I like that the mechanics dont necessarily give you the opportunity to shatter the difficulty with a handful of talent picks as is fairly common in crpgs, so the combat doesn't fall off in the second half nearly as hard as other games in the genre
I just picked up a bundle on steam that had both games and all DLC for about $22. Im new to this genre. My younger self hated the camera style and was completely ignorant to the role play and immersion potential of this genre. However my opinion has completely changed and im genuinely excited to take a trip through this world and get ready for Avowed, whenever it decides to come out.
@@KrakenZzzz Baldurs Gate 3 was a passion Project from the Divinity guys. Deadfire is an amazing game and if you havent check it out on pc. Because it makes it sound like you dont know what you are talking about
Thanks for this, about to start another playthough - been a few years. So many amazing aspects about poe - but just the stronghold itself, Caed Nua.. Starting out with that dilapidated structure, rebuilding and expanding into a small community.. Whilst the basement hides a massive, memorable dungeon - perfect execution of the stronghold/player housing rpg concept.
I played this game as my first CRPG game in pc during its launches. D100 system or other deep system is beyond me but I managed finish it with confusion and text drunks and haven't touched it again some time later. Then I replay it again when White March 1&2 out. DLCs has a great story and story, good companion story too. If they did White March a little early time frame, this game would become a hit and I'm glad some of the interactive feature also return in POE2 although the sequel lacks good story and good companion writing.
yeah Pillars of Eternity 1 is my favorite CRPG and GAME of all time! The atmosphere, sound effects, music, gameplay, role-playing, and companions are all so wonderfully done! And the story is fantastic! The sequel is also solid, though very disappointing. It doesn't come close to the greatness of Pillars 1 in my opinion.
I agree. PoE2 was visually stunning, but the tone was much different. It was lighter, didn't take itself as seriously. And though the opening was totally badass, the overall story didn't hold a candle to the unique intensity of the first one. I need to replay PoE1 soon.
just finished BG3 and loved it. Hadn't really played an RPG like that since BG1 back in the day. Thanks for the review, I think I will give this one a go.
Thank you for writing, producing and sharing. I've been confused about these games CRPG and with all the press BG3 is getting I feel I'm missing out of an entire genre of great games. I love similar games but just don't really get this type of game. I'll probably install it again on my Steam account and keep pushing through until I understand the charm and a little more about this genre.
Just checked my game, last save was in 2018, in start of act 3 (did white march and killed a dragon and whole Stronghold dungeon) if I vaguely remember. I swear I will finish it one day a buy second one. And also baldurs gate 1 lol.
I love video game soundtracks and this is how I discovered the game! Beautiful music but I've never tried the game at all. Thanks for your vid, I'm definitely going to pick it up when i can!
The game started with music set to 30% for some reason for me, and god damn i felt my mind melting for that first few hours, silently reading long blocks of text with no soundtrack underneath. Suppose was my fault, but still lead to me quitting not long after. Im hoping to try again, i hope i can make it this time, because the art style looks so nice to me.
I find the writing to be my favorite part. It's this great mix of a game/book and the writing is so good I love imagining every detail described. I think it's mainly about how much patience you have for reading at the time. But hit this game when you're at a good level of Patience and you may really appreciate the writing like I did, or keep the same opinion who knows 💁
This kind of game demands us to enjoy reading, which isn't a practice our society tends to foster. I only managed to actually enjoy Pillars (with almost no voice acting and lots of text) after I understood someone's trying to tell me something, albeit from a medium I wasn't used to. I've played dozens of RPGs throughout my life, always skipping dialogue. Speaking from a personal standpoint, taking your time - not only to read, but also to immerse yourself into the story - changes everything, seriously. *Of course I know it takes a lot of effort, so I'm by no means patronizing you.* This is my second favorite game, only staying behind of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (and yes, I've played Baldur's Gate 3). If I ever get a tattoo, it will be a specific symbol from this game's lore. That's how good it is for me. But it wasn't when I didn't read anything.
PoE 1 & 2 are two of my favorite games of all time. I love the dark story of PoE 1 a lot, giving multitudes of options and choices that really matter. I do have to say, that I really like the optional turn based combat system of Deadfire way better, than real time with pause, especially as it fixes issues with pathfinding that cost me a lot of fights in PoE 1. Useful hint: Auto-pause can be setup for every X amount of seconds in fight, for old people like me who would forget otherwise xD
My problem with this game is that it's too wordy. I tried to finish this game 3/4 times but the furthest I've gone is the beginning of act 3. I found their next game Tyranny, much better in this regard, straight to the point and simple in it's vocab. Although i really wanna play pillars 2, part of me feel like I'll be missing out on some detail for not finishing the first game first.
At times the game can throw a lot of textwalls. But story was interesting enough though not very imaginative. Best part was the game mechanics, especially stat wise. The way stats work makes it possible to build a viable smart barbarian or strong mage. Stats are less contrived than in dnd and this allows for sole more roleplay and fine tuning options. The min maxing is less prégnant.
Thanks for the review. I agree with all your points and think it is great that they didn't just do a Baldur's Gate clone but devised their own intuitive systems. Just one question. My game pauses every now and then and has crashed once. Has anyone else experienced this problem, or is it my computer's fault?
@9thcircle864eh, act 2 could use as much work. Act 3, imo, suffers from having too much to do too close together. Act2 is basically empty if you don't save the grove.
Ekera, this game is worthwhile. I like both! The third one is gonna be awesome too but I'm not a fool to play anything on release anymore, ja? See you in five years!
@@jekw23 Truly, all of Obsidian crpg are like this with Tyranny being the absolute worst with the constant traveling between locations and overland "encounter" map.
was so excited when Pillars of Eternity came out! There simply aren't enogh cRPGs with the classic pausable real time gameplay. There's quite a few high quality cRPGs with turn based gameplay which I don't mind but it was really disappointing when I found out Baldurs Gate 3 was also going to be turn based.
You know, I have very similar sentiments. I'm cool with some turn-based crpgs but at the same time I'm a real sucker for real-time with pause. That's just what I personally like the most.
@@turnsupgaming5949I like how Pathfinder has both systems Ruben based and real time with pause. I find real time with pause more engaging and a bit easier.
I agree. The moment it was announced that it was a turn-based only game it was no longer a Baldur's Gate sequel. Yes we all know that the original games had a faked real-time system; that did not make the system itself nor the product of the system bad for its time. Larian made a Divine Divinity sequel and could have used just about any unrelated IP. In terms of success the money people at Wizards of the Coast made the right decision it seems. But they should have just picked some other name for the game, not Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate.
Not completly true: PoE has real "Orchestra" Music at times. Fun Fact: The Member of this Orchestra where mainly Obsidian Employees and they recorded pieces of music in the entrance hall of the company building.
Any games recommended that have a similar exp/leveling system? Not to talk badly a out Baldur's gate or Pathfinder, but i like being able to talk my way out of things and still progress level wise. In Pathfinder, i have to be a murderhobo or suffer a slow leveling progression. Kingmaker i skipped several fights, and as a result, i maxed level in the last 5 mins of the run. Ps4 recommendations please. I know about Underrail's oddity xp, but I dont have a PC 😢
Not so much another game but there are several modules from the community in Neverwinter Nights that have heavy RP to allow some fast talking to avoid situations. I'm a fan of it especially since Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition still sees a lot of updating in the hands of Beamdog.
The lore exposition is a major culprit. Too much text for someone wanting a laid back experience. I only learned to like the lore because I stayed for the combat and loot, and eventually the world itself just clicked for me. I don't expect that happened to many other players. But, allow me to suggest to you to give the sequel Deadfire a go. It is much improved as for its lore references and the combat / ability / skill systems are absolutely fantastic. It is much more approachable in every way. Though skip the slide show ship "combat" events.
I love and hate CRPGs so much! I really like the gameplay, the freedom to create builds, the skills, the isometric camera, it reminds of Ragnarok Online. But I hate the high amount of dialogues and unnecessary texts, that after some hours of playing it becomes a slog.
@@KrakenZzzz Nah, I don't like tabletop rpgs; I want to be in that world or see it, that's why I only care about games, movies or comics. My way of playing CRPGs is reading dialogues as fast as possible just to get an ideia of what to answer, and focusing on the gameplay, I play only to create builds and kill bosses, that's how I like.
@@LionMob so you really do have a love and hate relationship with them lol. Do you like the dialogue choices? Or not at all? If not, it sounds like you just prefer combat and builds. You’d probably really enjoy diablo or path of exile. They are essentially crps without the dialogue and more action based combat.
The music annoyed me for some reason. However there used to be on the Nexus a mod which replaced it with Neverwinter Nights music, which actually fit very well.
I started the game Flabbergasted by the first 2 hours of story With pain in my neck from the endless fucking whiplash from the story intro Returned the game.
Get both, I suggest starting with the first one to get into the lore, the races and the overall world. The second one is very good but it feels like a side adventure compared to the epic story of the first one.
the saddest thing about obsidian and poe is that its weakest part is writing which is as lame and shallow as it is pretentious. i have no problem with its mechanics and aesthetics, heck, i can fire up vanilla iwd2 and lose myself in it even now. but the narrative is just boring and incoherent.
Real time with pause and "goodness" do not belong in the same sentence. Games that are good with RTwP combat are good in spite of it, not because of it.
