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
Almost two years after the original publication on PC, via Steam, it also arrives on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire (the Nintendo Switch version, on the other hand, will arrive during the course of 2020), a direct follow-up to the award-winning role-playing game by Obsidian Entertainment. The final version of the title, which also includes the three expansions released in the months following the launch, finally brings to consoles what is one of the most interesting gaming experiences of the current generation, clearly for fans of the genre. However, it is not free from some defects, both on a structural and a playful level. For the purpose of a correct evaluation, we will also focus on the goodness of the conversion itself, the true needle of the balance for the purpose of our examination, without however neglecting those characteristic aspects of production, which could be unfamiliar to those who are approaching the brand for the first time, perhaps taking advantage of the landing on the console. After a long journey in search of Eothas (which took us over 45 hours of gameplay), we are ready to tell you ours!
In search of the "lost" God
Before trying to explain, without going into too much detail, the narrative branches of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, it is right to make a necessary premise: this second chapter is directly linked to the events of the first, of which you can even import the saves for help the system in retrieving information about your alter ego. Indeed, he is once again the protagonist of the story, and his “peaceful” life, daughter of the events of the first Pillars of Eternity, is destined to quickly become only a faded memory. Eothas has (re) awakened and has begun a long journey from one part of the world to the otherwhile keeping his intentions obscure even to his brothers and sisters, the other deities in force in the imagery created by Obsidian.
The protagonist, the Observer of Cad Nua, promptly sets out in search of the emerald-colored giant, under the direct "collaboration" of the other gods, secretly frightened and unaware of the will of his brother. Along the way, which sees him immediately in command of the Sprezzante, a large ship essential for travel, the player will meet old and new acquaintances, embedded in a curated and potentially infinite narrative agglomeration, but probably less inspired than in the past. Let's be clear, we are not faced with a bad or uninteresting story, on the contrary, but the work done in terms of writing the main plot seems to us less incisive and courageous than that of the first chapter. Fortunately, this is much less noticeable if we analyze the secondary stories and in general the care with which the accessory dialogues were made. Writing, in these cases, is certainly impressive and makes getting lost in the pulsating game world and its adventures quickly become a pleasant pastime.
A huge world?
As in the tradition of the genre, one of the most evident strengths of Pillars of Eterniy 2: Deadfire is certainly the vastness and quality of the activities, starting from the management of the ship itself, although this can be considered an overall marginal and not predominant task. If the main campaign can be considered a substantially linear journey and longevity after all in the standards of the genre, the real coup is represented by the huge outline.
The secondary missions proposed by Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire are many and varied and are well written in most cases, offering the player a much clearer picture of everything that happens in the game world. Often these also concern the various characters of the party who offer, in various cases, a series of ancillary activities, giving life to real storylines with an excellent realization. This translates into a longevity that clearly multiplies without too much effort, without however giving rise to dead moments or less interesting than others, which in turn means that the player will find himself in front of a very dense general picture of activity, to be sought through what is the real core of the experience: exploration.
For the first time in the series, in fact, the play formula is based on an open world structure, which allows free exploration of the vast game world, whose macro areas can be reached on board the Sprezzante. Traveling on it, in addition to deepening the with one's companions and perhaps snatching a new secondary mission to carry out or a new story to live, it is occasionally possible to come across finds of treasures, easily recoverable with the press of a button.
But it doesn't end there: it can also happen that you have to face real naval battles, but don't be alarmed or excited too much. In fact, they are nothing more than mere management sequences, in which the numbers and statistics are the masters, to be combined after engaging in the battle, perhaps choosing the retreat in the worst case.
To infinity and beyond!
On a strictly playful level, the above turns into a fundamentally classic game, based on a consolidated and well-established gameplay for the genre, but with some interesting news, for a more than satisfactory overall result. The console version of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, to begin with, arrives on the market complete not only with additional DLC in terms of story, but also with various patches who have gradually smoothed and perfected the game formula.
Among these stands out, without a doubt, the possibility of choosing the combat system at the beginning of the game, a choice on which you cannot back down except by starting a new game and, therefore, to be pondered in the best way. Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire offers the possibility to face the experience both relying on classic turn-based combat, and on the RtWP (real time with pause) already seen in the first chapter of the saga, a solution that certainly makes each clash more spectacular but if we want more chaotic. The few refinements on the gameplay, which go for example to file some gleanings regarding the management of the targeting of the enemies or even the dynamic positioning of the heroes in battle, strongly embellish an overall already very appreciated formula, which guarantees the player that right. sense of fulfillment. However, this is strongly linked to the management of the party, which now as in the past represents one of the most important points in the economy of the clashes. The choice of the party and the evolution of the heroes themselves is in fact a precious feature, since being able to count on a complete and varied group can guarantee success not only in battle, but also prove to be an extra weapon during the exploration component.
Each character of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, in addition to the combat skills - many and very layered, to be chosen with care and attention - also has a series of parameters that directly influence the sphere outside the fighting, such as manual skills or ability to deactivate traps, which are essential for reaching new areas or finding new objects. All these aspects are combined with a level of difficulty that can be set to your liking, which tends to be grim for newcomers. At medium difficulty, in fact, we found ourselves dead often and willingly, especially when we dedicated ourselves to attacking blindly without paying too much attention to the weaknesses and strengths of the opponents.
A new (old) hero
As we said at the beginning, in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire at the beginning of the game it is possible to load a possible save of the first chapter to "inherit" all the narrative background of your hero of the first Pillars of Eternity, which in some cases can also generate original dialogues and situations based on the choices made in the past. In case you don't have an old save, no problem. In fact, the game makes the past story clear to you through texts and dialogues that are all in all very explanatory, and the creation of the character therefore becomes the most classic initial step to start a new game. It takes place through a very full-bodied creation editor that allows the player not only to choose many different features on the aesthetic front, but which above all offers a great variety under much more important aspects for the purposes of the experience itself.
In the Obsidian game you can choose not only the race or class of the new player - the latter based on a large offer and rich in subclasses to be developed - but also the provenance and origins of the hero himself and even his occupation, all things that greatly enhance the adventure. The parameters that develop through the choices made are also important in play, since many fights and some events can be worked out through the possession (or not) of certain personal parameters, such as a good level of knowledge of history, religion and much more. The choice of the class is therefore very important, both on and off the pitch, and the consequences of this decision are felt, which as per tradition for the genre represent without hesitation the real highest point of production, capable of offering a vastness in terms of customization and sometimes unsettling possibilities.
Pillars of… console!
The second chapter of the series has certainly brought several improvements to the brand, also on an aesthetic level. The graphic enhancement was quite evident, although it does not strictly concern the game in its entirety or in the menus, for example, always very similar and characterized by few changes, but in the realization of the aesthetic elements such as spells and fighting techniques, both of the allies and enemies, but above all in the new camera, now able to better follow the action both during clashes and during exploration. The changes made with Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, of course, are also shown on consoles, whose conversion, however, is not without problems. Considering the nature of the title, the first big problem that we would like to point out is that related to the use of the controller, very complex, in particular during the fights and in general when you put your hand to the game menus.
To recall the menus it is necessary to hold down the left spine and then extricate yourself through an unfriendly "wheel" of the items, very complicated to consult. Even in battle the situation does not improve, on the contrary: to take advantage of the skills of the various heroes on the field it is in fact necessary to rely on the pressure of the right backbone which opens an unclear menu of skills whose icons do not have a discretion of the same ability, therefore to remember by heart to be able to select it or not during a fight. Net of the power of Xbox One X, then, we must also report two very obvious technical problems of which Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is affected on a strictly technical level. The first, more evident, concerns the annoying presence of a strong lag in some sequences, especially those in which there are more enemies on the screen, in which the image becomes very chaotic, almost unmanageable; a situation that we hope will be resolved with the arrival of any corrective patches in the future. We cultivate the same hope towards uploads, which are excessively frequent and not so short, especially when entering a new area. The dubbing, on the other hand, is excellent, especially of the inhabitants of more “rural” locations whose actors have been able to create an original lexical and phonetic sector of the highest level.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the console version of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire includes all three expansions released on PC in the past months, which greatly lengthen the general experience both in terms of longevity and vastness of the imagination. Even without being memorable, these new activities, marked by a well-defined minimum level of access, manage to enormously expand an adventure that is already titanic in itself, perhaps not in line with that of its predecessor but which, undoubtedly, deserves to be lived without too many hesitations on the part, in particular, of fans of the genre.
In conclusion…
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire finally lands on consoles, but the result is not entirely positive. If on the one hand we find a gigantic game, improved from many points of view compared to the first chapter, to be lived absolutely in its entirety, on the other hand we must report a console conversion not exactly on the shields, in which technical uncertainties and above all a command scheme unclear are the masters. In any case, however, these flaws manage to ruin the gaming experience only partially. All fans of the genre and the brand shouldn't think twice before buying it. For everyone else, well, it's definitely better to think twice.
► 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
