@@holytiramisu in pillars or in divinity? Honestly I'm a boring guy, I've tried a lot but I always fall back to a paladin, I'm currently running a moon godlike paladin focused on defense and buffs, and my whole party is very fighter centric with only aloth and grieving mother as casters, I'm playing on classic with level scaling so I don't have to min max my characters... in divinity2 im pretty sure I chose a 2 handed warrior, I think it was a knight, so my bias is pretty transparent by now... (even in dnd I play pallys lol) pretty boring for a veteran like me but I don't know why I'm always drawn to be a black and white do gooder
This has been without a doubt one of the best RPG's I've played, especially after they added the turned based mode. It's such a shame this game didn't sell well.
@Vampiresoap The ending wasn't interesting but the dozens of hours before that were. It's all about the journey, not the destination, which is fitting for a game where travelling by ship plays such a big role.
It's a shame the performance is so unoptimized. Whenever I play this it makes me think something is wrong with my PC. Then I switch to another game that is much more hardware intensive and everything is super smooth. Yep, it's just Pillars of Eternity 1/2 that run poorly. 🙄
This is a great and well put together critique, but I'll have to disagree with you on the resource management being a downgrade. I for one liked that change the most from PoE1 to deadfire, as the traditional DND spells/rest system just doesn't translate well into video games in my opinion. The player never knows how or when combat is coming, or even how many combat encounters are ahead before the next opportunity to rest. This uncertainty is amazing with the open ended nature of pen and paper, but feels awkward in a video game, since there are quite often little to no ways of circumwenting encounters, or simply retreating. This can and quite often does lead to the player feeling like they are punished for using their resources by circumstances they cannot foresee. The usual player gut reaction to this is being paranoid and avoiding using their interesting abilities at all. It's difficulty in a way that makes the game less boring, not more engaging. By refreshing resources after every combat, the players are instead given a very clear frame to use their resources in. This makes them want to engage and want to spend their resources as opposed to constantly conserving them or looking for ways to not have to use them. The problem with the way the game did it is giving the players too many resources for each encounter, and not rethinking buffs, among many other issues. This makes it feel like fights are the same and very micro management heavy, even in places they shouldn't be. So, TLDR: The problem with the new resource system isn't the idea but the execution
I agree. I hate how Baldur's Gate, and Pillars do this. I want it to be more along the lines of Divinity original Sins. The system does not translate well into video games at all. I'm playing BG 1 for the first time and I'm in the Naz mines getting fucked up by arrows and I can't ds and not really fun.even use my resources to effectively heal everyone.
@@beezusHrist the beginning of baldurs gate is very difficult. its basically just up to chance but once you start collecting coin and buying decent armor the game becomes much more tactical
This comment addressed my only problem I had with PoE1 and why I had hard time playing it. At every dungeon I am extremely paranoid about my resources that I almost never use my high level spells that much. It is really a problem, and when I will start PoE2 I will see if the new system is better than that of the PoE1.
for D&D Spells / Rest system is trash/terrible Way in D&D It makes ppl claim Wizards are OP when in reality there glass cannons that are only realy good 1-2 battles a day IF that, Early levels they sucked Mid Game they where over-rated to shit inless the DM Played baby with you never targeting you letting you have your way with shit, or its late game where you can litteraly be a fucken commenor and blow up the moon if you wanted. 4E Did it best honestly and i know ppl are going to hate me ... been playing sence AD&D
Same. I'm sure I noticed the difference in voice acting, and lack of voice acting in a case, as pointed out in the video, but didn't know why it was there. Other than that, nothing felt forced/obviously added afterwards to me.
Heh, same. I really enjoyed the abruptness of it all. The book was just shoved into your hands and you could decide for yourself if you dipped into it. It really hit home how the gods still viewed mortals as puppets, which, to me, always felt as the central theme of the game. Gods, this is a good game.
The first conversation with Woedica felt natural enough but not the later ones. I also don't know why they chose Woedica. She doesn't like you, most players don't like her and it's not even her own area she's talking about. It would've made sense at least for Berath to answer your questions about the gods and The Wheel as you learn more about Eothas' goals.
Btw I never saw the gods' lack of intervention as a plot hole (making Woedica's talk of testing whether mortals are capable of self-rule unnecessary). I just accepted that they're bound not to intervene directly and, even if they wanted to, without physical bodies they can't stop Eothas (which they tried with the volcano and the tsunami).
@@Robert399 Exactly, unless you somehow sided with Woedica in the first game, she has no reason to want to talk to you outside of the shared goal of stopping Eothas. She should hate you and your character should hate her.
I actually gotta say, Turn Based Mode made the game for me. It encouraged me to use my powers, instead of simply smacking the enemy till they die in a morass of characters.
@@Monsteretrope i dont get games based off of ttrpgs being real time with pause. i have 5 other companions to juggle. im not using spells or abilities with most of them using real time cuz combat is just a dog pile theres no actual positioning since most npcs move when ya click off them.
@@Kris-wo4pj I dont agree that there is no positioning, and given that the AI designer is so complex, you can p much automate most things for your companions while fully controlling your character.
The changes to make most things "per encounter" instead of rest is one of the best changes compare to Pillars 1. Makes things a lot less tedious. Though I agree that the best choice would had been something more in the middle.
D&D 5e solved this issue using cantrips that aren't worthless or very strong, so mages can use magic at any time instead of being totally useless most of the time. they won't dish out more damage than the barbarian without using up spell slots, but they are never totally gimped since they can cast a 1d6 or 1d8 attack instead of a 1d3 tickle.
Your channel is honestly the most underrated review channel on youtube. You really put a lot of work into these scripts, and your dialogue really draws me as the viewer in. Keep up the excellent work man, because the quality and the passion is clearly there.
PoE is overrated, both games are. BUT! At least PoE2 was honest enough to admit that a world without an objective metaphysical God has absolutely no meaning at all. It deserves respect for that. Also at the end you had the choice to ask Eothas to just end the universe, which is nice. I was satisfied with such an end to the story. The combat was a drag and it wasn't fun at all though, which is funny because I loved BG2, and I loved Tyranny's combat.
Try Pathfinder:Kingmaker. It's a great game and really give the classic BG1 vibes for me atleast. I tried both pillars games and really wanted to like them but just cannot. Boring dialogues, spells feel extremely weak and boring with way to many different debuffs that are too weak to feel impactful compared to DnD setting where many debuffs might as well just say if hit, you die. Playing a Wizard in a DnD game makes you feel like a god later with you conjuring your own undead army, or turning your enemies into gibbering fools. The combat is a absolute chore. Devs decided that not only spell casters should have a ton of stuff too do, which means in a large party. You feel absolutely overwhelmed by the stuff every character can do. What was wrong with having people that hit stuff just hit stuff without having them pressing a skill every round?
@@dima97 Trying to finish off the DLC content before going into the endgame. It's been pretty solid, though, pretty solid playthrough. Good times have been had, I'm honestly not sure which faction to side with and will probably go it alone...
In addition to the points raised here, I always felt that POE 2 was marred by the fact that its main story quest (stop Eothas before he wrecks everything) and the central game-play innovation from the first game (explore the open world as a pseudo-pirate) were so entirely at odds with one another. The result was that POE 2 was never a game you could take as seriously as it wanted to be taken.
Spot on. It would have been so easy to make the threat Eothas posed more abstract, say e.g. that he was going to take years to reach the wheel. As it stands, Deadfire suffered the problem of BG2 in creating this ludonarrative dissonance between what content you as the player want to experience and what in-story decisions your character would want to make.
As a fan of the first game. Im really glad and happy about the improvements but also quite sad because of the many downsides where the devs got themself in. They had way toooo many ideas to put in the game but didnt throughly polish any of them. Im glad that you pointed so much out that many of us players agree with and thanks for the hard work!
I absolutely love this series. So much love and passion went into making these games and it shows in every aspect. I think one of the issues with PoE2 that affected sales was the addition of the "Deadfire" to the title. I think a lot of people really didn't realise it was a huge standalone game (myself included, I'm afraid to say...) I think calling it Pillars of Eternity 2, rather than adding the moniker would've been a better choice.
LOL this is so incredibly true. I even started believing that I had actually played PoE2, not 1, and that Deadfire was probably some kind of DLC. Then I got the gamepass and started playing, only to discover an awesome game that was both great as a standalone AND as a continuation.
You and I disagree a fair amount on combat, but on story we agree 100%. If the entire story of this game was about the factions and the complex nuanced exploration of colonialism, it could have been great. I absolutely adore the world of Pillars of Eternity ... except for everything involving the Gods. Unfortunately, Obsidian chose to make the Gods the central story focus of both games.
Honestly...the colonialist BS bored the shite out of me. It's too on the nose and boring. Pirates, capitalist pirates, socialists or a Theocracy....take your pick..they all suck.
@@andrewvincent7299 I think they focus on the soul stuff a bit too much, but it is cool, a world where reincarnation isn't a myth but something that everyone KNOWS takes place. And making Ciphers use soul magic is, in my opinion, the BEST iteration I've ever seen of psionics in fantasy. Most other settings it feels weird and out of place, but it fits into PoE perfectly.
I love the health and spell regen after each fight in this game. Makes it so much more approachable, and quicker to play, than the original. Was one of my favorite additions.
@@falaflani4831 I don't understand, you could just get it all back after a rest though. It's not like it mattereded in the first game. Just rest and it's back lol
This is a perfect example of knee jerk reaction changes. I enjoy the turn based combat mode, but I like turn based games. Larian studio's set the bar fairly high.
Totally agree, Larian set the bar impossibly high. I've had trouble playing subsequent RPG's after playing DOS2. For all of its problems, from a gameplay perspective it's the best RPG i've ever played. In fact I went back to TW3 before the show release on Netflix for fun and I found myself comparing it to DOS2 lol.
CRPG's have never been my interest, but I jumped into DOS2, and I was hungry for more but as you said the bar was sat very high. Since then i've played through most of the classics such as Fallout 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment etc but I always find myself returning to DOS2.
I agree Larian with DOS2 has set the bar awesomely high (so much hope for BG3!). Obsidian has released POE1-2+5 DLCs, Tyranny+DLC, and The Outerworlds in a very short amount of time - and all of those games have been fantastically fun. I'm hoping Microsoft just plays the role of sugar daddy and lets them keep making great games.
@@V3x0r Unlike you I find all 3 games mediocre (except Tyranny because the story and world feels awesome. It is the only game amongst those 4 that I feel something while playing. Kyros is made up to be a perfect Fire Nation type villain)
while its better than rtwp (everything is better as rtwp), there is no deny that a game designed from the get go for turn based combat will be far better
Even if Obsidian makes mistakes, I will respect them since the guys behind it are actually trying to make it a great as possible, and not nickle and dime you for something they don't care about. If EA had published this, you can bet that you would have to buy turn based, and those extra story scenes, but Obsidian actually cares about quality, they listen to the fans, so they really try. I hope being bought by Microsoft doesn't ruin them.
I just want to point out that the Gods telling you that destroying the Wheel (Basically the Reincarnation cycle) would lead to the world dying after a few generations, as newborns would be Hollowborne WAS explained in Pillars of Eternity 1, its not a PoE2 retcon/plothole. They explain that before the Engwithan transformed into Gods and created the Wheel, Hollowborne was a common disease and was not the only one, as before the creation of the Wheel what happened to Souls was extremely random. They would sometimes reincarnate, sometimes stay in the In-between (Purgatory), sometimes would be destroyed. In PoE2 is explained that the reason the reincarnation circle can't go back to how it was originally is precisely because the Engwithan tempered with it. If I remember right they use the example of a Dam. You can take down a Dam but the river it was holding is not going to go back to the way it was originally.
It also isn't a plothole because either party maybe lying or just wrong. That isn't a plothole. Eothas and the rest of the gods just have the wheel getting destroyed will have different outcomes. The game just fails at pointing out that possibility by not having Eothas just say other god's narrative is wrong, the Wheel is actually a tool using kith souls to fuel their divinity etc.
I wish somehow they merged PoE 1 and 2 in one unique game. Having the amazing PoE 1 story and companions with the graphics, voice acting, effects and gameplay improvements of PoE 2.
PoE1 lacking multiclassing is one of the big reasons I haven't gone back for a second playthrough, so I would be very glad if they did a remake of the first game or went back and patched in new stuff to it. I'd pay for that.
I dunno what it is about this series but I get to the final 10% or so of the games and then I have no desire to play anymore. Must be some fatigue and the constant travelling you have to do
I actually still adore the storyline as (SPOILERS) the idea of animancy foreshadowed the ending (albeit poorly implemented) and there were multiple instances where souls in this universe were constantly given nuance. While I wish there was more narrative importance given to who I chose in terms of factions, like in F:NV or F1-2, the way different cultures were conveyed was compelling. Does the VTC improve the overall quality of life in the islands should they succeed in colonization, or does this just turn into the Banana Republics or worse, the Belgian Congo wars. Or better yet, how about the natives? Do their customs prevail and allow them to maintain sovereignty and a level of cultural identity? Or do they stagnate under their oppressive caste system with no change whatsoever due to the current government body's success? Does the fictional embodiment of Japan aid in the restructuring of their "sister" people from different islands in a fantasy version of Sinicization? Or do they simply abuse them, establish a new hierarchy, and reap their resources for more wars ahead to spread their version of hegemony? If factions can get me thinking about conclusions far-beyond the game's end, I warrant the storyline a success -- albeit highly flawed in certain areas.
Deadfire as a setting was developed marvellously. I just can't help the feeling it would have stood better on its own feet, with a different Charname and lower overall stakes. It's hard to care about politics when the fate of the Gods and the world is supposed to be on your mind.
@@r.kolemaistos7788 conversely, I found very tiring caring about the gods and the fate of souls, I very much preferred the cultures and politics. White March showed that Obsidian can do high-stakes adventures well enough, but they should come into playing after you started caring about the setting and no right out of the bat.
In fact, I also prefer the cultures and politics. I just found them somewhat narratively dissonant afterthe higher stakes fof PoE I. If parts one and two were swapped, they would fit together much better.
I loved and finished PoE1, but I've tried countless times to get into PoE2 but every time the game fails to pull me in. Every time I like the beginning were you track down the pirate and then deal with him but then I just get lost in countless tribulations with no real goal nor meaning. I honestly could not care less about Eothas or his plans nor the other gods and that simply removes any attachement I could have to the world. I don't feel like I'm part of it and Eothas' impact on the world seems so marginal at first (a few foots steps here or there). There is no sense of urgency and no real connection (yeah he has "your soul" but it doesn't mean nor do anything, you're just alive and kick fine without it apparently). I tried again in turn base but I agree 100% it really shows the game wasn't balance for this in mind and I usually prefer turn based games but for PoE2 I stick with RTwP.
I really hope that they get to do PoE3 and that they keep Real Time With Pause. Hopefully the planned release of a console version will improve sale numbers to make it feasible.
Changing spells/skills to per encounter is offset by the change in encounter design. There are fewer, more important encounters per quest now. I frequently use all available resources in every encounter on veteran + only scale up. Which is good. A fight where you don't use resources is super boring. Which is what happens if youre afraid to use them or you run out. The worldbuilding and factions are better than anything since New Vegas tbh. Playing turn based makes this something like Morrowind with Final Fantasy Tactics combat. Very excellent.
I bought this on release and had issues with bugs. So I waited and am now just actually going to jump into it haha! I love real time with pause. There isnt enough out there.
I feel like the whole companions Vs sidekicks thing harmed them there. The relationship system is mostly a waste of resources and they could have just used those to give the sidekicks more content and make them all full companions. Doesn't really matter if some have more content than others, BG2 managed fine doing that.
I didn't enjoy it as much as PoE1. Stopped playing after I took out the pirate base. The ship mechanic didn't really appeal to me and no feeling of attachment to characters like in PoE1 and a general. It just didn't grab me like PoE1
Same. There was so much to like about Deadfire, but at the end of the day I just kept thinking about how much better PoE was despite having seemingly more flaws. I think Deadfire was a more ambitious game but one that just never sucked me in.
Deadfire is on sale right now and this video helped me make up my mind on it. Thank you for also including spoilers disclaimer, it really is appreciated.
Focus on Real Time with Pause combat Obsidian. You can't steal Larian's Divinity Original Sin thunder, they beat you into implementing a turn based combat cRPG and now have a famously successfull franchise built upon it. As Picasso said good artists copy, great artists steal (without getting caught). Fans will just see it as shamelessly copying Divinity II and Obsidian will be mocked. Yet what makes PoE and Tyranny stand out is the modernized Real Time with Pause combat system, based on a ruleset meant for computers not pen and paper boardgames. Don't make PoE III or Tyrany II a derivative Divinity Original Sin clone. Plenty of turn based RPGs or RTTs with RPG mechanics out there (xcom, mutant)! Obsidian you started by copying Infinity Engine's real time with pause, set yourself to do that style so well you steal it and people immediately think of you and not Infinity Engine era games when they see real time with pause combat ! That's what Divinity did with turn based isometric RPGs they did it so good they stole it from Fallout, Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy!
I dont think they stole TB, I actually appreciate that they tried it. I personally dont worship Larian and the Dos franchise. It was okay but it wasnt world changing. Like pillars, it wasnt world changing either, but I like how experimental Obsidian have dared to be, sure, they fall flat in alot of places and I do feel that pillars and tyranny aswell, have been testing grounds for ideas, both creatively and technically for obsidian. Let them create.
I love the gameplay, but, the story is a bit meh.... not really good to follow , like theres no sense of urgency in it. The sea battle also not really necessary. The first game has better story. But the second game has better gameplay. About the free roaming in those islands, I duno whether its good or not
What's there to conclude in the story? Eothas smashed the wheel and ended the cycle of reincarnation, at least as it was engineered by the Engwithians. Only thing left to do is show how that will change the world. Of course, now that they've gotten rid of the one thing that kind-of-sort-of set the PoE world apart from the myriad of other DnD-knockoff settings, there doesn't seem to be much reason to keep going with it, unless you find the gods' bickering fascinating. I think this series should just be put to bed, and Obsidian should start over with a game and setting they really want to make.
Hahaha this was the game setting they really wanted to make and it turned into a bland ripoff of Forgotten Realms that's not even as close to being as interesting lol
POE2 is already way lesser than the first game. There's no more mystery in the world, and they completely devalued their own gods. What player respects or even considers these dumb-dumbs gods anymore? With that said, I think there's potential for a sequel. This isn't DnD, this is a world of their own making, so they can (and at this point, should) go fucking mad with it! First of all, forget this most boring, least impactful difference imaginable that reincarnation existed before the wheel but 'it was just a little bit worse'. How about this: Before the wheel, everyone was basically immortal like Thaos, reincarnating into a newborn when their body died. The Engwithans deviced the wheel to wipe the memories from the souls, and give them to the gods to increase their knowledge and power generation by generation. NOW everyone is immortal again, but because the wheel screwed with the internal workings of the universe, it's all twisted and wrong. People reincarnating into animal and monster bodies, souls conjoining and reincarnating in one body, etc. ALSO the gods are now walking on the planet like people, and while they're still incredibly powerful, the same cruel fate awaits them if someone manages to destroy their body. They're gathering their followers and working towards different goals: some are striving to rebuild the wheel, one is trying to fix the reincarnation cycle so it works like in the ancient times, one strives to make everyone's BODIES immortal so there's no more reincarnation (just perpetual existence), and one just wants everyone to die for good. Lots of politics, internal conflicts, open war and whatnot. Unfortunately, the most powerful and populous faction of all is the MURDER ALL THE GODS faction. This is the primary antagonist. You're against them by default, because you're cursed to play as the goddamn watcher again for the third game in a row (of course regressing to level 1 again) and these deitykiller badasses consider you the gods' toady. During the course of the game, you can aid one god faction or the other, and work against the deitykiller faction. One by one, the deitykillers manage to murder the gods, except for the one you've supported the most. It would also be good storytelling to have one of your allies betray you about halfway through, in a spectacular fashion. In the end, only your chosen deity and you survive, and you can either destroy the deitykillers to get whatever ending your god promotes, OR betray them and support the deitykillers, ending all hope for the future because with the gods gone, nobody has the knowhow to fix the reincarnation cycle. (Canon ending)
The world map mechanics remind me a lot of Obsidians NWN2 expansion, called Storm of Zehir. So it's not really that much of an innovation, more of an adaptation of their previous system. Especially, since their NWN2 and first expansion also shared the Baldurs Gate style of map movement. Edit: You come off as someone who loves a good story, why not give Neverwinter Nights 2 first(standalone story, same main character, so no need to play the meh base game) expansion, Mask of the Betrayer, a try. When it came out it was compared favorably to Planescape: Torment.
I personally hate Deadfire story for it's treatment of the story in the first game: we are essentially again at square zero, there's again a huge cache of souls which you need to decide where to invest (despite the fact that we already did that once, and it wasn't the most pleasant theme), and in the end, it doesn't even matter (no matter what you do, Eothas still destroys the god-machine).
это да, лишать выбор ирока значимости ради собственного удобства написания истории практически с нуля - моветон. Лучше бы это была не вторая игра серии, а отдельная игра, тогда хотя бы прошедшим первую не было бы так неприятно.
@@dimas3829 вопрос не столько в выборе, сколько в том, что вся история первой игры начинает походить на классическую shaggy dog story. Первая игра вообще полна таких прикольных квестов, когда ты долго и нудно копаешься в чём-то, чтобы в конце получить ничего (квесты Эдера, Каны), и вуаля, в итоге вся первая игра оказывается точно такой же историей.
28:25 This is exactly why I was so disappointed with The Outer Worlds' absolutely mindless one dimensional force fed take of "Corporations are dumb and bad." After all the competent, mature, and interesting writing they've developed their gameworlds with in the past, Obsidian really fell off a cliff. One of the big reasons I just stopped playing that game.
I love this game, its not amazing but I really enjoyed the crap out of it. Many things that bothered people didnt bother me at all and the updates and dlc only improved it further. My biggest complaint is just, that there wasnt enough of it imo, I wanted to speak to my companions more, I wanted more interesting side quests, more main story quests and more decisions, but that only means I loved whats there.
Vatican magic needs to just be done away with and then have the games balanced around per encounter resources. Its outdated and feels incredibly bad in this day and age to play with. Pillars 2 felt better and not worse because it was per encounter. I had no good feeling about saving my spells for more dire situations in Pillars 1, it just made me frustrated because no body has the foresight to know whats coming without prior knowledge. I had infinitely more fun being able to spam my skills in every encounter in Pillars 2. At the end of the day, winning the fight was all that mattered, no matter how sloppy or clean. That goes for any CRPG. As for the story, the biggest problem was that the god half lacked player agency, especially the very end. I didnt mind this however, most because the MC is a human meddling with gods. You were never going to stop Eothas. He could have flicked you into the wheel at the very beginning but he didnt because you're nothing to him. It may lack player agency but it was realistic, and for me, it holds up to my suspension of disbelief. I am sick and tired of everyone wanting to be the savior at the very end. Its a way to overdone fantasy trope and frankly quite boring. Not being able to stop Eothas was a breath of fresh air.
There's an audience for turn based but I need these devs to know there's still an audience for real time with pause. I dont want these crpg creators to ditch it entirely. Baldur's Gate 3 isnt even real time with pause.
Just bought Poe1. Resisting the urge to binge buy the sequel . After watching so many hours of reviews about Poe2 I really want to get a good taste of Poe1 before diving into the next . Amazing review . I couldnt put together such a well presented video even if I had a gun pointed to my head . Big respect
Most of the criticisms you have can all be changed through the Margrans Fires challenges. Yes they wont fit well with their first playthrough but it lets people who have experience with the game fix certain flaws.
It's really tough to fairly critique POE2's Turn Based mode, given it was added after release, for free. The game was designed purely as RTP-gameplay-style and to that end it's surprising to me how good they managed to make TB mode.
its not tough at all, just because it came later in doesn't mean it isn't a part of the game, thats like disregarding any improvements and bug fixes the game has made, yeah its a nice thing to add for free IF it was good but its frankly terribly implemented
Maybe its just my taste but for me i see Pillars of Eternity more of the real time paused mode, not turn based. Its just my taste. I prefer Obsidian they keep improving from the mode where they started, it feel more natural.
I agree. I get there is a market now for turn based mode because of Larian studios but Obsidian should stay with RTWP instead of trying to do both and being mediocre at them.
Why don't turn based games use the FFT/FFTA system where characters with higher speed (or equivalent) get turns more often. It would make dexterity useful and lowering recovery actually matter in this game.
Had a hard time pushing true a slog of PoE1 but this game I completely fell in love with. It's the best isometric RPG since Baldur's Gate 2. I really enjoyed my time with the game.
Correction... The wheel (even in the base game I think) have been explained, that it has basically changed how the world works Basically, before the wheel was put in place reincarnation happened, but hollowborn also happened. After the wheel, if it is rremoved, will reincarnation cease completely. Aka no new generations will be born as all the souls will be trapped in the in between.
Slow paced combat is the main draw of turn based tho, I don't want to steamroll combat. I want to have fun playing around with tactics. The long battle is the point of the game for turn based tactics fans.
I just cannot get interested in this game, and I want to. There aren't many new games like this style but I just cant. Every time I start it up i just click exit. Just nothing makes me want to play it even though I wish I could.
I love this game but I kind of understand this. The reality is given the incredible depth of the world Obsidian has built, if you haven't played the original the game it probably seems impossibly daunting to wade through. Even the opening sequence requires knowledge of who the gods are and their relationship to the world of Eora.
Loved the first one , played 100s of hours with various different class/party combo's , my 2nd favorite next to the Baldurs Gate series. Couldn't stand the boat feature and didn't like the map exploration changes on POE2.
I'm going from memory here, but multiclassing in PoE2 was extremely advantageous. While it did lock you out of a few end game abilities, and slowed your character development across the board, that came with a significant increase in resources that a player could rely on. You didn't end up with more abilities, instead you ended up with more ability uses, which was a major advantage. On the whole, the system was good, and did provide the player with interesting choices, but when you started crunching numbers, it wasn't a balanced decision, with multiclassed characters having a serious advantage in combat. Having said that, I think they did attempt to address this issue in later patches, so it might have finally been brought into line in the final release, but I'm not 100% sure.
It really depends on what class you play, and how you play it (party, solo, etc). Single class Ascendant can be very strong. So can Monk. Priest is also usually better as single class for all the epic buffs.
Interesting. I played it after all patches not before so I don't know but you certainly criticised tons of things I never thought objectionable. Which is food for thought
uff I tried to get through it again but that story and side characters completely killed my will to play it through again (I actually hoped they would add new companions with some of the dlc but they did not and I did not want to get stuck with the same hacks again)
I tried to get into poe1 so many times, like 4 or 5 times at least but never did get into it and looking back it was the gameplay more than the world or characters holding it back. Anyways I'm getting a strong urge now to jump into poe2 now after they released turn based mode (could be useful at least as a learning mode as the video notes) I just hope things aren't as bad in those other departments like characters, quest and story as you say.
@@NatrajChaturvedi I mean the part over the colonies is pretty good it is just the main story which is really weak and dislocated from the rest of the game And well the characters some are decent and have some development but almost all are obnoxious in some kind of way
With the upcoming Baldur's Gate 3, from Larian Studios, we will all see if D&D-like top-down style combat is a good seller (which will encourage Microsoft to support it or not in relation to Obsidian Studios; though Obsidian devs might just want to do new stuff anyhow).
I suspect with their kinda middle of the road success with both pillars and tyranny, and the likely high sales numbers they will get from The Outer Worlds, I can see obsidian putting this style of game to one side for a time, possibly a long time, especially if you consider that BG3 is in development, who would want to go up against that behemoth?
Watching this now in 2020 where Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire is coming to Xbox and I got to play the first one free with game pass am hyped for me to get to play PoE2 again
that resource managment of pillars of eternity 1 made me use cheats cause it was annoying as fuck when you have to keep going back to gt your health back.
I'm not sure why, BUT i love and hate at the same time every time you say "BUT" Just recently found your chanel while browsing and kinda binge-watched most of your vids. Great content even tho sometimes i full on disagree with you. Still love it. Keep it up!
I don't like it. It's not a good style of discussion to follow-up your argument with a qualifier so frequently. It makes the preceding statement less relevant, less important, as if it doesn't matter. Like when someone says "I am not a racist but...".
I just grabbed it on discount at £14.99. Never played the first game. Currently 21 hours in. My first impressions are mixed. The Good: It looks polished. It has some good characters (better than DOS2), good writing and good voice acting. I quite like having a ship and a crew to get me around - it's something different in a game that generally feels very familiar. The world is conceived at a deep enough level to feel (kind of) real. The different classes, races and skill trees provide a rich enough variety of playstyles to justify repeat playthroughs. This was one of the great things about the games that inspired it. And there's clearly a lot of thought and love been put into it, which is admirable. The Bad: Too much detail that doesn't add value - I'm thinking in terms of lore, the writing, the interactions and combat. Ultimately, the fine brushstrokes don't really enhance my engagement in the world and in building my characters; more frequently, they just get in the way of my enjoyment of the game. Harsh, but true. The loading time between zones is a minor annoyance... but there are a lot of zones and it starts to grate. If the game was knocking my socks off, of course, I would hardly notice this. As it is, the load times are long, the dialogues are heavy, the fights are finnicky and progress is slow. Overall, it feels too much like a BG2 tribute act. Someone might say there's no need to reinvent the wheel, if it's not broke why fix it, etc etc… For me, that doesn't fly. As a veteran of many BG2 campaigns, playing POE2 feels a bit like walking into a neo-Gothic cathedral. It's nice, sure; but it ain't the real thing. At heart, it's an imitation and an act of homage. That's what makes it good AND what makes it bad.
Great video! I'm currently replaying PoE2 and thought your original video doesn't do the game justice anymore. Would love to see something in the same vein for Pathfinder: Kingmaker, which also improved massively since launch.
A follow up video to Pathfinder: Kingmaker would indeed be very interesting. I am currently in my first playthrough of Pathfinder and I am having an absolute blast. As far as I can tell, the devs have really delivered with all the post-launch patches and DLC and the game is now probably leaps and bounds ahead of what it was when it launched.
I feel like Pathfinder Kingmaker is GREAT. It has nice atmosphere, and engaging story. But I FEEL BORED during combat. I just miss PoE2 combat - per combat spells. But even if it wasnt and was still per rest, I feel like melee championsh have nothing to do but click and AA. Also from the little I played it I feel its better suited for turn based mode rather then normal play. Many spells have duration one - two turns and its been sooo long since I knew all the rules...
As far as presentation, story, character development and overall depth goes. This must be on of the best rpg games ever made. Yes there are some nitpicky things I don't like, but there is quite a strong modding community and you can use mods for small quality of life changes and make the game perfect for you. Hell of a strong replayability as well. This is basically the pinnacle of rpg games right now. It will be very hard to beat this is in the future. I am very much looking forward to new Bioware games as well as full release of the new Baldur's Gate game.
I really hope Pillars of Eternity 3 will be RTwP, if for nothing else than consistency. Games should not alter their main gameplay loop mid series (looking at you Mass Effect), even if that were for the better, because which one is better is ultimately an opinion and neither is good or bad. Also, I'd prefer if both fanbases were catered, and if Pillars goes turn based, what's left for RTwP in triple A industry?
I would rather TB, because I just cannot see RTWP succeeding, it is hard to port to consoles and problematic to design for as it cannot be played at the pace of the user. Either way it is moot, I wager we never get another Pillars game and I sincerely doubt we are getting any more isometric RPGs from them anyway. I would like to see Kingmaker also go to Turnbased as well. Don't get me wrong, I love RTWP but but but, one of the reasons I enjoyed those infinity engine games was the simplicity of their AD&D2e adaptation, anything trying to emulate a 3.x style complex system is going to struggle in the moment to moment gameplay, atleast in my opinion.
@@lostsanityreturned There's going to be a pillars 3 but with the budget of Tyranny and hopefully the same quality of storytelling. As long as they can make it cheaply and in-between Outer World's type to fund them, Microsoft will allow isometric games to be made to add variety to their exclusive offer.
It must be Real time with pause! There dozens of recent turn based RPGs out there,turnbasedlovers.com/lists/top-upcoming-tactical-turn-based-rpgs-of-2019/ Only obsidian is making real time with pause RPGs, there just 4 recent games out there and I don't like kingmaker. So just 3... Turn based I can pick my lot comfortably and more are upcoming, RTwP RPG is exceengly rare genre!
I was watching this morning,your retrospective video for Pillars of Eternity! And i thought to myshelf: ''man,when he'll upload a POE2 video''? My wish was realized! :D
@@S110SUBMAN yeah I agree. I watched his old PoE2 video and there were definitely some things that were outdated. Pretty nice that he's put out an updated video now.
Why do you think it is that people seem to hate real time with pause? The only thing I can think of, other than not valuing their time, is that they can't (or don't want to) micromanage multiple characters.
Pillars of Eternity was always shit. You only need to go as far as character creation and race descriptions to recognize what a plummet of basic writing quality and editing the game took. And this childish use of English fills the game and makes it a *fucking chore* to read through for anybody who has actually read a competently written novel before. 'Pillars of Eternity is only good to people lacking taste. And this is nothing to say of the *incredibly shit* rpg mechanics. From the studio that should have more experience than most adapting decent rpg systems into videogame format.
If they made a PoE 3 only turn based, I feel people would go mental. Just looking at the non stop arguments about this re. BG3 is enough to give a person nightmares. Great video as always.
I think we should have an option to choose real-time with active pause or turn-based fights like we have right now in PoEII. I prefer for example real-time fights.
@@maciej8603 I also prefer RtwP, but I will play either happily and I struggle to understand why people are so inflexible in this. I'd rather a game had one system that works well and more content than trying to please two very stubborn camps. Deadfire adding pause combat is just going to make people more set in their ways and intent on demanding whichever system they prefer instead of getting over themselves and adapting to whichever system is in place, even if it involves the terrible embarrassment of playing on easy at first, which is another thing some gamers are horribly stubborn about. xD
Pillars success was the problem. Investors always push for infinte growth which is fine for CoD but for crpgs just wont happen. Honestly obsidian shouldve gone the route of slitherine games and booted the investors out, works for them because the make way more niche tbs games with smaller fanbases.
As someone who was around to play Bauldur's Gate 2 when it first dropped. Honestly, while Irenicus was a great bad guy, and the city well thought out...it wasn't the absolute untouchable masterpiece people pretend it is. On the other hand I feel like pillars of eternity 2 was the ultimate realization of what ARPG's should be in the 21 century. Too bad it sold poorly and Obsidian had to be bought up by microsoft. Because the last time they worked for them we got alpha protocol so I'm a little worried about the Outer Worlds to say the least.
@@andrewvincent7299 It's been taken of steam suggesting that microsoft has resumed publishing ownership of the title. I remember there being a weird exclusivity thing originally.
Is this a revelation in 2? Because the 1st game certainly doesn't suggest they were ever *people* -- only that they were created by the Engwithans manipulation of tens of thousands of essences. But it's never explained that they were humans imbued with those essences.
Honestly, despite all the drawbacks listed, what drew me away from the game was the design of the main city. There is nothing more tedious than getting stuck in the million different quests of the main city. You kinda feel compelled to finish all the quests of the city before venturing into other missions and its just so annoying that despite having a giant world full of islands to explore i am thrown into a giant city with a million quests none of which are gated. I think i spent about 10 hours doing city quests and then just quit the game. They should have gated parts of the city until you do some other things around the world.
I tried to love this game, I really did.. The first is superior in every way imo. The characters were more compelling, the story was more enthralling. I LOVED the interactions with the 'gods' in the second one, but outside of that, I felt.. well, nothing really.
Honestly, people should play with the pause combat. Because it opens up so many doors to other great games. It's good when you get used to it and personally I prefer it over turn based combat. And I grew up with turn-based JRPGS final fantasy series, pokemon, sukoden 2, and many mrire. Before ever touching a CRPG.
My issue though is when I got my PC all I wanted to do was play online shooters. C&C Renegade shoutout to the lads. FM clan member FM jzone here. Then I went on to wolf ET omg this game Wolfeinsten enemy territory was really unique gameplay and it's funny it was free and I've not seen s single AAA billion-dollar companies. Replicate it's amazing gameplay. And CSS beta dropped. And that was that. Untl everyone left for wow. :(
Personally, I like turnbased better because I'm running it on a slow machine. I may like real time better when I get a new comp, but it was almost unplayable for me in real time unlike PoE 1.
I thought about balancing action speed in turn based mode and here is my solution (not the best, but) all characters have like 10 action points. Each attack with 1-handed weapon cost like 3. Each attack with 2-handed cost 4. Armor type affects AP too. Heavy armor gives a -5, medium -4 and so on. Also there would be trinkets, perks and racial bonuses for increased AP (like orlans). So that way a heavy armored 2-hander can only attack once, when rogue in light armor can attack 2-3 times. The numbers are not precise, but I hope you get my idea
also not all skills and spells would be equal in cost. So that way you can spend left over AP. Or maybe you can save it and get half of left over ap for next round. once again, it is not the best system, but atleast it takes in the account classic rpg classes behavior. Because why would a rogue only strike one time just like a heavy armor warrior
