Pillars of Eternity is a CRPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment. It was released in 2015. Obsidian Entertainment is best known for developing Fallout: New Vegas and was founded by former Black Isle Studios/Interplay staff.
The game was financed through crowdfunding, as the team believed the genre was too niche for a major publisher. After the campaign surpassed expectations, Paradox Interactive stepped in to handle publishing and marketing.
Callback is the central theme of this article. Pillars of Eternity is cited by many as a love letter to 90s CRPGs, as it mimics many of the gameplay and narrative elements of those games. We’ll dissect the game and explain its many ups and downs.
CALLBACK TO SIMPLER VISUALS
The game has been made in Unity. Obsidian Entertainment has gone to great lengths to emulate the feel of the old Infinity Engine. The world comprises detailed static backgrounds with environmental effects. Characters, on the other hand, are fully animated 3D models, but the contrast between the world and the characters does not seem out of place. It all feels natural.
Additional details about the world and characters are shown in dialogue, and the heavily stylized UI incorporates natural colors and textures like wood, rock, moss, and paper. Character portraits are also incredibly detailed, reflecting their personalities well.
Besides in-game cutscenes, dialogue, and readables, Pillars of Eternity presents its story through interactable snippets. The style of the writing, plus the ink drawings, pulls back memories of fantasy novels and gamebooks. The visuals sometimes get flashy, but it is nowhere near the spectacle of typical triple-A games. The most impressive visuals are reserved for the game’s more important moments.
The game’s realm is called Eora. The aesthetic of Eora is less typical medieval but more in line with the late Renaissance. You’ve got medieval fantasy elements like grimoires, knights, barbaric tribes, and abandoned keeps. But you also have more advanced elements, such as gunpowder weaponry, Renaissance architecture, trade networks, and conquistador-style armor. The seamless combination of both styles creates the impression that the world of Pillars of Eternity is expansive and progressing. It’s one thing to tell a story through writing. It’s another thing to tell it through visuals. Overall, the presentation in the game is excellent. Every inch has been crafted with love and care.
ABUNDANCE OF TEXT
The writing in the game is precise, making each location and character feel as authentic as possible. You can tell who is who just by the dialogue alone, which is impressive. The abundance of text and characters means the story is slower-paced. Although there are few moments of grand exposition and purple prose, they are usually the end result of a mystery or a critical plot point.
The game does not reveal all the critical lore at once. Instead, the player is expected to pay attention to what the characters are saying and piece the world together on their own. The apparent downside of such an approach is that you can lose track of the finer details. Though there is an encyclopedia. If you’re not a fan of slower-paced games and lines and lines of text, this might not be the game for you.
Quests can have different outcomes. How your character interacts with the world around them will shape their reputation and personality. Reputation, personality, stats, and origin offer various ways to interact. Most often, taking the form of skill checks in dialogue. While there isn’t an objectively superior style, the different options make each playthrough feel a bit more special.
The overall story in Pillars of Eternity is solid. Although Eric Fenstermaker is credited as the man who spearheaded the narrative, the story is rich with Chris Avellone’s tropes. At its core, Pillars of Eternity is a game about a big, giant titan of a mystery. As a player, you unravel the secrets of Eora while the character unravels a sinister plot and the mysteries surrounding their companions. Themes of conflict, politics, reincarnation, existentialism, shadowy organizations, and your character are being thrust into something more significant than them.
The concepts and framework are not unique. They can be found in your favorite media. They are executed well here, consistent with Avellone’s and Obsidian Entertainment’s standards. If you like the writing in their other games, you’ll probably like it here.
YOU CALLED FOR A CHOIR?
While not the highlight for me personally, the game’s music is good. Justin E. Bell arranged the soundtrack in collaboration with the Budapest Art Orchestra and East Connection Music Recording Company. It’s an orchestral soundtrack heavily relying on violins and cellos, combining themes of mystery and wonder. It’s a very expressive soundtrack, and each song fits its respective scene perfectly, whether it is exploration or battle.
BALDUR’S GATE-LIKE
When people hear CRPG, they immediately think of a sea of mechanics, math, and a plethora of builds. Pillars of Eternity is no exception.
There are six races in Pillars of Eternity, each with their subspecies. Humans, elves, and dwarves are typical fantasy, with Orlan, Aumaua, and Godlike being the more exotic. Each race has different bonuses and attribute modifiers. There are several backgrounds and cultures to pick from.
Attributes govern your character’s general performance, such as Intellect determining the AoE of spells and some defenses. Skills determine how your character interacts with the environment and some of their combat potential. Whether it is picking a lock or using scrolls. There are 11 playable classes, each excelling at a different playstyle, like support or crowd control. Spells and abilities are tabletop style. Per rest, per encounter, stats, and charges recover after resting.
Spells and abilities are determined by class, with some classes, like the Cipher class, having a unique resource pool. Companions can be directly controlled with some AI customization, allowing for different ways to tackle challenges. There are different resistances, damage types, weapon stats, and consumables to tip the odds in your favor. Levelling up unlocks new class-specific abilities and allows you to augment existing abilities, increase skills, and pick from a plethora of passive bonuses. Besides purchasing gear, you can craft and enchant your equipment. You’ve got a lot of things to juggle.
Like old Infinity Engine games, using items before battle, having a clear vision of your build, and constantly managing your team is essential to survival. It’s important to pay close attention to enemy formation and their stats. Not only using the proper resources but also using them at the right moment. The combat is incredibly engaging, and having preparation pay off is always rewarding. If you’re a Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale fan, you’ll sink hours into this game. There’s no shortage of variety to be had.
BAD INHERITANCE
When Obsidian Entertainment set out to mimic the feel of classic Baldur’s Gate, they also mimicked some of the bad. Nothing is perfect, and neither is Pillars of Eternity.
Pausing all the time to micromanage your team can get tiresome, especially on higher difficulties where you need to be a micromanaging machine. Because you’re in charge of a group that often fights larger groups, there will be some pathfinding issues. It is common for your party to get stuck in tighter areas like crypts, hallways, and dungeons. It’s just the nature of the beast. You’ll have to tinker with the game’s pause options and companion AI to alleviate some frustration. While food items are plentiful and useful for augmenting your combat potential, they can only be used outside combat. It would’ve made the game’s pace faster and more fluid if players could use them in the middle of combat.
By far, the game’s greatest foible is the difficulty scaling in some areas. Difficulty determines enemy quantity and power. There will be moments of apparent unfairness on the normal difficulty setting intended for players familiar with Infinity Engine games. You might unlock an early game area only to face foes that you can’t possibly beat with your level. The closest analog I have is the quest design in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, where nothing is warning you about the challenge, which can end up feeling like a trial-and-error run.
In CONCLUSION
While Pillars of Eternity has several flaws, they are not consequential in the grand scheme. It is a case study on how to emulate classics and add something extra.