Review: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Steam)

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Pursue a rogue god over land and sea in the sequel to the multi-award-winning RPG Pillars of Eternity. Captain your ship on a dangerous voyage of discovery across the vast unexplored archipelago region of the Deadfire.

Pros:

  • Crisp highly detailed graphics.
  • 40319MB Download size.
  • Steam achievements.
  • Graphics options-Window mode, Resolution, Quality presets, MSAA, V-Sync, Glows, Lights, High-quality ocean, Font scale and frame rate slider.
  • Can rebind keys.
  • Auto pause- Set the conditions for when this kicks in.
  • Five difficulties- Story, Relaxed, Classic, Veteran and path of the damned.
  • Level scaling- Set if enemies scale in difficulty for you. Options available to you are- All, none or critical path only.
  • Gameplay modifiers. Make it harder like limited saves or stronger enemies.
  • RPG gameplay.
  • Strong soundtrack.
  • Free DLC packs.
  • Rewrite history- You can answer a few questions and transform your previous life. This is more in relation to players coming from the first game.
  • Scroll text speed as well as being able to fast forward in the game.
  • Adjust game speed on the fly in the game.
  • Powerful voice work.
  • The story is narrated to you in a way that feels like a DM from DandD is reading to you, It is very impactful.
  • Six default races- Aumaua, Dwarf, Elf, Godlike, Human, and Orlan.
  • Detailed character creator-Sex, Race, Subrace, Single or multiclass, 11 classes-Barbarian, Chanter, Cipher, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Priest, Ranger, Rogue, and wizard, Adjust your stats, Job, starting weapons, pick the first ability, colors of gear, Portrait.
  • Strong Dungeons and Dragons vibe throughout.
  • Every menu choice has a helpful description.
  • When creating a character you get a brief pop up on what stats get affected by your choices.
  • Tutorial/pop-ups happen as you encounter new things and can be re-read.
  • Multiple choices in conversations.
  • Save when you want.
  • Isometric view.
  • Jaw dropping locations.
  • Controls are simple enough to pick up.
  • Can respec your character.
  • Full group management.
  • Well paced story.
  • The menu has neat touches like when equipping items, The required slots will highlight.
  • Full crafting table.
  • Main mission as well as a huge variety of side missions.
  • You have a certain amount of freedom to play how you want.
  • Has a lot of replayability as every choice you make real changes to the outcome of events.

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Cons:

  • A lot of loading screens with long and short waiting times.
  • A lot to take in.
  • Slow pace.
  • Menus look daunting.
  • Takes a while to get used to the controls and mechanics.
  • Creates a lot of autosaves.
  • Few mission bugs.
  •  Built-up areas can slow the game down.
  • No controller support.
  • Single player only.

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The Numbers:
  • 9/10
    Graphics - 9/10
  • 9/10
    Sound - 9/10
  • 8/10
    Accessability - 8/10
  • 9/10
    Length - 9/10
  • 10/10
    Fun Factor - 10/10
9/10

Summary

For me, this could be the definitive Dungeons and Dragons game without the Dungeons and Dragon name. I mean just creating your character has the vibes, The character sheet at the end and all the narration and interactions. I still prefer the combat in Divinity over the slightly easier approach here. It doesn’t have as much depth and variation that Divinity offers. But man the game is simply wonderful, It s a game you will lose hours in, The multiple choice interactions will change the game in a way so unique that you will want to come back and try again going a different way. I mean yes the end game is not as great as the first half of the game but the story keeps you in it. In short, This is the definitive D&D experience in all but name.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!