Constructive Criticism (Potential Spoilers)

[WatchOutForYoshimo]

So I just finished my first playthrough on normal and I generally enjoyed the game very much. The following is a list of a few areas where I think, IMHO, there could be improvements in future releases or where I would've liked to see the change specified. I'm sure that for at least some of these I'm not alone. I apologize in advance for the wall of text.

 

1. For a beginning game I think level 12 is a fine level cap, but for future games I hope it is raised substantially ( I think you could get well above 30 in Throne of Bhaal). I'm pretty sure that this is a likely addition to future games.

 

2. I would also enjoy having the option to romance an NPC added in the future.

 

3. I would enjoy a multiplayer/co-op option similar to Baldur's Gate 2 so that I might adventure with friends.

 

4. I personally found Godlike to be disappointing as it feels less like Aasimar/Tiefling/Genasi than I thought it was going to, and those were by far my favorite races in the Forgotten Realms games. In this case my disappointment is mainly due to my expectation and misconception. However I, personally, had the distinct impression/feeling that the Godlike were somehow suffering from birth defects rather than bequeathed with divine assets or gifts. This was unpleasant, and resulted in me eschewing the race mostly.

 

5. I hope more races and subraces are added in the future.

 

6. Again, due to my perhaps unfortunate expectations, I was disappointed by the Paladin class. Paladin and Sorcerer/Wizard were my favorite classes in the Forgotten Realms games, and I always enjoyed playing a Paladin especially in Baldur's Gate 2 due to their subclass options, spells/abilities, lawful good alignment, and access to my favorite weapon: Carsomyr, The Holy Avenger! The disappointment for me in Pillars of Eternity is that there can be evil paladins (Bleak Walkers), they really have no spells/no turn undead, no lore about how they are all champions for good and light and mortal enemies of the foul and vile, and no truly epic weapons that are solely for paladins (no Holy Avengers). I realize that this game is not a Forgotten Realms/D&D game, but paladins just felt watered down and much less epic than I expected.

 

7. I would like to see some official mod support from the developers in the future for Pillars of Eternity or future sequels/expansions.

 

8. I would like to be able to export my character in a manner similar to Baldur's Gate so that I might be able to play said character across multiple machines, games, and sequels with all of the charatcer progress (experience, abilities, items, etc.) that I already acquired.

 

9. I'm not sure how to put this next point, but it felt to me that the unique equipment/legendary artifacts, while there was a lot of it, each piece was less impressive/powerful than I was expecting. Presumably in future games there will be even more powerful equipment and more ways to enchant that equipment so I'm hoping for that in any case.

 

10. Long before the end of the game I actually felt that the gods didn't actually seem real or to actually exist within the framework of the story. In the Forgotten Relams you can literally see and talk to the gods. Up until Teir Evron I hadn't had any real indication that they were anything more than superstition. This is not so much a criticism as it is something I appreciate and hope the developers expand on in the future as far as how exactly the Engwithans created the gods and the exact nature and location of the gods. Before Act 3 I was somewhat disappointed that the gods weren't a more tangible part of the PoE universe, but now I understand why more so.

 

11. I would like to be able to label my saved games, and I would like the actual save files in the save file directory to reflect those labels and be labeled comprehensibly.

 

12. I hope for the magic system to continue to evolve and become more epic, specifically for wizards and priests, but in any case. I would like epic level spells and the ability to cast spells outside of battle. I think the "battle mode" and its parameters are too rigidly defined.

 

13. Names are important in a story, and while I applaud the developers for much of their work on this front, the two most powrful creatures in the game don't have proper names (or personalities for that matter). I'm speaking of the Adra Dragon and the Sky Dragon. It's not especially difficult coming up with good dragon names (Firkraag!), and there are online sources to aid those who wish to use them. You can even use ones from established mythology, but whatever you do they should have a name that both fits their personality and is suitably epic; I mean come on: they're dragons!

 

14. I appreciate, I think that the developers wanted to make the health system more complex (and realistic?), but two health bars was both confusing and awkward for me. It felt, a lot of the time, like health didn't actually matter and my endurance was all that counted. When your team lose all of their endurance it's game over, but when they lose all their health it's also game over, so it just seems redundant. I realize that if not all your team lose their endurance and you win the battle they recover and, similarly, if just one NPC companion dies you don't get a game over, but why do we need such a complex Vitality System for that?

 

15. I very much would like to continue playing as my character/The Watcher in future expansions (and possibly a sequel). So I hope that is taken into consideration as I doubt I'm the only one who would like their character to continue his journey.

 

 

 

Another god wandered into the Pantheon...