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PSS that's it, time to play the most top-tier party games, not just everything in a row..

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Pillars of Eternity

So I finally got to Pillars. I wrote a lot of stuff, but it turned out chaotic, so I decided to rewrite and start from the beginning (I'll note right away that I'll be comparing it to other games). Character creation is generally acceptable, though there's a bit too little content for my taste, but still more than in some other games. I didn't appreciate the renaming of attributes and some classes, and I have questions about the races too. Was a bit disappointed that I couldn't choose a faith, but apparently that option exists for priests (judging by possible dialogue lines). I wanted to complain about the number of portraits (and partly their quality, lol'd at three identical elves in different colors), but given new knowledge, I changed my mind. Besides, I ended up not playing as yet another Arandor and decided to create a character from the expansion for which there was a fitting portrait and class too. So in the end it turned out even better than usual. I should do this more often when possible, because it's more enjoyable to play when you have a coherent and well-thought-out image. And I gathered that the voices in these games (in SCL too) are the same ones used back in the first NWN.

After creation comes the usual intro about a caravan, just like in SCL (if you end up in a fantasy world, never travel with caravans, their mortality rate is higher than that of the local villains' lackeys). Then we arrive at the first village. There you start to realize that the game's beginning is actually quite creepy (with this curse and soulless children (a zoomer reference, btw)) and you even start to get into it. I was pleasantly surprised that the first companions you meet are men, unlike in some games (no finger-pointing). The thing is, they're not very interesting, like all companions in the game. Except maybe Eder seemed like a decent character, perhaps due to his simplicity and lack of excessive tediousness. It's rare for a warrior to be normal rather than a dullard or a villain. Next comes a not-too-interesting run through locations and clearing out a local noble's keep, which tired me out a bit. Also, I was playing a bard and our party wasn't very combat-ready at the start, so I had to use my usual tactic in such games: give everyone ranged weapons and kite (thankfully the game allows this). It wasn't very convenient to fight this way in tight corridors, but the bard can summon creatures without resting cooldown, which eased the task. That's how I got through half the game, if not more. After the keep, I went to our future stronghold and decided to explore it a bit, though I should have just done the quest and left the exploration for later. In the end, I got a bit overwhelmed, but I cleared a few floors. Generally, multi-level dungeons in such games are tiring. If the whole game consisted of them (those exist), it'd be fine, but here the concept is completely different and I'd prefer less of that. I ended up finishing it much later (though still too early, because on one of the last floors I lacked the skill to find/open a hidden door), and the final fight was tough; again, maybe I should have leveled up more.

So, after the cozy keeps and a slight loss of interest in what's happening, we reach the city (btw, the town crier on the street quickly covers the news). There, the spark of interest reignited in me; I even caught some pleasant old-school RPG vibes. Mainly thanks to various taverns, organizations, institutions, rich family estates, and other places to visit. It just lacked named NPCs (don't count the kickstarter backer placeholders), regular houses, and shops x) At least there was a sewer-like area! By the way, at this point, in terms of interesting surroundings, the game already surpasses Tyranny with its two f***ing villages for the whole game and a bunch of identical locations. By this point, we've even killed about 20 different mobs, while there, there are only three types in the entire game. You also learn quite a bit of info about the world, countries, past conflicts, and so on. There's not that much info, of course, and it's almost all in books, but I read them and understood everything. The thing is, it's not as interesting as in Tyranny. In this regard, they're probably the same: not very interesting and small worlds (very little lore depth, like in almost all new "universes," making it boring to learn anything). Honestly, I don't really remember much from Tyranny anyway (maybe a couple of provinces and some details about them), and I'm not even sure I remembered it initially. Were there even books there? Yes, at the start it talks about a war and a genderless invader with their cronies, and you even choose different event outcomes, but do you remember the names you read for the first time? I doubt it. And when you encounter them in dialogues during the actual game, you might not recall them. But oh well, it's hard to top my love for FR anyway, so any lore would have failed my expectations, though they could have come up with something better. I can only note the "soulful" plot branch about animancy, maybe because I like experiments on humans and such. Though overall, the soul theme didn't really impress me. Role-playing in the game isn't as extensive as in Tyranny, and there are far fewer checks. But it's more than in many old RPGs and some others, so it's acceptable; plus, there are text situations (though Tyranny's encounters are definitely better, as are the role-playing opportunities).

The personal keep turned out to be decent and more convenient than in Tyranny. The option might not be very important, but it's pleasant. At first, I thought many different events would occur, but in reality, we were only attacked once, and after that various folks showed up. Most often with escort requests, a couple of times mercenaries came whom you could hire as guards (also a cool option), and occasionally more interesting situations arose. The most useful were the quests, which sometimes gave decent artifacts, and the upgrades providing resources (which I had no problem with) and sleep bonuses. I always increased mechanics at the start. But what I liked most was keeping prisoners in the dungeon; it's a shame you can't do much with them, though in the end, I handed a guy over for experiments x)

As for the visuals, they're quite pleasant. Nothing special on the city streets or in nature, but interiors and dungeons look pretty nice, with many small details drawn in. The situation is the same in Tyranny, just a slightly different style. Characters in Pillars look better, or rather more organic, because in Tyranny they stand out from the environment since their cartoonishness doesn't mesh well with it (and half of the humans are also hunched over like dogs). I'd also like to specifically mention the Vailian Republics' representatives, who stand out not so much by their skin color but by their bright clothes and design, making them look quite cool compared to other characters. Though they could have made the paladin companion from a different nation rather than the usual trend lately. But oh well, what actually bothered me more here was the feathers and all that, as the idea was mediocre and didn't look great either.

So, after the city and quest choice, we're back out in nature, where the only interesting thing is a village. And when I got to the barbarian city, I felt tired again. Showing perseverance, I managed to overcome this feeling of waning interest and finally reached the final location on the map, after which I proceeded to do the DLC (though it turned out some of it was already completed). Because everyone knows that before finishing the main story, you first need to complete the expansions, since you can continue playing after them, but not after the main story. Anyone who didn't know is a noob. In the end, the DLC took longer than I expected, possibly because there were two of them instead of one, though the events take place in one region (why do dwarves always mess around with nonsense in their strongholds? they'd be better off living on the surface and running around in kilts, showing off their yellowed underwear, like their Heroes 3 brethren). But thankfully, it played more briskly, and in snowy settings too; plus, there's no trash like backer NPCs. By the way, I reached max level during the expansions. By that point, the game was practically on easy mode, though there were moments when some mobs quickly shredded HP if you piled on them without using abilities and spells. After finishing the DLC, I returned to the main game and completed it without issue. All in all, I hit waves of frustration about three times (mainly due to locations, maybe, but not only). The toughest fights were with the dragons (the Adra Dragon and the White Dragon from the DLC); they were also the most interesting, as it's a kind of challenge and satisfying to win after several attempts and different tactics.

Now regarding mechanics and other stuff.
1. Items.
I liked the soulbound artifacts that level up and give good bonuses. There are almost no downsides to this feature, except that I found some items late and didn't get to level them (though not sure they were better). However, many of the regular artifacts weren't very useful, and there was a noticeable imbalance in some bonuses, or maybe I was just lucky. And I forgot that a bonus to something only counts from one item, not multiple. Though I thought in old RPGs this only applied to defense bonuses. On the other hand, those games had few items with stat bonuses, while here there are tons, especially to strength. But oh well.
I didn't like the division of defense into subtypes, as in Tyranny, if I'm not mistaken. I look at new armor, check the overall defense level and bonuses, that's it. Who's going to calculate piercing damage, slashing damage, etc.? Or am I supposed to carry different armor and constantly switch it depending on enemies? That's nonsense, who would bother with that? Elemental defenses are okay, that's an old system and can actually help sometimes (though not in this game). But damage-type defenses should only be for enemies, because it's right that skeletons should be hit with maces and clubs, and trolls finished off with fire and acid. The player shouldn't be burdened with such formulas. I also really dislike the armor's impact on action speed, which was also in Tyranny. In my opinion, this system is garbage. In old RPGs, it was fine. If you're a mage, screw you, no heavy armor; look for robes and don't act tough. Or like in Neverwinter, spend a skill point on armor proficiency, though you'll still get a spellcasting penalty and periodically suck, which is a hint. Besides, in the end, you still dress the mage in light armor and the warrior in heavy (or even everyone in heavy). Except for my bard, I tried everything on him since he was a fighter, a shooter, and a piper. The only good thing was that almost every new piece of armor was better than the previous one, which I can't say about weapons. Yes, sometimes I found cool weapons (usually soulbound), but more often I found artifacts that were worse in damage than what I already had, while having decent abilities. In the end, various clubs and spears were essentially trash, as were most one-handed weapons, except for one axe and a sword given in the second DLC. Otherwise, two-handed swords and one mace ruled (you find two more at the end of the game x)), and ranged weapons were periodically upgraded.

2. Consumables.
I played on normal, so I barely used them. I only used traps, as the MC's class allowed for it, and they helped early on. I also used paralysis scrolls against the dragon(s), as it's very effective, especially against one that's nearly immune to everything. I also summoned creatures using various figurines, but again usually against dragons, because I needed to spam meat shields and protect my characters, since I was going for the achievement of not falling unconscious. I used potions only a couple of times, and food too, which you can't even use during combat, which is stupid. In the end, it came in handy once or twice for dialogue checks. Generally, I don't like it when you can't use the inventory during battle, especially some consumables whose effects aren't very long-lasting. But the only thing that annoys me more than this is...

3. Spells.
I was glad that here we have familiar spells, and each class has different ones, unlike in Tyranny, but why the hell are half of them only castable in combat? Why can't I buff before battle like a normal person and then attack? Plus, most buffs' duration doesn't even reach 30 seconds. At least some combat spells could be used outside battle, especially area-of-effect ones (though I think not all). This is a classic feature of old games, where you cast a cloud of crap into the fog of war that poisons enemies while you stand aside and wait for them to die (though here they attack you immediately after, and the spells are lousy). This was especially useful against some dragon that would oneshot half my party in a direct confrontation.

Just facts:
1. I collected all the animals and creatures (info not 100%)
2. I missed one quest that becomes unavailable after the second chapter
3. Not all quest decision outcomes were predictable, which is good, and some even had unexpected continuations
4. Almost all companion quests are rubbish
5. There was a funny moment when, near the end of the game, I decided to do bounty contracts on bandits and returned to a location from the middle of the game, meeting guys there whom I had deceived in a quest from that same middle of the game, sending them on a false trail. I thought they just disappeared from that location, but they actually went where I told them and were hanging out there until I met them again x)
6. I also note an encounter in one of the early locations (where I was again looking for bandits) with guys who appear over time after certain in-game events. They're not very important, but still cool due to their unexpectedness, because what are the chances a player will re-explore locations they've already cleared? Such things could be done in other games too, maybe even with more important purposes.
7. Another easily missable moment. Before the finale, I decided to enter the common room (which you visit 1-2 times per game because there's nothing to do there) to check if any new dialogue had appeared for the resting companions (or maybe for another reason), when suddenly the paladin who was with me triggered a line about her quest, which I had already completed long ago. In short, she suggested visiting her friends, whom we had encountered earlier. In the end, a fight broke out there, though this wasn't a quest event anymore, but rather just an encounter, as it wasn't marked anywhere. A rather strange decision, in my opinion, given the "importance/necessity" of the scene and its trigger, which only activates in the common room. And possibly I didn't just enter it, but also pressed the rest button there (and the script fired after that), which basically no one would do, since you can rest outside the building. Such an interesting detail that I accidentally discovered.

As for the overall picture of the game, it's nothing special in general. Though towards the end, I wanted to check out the second part, especially since the story continues there, and the first part only partially brought it to a conclusion. Plus, instead of a personal keep, you'll have a personal ship, which is much cooler. And they say the second part is better, so I'm curious to verify those claims..

PS I finished the game back in January, but given the HW issues..