Pillars of Eternity

Pillars of Eternity is one of the greatest RPGs I have ever played, originally started in 2012 and released in 2015, the Kickstarter raised over 4 million dollars. The game takes place in the setting of Eora, a fantasy world with typical D&D tropes like Wizards, Dragons, and Magic, but the world of Eora is entirely original and has its own mysteries to uncover (so I won’t go into much detail). The game opens with the following narration:

“Five wagons grope blindly for the path on a starless night, their master glancing ever upward to the skies for assurance that he is on the right course, a dim lantern his only protection against the encroaching darkness.

But the skies bring no comfort, shining no light, betraying no hint of what they know.

The caravan carries travelers bound for the frontier hamlet of Gilded Vale, you among them, where a local lord has offered land and wealth to settlers from abroad looking for a fresh start

You have taken suddenly ill, sweating and shivering, and one of the other travelers signals for the caravan master to stop on your behalf.

He pulls up just in time to avoid plowing into the trunk of a fallen tree that bars the way ahead.

You will go no further tonight.”

This excerpt sets the scene of the tutorial area and leads to character creation, which will not be gone into for the sake of time. For further reading, you feel free to read this article, in which I disucss D&D (https://wvsmokesignals.com/1645/features/dungeons-and-dragons/). Be warned this game is not for the faint of heart for there is the bain of any high schoolers existence … reading. Most of the game’s text is not narrated and is usually reserved for party members or important NPC’s. So, if you don’t like reading, this may not be the game for you. The game is also on average around 60 hours lon, including side quests.

The gameplay is real time in and out of combat with a pause feature usable at any point. Also, you will need that little feature as, without pausing, combat goes fairly quickly. In addition to the combative side of the gameplay, there is also the social game. Like in D&D, Pillars includes a lot of dialogue between NPC’s and the player and some of these choices can influence the ending you get for that area of the game and future quests in that area.

In summary, Pillars of Eternity is a great game for some, just not for everyone. This is especially because of the amount of reading and general length of the game. However, if you are interested in an immersive and interesting experience, then this game would definitely get a 9/10. If you enjoy the game, you do not have to wait long for a sequel, as one will be released in April.