Pillars of Eternity (PoE) is an isometric CRPG set in the fantasy world of Eora. Players are put in the shoes of a random caravan passenger, travelling to the Dyrwood region, which hosts one of the largest cities in the world: Defiance Bay. What should be a relatively safe passage soon becomes dangerous, until a mysterious event touches the protagonist's soul, and binds them to a centuries-old machination.

Definitive Edition Review (Base + White March I & II).
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White March Part 2 Review: Click Here

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The story mainly takes place in the Dyrwood region, which gained independence relatively recently, and since then has been volatile, engaged in multiple wars. Except for the relative safety of Defiance Bay, the rest of the land is ravaged by curses, monsters, cultists and bandits. Players take part into an expedition, which however encounters a major danger, forcing them to escape. A series of events will grant unique powers to the protagonist, whose fate is now inextricably tied to a greater plot, unfolding since centuries.

Each location in Dyrwood and beyond is overflowing with lore, be it in the form of dialogues, documents or observable elements of the scenario. Slowly piecing together the history, customs, and nuances of each race, cult or faction is fascinating, also thanks to the superb writing quality that never feels inconsistent. The world itself combines 2D and 3D elements with a high degree of skill, resulting in exquisitely detailed environments and locations.

PoE doesn't necessarily force players to use pre-determined companions, but also allows recruiting a party of "generic" NPCs customized to a finer degree, or even going Solo without any companion (only for the bravest!). The trade-off is that, compared to "real" companions, custom ones won't dynamically respond to events, and do not have their own personality or unique quests to partake in. The first time, I highly suggest going along with standard ones, leaving custom parties for future playthroughs.

From Chanters and Priests supporting the team with AoE buffs and healing, to durable Fighters, mighty Barbarians, Minks and magic-wielding Wizards or Druids, PoE offers extensive variety when it comes to forming a party. Each class has its own unique talents, spells, abilities that further specialize it at each level up. The progression system is extremely satisfying and well-balanced, each class equally viable with a distinct role in the field.

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Roleplaying-wise, PoE is nothing short of excellent. Not only will the attributes and skills of your character, and sometimes of the party as a whole, be counted in many interactions with people or the environment; also the actions and decisions taken across your journey will give different Dispositions, ranging from positive ones like Benevolent or Honest, to negative ones such as Aggressive or Cruel. These will radically change how characters react to the player, barring or unlocking quests or ways to solve a situation. In the same way, the affiliation with certain factions (or their animosity) may as well change how things develop as the story progresses, or which options are available in specific major events later on.

The battle system is complex and intricate, with several defense types to be considered, a wide array of damage types, AoE types, diverse rules for stacking buffs or passive effects, many classes having their unique mechanics exclusive to them, and most enemies having their own little nuances that may require a specific strategy.

It's not rare, especially later on, to have characters with literally dozens of abilities between Class ones and those imparted by unique items, trinkets and so on. At first, all this is overwhelming, but the game provides extensive explanations for each mechanic. The active pause system proves invaluable, as it allows freezing time to impart orders to your party, which can be partially automated, although will need a human touch especially at higher difficulties most of the time. On the two hardest setting, expect a tough and nigh-impossible challenge, that even veterans of CRPG will sweat to overcome, but that never becomes unfair if the mechanics are learnt and used to their full potential.

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As a "side dish", PoE can have players manage their own fortress at some point in the story. Restore it to its old glory (at a cost), to unlock major bonuses and features like special merchants, random events, invasions and unique Adventures to send unused party members to - with unique items as reward. All of this adds a nice change of pace to the main game loop, and is interesting, rewarding to invest time into them. However, this also may be entirely skipped, leaving the fortress in ruins - as many other things, it's up to player choice.

[h1]Sum-Up[/h1] [b]Pillars of Eternity[/b] (PoE) is an isometric CRPG set in the fantasy world of Eora. Players are put in the shoes of a random caravan passenger, travelling to the Dyrwood region, which hosts one of the largest cities in the world: Defiance Bay. What should be a relatively safe passage soon becomes dangerous, until a mysterious event touches the protagonist's soul, and binds them to a centuries-old machination. [b]Definitive Edition Review (Base + White March I & II).[/b] White March Part 1 Review: [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/tho545454/recommended/373340]Click Here[/url] White March Part 2 Review: [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/tho545454/recommended/373740]Click Here[/url] [table] [tr] [th]🟩 [b]Pros[/b][/th] [th]🟥 [b]Cons[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] - Enormous amount of hand-crafted quests with multiple ways to solve each. Most influence the world in some way. - Exceptional roleplaying component that is truly different based on choices and attributes. - Superb variety of classes, equipment, spells, consumables, abilities and unique items of all kinds. - Masterfully written story, with companions that all have their own identity and evolve their mindset. - High, satisfying challenge level on Hard and Path of the Damned difficulties. [/td] [td] - Balance problems in the main campaign's final act if DLC content is enabled. [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [th]🟨 [b]Bugs & Issues[/b][/th] [th]🔧 [b]Specs[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] - Audio bugs may occur when increased game speed is enabled. - Companion AI can sometimes be unreliable in their actions. - Rarely, characters' walking animations can glitch. [/td] [td] - 3900X - 2080Ti - 32GB RAM - SSD - 1440p [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][b]Content & Replay Value:[/b][/td] [td]Took me around 70 hours to complete the main game and all DLCs and all possible side-quests (doable in the same playthrough) on Hard difficulty. If you don't have DLCs, remove 15-20 hours from that. Thanks to vast party composition possibilities, high amount of branching choices and playstyles, replay value is very good.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Is it worth buying?[/b][/td] [td]Absolutely. The base price of 37€ for the Definitive Edition is a bargain for a title with this quality level and content amount. Any RPG fan should get this immediately, even without a discount.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][h3]Verdict: Masterpiece[/h3] [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2548409603]Rating Chart Here[/url][/td] [td]Extensive roleplaying choices, a masterfully-written story and companions, exceptional variety united with superb art direction and bolstering soundtracks. PoE really has it all: few other RPGs have ever reached this level of mastery in so many fields at the same time.[/td] [/tr] [/table] [quote]Follow our Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41449676/]Summit Reviews[/url], to see more high quality reviews regularly.[/quote] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2637806107 [h1]In-Depth[/h1] [h3]Through a Lawless, War-Torn Land[/h3] The story mainly takes place in the Dyrwood region, which gained independence relatively recently, and since then has been volatile, engaged in multiple wars. Except for the relative safety of Defiance Bay, the rest of the land is ravaged by curses, monsters, cultists and bandits. Players take part into an expedition, which however encounters a major danger, forcing them to escape. A series of events will grant unique powers to the protagonist, whose fate is now inextricably tied to a greater plot, unfolding since centuries. Each location in Dyrwood and beyond is overflowing with lore, be it in the form of dialogues, documents or observable elements of the scenario. Slowly piecing together the history, customs, and nuances of each race, cult or faction is fascinating, also thanks to the superb writing quality that never feels inconsistent. The world itself combines 2D and 3D elements with a high degree of skill, resulting in exquisitely detailed environments and locations. [h3]Gather Your Companions... Or Don't[/h3] PoE doesn't necessarily force players to use pre-determined companions, but also allows recruiting a party of "generic" NPCs customized to a finer degree, or even going Solo without any companion (only for the bravest!). The trade-off is that, compared to "real" companions, custom ones won't dynamically respond to events, and do not have their own personality or unique quests to partake in. The first time, I highly suggest going along with standard ones, leaving custom parties for future playthroughs. From Chanters and Priests supporting the team with AoE buffs and healing, to durable Fighters, mighty Barbarians, Minks and magic-wielding Wizards or Druids, PoE offers extensive variety when it comes to forming a party. Each class has its own unique talents, spells, abilities that further specialize it at each level up. The progression system is extremely satisfying and well-balanced, each class equally viable with a distinct role in the field. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2641191139 [h3]Preceded By Their Fame[/h3] Roleplaying-wise, PoE is nothing short of excellent. Not only will the attributes and skills of your character, and sometimes of the party as a whole, be counted in many interactions with people or the environment; also the actions and decisions taken across your journey will give different Dispositions, ranging from positive ones like Benevolent or Honest, to negative ones such as Aggressive or Cruel. These will radically change how characters react to the player, barring or unlocking quests or ways to solve a situation. In the same way, the affiliation with certain factions (or their animosity) may as well change how things develop as the story progresses, or which options are available in specific major events later on. [h3]Putting Reason in the Madness of Battle[/h3] The battle system is complex and intricate, with several defense types to be considered, a wide array of damage types, AoE types, diverse rules for stacking buffs or passive effects, many classes having their unique mechanics exclusive to them, and most enemies having their own little nuances that may require a specific strategy. It's not rare, especially later on, to have characters with literally dozens of abilities between Class ones and those imparted by unique items, trinkets and so on. At first, all this is overwhelming, but the game provides extensive explanations for each mechanic. The active pause system proves invaluable, as it allows freezing time to impart orders to your party, which can be partially automated, although will need a human touch especially at higher difficulties most of the time. On the two hardest setting, expect a tough and nigh-impossible challenge, that even veterans of CRPG will sweat to overcome, but that never becomes unfair if the mechanics are learnt and used to their full potential. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2642654255 [h3]My Own Castle? Really?![/h3] As a "side dish", PoE can have players manage their own fortress at some point in the story. Restore it to its old glory (at a cost), to unlock major bonuses and features like special merchants, random events, invasions and unique Adventures to send unused party members to - with unique items as reward. All of this adds a nice change of pace to the main game loop, and is interesting, rewarding to invest time into them. However, this also may be entirely skipped, leaving the fortress in ruins - as many other things, it's up to player choice.