The game that saved Obsidian, Pillars of Eternity was originally released back in 2015. It quickly broke records for a crowdfunded title when it was first announced, with over 77,000 backers raising a cool $1 million in the first 24hrs of its Kickstarter campaign to put the studio – which had been limping along after a string of cancelled projects – back on the map. This success ultimately led to the situation in which it finds itself today, with a successful sequel to Pillars Of Eternity in the bag and the release of its next big project – the hugely anticipated The Outer Worlds – looming tantalisingly on the horizon.
It’s hard to imagine the strain that Obsidian was under to deliver the goods after the overwhelming support shown for this return to the old-school isometric style of classics such as Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, but it more than stepped up to the plate and Pillars Of Eternity was a critical and commercial success upon its original release. It's an epic RPG filled with truly meaningful choices to be made at every turn – and backed up by tough strategic combat and several books worth of well-written characters and storylines for fans of the genre to sink their teeth into – all of which has now arrived on Switch, DLC included, in a pretty much perfect port; it also gives Nintendo fans plenty of time to get through it before its sequel arrives on the platform in December of this year.
Pillars Of Eternity kicks off with you, the nameless hero, taking refuge from an apocalyptic storm known as a “bîaŵac” or "spirit wind", which has destroyed the caravan in which you were travelling, killing your companions. As you take shelter you bear witness to a bizarre cultist ceremony which bestows upon you the power of a Watcher. You're able to reach into the souls of others and experience their many past lives, a power that in turn leaves you blighted by creeping visions and encroaching madness. You must go forth, therefore, in that timeless CRPG tradition, on an epic adventure to search for a cure for your own malady whilst at the same time uncovering the truth behind Waidwen’s Legacy, a curse which is seeing the children of Dyrwood born hollow, arriving into the world minus their souls.
After spending several hours in the character creation suite poring over the eleven classes on offer – everything from your usual knights, rangers and mages, to more original choices such as chanters, god-likes and ciphers – you’ll set forth on an adventure which immediately grabs your interest by virtue of the fact that every character you meet – whether friend or foe, party member or meaningless NPC – is so richly detailed. Most of this detail comes in the form of chunks of text, but when it’s this well-written it’s a delight to make your way through, providing a complex backdrop and adding real tension to the decisions you’ll need to make as you progress through its story – and believe us, right from the off you’ll make some pretty big decisions.
Without wanting to reveal too much of the story, as an example, just a handful of hours into Pillars Of Eternity, you’ll meet a revolutionary named Kolsc who wants you to murder his cousin Raedric, Lord of the land, who is killing and banishing people who suffer from Waidwen’s Legacy. It’s a situation that seems cut-and-dry at first but becomes more complex when you meet both characters and hear, in great detail, the different sides of the argument. It ends up being a decision you know will affect your playthrough later in the game in some way, something that will no doubt come back to haunt you. It’s a really tough call, and this is just an early side-quest. Almost any mission you take on has the potential to morph into something bigger; even a simple bear hunt early on spirals into a whole moral dilemma, and it’s worth taking your time as you make your way from the opening areas of the game to its first major city, Defiance Bay, as there are lots of seemingly innocuous little quests that turn out to be much more than they appear on the face of things. Scouring each area’s map, lifting the fog of war in every direction, reveals all manner of dungeons and side stories that will delete hours of your life in the most satisfying adventure blur.
Helping to bring missions and quests further to life are the multitude of dialogue options you have available to you during each and every conversation. Standard responses sit alongside the usual 'special' locked replies, things that require a certain character – who may or may not even be in your party at the time – or perhaps a certain skill level in Lore to use. What’s more, where some RPGs reward your ability to use a special dialogue option by having it always be the correct response, in Pillars Of Eternity they are often not the right choice just by virtue of the fact you earned the ability to use them; you really do need to engage in what’s going on and read every option in order to make the right conversational decisions.
There’s also a reputation system to take into account, with NPCs in the world reacting to you in different ways depending on how you’ve chosen to behave over time in previous missions. Townsfolk will remember if you've treated their kind harshly, whereas criminals will be more inclined to deal with you if they know you're a shady type. There's real weight to everything you do here and it creates a tangible sense of peril and adventure as you make your way through the game, investing you thoroughly in the world of Eora and its inhabitants. As a result, you'll find yourself completely caught up and emotionally engaged in the characters and stories you happen across. Pillars Of Eternity also boasts a permadeath system which can see good friends and favourite party members you've picked up on your travels removed entirely from the story, should they fall in battle. This can be slightly eased by using an option to have your character maimed the first time they fall – giving you a second chance of sorts – but it's just another factor that heightens the tension and adds to the atmosphere overall.
Alongside all of this sits the old-school pausable real-time combat, where you’ll take control of your party of adventurers in truly tough strategic combat. Even in easy mode (which is the recommended difficulty and the one we played on) only the smallest of enemies succumb to any kind of button-mashing effort. You’ll need to quickly become accustomed to the skills and powers that your team members bring to the table, using AoE spells and buffs while moving weaker party members – such as priests, mages and rangers – out of harm’s way where they can support your tougher fighters with healing spells and long-distance attacks. You’ll absolutely hammer the pause button in most large fights, constantly changing the positioning of your party members and the attacks they are throwing out.
Of course, the beauty in the depth of a game like Pillars Of Eternity is that you can also fully adapt your party so that, for example, your priest decks out in heavy armour and carries a pistol as a backup weapon, enabling him to get more involved in the mix, rather than hiding behind a table and healing your party every now and again. You can even save custom formations for your squad so they automatically assume your favoured positioning, which you can then adapt on the fly as battles progress. It is also entirely possible to avoid combat in many situations – should a stealthy approach be your favoured style of play – and, in fact, moving around the game world in stealth has the benefit of highlighting traps in environments, which is useful as most dungeons are full of them.
The systems at play here are beautifully malleable and so numerous that it’s almost easy to overlook some of them; indeed, it was several hours into playing before we even noticed that you can easily craft your own food and potions to buff your squad as well as enchant any piece of armour or weaponry in your inventory – which is a good thing, as one place in which Pillars Of Eternity does fall down a little is in its loot. The weapons and gear you’ll be rewarded with as you progress through the many, many labyrinthian dungeons in the game aren’t the most exciting, and enchanting is perhaps the best way of adding some spice to most of the gear you’ll equip.
A handful of modern conveniences have also been delicately layered into proceedings to make things slightly less obtuse than they were in the glory days of the CRPG. Fast and slow modes are available for traversing with a quick tap of the left or right directional buttons, enabling your party to double-time it across terrain. Camps can also be set up anywhere whilst there are no enemies around in order for you to recoup your strength and nullify negative effects that have been accrued by your party in battle without having to traipse all the way back to the nearest inn to sleep. The graphics are also beautifully detailed, doing a wonderful job of paying homage to their predecessors whilst adding plenty of detail, with smoke billowing from tumbledown chimney stacks in quiet towns, cobbled streets slick with rain, huge statues rising out of forested areas and bizarre dwarven contraptions and ancient machinery to stumble upon on your travels. All of this is set to an enchanting score that swells at just the right time to catch an attractive vista or in the heat of a particularly important battle.
In terms of this Switch port, it’s identical to the Pillars Of Eternity you may have played on other home consoles, complete with the streamlined control system which does a valiant job of replacing the (obviously more appealing) keyboard and mouse setup of the PC version. The game runs beautifully in both docked and handheld modes with no frame rate issues or graphical downgrades to report, and dialogue boxes have been cleverly tweaked to fill almost the entire screen with large text in portable mode, so you’re not straining to read anything. Some players may be annoyed at the fact that the Switch touchscreen hasn't been employed to any effect here, but the controls do such a good job of covering all of the bases that it isn't something we'd say was particularly necessary.
We did encounter a bug which sees random chunks of text temporarily glitch as they appear on-screen, and some item icons appeared to be showing up as the wrong thing from time to time in our inventories. These are two small issues which will hopefully be quickly patched post-release. Beyond this, the main problem with Pillars Of Eternity is one it’s had on every platform it’s released – long loading times, which seem to get longer the more save files you have in play. It’s not so much of an issue in large outdoor areas, but there are some keeps and dungeons where it can become truly obnoxious as you back in and out of areas that require a good twenty or thirty seconds of loading every single time you pass through them. It’s not a massive problem but it is a shame, albeit one that isn’t in any way Switch exclusive.
Conclusion
During the sixty to seventy hours it takes to make your way through the main story and DLC on offer in Pillars Of Eternity (much more should you choose, quite rightly, to meander), you’ll meet a cast of unforgettable travelling companions, fight your way through labyrinthian dungeons, explore deserted Dwarven fortresses, become Lord of your very own stronghold and undertake quests as varied as they are beautifully-written and acted. Obsidian has created a heartfelt tribute to the classic 'Infinity Engine' RPGs of old; one that takes the best of those games, delicately updates them and – in the process – becomes something of a classic itself. For RPG fans, this is a must-buy.
Comments 71
If ever a game deserved a physical release...it's the first PoE. I'm surprised there isn't one considering PoE II was announced for a physical release on Switch a couple years ago. Strange.
I'm torn between this and waiting for the 2nd. I've heard they added turn based combat mode to the sequel which is right up my alley, but I prefer the look of this one as the pirate ship type setting going on in the sequel doesn't appeal. I always found the pause time combat in the old D&D RPG's impenetrable so worried this one will be the same. I would very much like a demo!
It’s so cool that Obsidian is supporting the Switch now. Looking forward to The Outer Worlds soon.
Paying full price for digital, meh I'll wait for a sale or PoEII.
I'll put it on my watch list but I'm unlikely to ever buy it. There are too many good, lengthy RPGs out/coming out and I really can't find time to play them all, plus the price and file size for being digital only is a bit of a deal breaker.
Is this game really a 9? They have been sponsoring NL via adverts for a while now.. 🤣
I am tempted to give it a go, is it really worth it?
There is a bug that is not addressed in this review; stat bonuses from items do not appear to be working.
So your Hyacinth Stompers of +4 Constitution don't actually make your characters more hardy.
Hope they fix it soon, as it is a bit bothersome at times.
Other than that, I'm really enjoying playing this on the go.
The game that saved Obsidian! (Until purchased by Microsoft a few years later)
The text glitch is really annoying me where it looks like alien writing everywhere. I hope this will be patched soon.
I want this game, but I absolutely refuse to buy any RPG in digital form. These are precisely the kinds of games that you want in physical form because they are the types of games you pick back up 10 to 20 years later to play again and again.
Make a physical release, and I will buy it.
When its 30 bucks or lower, trigger shall be pulled
Physical. Or die.
Hmm, somehow I missed the initial release. Will pick this up in november.
Yeah, I've never played this one and I really want to now on my Switch. Sounds like such a smooth 60fps experience with lots of interesting text, battles, music, etc. Can't wait to play it!
@BenAV it's be a day 1 purchase if physical
This reminds me of the classic RPGs of the good days of PC gaming. I don't have the time to play this, but it sure looks good.
Gutted it didn't get a physical. Probs not buy it as the file size is too big for my liking
@Dpullam
That's what it is, you do know it was formed by ex members of black isle studios who gave us all those great crpg games. Balders gate, neverwinter, Iceland Dale etc.
Would of snapped it up if the digital price was cheaper and/ or if it had a physical release. Played it on ps4 and is a love letter to the old crpgs. Will get it on sale
Would play if we could use a joy con to control a cursor on screen. I hate using touch screen for games and analogue sticks for isometric games.
This was a surprise on the eshop, but has now taken up 100% of my gaming time. Soaking it all up... hopefully we get Divinity next.
Already downloaded, wrapping up FE3H and then devoting my time to this before Astral Chain comes out.
So on the level, the loading in this game becomes horrific as the hours progress (20ish hours and loading screens were taking several minutes on PS4.) Its a known issue on other consoles and PC. If this has somehow been resolved on Switch I would absolutely consider picking it up again. It does really bug me because I was loving it.
So has anyone played it for 20-30 hours and if so how is the loading? I see this is mentioned at the end of the review, but waiting 5-6 minutes to move between a couple of floors on a small building and get outside again just became too much for me!
@kyleforrester87
Played it on ps4 and had no where near those load times. Most i had was about 3 minutes, most less than a,minute
The text glitch and the inventory icons not displaying correct representation of the item is highly frustrating and needs to be patched.
There are other bugs. You only need to see them detailed on Reddit.
I messaged obsidian about these issues, especially as I paid premium price for this game and they did reply to me saying that they are not involved in the Switch version and so couldn’t help but apologised for the lack of enjoyment it was causing. They referred me to VsEvil and provided me with contact details, who they said where responsible for the port on the Switch.
So far VsEvil haven’t replied to my email.
On a side note. Does anyone know how to interact with the text box on the screen. It appears to have two tabs and scroll bar but I can’t figure out how to interact with it?
Good Game. But as usual with 3rd party on Switch - played it ages ago for a fraction of the price on another system.
Same way I gave up waiting for Pillars or Eternity 2 on Switch once it hit $15 on PC.
@suikoden good to hear, the issue is for example when you are just going into a building in the city, and say, up a set of stairs, then back out again - that’s 4 loading screens at 1 minute each for what could be under 60 seconds of actual gameplay. As a result I felt pretty restricted and deliberately avoided going to certain areas because of the loading times, not great for an adventure game.
Glad it didn’t get to you though. Just became too frustrating for me in the end.
Cannot wait to start this, just currently finishing Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 before moving on to this.
Is a shame they are not doing a physical release but will support anyway and I have had PoE II on pre-order since it was first announced 2 years ago.
With BG 1/2 and PT and IWD coming as well in October, the CRPG genre is well and truly covered.
Just wish we could get Frost Punk, Grim Dawn, They Are Billions and Tyranny on Switch, that would be unbelievable.
@Xelha Or on PS4 or Xbox One of you have either of those consoles.
I'll wait for the ps5 to eradicate (hopefully!) these pesky loading times.
Might pick this up... I backed the game during its Kickstarter, but I rarely get much free time to play PC games. So I never got more than a couple of hours into it. I own both Skyrim and Civilization VI on the PC, but only managed to put a few hours into each, while logging over 200 hours with each on the Switch. If I buy PoE in Switch, I might actually get to finish it.
I've got PoE on Xbox One, PC, and now Switch - it's the very definition of a 9 in my opinion. It's a pretty sizable download but if you like RPGs and have the space, get it! Switch is where this game belongs - I barely looked at it on PC and Xbox; I'm halfway through it on Switch already. Truly a masterpiece among Western RPGs.
Can someone explain the combat to me? Sounds cumbersome if you keep having to pause it. Are you actually moving around and swinging your weapon, is it menu-based or what? I find some of these reviews spend way too much time explaining the story and not enough time explaining gameplay and control.
@SolarJetman click on enemy to attack, it’ll keep attacking automatically. Pause the game and you can select spells and abilities and use them on friends and foes. Unpause and you’ll see them use those abilities, then go back to regular attacking. You can use those abilities without pausing but obviously if you stop the action you can be more tactical. You might want to instruct a mage to move to the back and your warrior to get in front of him for example, so you’d pause, cue all that up, then unpause and see it happen. Easier than trying to organise complex movements with a big party while taking hits.
Il Hope we get information for a physical release soon.
For now on my watchlist
One of the best games I have played in a long while worth the fee.
@kyleforrester87 Thanks Kyle, much appreciated! Exactly the info I needed.
I've always thought this series looks interesting. If I decide to grab it I'll either wait for a discount down to 20 or less or grab the sequel once it goes down in price at some point.
Does anyone know if load times the same in handheld as docked?
@R1spam I am playing on handheld exclusively and the load times are ok
Game is amazing in my opinion. Incredible you can play this on a handheld. They absolutely nailed the interface as well
The text glitch is very strange - it doesn’t affect the gameplay but there is no way they never saw this as it is prevalent throughout the game almost from the very start
@suikoden
One-to-three-minute load times and you're saying that's not too bad!?
I played and beat Tyranny, a great game by the same studio that runs on the same engine/has the same combat (they should bring that to Switch btw). So I thought getting into PoE would be a breeze. I played for an hour or so and it hasn't grabbed me yet. It doesn't help that the combat is hard as nails and I'm dying against really low-level enemies. Maybe I'll give it another try, I also really wanna play PoE 2. I know the latter game added turn-based combat as an option. I wish the first game would do that too.
@N64-ROX
It's not if you can remember the days of the spectrum and commode 64 30 minutes to load a game and a 50/50 chance of it crashing. It's a few minutes , people can't be that inpatient. As raisin other post most are less than a minute , around 20 seconds. Mind that was after the patch and it helped not to have to many saves
@MBII
You have to use tactics. Can't just wack people
@suikoden you must have missed the part where I said I played Tyranny which has the exact same battle system and isn't exactly a walk in the park. At least in the early hours of the game, they should give you some time and space to get your feet under you properly.
That price though. This is a “wait for a good discount sale” or “hope for physical release” game.
@R1spam I didn't notice any difference in load times in handheld or docked, or as I progressed through game, 50-60secs longest I clocked overall, I was keeping my save files to a minimum though as apparently that's been an issue on other versions.
Still waiting for a touch screen controls, it's a must for this type of games.
I'll add my voice to the chorus... how is this not a physical release? A game like this demands physical.
Earlier I was like "Wow, can't wait! Day one for me!" then I was like "no words on physical release???????"
Are they reading our comments? Please make it physical and I'll be a happy man.
like many i am torn on this one. long RPGs are best on switch time wise but this is at its heart a port of a PC game that looses out without keyboard and mouse. But its sitting in my steam backlog un-played. I will, in all probability wait until a sale comes along, add it my switch back-log and then continue to complain I just can't find the time to play all the games I want.....
I was excited after reading the review. But check the metacritic user reviews, and it seems that this game is really buggy. Was going to purchase tonight. Now I wait to see if they patch it for the switch or not. if not I look for another RPG.
@brendon987 your missing a great game. Seems to be a trend now to over criticise titles that fall below optimum performance - was doom last week now pillars this week. Both are superb on the switch.
@PJOReilly @Punisher67 thanks for the replies!! I've never played a crpg before but have been close to buying this a couple of times on ps4. Handheld seems perfect fit for it though.
No Fronczewski no buy.
@jcvandan
Wait... You cant pause the action like in BALDUR'S GATE?
@WhiteTrashGuy yes it has exactly the same type of combat as Baldur's Gate, I was just saying I was worried I'd fine the systems too obscure like I do in those games. Probably because they use some arcane D&D rules that aren't really exposed to the player.
@WhiteTrashGuy yes, action can be paused
I pre-loaded the game. I am excited for it, but its buggy as hell. Any word from Obsidian on a patch?
Really loving this game so far. Obsidian did a great job capturing the classic Baulders Gate feel. The controlls are solid, which was one of my main worries. I hope that the Baulders Gate games feel this good when they release.
The text glitch is annoying but not game breaking.
I highly recommend this game to anyone that wants a great RPG to play.
Mind you I am not that far into it so its possible but unlikley that my opinion will change. The story would have to crash and burn for that to happen.
@Illusion
To the founders, being bought out by Microsoft is much preferable to going bankrupt!
I really wish it had turn-based combat like the 2nd one does.
@Punisher67 Thanks. I will purchase later in September. Would be nice to hear if they are working on a patch or not.
@brendon987 Versus Evil has said on their twitter feed that they are working on a patch.
I have been loving this game but it crashes all the time! I'm so frustrated I deleted it and will wait for a patch. Where can I complain to someone it will matter to?
I would get this were it not for the lengthening load times. I can't deal with that kind of thing, I rarely get to game as it is. Spending a good chunk of time looking at a load screen makes it not worth the money for me.
@Multi I don't know if you already bought it, but if not, then wait a bit longer for a patch. It's as bugridden as fresh cowdung on a hot summers day. Besides the bugs, it's definitely worth a play.
@Laxeybobby A "premium" would suggest that you paid more than the MSRP. Why oh why would anyone do that?
The game deserves to be fixed, but not due to your entitled logic of paying more, or even retail, for said goods would suggest. Everyone deserves to enjoy the game in it's fixed form, regardless of dollars spent, providing it wasn't pirated/stolen. Simply because people need to stop accepting broken games, no matter how small the annoyance may be. However, as long as we, the consuming public allow devs and pubs to use us as glorified "Paying NOT Paid Beta Testers" and patch later, this reactionary instead of precautionary expense cutting tactic will keep getting worse.
With the completely screwed retail release environment we now live in, I try my hardest to avoid paying full retail price, let alone a premium. Too much shady practices and cringeworthy business going on before a title hits the shelf.
Don't even start talking to me about physical vs digital price points generally being equal. Or the GOTY Edition of a game being on sale, but since I bought the game on day 1, it literally costs more to just grab the dlc....just bc you were an early adopter championing whatever game. Thats the thank you for doing so. Both of these things happen far too often, and def support my attempts to avoid full retail price. I would never shut up about the ass backwardsness in both theory and principle that are at play here. Givenn the time, this could easily turn into something that rivals the length of a senior thesis. So I'm going to stop....now.
@PJOReilly since the game has been abandoned by developers and is still buggy mess with critical bugs, you really need to revise this review. 9/10 gives an appearance of quality that just isn’t there and the last patch actual introduced new bugs they will never address. I know at the time you assumed parches would smooth the experience out but that is not the case and readers deserve an update.
@TuxDC agreed. I was thinking of picking this up (partly on the strength of this review) but fortunately spotted the abysmal user ratings on metacritic first.
It's typically a game you want to make notes for and have a manual on the side. I got it for Switch, but it's impossible to get anywhere unless you play every single day and have photographic memory.
Also it breathes kickstarter - the dialogue and lore descriptions are sub-par just as nearly every other kickstarter.
Glad I check multiple sites for reviews since people NOT PAID to give good scores have shown it's a buggy mess that was abandoned by the developers.
9 my ass.
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