Review for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Game for PC, Steam, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 08/05/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 31/12/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 28/01/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 28/01/2020
The deities are often depicted as perfect beings, powerful and unattainable for man, who venerates and follows them, according to the dictates of the cult. However, the figure of a god is not always seen as faultless or omnipotent. Some are capricious, fallacious, much more like humans than gods, capable of creating enemies for themselves. It will be precisely the revenge against a god to set the plot of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.
Obsidian Entertainment tries to replicate the success of the first chapter, giving life to a new adventure in the archipelago of Flame Death, from which the title originates, set some time after the vicissitudes of the Forest of Dyr.
Divine revenge
After the events of the first chapter, our Watcher lives in peace in his fortress of Caed Nua. The serenity, however, is not destined to last much longer. Eothas, the god of light and rewards believed dead, will take possession of the huge statue on which our fortress stands, making it walk the world, killing both the Watcher and a very large part of his entourage.
The first time we take control of our character will be just when he ends up in the afterlife, in the midst of the flow of souls that comes and goes from the world of the living, in the eternal circle that populates the world. There we will meet Berath, the goddess of death: with her we will talk about the events of the recent past, being able to import the rescue of the first episode or simply retracing our choices through a few questions. With Berath we will also be able to establish a pact to return to our body, resurrecting, and begin our hunt for Eothas, in full God of War style but in a less bloody way. We will come back to life under the command of a small sloat that, after a clash with a pirate crew, will end up in the middle of a storm, shipwrecked right on one of the dead flame islands on which the huge Eothas has already passed. There our adventures will begin: we will have to flesh out the crew and try to repair the ship but, of course, no one will do anything for nothing. Already in the first island we will make new acquaintances, as a priestess of Gaun, another incarnation of Eothas, as well as meet old friends who can follow us once again creating a fairly large group.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire does not lose at all the very deep and narrative-centered style, inaugurated with the first chapter: the dialogues and the narration will be a fundamental part of the game, very detailed and entirely voiced. If Pillars of Eternity has managed to capture you with its storyline, Deadfire will not be outdone.
Observer yes but not too much
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, like its predecessor, allows you to create your own character with a unique depth: we will be able to choose his race, origin and many other characteristics. Regarding the class there are some innovations: unlike the first chapter, we will be able to create a multiclass character, creating a hybrid between two different jobs. In addition to these there will also be specializations. Clearly managing a multiclass character will not be easy, so much so that the recommended choice for those who are not yet practical is the single class. The skill tree will in any case be very rich and it will be thanks to this that our characters can be totally differentiated in the fighting style, creating a level of depth that is more unique than rare. However, the skills will be so many that, during the first few hours, it will struggle a bit to get carried away with the combat system, especially the newbies. Among the various spells and abilities, usable only a certain number of times, and the pause to be set for each given event, following the clashes will not be easy, especially if you fight against multiple opponents. In all this, one of the rescue anchors will be the box at the bottom right of the screen that will list the various events in battle. However, this too is not fully optimized: in fact, sometimes we have seen some exception messages launched by the game code.
Once you understand how to set the pauses, which are fundamental in the economy of the clashes, and developed a minimum of familiarity with the skills of the characters, together with the ability to efficiently supervise what happens on the screen, managing the clashes will not be so complex, as long as you don't get distracted. The engagement system is also interesting, now combined with the ability to move stealthily: now, in fact, by stealthily moving, we can try to surprise the enemy. These will be indicated by a large circle, within which their cone-shaped field of view will be indicated. Once inside the circle, the enemy will be able to enter a state of pre-alarm but, if we do not enter his field of vision, we will still be able to make the first attack of the fight ours.
The system of s between characters and the management system of your structure are back. This time, however, it will not be Caed Nua, now destroyed, but the ship. You will be able to recruit the crew to better manage the boat and then guide it also boarding it against other naval convoys, raiding resources. These materials will also be useful on our travels, as moving around Flame Death always has a price.
Along with naval exploration, land exploration has also been slightly renewed. By moving freely within the islands, represented by a token with our portrait, we will be able to reach the various dungeons or find useful resources for our travels or objects to use in combat. Within the cities there will be a similar type of travel, being able to choose between the various areas of the agglomeration, and then explore it normally with the usual isometric view. Here too there will be mini-events in the form of a paper story, within which we will be able to make more choices according to our abilities and therefore follow different paths that will not always lead us to a single ending or a single reward: these in fact can vary according to our decisions.
The gameplay of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, in short, is anything but flat: the countless variations of the actions to be taken, the s between characters and the narrative, perfectly fitted with the gameplay, becoming an integral part of it, even risk making the player displaced at first impact with the title, submerged by the depth and vastness of what is in front of it.
Flame anything but dead
One of the aspects that immediately stands out in the eyes of the player is the renewed HUD: modernized and much more intuitive than in the past, it has a style that does not clash with fantasy. The controls are easily accessible, so as not to waste time during the fighting, even if there is a tactical break. The graphics sector has also clearly improved: the environments and characters are more alive and colorful, together with the improved textures that make them less pixelated. Obviously we are not talking about levels of AAA giants but the title is still very enjoyable even from this point of view.
The music is very evocative: both the ambient ones and the battle themes adapt very well to the situations of the game, making the atmosphere that you want to convey very well. Great was also the work done with the dubbing. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a title full of dialogues and descriptions: none of these have been left out or overshadowed, every single word has been dubbed and the quality is not affected at all, despite the large amount of texts.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire reconfirms itself as a pearl for all lovers of the old-fashioned Western RPG genre: like its predecessor, it draws heavily from D&D and old titles such as Baldur's Gate and Arcanum, without ever being trivial or a mere photocopy . Deadfire has its own style and its well-defined and above all profound plot, as well as its gameplay. The characters are fully customizable and adaptable to any fighting style, depending on the player's choices. This depth, however, can scare some players, who will find themselves displaced by the myriad of dialogues, events, skills or parameter points to be distributed. Deadfire isn't a game for everyone, but it has a lot to give.
► Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is an RPG type game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Versus Evil for PC, Steam, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 08/05/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 31/12/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 28/01/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 28/01/2020
