Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire - Review After 100%

[@johnreynolds2512]

I'm still surprised this game sold so poorly since it's one of my favorite CRPGs in the last few decades.

[@johnreynolds2512]

Worth noting, however, is that the section on ship combat is outdated. The last patch added a new interface to skip the rounds of ships fleeing or closing on each other. Now you just pick an option and it happens, so combat starts right away if you want to board other ships.

[@MortismalGaming]

I showed the new interface, I just wanted to complain about how bad the text event is

[@MortalReaver]

It sold well, it just did not make enough money for investors. Basicaly devs spend way more money on PoE2 than they should, and there way too many investors.

[@MrMeddyman]

@@MortalReaver Hence why they are going for mass appeal and competing directly with Bethesda with Avowed. Funny how since the time of it's pre-production both Obsidian and Bethesda are now Microsoft owned studios so it will be interesting how this effects things when before they weren't. TES:6 is a ways off but so is Avowed so they can effect each other similar to how F:NV was rushed out the door so that it doesn't interfere with Skyrim's launch

[@View619]

The marketing for this game was terrible. If you didn't know about it from the kickstarter campaign, chances are you wouldn't be aware of it until some weeks after release if at all. The main plotline is also fairly weak and the game is inaccurately cast as a pirate simulator as opposed to a classic RPG which seems to be a turn off.

[@hallacson8535]

Worth noting that Kana, our aumaua friend actually has a cameo in the second game. And you can even talk to his sister (I dont want to spoil ho is she, but you can easily figure it out) and learn about what he is doing. Now now, this is the interesting part. In my playtrough, Kana was died in Defiance Bay so naturally he couldnt make it to the Deadfire islands. And you can have word with his sister abiut his death. But. You can actually sacrifice one of your companions to a god, in the first game. And if that sacrificed companion of yours was Kana, you can even say this to his sister and including her, all party members (specificially returning companions) has diffrent reactions for that. It just beatiful Obisidian fill their games with such details.

[@Alister222222]

I absolutely LOVED the AI editor. As an older gamer, I am kind of past the point where I want to be clicking furiously to make the characters do what I want. I am way more than happy to just give them strategies to follow, and just click when something that doesn't fit into the plan happens. IMO there is nothing wrong with watching a game for a while; it's just another kind of playing. I wish more games were like this!

[@Killibum]

@@One_Sun_One_People dragon age: Origins and final fantasy 12

[@lord_voldemort44]

@@Killibum lol i came here to say this. nice

[@jordanrock3494]

@@One_Sun_One_People You'll enjoy the gambit system from ff 12 imo then.

[@T3hIluvatar]

I spent so much time fine-tuning the AI lol, it's amazing

[@EmilWestrum]

Dragon Age Origins with the Advanced Tactics mod ;)

[@Jelboo]

This game deserved so much more love. I honestly think it far surpasses the first game, it was one of the most atmospheric RPG's I've ever played!

[@tyrael43]

Not in the writing imo.

[@kevintorres91]

would you rather hear “there a settlement that need your help right away” * 500

[@DeMause]

One of the nice things with CRPGs though is that because of what aspects of the game get emphasised they always have a good shelf-life unlike your regular AAA titles. There is always a chance that something draws attention back to the game down the line and it gets another chance to shine.

[@chrismacdonald.6295]

It’s a pleasure to watch videos like this with a guy that is not just intelligent, but highly experienced too. I’ve yet to play the game but this has peaked my interest. Many thanks.

[@Harrison11106]

Sad to see that Deadfire didn't do nearly as well as the 1st PoE. I liked it, especially once turn-based mode was added. I really dug exploring the archipelago. Pity that this is probably the final isometric style PoE game that Obsidion will probably ever do, since they're now a part of the M$ empire. I liked that I could carry my PoE character over into PoE2; the world state thing in PoE2 was quite detailed.

[@SubzeroCage]

This game is absolutely beautiful and I love the combat, my only gripe with it was that the main campaign was WAAAAAY to short. Here's hoping we get another one in the future

[@robinmuller6902]

Yeah, the story felt little bit rushed. Even a few side quests were more intresting like the winter beast of that dark underground island where you had to fight of the reincarnation of..I forgot the name :p

[@disk3001]

I was shocked when I saw that there are like 7-8 main missions and the rest is all optional side stuff. When I started playing I just immediately got invested in the world and the colonial conflicts that I didn't even realize I wasn't advancing the plot. Guess it goes to show how well the world hooks you in, it's a lot like New Vegas in this regard (that game also can be super straight forward and short if you want to speed through the main story)

[@Dunkingtd]

Avowed is coming out soon!

[@SubzeroCage]

@@Dunkingtd yeah it is but I honestly just wished they did pillars of eternity 3 instead.

[@mancamiatipoola]

Osidian have FPS and RPG games in their dna, so it was only natural that they would try a FPS version of Pillars. I hope they dont get discouraged by the low sales of POE2 and make a third one with a deeper story, sometime after Avowed. CRPGs are making a big comeback and the new ones are so good. Yes BG3 raised the bar a lot for what can be done in a CRPG, but i think every company that made one should not be discouraged and just do their own thing. I absolutely loved the story and world building of POE 1 and i hope they will make more. And if not, i guess ill do another full run POE 1 and 2 with the same save/characters.

[@danhowdle9508]

I absolutely loved this game, 100%'d it in turn-based mode. Still have those shanties stuck in my head! Massively underrated CRPG.

[@dzikripratama3776]

@@iluvatarchem look at the sales number in total. Its day and night differences compared to Divinity Original Sin 2 so fair to say it is underrated even Pathfinder : Kingmaker doing better in sales

I think this game came out at first with turn based combat support, it would sold more. One of the few things I did not like in first PoE is chaotic combat.

[@Alfados85]

I loooove POE1 and POE2 and I'm very happy you're covering this one! For me it combines the perfect aesthetics (I think it's just beautiful), worldbuilding and gameplay. I love the variety of classes, the multiclass system and (especially) the itemization. The theorycrafting of new builds focusing around the different synergies of (sub)classes and specific items is exactly what I want from a crpg. So if I had one (videogame-related) wish, it would be a POE3: building on the strengths of the two previous titles and maybe even introducing simple dialogue animations / cutscenes that would immersive you even more to the story and world and potentially attracting more players. The sales of BG3-EA suggest that there is a potential audience for AAA crpgs, I hope obsidian and microsoft might draw similar conclusions ..

[@7dayspking]

Obsidian just didn't have anywhere near the resources to make something like Baldur's gate 3. I don't imagine Avowed will be a truly AAA game, it might be more similar to Alpha protocol, Elex, Greedfall in production.

[@Alfados85]

@@7dayspking Yes, that's why I hope that Microsoft might grant them a slightly larger budget to expand the game and the engine a little bit where necessary to attract more people to these games. I definitely don't see a BG3 level of dialogue / animations / cutscenes. But for example the new pathfinder game by owlcat has some simple (not yet polished) cutscenes that add to the atmosphere of the story.

[@7dayspking]

@@Alfados85 I would say the Pillars of Eternity games were larger, more expensive productions than Pathfinder WOTR is. POE deadfire actually has a number of scenes just as complex and expensive as the opening cutscene in WOTR (Where Deskari carves Kenabres in half with his scythe.) and does do a lot with giving characters animations during scenes. Unfortunately though, because of Obsidian's adherence to the structure of the original Infinity engine games, which were very open ended and where almost everything that happens is initiated by the player. There just aren't so many opportunities to insert the simple dialogue scenes, let alone the big, complicated animated set pieces except when players get locked into crucial story scenes. Pathfinder WOTR's more linear, story driven structure allows for more frequent use of these sorts of scenes. Obsidian's only option really would to develop a procedural dialogue animation and gesture system, but that'd put them into AAA budget territory.

[@Alfados85]

@@7dayspking I see, thank you for your interesting answer! Do you think that the work on a future POE3 (in specific: animations) might profit from the development on Avowed (I guess it won't be the same engine..)?

[@7dayspking]

@@Alfados85 We'll have to wait and see Avowed. Obsidian have made games with dialogue animation systems before, I don't think it was by accident they decided not to use one for POE. They also weren't planning on using much voice acting either, but in response to DOS2's full voice acting felt they had to change that late in development to compete with Larian. It can have negative consequences in an RPG though, especially when there isn't the time and budget to do it properly like Larian seem to have managed to do with BG3. I think Neverwinter nights 2's main campaign is a good example of it going somewhat wrong. Feels unfinished, rushed, extremely linear, railroady and half the time the game ignores the dialogues the player chooses because Obsidian I imagine just didn't have enough time to account for and make scenes for every option they planned. NWN2 ends up feeling more like a rushed, cheap KOTOR than a sequel to Neverwinter nights. I don't want to see developers try to force voice acting, cinematic dialogue scenes and that sort of thing unless they've got enough time to properly plan and implement it and the resources to do it right.

[@itsnotbloodborne1237]

I’ve been wondering for so long how to have a review system that stands head and shoulders above the rest- bro you nailed it. Stellar review, I bought this game and loved it thanks to your thorough rec!

[@paralysekid]

What I liked most was the dialog system and the character traits, for example "Honest 3", and how NPCs would react to it. Much better than in other games, especially better than the boring old alignment circle.

[@solas5837]

I sank about 300 hours into this game and loved every moment. Divinity is still my favourite but damn obsidian did a great job! Its unfortunate we won't get a 3rd conclusion to this and the who idea of the gods story line.

[@dantederi5062]

What? Says who?

[@ryanglacier30]

They turned it into Avowed instead

[@Brandelwyn]

How did you manage that? I finished the game at 40 hours (and got bored halfway, despite that I love RPGs)

[@dantederi5062]

@@Brandelwyn maybe cus the combat? It's so good IMO

[@ryanglacier30]

@@Brandelwyn if you finished it in 40 hours you played on easy mode and missed a lot of content

[@guyincognito566]

I loved POE1, Deadfire was almost equally great. Probably sunk 400 hours combined into both games. My only problem was how separated the side quests were from the main story 90% of the time. Also, it did suffer a slight Dragon Age Inqustion story problem, setting up a cataclysmic event, where time seems limited yet for long portions between main story quests you're just traversing about doing other stuff - really fun and well written stuff but there was never any real connective tissue to the main story.

[@misterarioo]

most games suffer from this even bg3

[@Stoigniew666]

Well there is NOTHING I hate more than games with timers like that shit Kingmaker.

[@neal2049]

I don't normally play these type of games. But since I am going to be without internet connection for a long time, I decided to give this one a try since people have said that it is a very long game. Downloading it right now and I feel lost while looking at other reviews/gameplays. This video gave me a basic understanding of what to expect and to think about. Thx.

[@Nalier]

Ekera, it was a really incredible game, I say.

[@toprak3479]

This game is fantastic. Every part of it pours out passion and love for the genre.

[@someguy4844]

This game was great. Love the voice acting. Narrator, all the gods voices and Tekehu were chiefs kiss.

[@dzikripratama3776]

Well the narrator is the one who voiced Ellie from The Last Of Us

[@porrabr]

Unplayable game on PS4 . I spent 40% of the game on loading screens, I love the game, but this is disappointing. It took me 90 hours to beat all the game and DLCS, I'm a hero. Around 40 hours at least of loading screens

[@porrabr]

@@sinisa5567 Is there any difference to playing on computer for 70 hours and having backaches while reading texts? I prefer playing while in bed with a joystick. By the way, Baldurs gate 1 and 2 , divinity 1 and 2 have a good port on ps4, played both.

[@PrayToChrist]

That's on you for being last gen

[@porrabr]

@@PrayToChrist I have a playstation 5 friend, I meant the game is unplayable on ps4 and not " I have a ps4 now". Even though, optimization on playstation 5 could be better, at least the " stupid longer loading screens" got better. This game should be playable on playstation 2, on playstation 4 and 5 should run without any loading time to be honest. It's ridiculous how such a poor-graphic game take centuries and it's so bad opmitized for a console so good as Ps4 and Ps5.

[@porrabr]

@@iluvatarchem Nikos I also hold a brand new high-tech computer , Why do you guys assume someone never played on a different platform? I'm just saying the game is unplayable on ps4, on ps5 runs smoothly, I even replayed it. And I prefer the comfortability of playing on the console, The point is, they should never release a broken game on the console if it's not ready.

[@porrabr]

@@iluvatarchem Exactly, because first I played on ps4 , then I set up a Computer, and some months ago I bought a ps5, in addition , I hold Xbox series S, nintendo Switch , And other consoles that I play once in a while and for me are considered relics already. Happy now? I can complain as much as I want for something I paid with my money and the service was poorly delivered. If you want to give money to a broken service/ product, that's your problem, not mine.

[@tacosalad1113]

This game is excellent. Probably my favorite isometric rpg. Sad that it didnt sell well.

[@Alfie-ni7lx]

You only reviewing the game after you 100% it is exactly the reason I subbed, I'm sure its how you gained many of your subs. Its very nice to see someone who has played it all to give the best review possible!

[@Juice8767]

Great videos, I'm a big fan of post release reviews because they have the benefit of hindsight and patched gameplay for games that released in a rougher state but improved later.

[@mlaine83]

this has always been at the top of my list of games to play next.. but i just have never quite got to it. this was such a good overview that i'm starting it right away. great stuff! love your style and the way you covered the game. looking forward to going back and watching more and more of your reviews. thanks!

[@jenbcamping]

I LOVED this game. I was really surprised to hear that it didn't sell that well. It's really fun, the setting is great, the companions are great and no matter how you feel about the AI system setup - it lets people play as actively as a party with every action or as a single player with stuff already set up. You don't HAVE to do it. Saying all that though - I have gotten to ~5% of the endgame THREE times and have never finished it! (and I can't imagine doing everything again, since I remember it so well)

[@lukadebank2430]

I feel like I'm one of the only people who loved the ship to ship combat

[@MrSzreder]

Nah, I kinda forced myself to figure out this minigame and at the end it was pretty satisfying. I run like a control setup, shredding enemy's sails and setting fires until they were pretty much unable to sail at all. Fun stuff

[@wormerine8029]

I like the concept. But it’s far far too shallow and repetitive to be a worthy addition. What’s worse, that apparently it was a major money sink - and that money most likely should have been spent elsewhere.

[@KatalistProductionsKozzySasha]

You are not alone, I was expecting to dislike the ship combat but I loved it

[@harktischris]

Me too; "There are dozens of us! Dozens!"

[@MFewwy]

I find it okay. Sometimes it's even fub but I like naval combat

[@davidvega462]

11:55 Oh my GAAAAWD! Like idk how, but I KNEW you were going to say Final Fantasy 12! And I LOVE Final Fantasy 12. It’s literally my favorite FF game. I thought the AI system was amazing. I loved it. Question: as someone who has played through Dragon Age Origins at least 6 times, would you say I would enjoy this? Like are they similar?

[@ThomB1031]

I love inter-npc dialogue. Baldurs Gate 1, 2; Prince of Persia, Dragon Age Origins

[@Filmikizmiki]

Thank you so much for all these 100% reviews. I was debating between buying POE2/Tyranny/P:K and i think i'll go with POE2 it seems so fun!

[@chriseggroll]

It's one of my favorite RPGs ever, so fun. The multiclass system added just what this game needed with the already unique classes. I played through as turn based which isn't the best but I really prefer it to rtwp. Looking forward to avowed

[@Dev3rauX]

I've been on the fence about buying this game for years, thanks for helping me finally make up my mind in picking it up!

[@wesleyferreira7511]

I'd really like to see a Pillars Lore series

[@miembrosgibran]

I'd really like to meet my dad

[@pathfinder2elatino]

@@miembrosgibran i really like to meet my son 🥲

[@joyfulfishman5445]

Me too man, me too

[@KingMJAH]

I would love a lore series, can’t find one anywhere.

[@miembrosgibran]

@@pathfinder2elatino daddy is that really you?

[@Choteron3]

After 165 hours i finished poe 2 with all their dlcs and i can say that is the best crpg i played. Cant wait for Avowed.

[@fordse2002]

I love these games! Thank you for your review; I did not know there was so much out there to explore that was actually worth exploring.

[@jayshaft3179]

I forgot to come back and say thank you. I watched this and finally bought the game. I already loved the first, so this vid helped me to finally make up my mind. Should have been a no-brainer, but I do QA for a living, so I am really picky about what I play for fun. I hope more people get into this one, because Obsidian nailed it for any older RPG fan. Actually for anyone who loves a really top notch RPG.

[@ConstrictedByReality]

I’m a newcomer to CRPGs, and Pillars 1 and 2 were the first two to hook me. I hope we get a true Pillars 3 someday, because no game I’ve found has given me a fun RTP -and- turn-based system. I liked setting manual pause intervals and keeping my RTP AI mostly for life-support and basic attack targeting. I loved the flow of combat. Most game’s stories lose me, but the voice acting had me hanging on every word, Eora is probably the fictional world I have the most knowledge of, in spite of being basically terminally online in my free time. ETA: The closing note of ‘game too short’ is an excellent complaint to have. POE2 is the to recommend game for people new to the genre, IMO.

[@Korica]

It's always interesting hearing people discuss how easy or difficult they find the game's combat, because it ranges everywhere from "This game is too easy, I beat the hardest difficulty with just 1 character" to "This game is too hard even though I'm playing on normal"

[@miraclemaker1418]

It simply means that there's a specific way to play the game and if you don't play it like that, it sucks

[@Bezimienny11]

I think that for veterans of RPGs who understand what combat mechanics should be prioritized - PoE2 may feel too easy, especially if you know where to get good exp and equipment early on. Otherwise it may be very challenging, if not straight forward frustrating, i guess.

[@orarinnsnorrason4614]

After diving into the ai system I found it way too cheesy. Don't get me wrong its great how complex it is what you can do with it but as a result why bother? Every fight becomes auto-wins once you figure out combinations and class mechanics. So it was a breath of fresh air when I returned to the game and found out they introduce turn-base. Now I have to put some thinking into the combat and its great.

[@sungjin-woo820]

I played and beat the first game but when it came to the second game the unbearably long loading screens stopped me from finishing it. All in all not a bad game though.

[@koldraiynedownskayle5744]

Facts. The loading screens are hell for me

[@Mereinid]

Good job, Morti. I pretty much concur on your assessment of POE:2. I really hope they continue the RTwP isometric series. Hell with Tyranny as well. Anyway, good luck with the station and keep up the 100%'ing. RTR.

[@priestskorge]

I went into this game not liking the pirate thing. But I honestly fell in love with it. And it fits in the world when you dig into it. I kept trying this game but never really getting out of the first island was getting bored. But as soon as you do the game open up so much. And the quests are great. The quests where you can plant the bomb on the piano was great lol.

[@xXScythianUAXx]

90% didn't even find "slow-mo" option in this game...

[@jay4627]

I've put hundreds of hours into this game with all DLCs just making different character builds and exploring. Yeah the main story leaves a lot to be desired, but everything else is pretty great. I am very disappointed that there wont be a new CRPG version

[@skundini4999]

Stop crying bro, we're getting Avowed with a huge budget.

[@SlayerSeraph]

@@skundini4999 Avowed? Never heard of that. Wasn't PoE2 huge Flop and sales fail? Where's the budget from?

[@skundini4999]

@@SlayerSeraph Lol, Pillars 2 was amazing, and Microsoft bought Obsidian, hence the budget

[@SlayerSeraph]

@@skundini4999 most of the reviews for PoE2 are very negative or mixed at best, including. There are many ongoing issues and core design flaws compared to cRPG games and even poe1 (which was far from perfect or memorable story wise). Also PoE2 was indeed a marketing and sales FLOP. This wasn't meant to sound like an insult: It failed financially with weak sales and very disappointed unhapy customers and backers. I haven't played bought or PoE2 after finishing PoE1 due to the combination of being disappointed with PoE1 Story, Characters and Ending - and hearing POE2 is worse in all those regards, and reading so many negative Steam reviews... that turned me off the game sadly. Mainly the bad writing, anti god(s) rant and annoying, uninspiring and uninteresting plot and characters was the worst part of the game... That's not to say they can't redeem themselves with Avowed.

[@skundini4999]

@@SlayerSeraph Stop talking

[@majorgear1021]

Does is have random encounters? One thing that I liked about Dragon Age is sometime your quick travel would be interrupted by a bandit attack, for example.

[@alexnieves]

Pillars 2 is so much better in so many ways, but I just can't connect to the story or the setting. I love the first game too much, haha.

[@kippinski02]

I'm playing Pathfinder Wrath now, and just keep thinking how much better this game is, wrath has nice charater class mixing, but feels much better in this game.

[@oce1989]

This is exactly how I feel. Obviously the graphic and gameplay improvements are great, but if they were still releasing expansions for the first game today I'd still be buying them.

[@megamike15]

i'm not that big a fan of pillar's setting as a whole. it's just not that interesting and some of it's ideas were done better in other crpgs like arcanum with reincarnation.

[@robinmuller6902]

That's true. Story wise pillars of eternity (1) was more interessting and the setting was very nice, but there the endurance and hp stuff was way too annoing, I really liked it that they changed that in deadfire.

[@meidrik9724]

After like 200h on it I decided to do a marathon: both games in a row with the same character. And really it changes how you can see the game and I liked better the first one with a story that actually took you with it rather than the second one which sounded more like "please watcher do our stuff". Even the White March dlc feels like you're involved in some kind of schemes that are far beyond you. The story of deadfire feels very clumsy and eothas' goals are not very convincing compared to masked man's. Although if you play both games in a row, it really empower the feelings of your choices because you can see them directly (like Pallegina side quest) and I felt like my watcher got a real influence over Eora.

[@JayRacer]

I love how you’re not a know it all but you kinda actually are since 100% every game. Very good reviews. Subbed.

[@williamm.3612]

Pillars 2 is a fine wine. WIth age it will be rediscovered by those who had no pallet - and eventually we will get a third. Just got to wait 10+ years.

[@dzikripratama3776]

3rd seems like a cursed number for many devs

[@fynnh5459]

I *really* hope you are right.

[@davidroudebush6947]

Avowed is pretty much the third game in the series

[@ignifero]

As I mentioned in the POE video, Aloth and Eder are both voiced by Matt Mercer, but not only them, there are lots of companions voiced by the cast of Critical role in this second game. They actually have like a free DLC with the Vox Machina (their first campain) voices and portraits you can download and customize the party (by hiring mercenaries, of course) to actually play with that party of adventurers instead. Also the developers allowed them to use the ingame music for their streams. It was a pretty cool come and go with those two IPs. :)

[@Schmitty7546]

Unpopular opinion maybe, but I really like the naval combat turn based mini game. After a few tries, it suddenly all clicked into place, and now I love whittling down an enemy ship and crew, before going in to board them.

[@PsychesGamingAddiction]

I absolutely love the pillars series! I played the first game fanatically and now I’m even recording my playtrough of the 2nd game for KZbin! I hope they make a 3rd installment

[@alexblades5218]

Boarding ships in combat gives a lot more loot, it also provides a farm for XP, food, money, morale, and soul bound item challenges. When starting and you get a ship assign 1 crew and no food or water. Dont fight anything just sail. Eventually morale will hit 0 and after that your 'crew' will mutiny and you'll get a powerful talent- with no in game consequences other that losing 1 crew. AI for some classes is kinda weak- its feels good to control your main directly and make algorithms for the rest of your companions.

[@okagisama]

I liked it, but got tired quite quickly after playing through it (i didn't even bothered finishing all the dlcs at the moment). First thing for me was the orevall setting ; Huana cultural aspects aren't bad per say, and pirates can be cool, but they don't come close to the fascination the setting of the first iteration conveyed. Then leveling : i liked being able to reach lvl 20, but you actually reach that point way before the end, making future battles/content very repetitive. Even if i never used the AI system at all, and chose to run a full mage (meaning lots of different abilities). Third was the quests... main quest is okay but not more than that, you basically understand most of what's going on right in the first hour playing if you completed the first game. No real discovery here, you run along a paved road. Which is sad (i'm on the side of more complex questlines like in 1st game or a Baldur's Gate). Secondary quests can be more compelling, but they suffer from the "effect of shortening", they feel very limited in both duration and geographical travels. Exploration quests and dungeons turn out to be very small and under connected with other places/quests/people, making it more like "a place to get higher in the power-up run and find a bit of loot", rather than adding interesting story. That being said, combat system if far better than the first (particularly for spellcasters, you don't need to restrain using powers anymore for fear of resting continuously), and they got some fun subclasses. It's just sad the game isn't driving people to play it, it's good but it stops here for me. Sadly. Compared to a Tyranny it's quite sad.

[@LuiDeca]

Pillars 2 is probably my favorite game from Obsidian. It's their most polished, complete, unique and interesting game to date. It's a shame it sold poorly and encouraged them to ditch Pillars 3 in favor of an Skyrim clone.

[@thinking-ape6483]

Hopefully Avowed will carry on the tradition...

[@nickpaiva563]

I just came here because the bundle is on sale. Looking at this video, why is the game so gorgeous but I haven't even heard of this?? Great video, instant buy.

[@chaosapiant]

Knowing how much reactivity is in this game, I can only assume that 100% completion just means all quests and/or all achievements. There's so many dialogue permutations, classes, and narrative choices you'd need to spend easily 1000+ hours seeing it all.

[@philharmonic2251]

Seems like a great video so far, very informative style, lots of detail, good stuff. I am hearing a lot of audio hiss so might be worth looking at your mic or other recording settings to reduce this.

[@Marcos-tk1sf]

I love all two games in the series, I can't wait for Avowed.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Thank you for another awesome video!

[@Zynosphere]

PoE 2 slowly became one of my fave cRPGs of all time. The world is just so different compared to a lot of cRPGs out there - really enjoyed the whole native vs colonizer narrative. The combat is also fun as hell, it was always hype when you score a crit and the game slows down as they blow up lol.

[@7dayspking]

If you want different. Look at Spiderweb Software's games (Geneforge 1 mutagen a remake of the original and Queen's wish were recently released.). I'm not trying to recommend necessarily but their worlds, stories etc are quite unique. Spiderweb were actually making these style of RPGs before Fallout 1 (1997) and Baldur's gate (1998) were released. Far as I can tell Spiderweb were one of the first to make this sort of game.

[@Zynosphere]

@@7dayspking ooo thanks, deffo going to check this out!

[@7dayspking]

@@Zynosphere Definitely check out a bunch of reviews, videos and maybe someone playing through parts of them before buying though. They're much lower budget than all of these RPGs and are more similar to games from the early-mid 90s in their accessibility than they are to modern RPGs. I think Mutagen (remake of Geneforge.) tried to alleviate some of that though.

[@Speakerboxxl]

that slow thing got tiring after a while

[@mp7311]

I actually like the text based ship combat. I also loved the setting and its sad that people are so stuck with their European Medieval Fantasy mindset.

[@edgecrusher3]

Nice indepth review with clear voice! Thank you! I hit the subscribe.

[@samanthuel8746]

I tried playing this game on normal difficulty but gave up after a few hours because I thought it was boring. Tried it again on Path of the Damned after watching this review and just completely fell in love! I didn't think I would enjoy a RTwP game, but damn this game does it well. Also, although it took me a bit of time to get used to, the way PoE 2's underlying stats and combat system works feels like a genius way to port the TTRPG feel to a video game format. As someone who also has fond memories of playing FF XII as a teen, thanks for this review!

[@JoshMars_]

I'm 50 hours with just the DLCs and the last main story quest to complete. I like the game a lot, maybe more than the first one. The main story was more interesting in the first game but the factions and world building in this game are so great. Reminds me of New Vegas where I am really not sure who I want to side with. Also as you say the world map is awesome, sailing island to island with your ship is so fun. The bounties do a great job to make you explore too. However, much like the first game, I can't stand the combat so I just turned the difficulty down and let the AI destroy everything for me. It's really nice that the game lets me basically skip combat this way. Same for the ship combat where you can just jump into regular combat asap.

[@nunyanunya4147]

is something wrong with me:? i started pillars three times. first time 'thats a lot of reading for my dyslexcia.... got tired around the tower's plot on the east ov the map (was round lvl 15-20). second time (and third) 'i have a great idea for a main character now that i know a bit ov the story!' i fizzle out around the same time. :( (edit) I vaguely remember beating the main story and starting the white marshes story and fizzling out almost the moment I started :( any one know a mod that reads to my dyslexia?

[@bobxbaker]

spot on review i'd say. it does the same thing like the first one but improved on so many things that i think this is just better overall, the biggest gripe i think anyone could have about this game is the added pirate theme and guns being in it which can be either a detriment to people wanting that medieval fantasy thing, but those who like the whole pirate thing will just like this game more than its predecessor for it. now some may say it is short but for me personally i'd say it's nice with an cRPG that doesn't overstay its welcome longer than you want it to which is a big plus for me since it lends itself to replaying the game more and trying out new characters and new builds and other story choices. however i do recommend people somewhat who didn't play the first one to go back and play that one first because it really does set up the world so you don't feel as lost in this one, there's lore that gets called back to, returning companions and it's just overall a continuation of the first one, also getting to play the first one lets you get used to the character building and combat a bit because it is very similar in many ways and also the pleasure of continuing your character from the first game is kinda fun, but that's just my personal opinion on that.

[@Avenus112]

I had more game overs by ship combat than by everything else combined and I was sure it was objectively terrible too. But my ship kept getting wrecked and I couldn't outrun them so I did so much of it that I turned it into an infinite money farm. But yeah, the ship combat seemed like some sort of late-phase feature-creep addition or something. It was a prototype idea even at its best. The big other problem was that I hit the level cap long a bit before the final mission so I lost interest because my characters couldn't get any stronger and by the end my loading screens took several minutes.

[@3HeartLimit]

Personally when I'm given a choice between turn based and real time I will generally choose turn based. I'm pretty patient, which I think helps with this, but I just personally love turn based due to the insane things I've been able to do in it vs in real time.

[@Koshea69]

2 years later I finally listend to you enough to get this game and watch your video because of steam summer sale. And soon as you mentioned FFXII AI system you hooked me, never knew that about this game and now I'm so pumped to play, will finish this playthrough of DAO(also with an awesome AI system) then start on this right away!

[@iron1528]

As much as I liked this game, I prefer the setting of the first P.O.E. The gameplay was much better and I enjoyed the story, but I never got as immersed in the setting as I did in the first game.

[@jessyruel3006]

I did not get immersed at all in PoE1. Tyranny was the exact opposite for me. It was so engaging and more down to earth, easier to get immersed. Actually i would've love to see more Tyranny than PoE but it's not gonna happen, sadly.

[@JerreMuesli]

I pre-ordered PoE2 with all expansions already in the pack and I did not regret it one bit

[@andrewvincent7299]

Just a quick correction, The Valian Trade company come from the Valian Republics and not Old Valia. The Valian Republics were the break away nation of the Old Valian Empire and become a sort of group of Oligarchs. They settle in the Eastern Reach(the same continent as the first POE)

[@holytiramisu]

Backed this game and did not regret doing so at all. The game might be one of my most favorite game of all time. Multiclassing and character building is super fun. I'm glad they also introduce Turn based mode which gave more ideas for new builds. My only biggest complain is the loading screen time, but I think it won't be an issue in further games they made.

[@imshail]

one thing to add is that sidekicks tend to have a lot of dialogue in specific DLCs, often more than the actual companions

[@Justanotherguy83]

Was gomna get this but ill becdamned the gamestore wad sold on physical copies. But i got octopath traveler 2 due to your reciew mortem. And got it $30 off.... It seems great

[@donguapo7862]

Never really got into this genre but great video I actually want to give it a try after watching and I like how, to stand out, you 100% games I've only don't that for a few and know how much time it takes you got a sub from me keep up the good work

[@petenice6667]

Great review dude....just came from your weird west review...great job.....DOS2 is another gem!!!!

[@Quijanos1]

Great review. The game is a phenomenal escape. The Lore is superlative. You captured the highs and lows of the game.

[@rpscorp9457]

This game was just bigger and better then the last game...interesting story and characters...The DLCs werent quite a good as the original Pillars though. I very much liked that ALL class combinations are viable, they have a ton of items to support everything. Modders have also done a great job at fixing some of the small issues.

[@HansAlRachid]

I've been playing catch-up with the modern CRPG resurgence lately and wasn't sure whether I should give PoE2 a shot next, as people seem sort of mixed on it. Popular consensus seems to be that it's definitely a good game, but that the dev team's enthusiasm for this type of game appears to have died down a bit. Glad to hear it's still worth it! Once I'm done with Tides of Numenera, this one will be next.

[@AdamGiaIsMetal]

Your style of review is so down my alley! Chill and informative. Thank you! Subbed :)

[@zealgaming8161]

Did not like the game. But did not really like PoE1 either. The combat system is just so dull. Everything just feels weak and uninteresting in combat. Spells and abilities lack the "oomph" of other similar crpg, and enemy health pools are way too inflated. Most debuffs feel impotent, either lasting too short, or just decreasing stats abit. I much prefer faster phased crpg where skills and spells from both enemies and yourself feel powerful. A simple lv1 spell in Kingmaker, Sleep can disable a entire room of enemies for a long time, while a lv2 spell. Mirror Image can make your caster go from dying in a single round to an enemy, to not taking any damage for multiple rounds.

[@kalenics123]

The Sawyer balance as its finest form

[@ricardobernardo3095]

so you prefer the mess that is Kingmker to PoE? ...cool, I will put you in the *special* person cathegory

[@zealgaming8161]

@@ricardobernardo3095 PoE1 is certainly better then the atrocity that is PoE2. And i love Durant. But Durant cannot by himself carry the atrocious itemization, class design, and boring combat of PoE. Baldurs Gate 2 is the gold standard of a good CRPG. Pathfinder get closer to it then PoE. Even though it too fails to get anywhere near BG2 modded, it still atleast tries.

[@malakatan3235]

@@ricardobernardo3095 Kingmaker feel like you're on journey while POE2 like you see somebody else journey

[@kaptenteo]

Eora is probably my favorite fantasy world of any game. It is incredibly well crafted. I hope we get Pillars 3 some day, but at least we will have Avowed to tide us over for a while.

[@Kuhtlass]

Just found your channel and thought the '100% before review' is actually pretty cool, meaning people will know for a fact that you've spent some time in the games you review, so your words actually have weight. Thanks for the vid though, wanted to know if it was something I'd try out on Game Pass; will definitely give it a go and knowing Avowed is in this game world, it has me curious about the lore.

[@solas5837]

Also wonderful job Mortismal. Keep the content coming.

[@lenaic3360]

awesome video, love the details, keep it up!

[@MarkHerndon]

I noticed there are no dark character classes available for example necromancers, witches, and dark wizards...

[@petrinafilip96]

I love this game, love playing turn based. Too bad they didn't implement it back into the first game too.

[@leslieviljoen]

I thought the inventory was great - you can just "grab all" and continue. Even from multiple enemies in the area. It all goes in the stash and no endless hours having to micromanage where everything goes and whether it can fit etc. Need to see what you recently picked up? Sort by time. Need to see what's worth a lot? Sort by value. The only trouble I had was sometimes not being able to find something, such as a pet, because there's no category for pets. My only other gripe is that I often wanted to see what weapons a character was carrying during level-up. And also, be able to compare my leveling-up character to other characters during level-up.

[@Cuvvie]

First time here, first video watched, and I think you're content is great already.

[@Horrorkid18]

I think it's a good way to please multiple personalities if the game can be played very long cause the real RPG lover just don't run only the main story/questline ...you will always want to complete the companion-quests and besides that you can explore so much...so its up to the invidual person how long the game will be - which I think is a great thing to invite "hardcore gamers" and casuals ...and maybe even "sometimes players" to play the game their own way or with the time they have for gaming

[@VesiustheBoneCruncher]

For me, turn based made this game go from something I really did not gel with at all to one of my favourite CRPGs of all time. In general though this is a better *game* than POE1. Story was OK and pirates were a joy, but nothing special.

[@diegelol]

Great review as always. But in my opinion you should really improve your audio, lots of white noise

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

One thing I thought was that the ship aspects of this game were a CRPG/text version of the Assassins Creed Black Flag stuff. You can choose to sink or board enemy ships. You can explore remarkably freely. There are super strong ships on the map that you need to upgrade yourself to take on. Like a more advanced version of the same thing and I loved it. [edit] The gambit system in FF12 made so many fights a lot easier and less engaging than it should have. Very few fights were still hard with the right gambit setups.

[@MoneyMovesWithDang]

Underrated content. Keep it up!

[@tangereenclaringbold6921]

I love this game so much!! I don't understand the AI editor as well as you do, so I can't say I have a problem with it being too good. I would love love love a lore of Aeora series!!!

[@raydawg6364]

Great video. Don’t have a ton of game time but wanted to play this. Now to figure out what to make lol

[@robcampion9917]

Something I like about the PoE games, is that if you play as a Priest and/or a Paladin the game mechanics promote rping the character and I normally give up rping my characters in most other rpgs.

[@MrGouldilocks]

The AI editor is my favorite part about the game. And I vehemently disagree that it goes too far. Each player has the option to engage (or disengage) with it however they choose. We can find our own "sweet spots"in between manually activating every ability, and having a fully automated party that can steamroll any and all opposition. I personally find buffing my characters at the start of every combat to be incredibly tedious and repetitive. Having an AI to do that for me is a game changer. I also like to program a handful of versatile per encounter combat abilities for each character. It's adequate to defeat easy to average difficulty encounters. I'm confident I could create an AI capable of clearing the vast majority of combats, on any difficulty. I choose not to do so, because it's not the way I want to play the game. But if another player comes along and chooses to fully automate everything, more power to them, it doesn't affect my game. And I don't think using the AI makes the game any easier or harder. You still need to build and equip your character's properly. You will also need a high level of system mastery, and situational knowledge to create an AI that can beat the game on hard mode. Anyone with that level of knowledge would have little trouble manually beating the game. A player with a fully automated party still has decisions to make and problems to solve. But those processes are accomplished within the context of the AI editor instead of the battlefield.

[@juniorceccon]

Amen brother

[@jamesnewman7509]

Yeah, gotta say I strongly agree with you as well. I actually used a mod which added *more* detail to the AI editor. For me personally, I automated all the 'unlimited' and 'per encounter' stuff, but 'per day' stuff was always manually activated (Edit: something like that, anyway. It's been a while.). Rather than having to pause every few seconds to give all my characters new orders as I do in some other games, I felt much more like a 'conductor' - checking how the battle was going, and making adjustments in response to enemy actions. Made the combat much smoother and quicker for me, while still being engaging. I really wish more rpgs implemented a system like this. Going back to like Dragon Age: Inquisition's felt utterly crippling in comparison. That game *desperately* needed this game's AI editor.

[@54032Zepol]

Awesome great video!! 👍. I played poe2 recently and I have to say I overlooked the game alot of times because of the pirate theme.

[@kanrup5199]

played through the main quest and a few subquests. The thing is the game starts you off with sense of urgency. If this was an open world game, there would be relaxed atmosphere for exploring every corner. but since the main quest is about chasing someone, there is urgency to get back into the chase. The game also reinforces that by having the gods nag you about it. I saw this main events-timeline/time issue in the first game too. At some point there is a sense of urgency that doesn't make sense to tarry doing side quests too long. The reasons for the chase seem a little less strong. I would have liked the personal stakes to be emphasized a little more. E.g- A framgent of your 'soul' is carried off, but there is no consequence to want to recover it. The writing was still fairly good actually. The choice of allies I had to make required doing underhanded dirty work and then lying about it. there was no way to not lie, if I wanted the best outcome, and taking responsibility for the dirty work was not an option either. which is probably realistic but is unfortunate. However I got the final optimal outcomes I wanted out of it. so who knows.

[@doellison]

This my favorite game let alone fave rpg. I dream of another isometric game like Pillars. It is in a league of its own.

[@Purifycaly]

Try Tyranny

[@zachcolgrove5660]

Divinity: OS 2 Torment: Tides of Numenera Baldurs Gate 3 Tyrany Disco Elydium

[@nguyenproas]

@@zachcolgrove5660 Disco Elysium is more like a visual novel, got tired it after 15 hours of basically reading a book

[@zachcolgrove5660]

@@nguyenproas Its Amazing! The Amount of Choice! The update has voice acting!

[@jessyruel3006]

@@zachcolgrove5660 personnaly, i don't like voice acting in isometric RPGs, it feels like someone reading a book to me and i hate it, i prefer to read it myself and assimilate the info at my pace and let my imagination do its thing. And i hate when voice acting are only for NPCs and your character is a mute 😂 If you give me voici acting, i want the whole complete thing, not 5 lines out of 10 and not just for NPCs. Otherwise it feels awkward.