Pillars of Eternity

I'm playing through Deadfire right now, and generally liking it. The combat is improved, though I feel the interface makes it more tedious than it need be, and I like that there is plenty to do besides fight and loot chests. I love my little Orlan, I think of her as wise but also in some ways very innocent and childlike, and Edér as a Gentle Giant towards her. (The other races feel too much "humans with different proportions", and the godlike don't appeal to me aesthetically.) It's nice to have a diminutive race that isn't comic or sexualised. However, some things feel odd:

-Why the character portraits? They were needed in the first game (and Baldur's Gate before it) because the in-game models had too little detail, but here the models are good enough to have their own faces. It hurts that I could not find a portrait that matched the character I spent some time making, and it creates a disconnect.

-Plenty of options at character creation (class, race, culture, background, profession) and all have some mechanical importance, but I'm not sure that the game has enough replay value to experience more than a few of them. It might have been better to focus on fewer choices that give very different play experiences, or make them into "phases" that the player goes through (based, say, on their reputation with a faction), or even have the player make several PCs that they switch between on various parts of the plot.

-There are small things that would have done a lot to help immersion. When I sleep at an inn, why not have the next screen be in the room, instead of seeing the exact same scene as when I talked to the innkeeper with everyone in the same position? Similarly some camping equipment being visible when they sleep outdoors would help. Also the PC responds to my command as if being ordered around, which makes no sense in-universe. And while the map is pretty, the towns look very incongruous, being in a different artstyle altogether.

-I come across ruins or shipwrecks that I can search for treasure, losing some hours in the process, but... does time mean anything in this game? My party doesn't even seem to get sleepy like they did in the first game. It's like a trade-off is set up but there's no cost.

Edited by Reymma on Oct 24th 2023 at 8:56:12 PM

I quite like the painterly style of the character portraits. It's been a staple of most Infinity Engine games and others with a similar isometric look. I haven't played Deadfire yet, but in the first game it was possible to upload your own portraits into the game. I found a cool portrait of a dark-furred Orlan woman in a red cloak, so I made a dark-furred Orlan Rogue with red clothing.

Speaking of Orlan, I agree that they are a great new diminutive race. They kinda mix together the best aspects of Halflings, Gnomes and Goblins.

I'm on the last leg of the game, and I'd like to offer a few more thoughts.

The naval aspect is clearly meant as a major selling point, but while I really like the concept, it could have done with refinement. I find that ship management falls into that category of gameplay that requires attention without being challenging, and mostly ends up feeling tedious. The challenges are there, but implemented too weakly: morale was a problem, until I fought my first naval battle and since then it's been near maximum. A plague broke out but using some cheap medical supplies handled it. There was a fire, but 20 copper coins' worth of water doused it. I lost one of my crew, but only because I blundered early on. Increasing the risks and costs by at least an order of magnitude would make it challenging (and much more realistic), but it would also leave players vulnerable to being stuck on an island with no safe way of leaving.

Naval combat is also a disappointment. I don't mind that it's handled with menus instead of real-time movement, though I wish it would show me more about positions, and let me use all my ships instead of only one. But the real problem is that every ship I have come up against has much better hull health and cannons than mine, so the only rational approach is to fire a volley or two and then close up to board it, because in those battles I can defeat opponents two levels above me.

I have an idea of how I would design a game like this, though it goes against a lot of game design thinking: take away some player control. The player can only tell the ship to go to a set point, they can only depart once there's enough supplies, and random events happen along the way. It would detract from the exploration appeal, but that's another point:

The world feels big but empty. There's lots to do in the settlements, but there are only a handful of them (and the city of Neketaka feels like it contains half the game). In between them is a lot of sea, a lot of islands you can't land on, islands you can land on but only to gather some food and water, and islands with a dungeon or bounty. What's worse is that these islands are clearly inhabited in canon, but the game doesn't reflect that. Uncovering the map is only rarely rewarding.

Now I should say that the stories and setting are very good. The first game was still very standard D&D in look, but here there is a brilliant variety of visuals, in architecture, clothing, ships and creatures. There is a complex web of political and commercial interests to explore, giving a nuanced look at how colonialism works. It's reminiscent of Fallout New Vegas, but falls short of it because of how it plays with the main plot.

In FONV, control of New Vegas was the plot's dramatic question, and it was clear all along that only one faction could win. Here, the protagonist is chasing after a rogue god, and gets into politics along the way. Meanwhile the various factions all have their share of power in the Deadfire, and while the balance is precarious, there's no reason they can't continue in this uneasy status. And so the main faction quests end with a sudden choice that forces you to choose one faction over another in a way that is dramatic and wide-ranging, but doesn't make much sense. Now factions I've been trading with all along are attacking me on sight.

I will add that I like the gods being much more involved than in the first game, and in fact what this game tells me of them lets me understand that game's ending more. I have some thoughts on this one's main plot, but I'll have to see in concluded first.

Count me in on team portrait. A drawn character portrait will always be more expressive, imaginative, and striking, than your PC model's face stuck in a neutral expression that has to fit all possible character designs.

Plus you can just import portraits to your taste too.

Edited by Ghilz on Nov 16th 2023 at 5:46:53 AM

About the portraits, I have noticed that those of NPCs usually fit their appearance, and they are likely more expressive than an unmodified shot of their model's head would be. But my problem remains with the PC. I wish there was an option to use the head in some kind of filter, or simply do away with the portrait just like the PC has no voice acting.

Now about that main plot... the theme is powerful. It's the opposite of the first game and feels like a natural follow-up. However there is a glaring problem: It's the same as Kreia's plan from the Sith Lords. And with Kreia, it was easy to see why she was willing to wipe out the Force: everyone had rejected her and her ideals and she now wanted to destroy what they most cared for out of vindictiveness and the hope it would prove her right, whatever the consequences. Whereas here I'm still asking myself why a benevolent god would do so much harm, to both the living and the dead, just in the hope that the world might recover and grow better from it. I am, however, glad that the player is told of this about halfway through, not right at the end like with Thaos's plan, allowing some discussion of its consequences.

The climax also disappointed me in that, unless I missed some dialogue option, I had no choice over what happens, I could only witness it. There wasn't even a proper fight against the antagonist like in the first game. The ending cards were good, I felt like I left an impact there, though there was one eye-catching contradiction among them. But it has the feel of an ending made for a sequel, where the player decides what happens in the game's locale, but the worldwide change is fixed because it decides the next game.

Overall, it felt like the main theme of Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords with the politicking of Fallout: New Vegas, but they didn't mix well.

The logic behind Eothas' actions is that he believes the current status quo is unsustainable and leading to ruin.

He thinks that he and his fellow "gods" have failed mortals and are working only to keep themselves fed with souls. He's smashing the Wheel because he thinks it's the only way to force everyone to figure out a better solution.

One big problem is that Eothas himself has no better solution. That's where you come in. You can't stop him, but you can give him some ideas of what comes next after he destroys the Wheel.

Edited by M84 on Nov 19th 2023 at 8:32:03 PM

I will say that it does look to have replay value, so I will try it again. There were quests left to do, I can ally with another faction, I can try higher difficulties, and it helps a lot that I can choose companions' classes.

Looking at the DLC, it does not surprise me that the paid ones are all about endgame enemies. There was a lack of good fights at the end.

The setting is certainly the best thing about these games, but it also has noticeable gaps. Its ogres are innovative, but can that be said of its nagas? The culture of the Huana has great depth, but the elves and dwarves never felt like they couldn't be covered with different cultures of the other races. And while I like the conlangs, but since this game has voice acting, I noticed inconsistent pronunciation; some read Vailian like Spanish, others like Italian.

A minor problem, but one that I found narmy and spoke of hurried work: its own setting and mechanics terms are highlighted in text, which helps the player to understand things, but sometimes the links are for unrelated words that are only the same by coincidence, like "will" as a modal verb linked to the Will defence.

Finally, I see hundreds of mods in the Steam workshop, but most are for minor things. Where could I find some mod recommendations?

I love how no one is caring enough to make Avowed TV Tropes page, or even forum thread. Like, Po E was arguably the title responsible for top-down RP Gs revival and now whole franchise is pretty much forgotten to the point new entry doesn't seem to excite anyone.

I'd like to play it, but first-person perspective is a deal-breaker, unfortunately.

It's not out, what is there to make a page about

Correct. And we have an EXTREMELY limited idea of what the sequel will contain for now. Like, I think we've seen some enemies and we know the location, but that's really it. There's just not much to discuss for now...

Well, few trailers are out, with at least some informations provided via podcasts, interviews and articles and whatnot. Frankly, upcoming media with less information already has Tv T pages.

I just see literaly no hype for it, even from Obsidian fans (which I am, I guess, even if I find most of their recent games lacking and uninspired.)

Barely any info out. Obsidian's barely promoting it. What's there to be hyped over.

Like their most recent spot spends more time showing off their office with a sales person speaking platitudes at you.

Edited by Ghilz on Apr 8th 2024 at 3:37:31 PM

Not my point?

We have one brief all-CGI trailer Star Wars Eclipse, for example, which already have its Tv Topes page, because at least one person care enough about this game, even if we know way less about it than about Avowed.

So go make one if you're so bitter about it? If you're so convinced you got enough to work with, go nuts.

I don't bother making pages till I have enough to work with.

But my point is, I don't care enough. Nor does anyone else, for that matter.

Po E isn't exactly the most popular RPG series in the world, but it has dedicated fandom. Whole new AA(A) game set in this universe - even spin-off with different perspective and different approach - should attract at least some attention.

And yet, no one care, me included. I, as Obsidian fan, find it fascinating. I took an eye on Avowed subreddit, which is apathetic at best. There are no fan theories, close to zero speculations, zero fan arts, no one is really excited for this game.

Same with Po E fan communities, as far as I am aware.

And I don't think this is due to lack of information about Avowed. Because there's plenty of it. It's about quality of promotional materials, at least so far.

Because so far Avowed look so uninspired and drab. It honestly looks like bad turn in Skyrim modding alley than game with its own distinct look and feel. Most news about game is on what *isn't* in the Avowed. There won't be any romances. No character classes. No races other that human or elf. No multiplayer. No fully open-world. It's baffling on the marketing level.

And marketing for previous Obsidian RPG, The Outer Worlds was great, with many interesting promotional materials, funny trailers and whatnot.

It's... concerning. I worry it's because marketing team don't have much to work with this time. And Avowed will turn out to be hot mess. Or worse - just dull and mediocre.

It's fascinating how not-fascinating this game is so far.

Edited by Misiael on Apr 8th 2024 at 1:25:00 PM

Again, what do you want to have fan theories about? About all we've been told is you're a dude(tte) coming to go check on a plague. And that you got some sort of weird power coz it's a POE game, but who knows what that is.

Like, there's so little known about this game there's nothing to have fan theories or speculate over. It might be garbage? all I know is Microsoft and Obsidian sure aren't in a media frenzy to present this thing. The one gameplay trailer they show is so filled with weird cuts and edits it tells you fuck all about the gameplay beyond "it's first person". Like, are their classes? What the mechanics like? They won't tell you.

Yeah no one's hyped coz there's nothing on offer to be hyped about.