So is this game actually good?

[Atheosis]

 

 

 

What was so great about the writing in the BG series? It was FR fluff with big bads to kill. How did we 'shape how the story plays out'? I mean I loved the BG series but the amazing writing and plots were not why.

 I don't see that many people claiming the BG games had such awesome writing. I think the OE drone squad just likes to bring it up a lot because it helps to distract from everything else BG2 clearly beats PoE at.

 

I'm sure you've heard this before, but it's unfair to compare PoE to BG2. Better to compare it to BG1.

 

 Why is it unfair ? BG1 was made by a heap of noobs who had never before made a game. Why should that be the comparison point ? Even compared to BG1 it falls down anyway.

 

 

I don't agree.  BG 1 wasn't as good as PoE and I found BG 2 so monotonous I never even beat it.  Of course this all just opinion...

[Svirfneblin]

 

I kind of think PoE's main quest's issues are that it takes a while to get rolling and isn't great at motivating you in the way BG 1 was. It's probably meatier than either of those games thematically and in terms of content, in my view. Combat in BG 1 is probably a little more varied overall and the AI of the BG games is slightly better at providing meaningful challenges though still cheeseable to hell.

 

I really don't get people holding up BG 1 as an example of build diversity - building a fighter that doesn't have 18/18/18 STR/DEX/CON is always suboptimal, and the curve for stats in AD&D meant that the more you diverged from that the more suboptimal you were. 2 had some but that was from the range of kits and really wide variety of items rather than actually in the character building stage. Dual and multi classes are really important for the replayability precisely because the single classes of AD&D games are really monotonous in their design.

 

DAO - I really liked DAO's choice and consequence. I think the companions for it are probably the weakest of any of Bioware's modern games, though, and linked to that dreadful gifting system. Oghren is the only one I really liked. And the Dog.

 

 

The main problem with the main quest in PoE is that there is a horrible disconnect (I didn't realize this until it was pointed out to me) -- there is no logical connection between "I've gained my stronghold" and "Now I'm in Defiance Bay and investigating the activities of a mysterious organization" (spoilers omitted).  I overlooked this lack of connection because I considered "investigating the mysterious organization" as "just another side quest in the dozens that I had within minutes of arriving in Defiance Bay", but...  Honestly, it really doesn't make any sense that you even be in Defiance Bay other than "Well, you don't have anywhere else to go".  The main story line quests in BG1 and DAO might be simple or cliched, but at least they didn't have any gaps like this.

 

On build diversity -- I consider the presence of multi/dual class options to be /part of/ build diversity, not an "extra".   If you limit the discussion in BG1 to only the basic classes, then yeah, PoE has better build diversity, but that's unfairly penalizing BG1 -- where else are you going to give BG1 credit for including mult/dual classes?

 

On the companions in DAO -- I tend to agree that they were weak in comparison to some other Bioware games, but I'm not trying to evaluate them on some absolute scale or anything -- just against the PoE companions.  And by that standard, the PoE companions are very inferior.

 

 

While I agree that PoE's story has an issue there, I would say that BG1 has a similar gap right from the start- instead of doing anything about investigating Gorion's death you go to Nashkel to solve the Iron Crisis because uh...it seems like the right thing to do?

 

Overall I would say that BG2's story is not as deep or thought provoking as PoE's, but the execution is better.

[NegativeEdge]

The PC in PoE has a perfectly plausible reason to go to Defiance Bay, more so than the protagonists in BG and BG2 to go to Nahskel or spellhold. You could argue that in New Vegas the courier has no compelling to reason to do anything other than turn around and leave Vegas which of course would make for a pretty dull game. At some point you have to meet the narrative half way and say yeah OK, I want to go on an adventure.

I don't think BG or BG2 executed anything (storywise) better than PoE and even if they did, a well executed turd is still a turd after all. That PoEs story, writing and companions are leagues ahead of those games is even in question really surprises me.

BG1 is a by the numbers hero tale and the companions are just walking memes and while BG2 may flesh the characters out it's early BioWare decline all the way so it's just hanging rotting flesh off a pandering carcass (one of the reasons I prefer BG1 to 2 actually). And before anybody mentions Irenicus he's no better, it just seems that way because a very good actor elevated some very bad writing.

 

I think that the writing in Pillars is very strong so far (middle of act 2).

Here's a story about a self inflicted collective trauma and how humanity and the world is changed by that, how people try to come to terms with what's happened and its legacy. And it goes beyond the Godhammer. That's the climatic act of brutal arrogance and the crossing of boundaries (the bridge) but it really began with colonial aggression which is why it figures so heavily in the writing and peoples thoughts. It's not just "lore".

They know terrible things were done in the name of builidng an empire and you can try and convince yourself that economic might and success justifies it all (the Vallians) but the reality is that going around killing others and taking their lands and sh&! messes you up. Messes all of us up collectively, maybe for good.

Eora is stumbling into vicious modernism and just as the first world war concussed and traumatised us, after the godhammer people in Eora are disillusioned and suffering something not unlike a mass psychosis (you don't visit an asylum for no reason), and things are just descending into moral chaos. The first thing you see in Gilded Vale is a huge tree where the only leaves are recently hung residents and yet the town sort of just carries on around it, the people are shell-shocked and subdued. Hoping things get better, which is exactly what Eder says when you ask him why he hasn't left town.

Obsidian have said that they write companions to partly reinforce the themes of the work and the mental trauma people are suffering is obviously most directly referenced in Aloth who is a literal schizophrenic. His civilised exterior conceals a trucculent bestial nature that it would arguably serve him better to adopt in the disintergrating world around him. This also ties into the role of Dunryd Row and enlightened, benign ruling elites and their role in society.

After the first world war there was a consensus among governments and prominent thinkers (most notably Sigmeund Freud) that human beings had to be tightly controlled because they could not be trusted to not do terrible things to one another and that the best way to achieve this was not through force but pacification. The "bewildered herd" had to be guided by wiser and more benevolent hands to protect them from themselves. When you first visit Lady Webb she tells you that this is the exact role of Dunryd Row and for the exact same reasons. The game asks us to think about how we deal with human nature at its worst and how to move forward after terrible things have happened. Pretty cool stuff for a video game.

 

As I said I haven't completed the game so what it utimately has to say about this is unknown to me but as a meditation on mans inhumantiy to man and how that degrades us all and what that means for the future it is cohesive, thought provoking and well realised. It blows lol iron cirsis big bad man kill daddy, half sister kidnapped and tbh all the other IE games out of the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FlintlockJazz]

I had no issue with understanding why my character was hunting this guy down, something weird was done to him by this guy and needs to find out just what it was that was done.  Stuff happened afterward that pushed him in certain directions.  Guess it assumes your character has a large degree of curiosity, a not too unreasonable assumption for an adventurer but I guess not everyone has it, but then BG2 had a similar issue: it assumed that you either gave a damn about rescuing Imoen (which some people did not, though I always felt obliged to save the little monkey), or that they wanted to find Irenicus to either unlock some hidden potential that they thought lay within then (why they thought this and why they thought Irenicus would actually help being two huge leaps of faith) or revenge.  If you didn't want any of those things, if you wanted to do the sensible thing, cut your losses and just ignore the **** (Irenicus was a ****, he started off sounding all deep and mysterious but once you find out about his background it's rather... pathetic...) well, you get to do the side quests in Athkatla but you will never finish the game...

 

DAO - I really liked DAO's choice and consequence. I think the companions for it are probably the weakest of any of Bioware's modern games, though, and linked to that dreadful gifting system. Oghren is the only one I really liked. And the Dog.

But...but...Alistair...and Morrigan...T_T they're like the two best characters in BioWare's arsenal.

 

Eugh, Morrigan was the most direly written obnoxious Mary Sue I have come across in gaming (beaten in other media by Bella in Twilight).  She was a child's idea of a 'dark' character, you know those types who think being obnoxious is edgy, and only got away with her behaviour because of Plot Protection.  If anyone in that world actually acted properly Morrigan would have had her head bashed in early on, possibly by the PC right when they first met.  But NOOOOO! 

[amallric]

While I agree that PoE's story has an issue there, I would say that BG1 has a similar gap right from the start- instead of doing anything about investigating Gorion's death you go to Nashkel to solve the Iron Crisis because uh...it seems like the right thing to do?

No. You are supposed to meet up either with Khalid and Jaheira, which is what Gorion recommended you, or with Xzar and Montaron if you are an evil character. Both of these groups are going to Nashkel for their own reasons. The game also heavily hints that Nashkel is the place to go if you are an adventurer, there is work for you there, so it feels a natural choice. Investigating Gorion`s death WAY out of your league at this point, as it should be. You are just trying to get by. In PoE you are just being sent by random people to random places. The main quest seems disconnected from the world and from anything else.

[amallric]

As I said I haven't completed the game so what it utimately has to say about this is unknown to me but as a meditation on mans inhumantiy to man and how that degrades us all and what that means for the future it is cohesive, thought provoking and well realised. It blows lol iron cirsis big bad man kill daddy, half sister kidnapped and tbh all the other IE games out of the water.

BG`s story is as deep and thought-provoking as what you just wrote, except it is a deeply personal story about choices and consequences which is also actually integrated into an overarching story within the game world. PoE has an interesting, but poorly implemented world and a personal story which is both abysmally written and disconnected from what`s going on in the world.

[Sanctuary]

It was worth the money, but it needs to have a major rebalancing patch, on top of a TON of bug fixes (looking at you auto-attack not working)

As it stands, the the smoothness of leveling for specific classes is just out of whack, some abilities are borderline broken at the levels you get them and the pacing is also very strange.  I get that it's hard to dictate great pacing in a game that offers a player to do what they want, when they want, but it still doesn't feel right, especially with the XP bloat in Defiance Bay.

[Xosmi]

This game is well worth the money. I personally feel that all the negativity is coming from 2 groups of people, the ones that have never played the old infinity engine games and are more used to the hack-and-slash rpg genre, and the ones that did play the old IE games, but were expecting it to be a 1 on 1 clone of those games, down to the setting/ruleset/mechanics.

Sure, pillars has it's flaws just like any other game, but it shines in a lot of places too. 

[Namutree]

The PC in PoE has a perfectly plausible reason to go to Defiance Bay, more so than the protagonists in BG and BG2 to go to Nahskel or spellhold. 

Nashkel sure, but not Spellhold.

 

 

 

I don't think BG or BG2 executed anything (storywise) better than PoE and even if they did, a well executed turd is still a turd after all. That PoEs story, writing and companions are leagues ahead of those games is even in question really surprises me.

They did, and the plot to BG1/BG2 is decent (too cliche), but not a turd. Two decent stories told well. That what we got in BG1/BG2. In PoE what we get is a good story told somewhat poorly. You haven't finished the story so you should reserve judgement about how good PoE's story is.

 

 

And before anybody mentions Irenicus he's no better, it just seems that way because a very good actor elevated some very bad writing.

There is nothing wrong with Irenicus' writing. Even a mediocre actor could have made Irenicus seem cool; because Irenicus is cool. He had great writing.

[wickermoon]

There is nothing wrong with Irenicus' writing. Even a mediocre actor could have made Irenicus seem cool; because Irenicus is cool. He had great writing.

Did he, though? For me, Irenicus seemed like the typical run-of-the-mill evil wizard, whose actions didn't make sense most of the time.

 

 

But to get back to the motivation of PoEs main character: He is told, in Caed Nua, that he will probably go as mad as Maerwald, if he doesn't do anything about it. Most players arguing about a badly executed main plot, because they don't see why the character should go to Defiance Bay, seem to have forgotten that (or never even noticed it in the first place). Now, I sure as hell don't want to end up as Maerwald, but maybe you guys thought him to be actually a pretty fun guy to have around, I don't know. But it sure was more convincing - and much more personal - than going with Khalid - Jaheira because they had business in Nashkell or the all-too-often-used revenge-themed motivation of BG1 (which you didn't follow up anyway).

No, the motivation in BG1 was not only too cliché (revenge...of all things), it was also poorly executed (just get along on a quest totally not concerning yourself in anyway. Why'd you do it, instead of going somewhere safe or getting after Gorions murderer, we don't know, but it sure will work out, because we're in a game and it will all have to do with one or the other.), compared to PoE, who kept every main quest motivation personal.

 

 

First: You try to get to Gilded Vale because you wanted to settle.

Second: You try to find out what is happening to you and the only person capable seems to be Maerwald.

Third: You try to find whoever did this to you, because you do not want to go full Maerwald.

Fourth: The guy seems to not only have ulterior motives, but his whole organization seems to have something against you.

Fifth: He attacked you

Sixth: He just killed off DB-Duke and Lady Webb and you still need to get to him

Seventh: He tried to get you killed, again!

Eighth: He actually is on a madman's plan.

 

To these eight points comes the fact that throughout the whole game you get fed the information that you grew pretty close to this guy in a previous life and that he most probably lied to you in order for you to betray your (player-choice).

 

 

Now what has Sarevok going for him: He killed your father. You're not going to go after him. Instead you're trying to solve the mystery of brittle metal, which, on a cursory note, has nothing to do with your situation. The plot thickens, I agree, but the pacing is off right from the start. It feels less personal and more like a mystery scavenger hunt and takes quite a while until it connects with you personally again. As the BG1 main char you would have to be very very benevolent and good-hearted to go on the quest of BG1's main story.

Edited April 21, 2015 by wickermoon

[Shevek]

BG1 had A pretty crappy story. BG2 was mediocre but Irenicus' VO and those cool dream sequences kept you going. PoE certainly beats BG1 and 2 on plot but I think that PoE could learn a thing or two from BG2 when it comes to storytelling (delivering the plot).

[Naurgalen]

Are people REALLY discussing BG1 as having a REAL meaningful story with deep characters? For real?

 

- Bland story charactes / companions: checked (little to non interactions, basic quests -and not for all-, no real development, basic personality's)

- Bland antagonist: checked ("I killed your father" cliche, "Im evil so I must destroy all" cliche)

- Bland game story: checked ("Evil man who killed my father wants to become a god by killing all who can" + "I MUST have revenge, but FIRST Ill discover some secrets organization plan to ruin metal") (But a decent meta-story with you being other of thousands of spawns of the same god)

- Little indications as were to go or were could be dangerous enemy's: checked (Nahskel as many said, some random enemy's like vampire wolfs that appear at the beginning  maps and you have 0 chance of fighting them or heck even running "a nice encouragement to explore")

- Little to no impact-full decisions: checked  (including the ending)

 

 

BG2 is another thing, FAR more comparable. (But PS:T still beats all history wise)

Edited April 21, 2015 by Naurgalen

[Volourn]

"hat PoEs story, writing and companions are leagues ahead of those games is even in question really surprises me."

 

L0L The biggest problem with PE's writing is that for the most part it is bland, and boring. It ties way too hard to be edgy  and different but isn't. There are some gems but overall the story isn't the main reason to play for me.. until near the end where youa ctually got to make some interesting chocies though not b/c of writing.

 

The companions are mostly okay but their quests are flat out boring and simple.

 

The story is a DOS copycat.

 

 

BG1's story isn't deep or complext but it was never about the actual story. BG is about the journey. BG2 is about the conflict between you and Irenicus because whether you like it or not, Irenicus has targeted tyou and will continue to target you until he gets what he wants. BG2's story and characters are leaps better than PE's. The writing is slifghtly better. Not neccessarily 'deeper' or 'more complex' but better. Irencius completely and utterly destroys  PE's main villain whose connection to the PC is weaksauce.

[irongamer]

While I did restart a number of times to find the the "correct" stats for the dialog options I liked it got 156+ hours out of the game.  I enjoyed the combat system as there have not been many games that play in that style (love Divinity OS of course as well).  I enjoyed the companions for the most part.  It would have been nice to have the choices have more effects while IN the game and not only on slides.  Still, despite the large list of things people didn't like I still enjoyed and got more than my money's worth out of it.  I did NOT kickstart this project.

[Stun]

BG1 had A pretty crappy story. BG2 was mediocre but Irenicus' VO and those cool dream sequences kept you going. PoE certainly beats BG1 and 2 on plot but I think that PoE could learn a thing or two from BG2 when it comes to storytelling (delivering the plot).

^This. When you look at BG1's story you really have no choice but to see it for what it is: Bluh.

 

But BG1 does such a good job in delivery. It's that slow drip of information - that feeling that you're moving up the enemy's ranks. That detective-like situation when you take out a member of the grand conspiracy and learn about his boss.....then you take out his boss and learn that he's just a puppet for someone greater, etc.

 

And then there's the way that Bg1 presented its world. You don't just learn via some letter or journal, or conversation with someone that there's an iron shortage. You witness this shortage first hand. You see its effects all around you. Your weapons break. Named bandit groups ambush you for your iron. Iron mines are taken over by the enemy. You discover ransacked caravans on the road. And it isn't until you're neck deep trying to solve that problem that you discover that the Iron shortage isn't what the plot is about at all.

 

 

That slow drip, learn-by-discovery thing is something PoE lacks. PoE's plot suffers from mis-delivery. Events occur too fast. Plot-essential characters and their storylines are dumped upon you, rapid fire. Consequently the game denies you that essential thrill of discovery - that cat-and-mouse chase -- that climb up the enemy ranks.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Stun

[constantine]

Judging from your poll, all the negativity in the air belongs to a small minority.

 

 

PoE is a great game, an instant classic. There is little room to argue this fact.

 

What would be a great achievement is if this game spins off more games of this style, not by Obsidian necessarily.

 

It's high time we see the ressurection of a D&D crpg :D

[Tylaris]

Ehhh... I loved BG I and II and will defend them to the death, but they also taught me number one rule of Bioware games...Do not analyze. Running high on drama, easy to get into, your ego goes through the roof, but plot wise, it makes you wonder if the writers are even using their brain.

The whole Highlander theme ... There can only be One!... is ridicilous, because there is no need for Bhaalspawn to slaughter one another, due to the absence of lightning show after extended family decapitations. Sarevok's plan made no sense.... start a massive war and cause as much bloodshed and this would somehow turn him, or bring him closer to becoming Lord of Murder!? Good luck with that.

And Irenicus, in the end, reveals psychological subtleties of a self intitled brat... goes for the genocide( spiritual and the regular one, of course) on his own people for his own selfish gain, so he could join the Seldarine like it's some kind of elite golf club, fails and what does he expect...to simply walk away with a slap on the wrist? 

I would rate PoE on the same level with BG II, it has better atmosphere, lore and different themes interacting with one another, but less personal and less focused on strongly motivated characters. High above the BG I, though.

[Namutree]

 

Now what has Sarevok going for him: He killed your father. You're not going to go after him. Instead you're trying to solve the mystery of brittle metal, which, on a cursory note, has nothing to do with your situation. The plot thickens, I agree, but the pacing is off right from the start. It feels less personal and more like a mystery scavenger hunt and takes quite a while until it connects with you personally again. As the BG1 main char you would have to be very very benevolent and good-hearted to go on the quest of BG1's main story.

 

Don't forget the bounty hunters that attack you at every turn. Some one is gunning for your life in BG1, and there's good reason for the player to want to know who.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Namutree

[Volourn]

"^This. When you look at BG1's story you really have no choice but to see it for what it is: Bluh.

But BG1 does such a good job in delivery. It's that slow drip of information - that feeling that you're moving up the enemy's ranks. That detective-like situation when you take out a member of the grand conspiracy and learn about his boss.....then you take out his boss and learn that he's just a puppet for someone greater, etc."

 

Exactly. BG's story is nothing special. It's the journey that makes it work,.

 

 

"PoE is a great game, an instant classic. There is little room to argue this fact."

 

PE is a good game but instant classic? L0LZ

 

 

"The whole Highlander theme ... There can only be One!... is ridicilous, because there is no need for Bhaalspawn to slaughter one another, due to the absence of lightning show after extended family decapitations. Sarevok's plan made no sense.... start a massive war and cause as much bloodshed and this would somehow turn him, or bring him closer to becoming Lord of Murder!? Good luck with that."

 

Sure it did if you paid attention. He wanted o be the God of Murder... sow aht does he do? Commits murder. Logic 101.

 

 

"I would rate PoE on the same level with BG II, it has better atmosphere, lore and different themes interacting with one another, but less personal and less focused on strongly motivated characters."

 

No.

[Svirfneblin]

Ehhh... I loved BG I and II and will defend them to the death, but they also taught me number one rule of Bioware games...Do not analyze. Running high on drama, easy to get into, your ego goes through the roof, but plot wise, it makes you wonder if the writers are even using their brain.

The whole Highlander theme ... There can only be One!... is ridicilous, because there is no need for Bhaalspawn to slaughter one another, due to the absence of lightning show after extended family decapitations. Sarevok's plan made no sense.... start a massive war and cause as much bloodshed and this would somehow turn him, or bring him closer to becoming Lord of Murder!? Good luck with that.

And Irenicus, in the end, reveals psychological subtleties of a self intitled brat... goes for the genocide( spiritual and the regular one, of course) on his own people for his own selfish gain, so he could join the Seldarine like it's some kind of elite golf club, fails and what does he expect...to simply walk away with a slap on the wrist? 

I would rate PoE on the same level with BG II, it has better atmosphere, lore and different themes interacting with one another, but less personal and less focused on strongly motivated characters. High above the BG I, though.

 

In theory, the Bhaalspawn could just live peacefully with one another, but some want to be murder deities and their divine heritage gives them violent inclinations. Melissan kills off all the "peaceful" Bhaalspawn she can anyway.

 

Sarevok wasn't operating on the right information(that or plothole, take your pick)- he'd have to kill the other Bhaalspawn to ascend not just random people. 

[MReed]

...compared to PoE, who kept every main quest motivation personal.

 

First: You try to get to Gilded Vale because you wanted to settle.

Second: You try to find out what is happening to you and the only person capable seems to be Maerwald.

Third: You try to find whoever did this to you, because you do not want to go full Maerwald.

Fourth: The guy seems to not only have ulterior motives, but his whole organization seems to have something against you.

Fifth: He attacked you

Sixth: He just killed off DB-Duke and Lady Webb and you still need to get to him

Seventh: He tried to get you killed, again!

Eighth: He actually is on a madman's plan.

To these eight points comes the fact that throughout the whole game you get fed the information that you grew pretty close to this guy in a previous life and that he most probably lied to you in order for you to betray your (player-choice).

 

.

The problem is step 4 -- you don't learn that the antagonist is part of the mysterious organization, until /after/ you've already started to investigate said organization. It isn't a fatal flaw because, as some one pointed out in this thread, a protagonist of a cRPG who /isn't/ curious isn't a valid character type (such a character would never start an adventure in the first place, or would end it ASAP), and therefore it is reasonable for to expect the protagonist to investigate a "mysterious organization" simply because it *is* mysterious.

 

But nevertheless, it is a defect (in my opinion), which could be closed by having someone (the Steward being an obvious choice) to provide more concrete guidance to the PC. After all, she's lived a very long time, and many interesting characters have passed through the Keep -- there really isn't any reason that she couldn't provide guidance pointing towards either Lady Webb and / or identifying the mysterious organization as someone who might be capable of the acts that the PC has witnessed -- either would tighten up the plot considerably.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Definitely wish I had gotten in at the physical reward tier on the kickstarter. This game was everything I hoped it would be.

 

The story is very good if not quite up to PS:T or Deus Ex levels; the gameplay is very good and the design is significantly improved on the old D&D system.  The improvements in design more than make up for the (relative and minimal) shortfalls in story. 

Edited April 21, 2015 by Dr. Hieronymous Alloy

[CybAnt1]

Personally, I would say it's not good ... it's great.

 

Do I have quibbles? Yah. Seems to me, some of these things could use improvement.

 

1. Party AI. As in, there is none. 

2. Melee char classes need more activated abilities. The game gives the casters 40 spells, and the melee chars like 2-3 active abilities (at 12th level). Feh. They should be able to do stuff, other than just the passives & modals. 

3. Items. There seems to be a weird shortage of (wearable) items that are not body/chest armor, weapons, or shields. You can't seem to find or buy many. Kind of disappointing. Would be cool if Enchanting let you add more of the properties you sometimes find on named, or even occasionally non-named, items. 

4. It would be nice to have a bit more companion interaction. Not asking for romances. But there really were not very many opportunities to, ya know, dialogue with the NPCs. 

 

Ehh. Who knows. Some of these things may get fixed in patches, or mods, or the expansion. None of them were more than ... annoyances. 

 

Overall, it's a great game. One I waited for with anticipation, and for once, did NOT experience disappointment (unlike DAI). In part, because it really was a game made by PC gamers (backers) for PC gamers. 

[mindswayer]

1 month after I played it I can look back and see what it really is.

I loved it for my first playthrough, but playing it again for a second time and I just notice a lot of **** that bothers me like the complete lack of interesting unique items, I started noticing that the writing is good at best and its "Torment" moment doesn't actually have that much impact; I noticed that choices are literally irrelevant with no long-term consequences and a lot of times you're given options to say the exact same thing just in a different manner, instead of actually saying different things; I noticed that there is little relevancy when it comes to building different characters because you won't get any new dialogue options unless you're some kind of priest or a monk (and even then, it's maybe twice in the entire game), there are very few occasions where this actually matters at all; I hated how **** and boring spell-wise wizards are compared to the hilariously overpowered druids; I dislike the lack of pre-fight buffing and lack of powerful hard-disable magic (like halt). I dislike how souls are constantly used as a cop-out ("hey, how can that be possible? lol idunno, fukken magic guv").

I liked the music, voice acting (probably the best part in the entire game), and the companions (especially Edér, GM, Durance and Hiravas).

I don't feel like I have been cheated and I got my money's worth, but I am left with mixed feelings. I am happy to support Obsidian and fund a sequel, and I can only hope that the sequel is on par with bg2. Maybe by then Avellone will actually have some time to write for Pillars of Eternity 2, unlike PoE1, and Ziets will actually do something instead of being used as a marketing tool.

Edited April 22, 2015 by mindswayer

[Yellow Rabbit]

[snip]

 

The story is a DOS copycat.

 

[snip]

Hey, Volly, do you even verifiy what you're posting these days? ^That and this one are ridiculous even by your standards (unless the latter is sarcastic, in which case it's expressed poorly).