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129 hours later, Finished! (Thoughts)


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First off a big thank you to Obsidian for such a wonderful game and second, thanks to all the kickstarter backers. I was only able to back the amount for the game (25 or 35) and I also added on the addition for the beta backer later on, so a huge thank you to the backers who put in the big money! Now onto my thoughts on the game!

 

The things I loved:

- Writing was fantastic, from the dialogue to the story to the characters, wonderful writing once again Obsidian

- Art Design is so beautiful, seriously... so seriously, love it

- Combat is fun, at first I wasn't to sure about it but I have grown to love it. While not 100% perfect, it is a well done combat system.

- Soundtrack is fantastic, really sets the atmosphere for me as I am exploring or going along my adventures

- The Stronghold is a cool idea and i like it, but it was def not perfect, alot could be added to this aspect in an expansion pack

- Had zero crashes, no fps issues, no gamebreaking bugs and no broken quests.

- Some of the decisions I had to make had me really thinking about it

- Atmosphere is very well done

- Enjoyable final fight!

- The character creation and classes I feel are all well done

 

Things I didn't like or that I think can be improved:

- The Pathfinding was honestly my biggest issue. There was times when I would tell guys to go attack this game and they would either try and go the long way or try and go through another player. Some other times moving around cities one would get stuck on something. Nothing gamebreaking but this was the biggest thing that annoyed me during my time with the game.

- The Stronghold could be alot better, while I enjoyed it and think its improved over Inquisition and Dragon Age Awakening, it could still use some improvements. Maybe more things to build? A type of trial aspect where you decide on issues people have? Give us more options as to what we can do with prisoners and allow more random people to come and live in your stronghold.

 

Things That could be added for expansion pack:

- A coop mode like Divinity Original Sin for an expansion pack? As much as I loved this game, I think it would be even more fun if I could play the campaign with ONE friend (as long as it didn't effect the singleplayer)

- More character Portraits next time. I love that we can import our own, but in future expansion packs maybe get the artists to do a handful more with more variety for difference races,etc..

 

Love the game! I enjoyed Divinity Original Sin, Wasteland 2 and Shadowrun Dragonfall last year but this is even better imo. So wonderful to see this revival of a genre that was my favorite for so many years. Here is to more Pillars Of Eternity, more CRPG's in general in gaming and more Obsidian magic.

 

Someone asked me for a score, I don't usually give out scores, I prefer just writing thoughts on the game. But, I can appreciate any review score from 8 to 10. If you had a gun to my head and asked for a score though? I would say its a 9.5/10 for me personally. Not perfect but a hell of a wonderful experience! I have liked so many Black Isle and Obsidian games over the years, but you really didn't fool around with this game did you!

 

I know there is a tank game coming from Obsidian and another unannounced game and two expansion packs for Pillars in the future, hope to see many more rpg's from Obsidian in the future, keep up the wonderful work! I have to deal with chronic pain every day so when a nice rpg like this comes around (or a good foreign movie or book/tv show,etc..) and has the ability to pull me into its world so well with and take my mind off of things it is a wonderful thing. Thank you Obsidian, I can tell this game was crafted with love!

Edited by kozzy
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Nice review.  It aligns very well with my impressions so far at about 2/3 of the way through.  Sometimes it seems like how good this game is gets lost in all the negativity around.

 

My only point of difference with your opinion would be I think combat ranges from extremely fun to rather boring just depending on where you are in the game and how your level compares to what you're fighting.  At its best, it is an incredibly good time, when you have to use everything at your disposal to win.  It's not always like that though.  It's a hard problem to solve, in an open ended world with no auto-leveling monsters, so I can appreciate the difficulty they face in doing this well.  But the overall game, yeah, it's brilliant.

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Pathfinding, scouting mode, no threat mechanics (only proximity/damage), lack of wizard summoning spells were my biggeste issues...everything else in the game was a beautiful ride and it got WAY WAY WAY closer to Baldur's Gate epic sensation than I had ever expected...if you let yourself be drawn in.

 

Everything Urquhart touches gets my attention.

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Yeah there was a few spots I was to strong, but then again there was some parts where I got my a&% handed to me and had to comeback later and give them some revenge :no:

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Pathfinding, scouting mode, no threat mechanics (only proximity/damage), lack of wizard summoning spells were my biggeste issues...everything else in the game was a beautiful ride and it got WAY WAY WAY closer to Baldur's Gate epic sensation than I had ever expected...if you let yourself be drawn in.

 

Everything Urquhart touches gets my attention.

Amen to that, it really did pull me in! I never play 100+ hours in a few weeks on videogames theses days. Well done Obsidian :w00t:

Edited by kozzy
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I like the writing too and the locations are gorgeous.

 

The biggest gripe is that there s too many boring fights.

 

Everything s great but few things:

 

1)many boring trash fights

 

2)some spells are bugged (woodskin)

 

3)bad balance (prone spells imba, even slicken). Priest seals usable mid combat with +30-40 accuracy bonus because reasons?

 

4)pathfinding

Edited by MaxDamage
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Yeah there was a few spots I was to strong, but then again there was some parts where I got my a&% handed to me and had to comeback later and give them some revenge :no:

 

I think this is pretty much inevitable given the variables. I also think it's no bad thing, either. I know gaming masochists are out there, who want every fight to be against the odds, but most of us like to feel the boss now and then, as well as out-classed.

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The Stronghold could be alot better

I think Stronghold elements should be introduced only if they are a part of main story. For example a story about a duc or other lord who is trying to carve a place for himself and raise his place in his country and the whole world.

 

With such a premise you can tie many things to Stronghold.

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The Stronghold could be alot better

 

I think Stronghold elements should be introduced only if they are a part of main story.

 

 

Funnily enough, I like the stronghold because it's not part of the main story arc. It's like taking time out and doing fun stuff. It might break some people's im-mer-shun but personally I find it refreshing.

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Hey there, nice impressions.

 

Some questions though:

 

1. Which difficulty level did you choose ?

2. Did you spend a lot of time replaying battles because of the difficulty ?

 

I'm just trying to figure how you managed to play for 130 hours. At the moment, I've just started Act 3 and trying to figure out how long I have left if I am being a completionist.

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Good review! I say that from a biased perspective as I am a huge fan of this game. My only wish for Pillars is that they keep building expansions for Eternity and other titles that take place in the Eora setting. Isometric cRPG's seems to appeal to a very niche market, a market that is forgotten by large AAA RPG-developing companies. I just hope that Obsidian (and others like Larian) continue to make these games at a profit. We may be a small group of gamers (that enjoy classic cRPG's), but from what I can see, we're also very loyal and are willing to purchase these games, the extras, and any future content that comes out. Keep it going!

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Hey there, nice impressions.

 

Some questions though:

 

1. Which difficulty level did you choose ?

2. Did you spend a lot of time replaying battles because of the difficulty ?

 

I'm just trying to figure how you managed to play for 130 hours. At the moment, I've just started Act 3 and trying to figure out how long I have left if I am being a completionist.

I played about 3/4 on Hard and a little on normal, mainly to see what the difference was,etc..

As far as replaying battles alot, not to much. During the game I think I reloaded from fights 5 or 6 times?  Then on the last boss fight I think I died 2 or 3 times before I beat him.

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129 hours... how? I did everything, ironman so lots of scouting and slowplay and was done in about 70. And I'd say nearly 1/4th of that was when I was alt-tabbed. 

I hunted down literally every side quest and I love to read all the dialogue the game has to offer and explore every area possible. Just the way it is for me in big rpgs that have good stories, I get hooked in and just want to experience everything it has to offer! I do also remember Obsidian or someone saying it could be beaten in anywhere from 40 to 150 hours depending on how much you do of the side stuff.

 

99% of my time on the game was just enjoying myself and soaking in what the game has to offer. Everyone finishes games at different times, I am a completist of some sorts when it comes to side quests in rpg's and don't like skipping any dialogue :)

 

I remember being told New Vegas was a 10 hour game, yet I beat it in 60-70 hours my first time. I just like taking my time and soaking up things when an rpg is really well made.

Edited by kozzy
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You sure took your time. I really think half of that should be plenty to experience everything worthwhile and then some out of this game. Did you read all the soul stories or something? :blink:

90% of the books I found I checked out, I'd say maybe 70% of the soul people I was reading to. Explored all the areas, did nearly every Side Quest/Task/Bounty and and took my time when making decisions. 100% of the dialogue from other characters in the game I like listening to also. I just see no reason to rush a big wonderful game, like taking my time and soaking it all in if its worthwhile. Now something like Skyrim or Dark Souls I wouldn't care about doing all the side quests as I get bored and they are poorly written, but a game like this that pulls me in so well with its writing, I just have to find as close to everything as I can :)

 

Hell, I Fallout 1/2 can be beat in an hour or two if you rush it, myself I took months on those games! :)

Edited by kozzy
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I just finished it and I spent about the same time as you OP, I read probably everything and derped around pushing the boundaries of what I could beat at my current level. I'm pretty sure I finished Blood Legacy way before I was supposed to.  

I agree on the path finding issue sometimes it could really screw you over during a fight. Another issue was that the hunter and rogue classes felt really bland compared to the others. I mean I know they do great damage but they just seemed to have been left out abilities wise.  

Edited by Moonlight Butterfly
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I've been waiting all game to find the location of this famous "first" screenshot from PoE:

 

http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Pillars-of-Eternity.jpg

 

But I'm at the end game and have never found it. Is it even in the game?!?

I'm sure you did. It's the entrance of Clîaban Rilag, the ruins north of Dyrford.

I've come to burn your kingdom down

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