RPGWatch - Pillars of Eternity Opinion Article

All games have genius elements of design in them, at least in my opinion. Games such as Skyrim, where the genius is the excellent perk system and the vast open-world to explore, to Gothic 1 and 2, where the genius lies in the hand-crafted, deadly world to explore with minimal level-scaling. Of course, these are basic examples, and you can say that both of these examples have even more elements of genius in them, but hopefully you get the idea. :)

Pillars is genius to me because it takes a 15 year old formula and revamps it, while not attempting to rewrite it to the point that it's no longer the original formula, yet adding enough new things to make it a completely fresh, new and interesting world to explore. So yes, the genius is that PoE is basically Baldur's Gate 2015. It takes the spirit, feel and core formula of the game and just changes enough to be new and great, yet still feeling like the original source that influenced them. :)
 
So basically regard Pillars of Eternity as another BG:EE :p.
 
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Perhaps I wasn't 100% serious Fluent. But the approach was not that different from BG:EE i.e.
… It takes the spirit, feel and core formula of the game and just changes enough to be new and great, yet still feeling like the original source that influenced them…

The way I see it Pillars of Eternity falls somewhat close to that.

Take BG, water it down, add make up, add convenience. Wedge that into a separate universe, yet not with an unfamiliar setting. Front-load it with content. Hybridize a macabre set of rules from various D&D editions. And so on.

So essentially you'd get a diluted IE game with better graphics and smoother gameplay. And an awkward combat system. It also comes with a mini-game. Not so bad.

Sure Kenneth is the man :). Cheers.
 
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Without debating fanatic nuance hogwash from days of yore, I had a very, very enjoyable weekend with Pillars of Eternity. At $140, I feel like I got a bargain.
 
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I don't really want to debate much, either. I just wanted to write a little article about what I was feeling at the time, and thankfully I was able to do it along with a great person (and excellent writer!), Aubrielle. So, I'm happy with that. :)
 
HiddenX said:
Good read, but let me put the main statement

PoE is Baldur's Gate 2015

into perspective. PoE is the closest thing you can get in 2015 on a Kickstarter budget that is similar to Baldur's Gate 1. The look and feel is very similar, but the core mechanics are very different!
  • PoE avoids hard counters,
  • classes are much more interchangeable in PoE than in BG,
  • there's no day night cycle that is relevant to gameplay,
  • NPCs have no schedule,
  • you get no XP for winning fights, nevertheless you reach the level cap before the game ends,
  • dual health system that doesn't create excitement, because you can backtrack most of the time and sleep at home
  • no surprise-attacks while travelling
  • path finding in combat is so bad that you can lose a fight because of it
  • tombstones and 'Kickstarter gold persons' feel out of place,
  • only a few fights need tactical thinking, even on the hard setting
  • there's only one(!) event that changes the gameworld for a short time
  • the keep is fun, but somehow disconnected from the main story

PoE is not a bad game, but Baldur's Gate 1 and especially Baldur's Gate 2 & throne of Baal still reign.
PoE could be a better game than Baldur's Gate if they would have created a game that they really wanted to make:
  • turn based tactical combat (like D:OS)
  • no classes at all (like Spiderweb games)
  • creating stress and excitement with the health/rations system by using some respawning and surprise attacks while traveling
  • more world changing events and interactivity
  • more immersion with NPC-schedules and a day/night cycle that changes gameplay (stealth etc.)

PS: I'm 92 hours into the game in act 3 playing on the hard difficulty setting
Click to expand...

Thank you for writing this. It's frustrating reading all the positive reviews, comparing this to the BG series like they are the same. Tactically they are nothing alike. As a KS backer and huge BG1+2 fan I was very dissapointed by PoE's combat mechanics. It's a very bland and uninteresting system compared to the old D&D system used in the BG games. Itemization is dull, we just see uniqe items having the same stuff as lower tier items, but with some boosts to their % values. Actually, the entire combat and item system is just a huge excel spreadsheet where you add a few % every time you level or get a new item. The system reminds me very much of Elder Scrolls Online. Basically the best loot compared to a lower tier is the same gear just 2% better. Super exciting? Not so.

PoE - biggest dissapointment of 2015. I finished the game on hard on Path of the Damned. Once you break the system and realise their arbitrary design flaws it's not very hard. Just boring.

PS: I like the dialogues, zones, quests etc. Just freakin hate the combat system.
 
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Gamer Joe said:
PoE - biggest dissapointment of 2015.
Click to expand...
Eh?

Isn't everyone and their mother's, except me ofc as I like the game, the biggest disappointment of 2015 - Raven's Cry?
And are you suggesting Raven's Cry is better than PoE (I can't know myself as I still didn't start PoE)?

Oh and, how's stuff on Codex? Haven't peeked there for almost a year already… Everyone's still alive and kicking or there are some deceased members?
 
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I am only slightly disappointed with Pillars of Eternity, no biggie. But I understand Gamer Joe completely. And let's hope a proper expansion pack is underway.
 
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PoE was a pleasant surprise to me, really. It's better than I thought it would be.
 
cptbarkey said:
Without debating fanatic nuance hogwash from days of yore, I had a very, very enjoyable weekend with Pillars of Eternity. At $140, I feel like I got a bargain.
Click to expand...

$140 for a weekend with diluted IE bastard-born. Sounds like robbery if I ever saw one :p.
 
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I'm still playing and enjoying it, so I'd say I got my money's worth. A movie is what, $20 these days counting snacks, for a couple of hours entertainment. Even at $140, if you play PoE for more than 70 hours that's $2 per hour. An excellent bargain in these times.
 
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I am enjoying PoE a whole lot after about 20 hours so far. I only slightly enjoyed D:OS and I like the combat system (and everything else) of PoE much more.
 
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You are enjoying hitting space for every second?
 
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rjshae said:
I'm still playing and enjoying it, so I'd say I got my money's worth. A movie is what, $20 these days counting snacks, for a couple of hours entertainment. Even at $140, if you play PoE for more than 70 hours that's $2 per hour. An excellent bargain in these times.
Click to expand...

Assuming you're entertained every hour a game provides, I guess that makes most large RPGs excellent excellent excellent bargains compared to PoE at 140$ ;)

Also, a movie can be seen without snacks, and just because it's more expensive than games - doesn't mean games are bargains. It could be movies are actually quite expensive and games are merely less expensive. It's all subjective, so that argument never really made sense to me :)

Not that I'd mind paying 140$ for a truly great game. Money is not the issue, really. But calling it a bargain when you know the average price of a game (whether it's a huge RPG or tiny FPS) seems slightly delusional.
 
When you're an old age pensioner, money is an issue!! :)
 
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Fluent said:
I don't really want to debate much, either. I just wanted to write a little article about what I was feeling at the time, and thankfully I was able to do it along with a great person (and excellent writer!), Aubrielle. So, I'm happy with that. :)
Click to expand...

You humble me, Fluent. :) The honor was mine!

Thank you all so much for your comments and encouragement. :)
 
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HiddenX said:
You are enjoying hitting space for every second?
Click to expand...

Nearing the end of the second playthrough, despite a faulty and lacking input interface, the large majority of fights can be fought in real time, no pause.

After watching videos, it also appears that players cant handle simple fights that might be fought in real time even when using mouse only as the input device.

Pausing every second is a made up issue by players who do not want to play real time with pause.
 
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No, pausing every second is necessitated from no gdamn pathing, forcing you to babysit command queues :p The lack of any real hotkeying system doesn't help matters.

Love or hate the game, I don't see how anyone could honestly tell themselves the combat mechanics are fine. It's a clunky joke, reminiscent of Arcanum in just how poorly implemented it is.
 
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