Pillars of Eternity II - Review @ Niche Gamer

Niche Gamer reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Review – A Swashbuckling Late 90s RPG

In keeping with this era’s current gaming climate, 2015’s Pillars of Eternity ended up being quite the polarizing CRPG. Sure, daring to be the next Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale is already enough to earn a fair amount of derision amongst the genre’s diehards, but after the poor handling of the tombstone controversy and refusal to address some of the title’s obvious balancing issues concerning enemy movement and engagement (How many times did your Aloth die?), it fell far short of the mark Obsidian had set for it and was overshadowed by other more polished entries such as The Witcher 3 and Divinity: Original Sin.

Regardless of how the game is viewed by a large portion of the community, I still found it to be an enjoyable CRPG that allowed for an impressive level of replayability thanks to its deep mechanics and remarkable receptiveness towards theory-crafting as well as it giving me the option to create my own handmade party. It was a D&D munchkin’s dream game, complete with overflowing chests of laughably powerful loot and ridiculously over-leveled nonobligatory boss battles. After four trips and 300 hours, I still found myself entertained with what that simple kickstarter RPG had to offer.

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Regardless, Pillars of Eternity 2 is an excellent CRPG that improves upon the original in every single aspect, as well as creating the best naval combat minigame in the history of gaming. Combine that with the huge world, 100 hour quest, supreme non-linearity, and immense replay value afforded by the deep character creation and you have the one game you shouldn’t be allowed to miss this year.

Unless you’re hoping to have your female main hero get drilled by a handsome, straight man.

The Verdict: 9.5