Prima Game of the Week | Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire

Why You Should Play

• Branching storylines and real consequences for your choices.
• Challenging and intuitive combat.
• A fully voiced cast of hundreds of characters.
• Hours of stories, quests, and dungeons to explore and complete.

Obsidian Entertainment has made a name for itself in the classic RPG scene, bringing tales like Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny, and now Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire to life. Not only have they done a great job of recreating the large-scale stories that classic RPGs made famous back in the late 90s, but they also updated and modernized the genre so that it feels, runs, and plays smooth on modern hardware. It’s quite an accomplishment. On top of this, their decision to focus on player-interaction helps to create an immersive and engaging story that keeps players engrossed until the credits roll.

Gameplay

When it comes to gameplay, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire plays like any other classic RPG in Obsidian’s Library. Players control a party of characters as they explore a massive open world. The game focuses heavily on player choices and story-driven conversations with NPCs. As you explore the game world you’ll also come across combat scenarios. Deadfire’s combat works in real-time, though there is a pause function which allows you to pause the game for a short time while you plan your next move. It adds a nice strategic level to combat and allows you to really dive deep into the min and maxes in the game.

The big change in things from the original Pillars of Eternity to Deadfire is the new ship system, which allows you to sail around the sea, engaging in ship to ship combat. This is one of the places that the game shines, as the combat takes on more of a tabletop RPG style. The player takes turns with the AI, choosing an action, which will then play out. If you get close enough, you can board the enemy ship, allowing you to trigger the game’s original combat system. It’s a really great system that adds an entirely new level to the game, and really creates a unique experience.

Visuals and Performance

As far as visuals and performance go, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire runs smoothly and looks great. Sure, being a top-down aspect game, there isn’t nearly as much detail in the character models as you would see in an FPS, but the world itself and the characters blend really well and create a believable image that works within the story style that Obsidian chose to use for the game’s main campaign.

You’ll be reading a lot in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, but the developers have made it very easy to see text and conversation options, and everything is very clear and interacts smoothly. Furthermore, we never noticed any kind of hiccups during our time with the game, despite things getting a bit crazy at times with spell effects and things. The game runs smooth, looks good, and plays well in every encounter, which means it’s easy to sink time into it.

Game of the Week

Obsidian’s choice to focus heavily on story and player choice continues to stand true in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. The game runs well, it plays great, and every encounter we had in it felt amazing and had a story to tell. It’s a perfect example of what a classic RPG should look like, and Obsidian continues to do a fantastic job of telling a story in an ever-evolving environment. Every choice you make in Deadfire reflects on the story, and even the way that you complete certain objectives can change the story drastically. With so much potential chaos, and so much emphasis on the player’s actions, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we chose Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire as our Prima Game of the Week.

Need help in Pillars of Eternity 2? Check out our Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire guide for more in-depth strategy articles and details about the game.