Pillars of Eternity

This combination of beauty, highly detailed tactical combat, and expansive game world is something that you rarely see nowadays. In many respects, you haven’t seen it since Baldurs Gate II, which means that some of us have been waiting for this game for sixteen years.

Pillars of Eternity demonstrates that a great RPG is as much in our own heads and hearts as it is a developer's vision relayed through a monitor. A must-play for fans of the genre, old and new.

As a spiritual successor to some of my favourite RPGs of all time, Pillars of Eternity does those games justice with its ultra-traditional story, presentation and mechanics. But I recommend other people check it out as well, as it offers a sprawling world to explore, and a fantastic cast of companions to interact with, making it the perfect example of a retro genre done right.

Pillars of Eternity is a masterclass in role-playing game development, recapturing the essence of the genre's past triumphs and repackaging them for a universal audience.

Obsidian had a daunting task before them: to make a spiritual successor to a series of games that are inextricably tangled up in nostalgia, over a decade after the height of those games’ popularity. This is not the Baldur’s Gate of 2015, it’s Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, the best parts of the lot of them wrapped up in something new and brilliant.

It's the best new, isometric RPG to come out in years.

Despite drawing obvious inspiration from the Infinity Engine games, Pillars of Eternity manages to be so much more than a simple tribute. Carving out its own unique identity as a masterfully created RPG, it is sure to be remembered as a Role-Playing masterpiece of our times.

Renaming the game to "Baldur’s Torment" may be the easiest way to describe the triumph of spirit, design and scope of this masterpiece made lovingly by Obsidian.

The best RPG Obsidian has ever made. Just be ready to read.

A game that will go down in history as once did the classics like Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment.

Obsidian has targeted a very specific audience for this game. It's aimed at someone like me - a fan of Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. Someone who loves long documents, tactical battles, complex mechanics and stylish graphics. Pillars of Eternity isn't just a tribute - it's definitely more than that. It's a new, unique thing that sometimes surpasses the great cRPGs from the past.

A masterpiece that looks like it came straight from the golden era of RPGs with isometric view. Pillars of Eternity is a worthy heir of the games from the Infinity Engine.

Pillars of Eternity stands on its own merits without resorting to nostalgia too much. Truly a CRPG masterpiece, the game offers old school, real-time strategic combat, and a vivid world to explore. Not only do you get an overall well-made experience, but also a challenge you haven't seen since the 90's.

A superb RPG, great history and a funny battle system. A tribute to the best titles of the genre.

Players who have been waiting for a deep, true role-playing epic are virtually guaranteed to fall in love. Obsidian should have no shortage of fans cheering for another installment, and I’ll be among them.

It has so many moving parts that work so incredibly well together with an unbelievably rich history and mythology.

An extraordinary master class on how to recover an abandoned style of making RPGs, showing all its strengths. A superb story, plenty of role-pay possibilities and a beautiful trip. Hopefully, just the first stop of it.

It's a fantastic return to the roots of RPGing on PC. Incredibly deep, to the point where discovering every outcome of the story will require hundreds of hours. It's fun and engaging to play. Everyone with a sweet tooth for fantasy and roleplay should consider this game, as it's a true masterpiece from Obsidian.

Pillars of Eternity is an excellent RPG with a marvelous plot and an enormous amount of hours of gameplay. It has several flaws in the mechanics but you won’t notice them much.

It's an RPG with a soul. Every little detail of it. Obsidian didn't just deliver what they promised, they built a bridge between the past and the present. It may be just one add-on away from being the best RPG ever released.

A deep, rich, and wonderfully written RPG that lives up to the towering legacy of the games that inspired it.

A fantastic throwback to the D&D classics of yore, Pillars of Eternity is also a brilliant modern RPG in its own right with none of the typical Obsidian problems at launch, be it bugs or performance issues. Tactical combat, excellent atmosphere and great writing coalesce into a beautiful experience. It would be a shame not to play it several times to experience all of the meaningful decisions and consequences. As great as Baldur’s Gate.

Pillars of Eternity is not only one of the best role-playing games in a long time, it also keeps it up classics like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. Expect a somewhat steep learning curve but once the mechanics has settle it is difficult to put away.

Like so many RPGs, Pillars of Eternity is immense with an abundance of things to do. But unlike so many RPGs, it manages to fill its many spaces with craft and care.

Sprawling and beautiful in equal measure. It can be a tough slog, but it's worth it. [May 2015, p.62]

Obsidian has finally made the RPG we all knew they were capable of making and it's damned glorious. [Issue#160, p.98]

The game has its shortcomings, but until I completed it (in 60 hours) Pillars of Eternity was my air, my food, my life, my last thought when I was going to sleep (if I went to sleep at all, that is) and the first when I was waking up. I would come to the office sleepy, drink a bucket of energy drinks and feel the same excitement that overwhelmed me ten years ago when I played BioWare’s games. [05/2015, p.42]

In almost every respect Pillars of Eternity is a true successor to the genre - a perfect introduction for RPG newcomers, and for everyone else, the game they’ve been waiting fifteen years for.

Pillars of Eternity excels at bringing the look and feel of the Infinity Engine games to the modern world in an expertly written story that’s worth sitting through for over 70 hours...Honestly, it's one of the best RPGs I've ever played.

Pillars of Eternity is a wondrous return to form, the latest and greatest from a recent move to revisit RPG classics. It's certainly the best RPG experience I’ve had for many years, and a massive part of that is how it approaches its story telling.

Massive and beautiful. Classic roleplaying at it’s finest

Strong thematic hooks, well-written characters and reactive quest design, all resting on an original set of tabletop-inspired mechanics, make this a triumphant return.

An RPG in which you can easily lose hours, should it grab you.

If you’re a real fan of classic FRP games, complex content of Pillars of Eternity will totally absorb you away from real life and keep you entertained.

Pillars of Eternity is an outstanding game. It can be criticized with number of individual issues, but as a whole it works great, almost perfect. I know that all veterans of isometric RPGs will enjoy this game, and I firmly believe that not only them will do so.

Pillars of Eternity is more than an appeal to nostalgia; it's a rich RPG in its own right, boasting enjoyable combat, a strong story, and masterfully paced quests.

The promises Obsidian made definitely came true. Pillars of Eternity is the ultimate ode to RPG classics like Baldur's Gate, but it does have its own unique style to bring to the table.

Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity is a love letter to those gamers who remember RPGs of old – when parties were large, adventures were world-sprawling, and you read a book or two worth of words before the world was saved.

A dream for all the old-school RPG fans, despite some typical Obsidian bugs. If you can, wait for a couple of patches before jumping aboard.

Obsidian not only continues the tradition of classic party role-playing by merging virtues of Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment. They create a unique fantasy world far away from Dungeons and Dragons, thus demonstrating that creativity and passion are more important than any graphics engine.

Pillars of Eternity is a must-buy for anyone who has played classic titles like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights or Planescape, and it will certainly deliver the story, the conversations, the companions, the combat and the big themes that they are yearning for.

The writing in the game is second-to-none, and Pillars of Eternity shows how quality prose can augment the role-playing experience.

Beautiful and complete, Pillars of Eternity is a captivating game mastered throughout. Despite a lot of text to read and lengthy load times, it stands out as one of the best RPGs of our time.

Obsidian has met the expectations and delivered an outstanding old-school RPG, which doesn't feel "old" at all, but "classic".

It honors the classics, brings great ideas of its own, and in the process it emerges as a classic itself. Games like this are always about the journey, and it's sure as hell a journey worth taking.

Add in an extensive amount of lore, as well as great writing and detailed conversation options, and the result is a finely-crafted RPG that will take over 60 hours to complete. Be prepared to say “goodbye” to the sun because with so many classes and side quests, most players will want to replay Pillars of Eternity at least once.

High quality, old-school RPG with a lot of fresh ideas, providing hours of fascinating gameplay.

Pillars Of Eternity is a masterpiece and nothing less than essential for anyone who's ever heard of the Infinity Engine. Superbly written, expansive yet rich and detailed, tactical and thought-provoking, it's the sort of roleplaying experience that we've been dreaming about for years.

Is Pillars of Eternity the perfect game? No, but it is an incredibly good one. When fans backed the Kickstarter to the tune of nearly four million dollars, they did so on the promise of Obsidian returning to their roots; more than that, that they would return we RPG players to our roots. By taking cues from the past, Pillars of Eternity bears lessons for future developers. Accessibility is fine, but players learn to love depth. Cutscenes are important, but less so than a well-crafted story. And the world itself should be the reason to explore, not the experience from the 100th bandit. Pillars isn’t perfect, no, but it may just be a modern classic.

All you really need to know though, is this; Pillars of Eternity is a triumph.

Pillars of Eternity is indeed great fun for RPG players young and old, and you don’t need a $2000 beast to play it on either.

The development team catered to their core group, and I feel they made the game that they wanted to play. But ultimately I also feel I have to hold them responsible for making a game that feels inaccessible in so many ways.

Pillars of Eternity proves that the men and women at Obsidian know how to make a good traditional RPG based on their own intellectual property...And now they’ve proven they don’t even need an investor to do it.

Pillars is a great RPG, a rich title featuring a complex gameplay, quests with beautifully written dialogues and with an impressive cure for almost every aspect. If you like the genre, this is a must have.

Playing the game is not an entirely nostalgic experience. It conjures up a genuine need for this style of RPG -- isometric, hand-drawn, party-driven, stat-heavy, and a whole lot of fun.

At the beginning, Pillars of Eternity has too much of the classic Infinity Engine games. A few hours later you'll start to discover its particular magic and fall in love. It's a tribute to those games and Obsidian Entertainment have achieved to refresh the old formula.

Like Arcanum and Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines before it, Pillars of Eternity is a feat of world-building.

77,000 people wanted to relive their glory days of Baldur’s Gate and paid for the luxury of doing so. The result I think is a remarkable recreation of that flavor of gaming.

Pillars of Eternity proudly carries on the legacy of the classic computer RPG, and those who remember them with fondness should find in it a welcome addition to the genre.

Despite the early issues I had getting used to the controls and the gameplay, Pillars of Eternity became highly addictive. It was probably the point where I actually worked out a viable strategy for the two characters in my party when in combat and I found myself playing long into the night which, for me anyway, is the sign that I'm having fun.

Pillars of Eternity is a good RPG even when you play it without your rose-tinted nostalgia glasses.

A sprawling game in a familiar setting, and a clever tune-up for the cRPG. Just what the backers hoped for. [June 2015, p.74]

There's no denying that Obsidian's soul was in the effort. [June 2015, p.110]

For the freedom of choice, quality of writing and enjoyable tactical combat a lot of Pillars of Eternity’s blunders can be forgiven, even the lackluster core RPG mechanics. [May 2015, p.82]

In the end, I did compare this favourably to my experiences with Baldur's Gate, a game which excited and interested me. I'd played that game recently, so it was easy to compare, but Pillars stands on its own as an immersive world and fun gameplay experience.

It is not changing the future, but it is repackaging the past in a way that deserves praise while falling into a few old traps--and creating a few of its own--along the way.

It’s almost entirely backwards-looking, and the characterisation is disappointingly dry, but for fans of Baldur’s Gate and its era this will have you partying like it’s 1998.

Pillars of Eternity is classic RPG (and Kickstarter) done right. Great writing, solid gameplay and excellent art direction make for a glorious homage to the masterpieces of yesteryear, and a love letter to all their fans.

With it its isometric perspective, real time combat system, great focus on roleplaying and a decent chunk of side content, Pillars of Eternity is a giant ball of playable nostalgia. You don't have to have played Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale to get the most out of this gem of a game. It fits just as well for new players as it does for old veterans.