I’m increasingly (and perhaps, concerningly) becoming a creature of my habits when it comes to the game that I play. I know what I like: isometric, rpg games, deep stories, complex plots, turn-based combat, ideally with a bit of crafting or stronghold-building thrown in. Fortunately, there are a great many games like this out there, so I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. There are, of course, good examples of this genre, and bad examples. I’m going to challenge myself to do something a bit different with the next few games I play, but for this review, I’m going to look at one game that fits very comfortably into that genre: Pillars of Eternity II (POE2).
As you can guess, this is the second in a series of games that follow the adventures of the ‘Watcher’, your character, as he pursues his destiny across the different terrains and locales of the game environment. In the first iteration, you tracked down the cause of a strange illness and the after effects of the war between man and a god. It’s a complicated story, but one that I quite enjoyed. IN this second iteration, the Watcher takes to the seas in pursuit of a giant green statue (that meddlesome god, again) through the various islands that make up the Deadfire. Along the way, there are wild hunts, undersea excursions, at least two different bands of pirates, intrigue, assassins, and echoes of colonialism. It’s good stuff.
The interface and mechanics of POE2 are hardly likely to surprise anyone; indeed, they look like they have in similar games for a very long time- I’m thinking Baldur’s Gate 1 or even earlier – Ultima? You have your character menus and your map menus and your inventories and so on. Dialogue appears along the bottom, combat is mostly via point and click. So far, so good. So what separates POE2 from the rest of similar games that are out there? The answer, of course, lies in the reason why I play these games in the first place. It’s about the story, and the way the story comes to life.
There’s nothing simple about the politics of Deadfire. Indeed, I would be surprised if the designers haven’t at the very least drawn inspiration form the history of colonialism and invasion in our world. There are rapacious companies seeking to turn a profit, militaristic companies intent on promoting their interest, bandits drawn by the lure of profit, and traditional owners of the land seeking to resist or come to terms with a future that they have only limited control over. And of course, into this you plunge, and you are increasingly placed in positions where you have to choose one side or another. And, quite rightly, if you commit to supporting one side, the other sides get annoyed with you.
Intricate plotting is all well and good – indeed, it’s a key part of the success of this game – but the interactions between the members of your party really bring these political machinations to life. You can, and do, lose party members, depending on your choices, but along the way, they will talk to you and each other about your actions, their thoughts. Some of these interactions are comical, and many are poignant. The voice acting is top notch.
Very good.