the many devellopped character, i wish the game had much more secondary characters to complete this world. On the other hand, i still have to visit Defiance/Dyrford/Twin Elms (i am about to visit Anslog Compass) to see if there are more people, and if those are interesting.

I would also have preferred more companions, and not having most of them recruited so early into the game. You have to keep some assets in your belt for the endgame, to keep things fresh.

Also, don't have an opinion yet, about C&C. The good thing is that most decisions aren't karma related, but i feel that most initial decision are mostly flavor, to design yourself, and not much gameworld changing, but it is too early to tell...

About the combat, it takes time to get use to their version of RTWP, but even after you gain some skills, it is not that interesting. You are basically spamming button on a messy fight with everyone grouped togethers, friend & foes. I would prefer a cleaner TB system, in which you can not only see the fight, but also enjoy it. Luckily, it is not that much combat heavy so far... (plus, no respawning enemies, no xp for them)

To sum it up, so far, i think that it won't be my 2015's favourite games/RPG, but it has enough flavor to make me want keep playing through the end.

 

[Volrath]

BG1 had a better plot.

That settles it, you're out of your fucking mind.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Extreme opinions aside, PoE is actually okay for a storyfag game. Not Obsidian's best or deepest or whatever, but writing-wise it is enjoyable enough and has its moments (I haven't beaten it yet though so I can't comment on the ending or C&C). I wouldn't call the villain compelling, but the lore can be interesting and there are some good companions (even if they do feel underdeveloped at times) and locations.

I think if you enjoyed New Vegas, which also was a Sawyer-Fenstermaker project, chances are you will enjoy this one too (even though, weirdly enough, I found New Vegas' dialogue and narrative a bit more compelling overall).

 

[Sensuki]

BG1 had a better plot.

That settles it, you're out of your fucking mind.

The plot in Pillars of Eternity has issues, especially with the pacing, structure and player motivation - almost as if they tried too hard to make it d33p and complex for the sake of it. BG1's plot is simpler, and it works just fine. Pacing is good. Player motivation is clear and reinforced very well throughout the game.

Normally I don't give much of a crap about the story, but I was disappointed by it, as I expected much, much better from Obsidian.

The writting is good so far, with lot of text, lot of insight, well-defined companions/characters, great introduction, but the gameworld itself seems less dynamic than BG1. Can't complain about being a dead world as dead has a lot of relevance in the games, but most npc feels static and there isn't many npc to interact with (at least in Gilder Val/Cad Nua). I recall that in BG1, all the way between the first few town, you met ton of people in the road, not just people to recruit there, but also people that might re-appear later, random travelers, assassins, etc.. It felt like not only the town, but also the roads were lively. In POE, you meet way fewer people in road/towns, those are much more static. On the other hand, most of them are living encyclopedia.

Yeah I dunno if any or many of the area designers have played BG1 and noticed this or remember this. A lot of the new ones are younger than me, so they may have never played them.

 

[Athelas]

BG1's plot is simpler, and it works just fine. Pacing is good. Player motivation is clear and reinforced very well throughout the game.

You mean the player motivation that consisted of 'your foster father just got murdered, go kill random wildlife for the next few dozens of hours'.

The player character stumbles upon Sarevok entirely by accident.

 

[Sensuki]

No Sarevok comes to kill you specifically and what does side content have to do with the main plot?

When was the last time you played BG ?

The PC in Pillars of Eternity is a "victim of circumstance" although from what I can gather it's ambiguous as to whether that's actually the case due to the awakened soul past life Thosa stuff.

 

[Roguey]

Obsidian reaches for the stars and fails, Bioware sticks to the low-hanging fruit of "these chaotic evil people want to destroy everything" which is nigh-impossible to fail as far as motivation goes.

 

[Athelas]

and what does side content have to do with the main plot?

BG's main content has nothing to do with the motivation of the player character, that was my point. The player character isn't actually allowed to pursue the murderer of his foster father, you have to investigate the Nashkel mines and Cloakwood bandits for...reasons. Until you stumble upon said murderer entirely by accident.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

You mean the player motivation that consisted of 'your foster father just got murdered, go kill random wildlife for the next few dozens of hours'.

No, your foster father got murdered and you seek help from the people he told you to in the case of emergency (because he knows you're being hunted down/targeted). Those people are interested in local troubles (iron shortage) so you may as well tag along because there's safety in numbers and they're the only people left you can trust (as they're vouched for by Gorion). Of course afterwards, you find out how the iron shortage ties into other things and eventually pursue the guy who killed your foster father and is constantly trying to knock you off as well.

Random wildlife is side content, you might as well say, well shit it seems I'm going crazy but I'm still going to waste my time digging around an ancient botomless dungeon.

The player character stumbles upon Sarevok entirely by accident.

That's a load of crap, Sarevok isn't Frank Horrigan like random encounter with an end boss.

 

[Athelas]

No, your foster father got murdered and you seek help from the people he told you to in the case of emergency

So your argument is that if the player doesn't accept Jaheira and Khalid in the party, the player motivation completely falls apart? I disagree - it doesn't hold up well under scrutiny even if you accept them in the party. Again, the player has no reason to care about these things. These things are disconnected from the main plot concerning Sarevok, the murder of Gorion and your mysterious lineage (hindsight knowledge can't be applied as a justification from the perspective of the protagonist). Competently narratively structured, this isn't.

Random wildlife is side content

See my reply to Sensuki above - the critical path in BG is also disconnected from player motivation.

BG's main content has nothing to do with the motivation of the player character, that was my point. The player character isn't actually allowed to pursue the murderer of his foster father, you have to investigate the Nashkel mines and Cloakwood bandits for...reasons. Until you stumble upon said murderer entirely by accident.

 

[Rake]

I think if you enjoyed New Vegas, which also was a Sawyer-Fenstermaker project, chances are you will enjoy this one too (even though, weirdly enough, I found New Vegas' dialogue and narrative a bit more compelling overall).

Oh shit.

 

[One-and-a-half-Ivan]

I think going crazy and trying to find out what the hell is happening to you - along with weird visions of some past events and tortured people - is good enough motivations for a player.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

So your argument is that if the player doesn't accept Jaheira and Khalid in the party, the player motivation completely falls apart? I disagree - it doesn't hold up well under scrutiny even if you accept them in the party.

My point is that it's the most logical thing to do. You know you're being hunted and won't last long on your own (well there's Imoen I guess), so why not seek help you were instructed to (if the worst case scenario happened)?

Again, the player has no reason to care about these things.

No, but the people you presumably join up with do (Montaron and Xzar as well in addition to Khalid and Jaheira), it's safer being in a group and on the move (adventuring).

These things are disconnected from the main plot concerning Sarevok, the murder of Gorion and your mysterious lineage (hindsight knowledge can't be applied as a justification from the perspective of the protagonist). Competently narratively structured, this isn't.

Can't really disagree with that although it does eventually all tie in-together. Sarevok isn't someone you chase throughout the whole game like Irencus though I still prefered low-key investigate local troubles/crisis approach compared to hunt down the super powerful mage who tortures people in his personal dungeon.

 

[naossano]

The writting is good so far, with lot of text, lot of insight, well-defined companions/characters, great introduction, but the gameworld itself seems less dynamic than BG1. Can't complain about being a dead world as dead has a lot of relevance in the games, but most npc feels static and there isn't many npc to interact with (at least in Gilder Val/Cad Nua). I recall that in BG1, all the way between the first few town, you met ton of people in the road, not just people to recruit there, but also people that might re-appear later, random travelers, assassins, etc.. It felt like not only the town, but also the roads were lively. In POE, you meet way fewer people in road/towns, those are much more static. On the other hand, most of them are living encyclopedia.

Yeah I dunno if any or many of the area designers have played BG1 and noticed this or remember this. A lot of the new ones are younger than me, so they may have never played them.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. If they are professionnals, they must have played the game they claim inspiration from at least once, and the area i mention are early in the game. (i didn't go far anyway)
But the point is, it feels that POE are going backward on that specific area, which is unfortunate considering the new tech and the decades of experience Obsidian have compared with the BG's team in the 90s.

 

[norolim]

BG1's plot is simpler, and it works just fine. Pacing is good. Player motivation is clear and reinforced very well throughout the game.

I can't agree about pacing. I mean it's extremely difficult to rate pacing in complex RPGs with a lot of optional content, but since I'm generally a completionist, by the time I reached Baldur's Gate I had completely forgotten what the main plot was about. And most of the side quests weren't very story heavy.

This means that if you follow the main plot and deliberately only do 1/2 wilderness areas in between main plot quests, the pacing will be fine. If on the other hand you follow the game "geografically" and do everything there is to do in the wilderness before going to the title city, pacing will be bad.

 

[Grunker]

Roguey es rite guise.

What you're trying to say is that PoE is much more uneven but also much more ambitious than Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate have nothing that compares to the quality of Durance or PoE's endgame, but has an overall consistent quality. The light themes of adventure and a sheltered youth making a name for himself are distinct and function well to the backdrop of the darker son-of-Bhaal aspect.

I appreciate PoE for trying, and for being great when succeeding, like I appreciate BG1 for succeeding almost throughout its main plot but never being really awesome.