Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - One Year Later

A critical look back at Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, with a focus on whats changed since release and what problems remain.
Spoilers from 21:05 - 27:49

[@ShindeVamp]

This has been without a doubt one of the best RPG's I've played, especially after they added the turned based mode. It's such a shame this game didn't sell well.

[@williamwood5065]

The presentation is really lacking and the visuals/themes don't appeal to me even though I liked the first game.

[@comyuse9103]

i wouldn't go that far, but it is massively under rated.

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

@@williamwood5065 "presentation is really lacking " ????

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

@Vampiresoap The ending wasn't interesting but the dozens of hours before that were. It's all about the journey, not the destination, which is fitting for a game where travelling by ship plays such a big role.

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

@Vampiresoap Just because you didn''t like the ending doesn't mean it's an open world game. Strange logic.

[@jforozco12]

Honestly I loved this game... some of the criticism is fair but not enough for me to stop enjoying it, I'm in my 3rd playthrough right now...

[@jforozco12]

@Dem Lem's im finishing my poe1 with white march so i can import my save into poe2 tb, wish me luck :)

[@TheIntervurt]

Coming from DOS 2 I was disappointed with it, immediately felt like the DOS games are just orders of magnitude better.

[@jforozco12]

@@TheIntervurt ive played dos2 too and i liked the animations inpoe2 a lot more, also the story and worldbuilding, combat in dos2 is way better tho

[@holytiramisu]

Cool! What's your favorite build and class?

[@jforozco12]

@@holytiramisu in pillars or in divinity? Honestly I'm a boring guy, I've tried a lot but I always fall back to a paladin, I'm currently running a moon godlike paladin focused on defense and buffs, and my whole party is very fighter centric with only aloth and grieving mother as casters, I'm playing on classic with level scaling so I don't have to min max my characters... in divinity2 im pretty sure I chose a 2 handed warrior, I think it was a knight, so my bias is pretty transparent by now... (even in dnd I play pallys lol) pretty boring for a veteran like me but I don't know why I'm always drawn to be a black and white do gooder

[@michaeladams94]

Your channel is honestly the most underrated review channel on youtube. You really put a lot of work into these scripts, and your dialogue really draws me as the viewer in. Keep up the excellent work man, because the quality and the passion is clearly there.

[@NeverKnowsBest]

thanks, I appreciate you saying that

[@tbone2646]

Honestly, I never played it until after the new scenes were added so for me they felt natural and fine.

[@LasherTimora]

Same. I'm sure I noticed the difference in voice acting, and lack of voice acting in a case, as pointed out in the video, but didn't know why it was there. Other than that, nothing felt forced/obviously added afterwards to me.

[@juhorantonen6692]

Heh, same. I really enjoyed the abruptness of it all. The book was just shoved into your hands and you could decide for yourself if you dipped into it. It really hit home how the gods still viewed mortals as puppets, which, to me, always felt as the central theme of the game. Gods, this is a good game.

[@Robert399]

The first conversation with Woedica felt natural enough but not the later ones. I also don't know why they chose Woedica. She doesn't like you, most players don't like her and it's not even her own area she's talking about. It would've made sense at least for Berath to answer your questions about the gods and The Wheel as you learn more about Eothas' goals.

[@Robert399]

Btw I never saw the gods' lack of intervention as a plot hole (making Woedica's talk of testing whether mortals are capable of self-rule unnecessary). I just accepted that they're bound not to intervene directly and, even if they wanted to, without physical bodies they can't stop Eothas (which they tried with the volcano and the tsunami).

[@andrewvincent7299]

@@Robert399 Exactly, unless you somehow sided with Woedica in the first game, she has no reason to want to talk to you outside of the shared goal of stopping Eothas. She should hate you and your character should hate her.

[@jimwhite2049]

The changes to make most things "per encounter" instead of rest is one of the best changes compare to Pillars 1. Makes things a lot less tedious. Though I agree that the best choice would had been something more in the middle.

[@comyuse9103]

D&D 5e solved this issue using cantrips that aren't worthless or very strong, so mages can use magic at any time instead of being totally useless most of the time. they won't dish out more damage than the barbarian without using up spell slots, but they are never totally gimped since they can cast a 1d6 or 1d8 attack instead of a 1d3 tickle.

[@ryanc5572]

Agreed

[@Phantomsbreath]

I actually gotta say, Turn Based Mode made the game for me. It encouraged me to use my powers, instead of simply smacking the enemy till they die in a morass of characters.

[@Monsteretrope]

Im so glad that more CRPG's have turn based now, never got into classics like Baldur's gate because of the gameplay.

[@Kris-wo4pj]

@@Monsteretrope i dont get games based off of ttrpgs being real time with pause. i have 5 other companions to juggle. im not using spells or abilities with most of them using real time cuz combat is just a dog pile theres no actual positioning since most npcs move when ya click off them.

[@mathiaschristensen1194]

@@Kris-wo4pj I dont agree that there is no positioning, and given that the AI designer is so complex, you can p much automate most things for your companions while fully controlling your character.

[@DaveVoyles]

I love the health and spell regen after each fight in this game. Makes it so much more approachable, and quicker to play, than the original. Was one of my favorite additions.

[@falaflani4831]

But it ends up removing the challenge from the game. Like he says less resource management less strategy

[@evilcatghost307]

@@falaflani4831 cant you adjust that withering settings tho?

[@falaflani4831]

@@evilcatghost307 dunno havent played the sequel

[@starcraftCS]

@@falaflani4831 I don't understand, you could just get it all back after a rest though. It's not like it mattereded in the first game. Just rest and it's back lol

[@WackyKillerBee]

@@starcraftCS Thats true but in Hard difficulty you only get 2 camping supplies. Doing dungeons were more challenging and IMO makes it very fun.

[@MRFlackAttack1]

I’m hoping for Tyranny 2 at some point.

[@NRV0]

Any news on this? I know Tyranny was designed as a quick crpg but it has such a interesting world. I really hope they reinvest in it.

[@ToveriJuri]

@@NRV0 Yeah Tyranny had probably one of the most interesting game worlds out of all the recent new CRPGs.

[@imperator708]

loved the world for tyranny but the game just felt so small like a pint sized POE1

[@alfredobelloni3258]

Im so up for another tyranny game. The world was so intriging.

[@ArchitecturalAesthetics2046]

bro.. Tyranny's story is so concise and unconventional. I'd really love to see a sequel as well.

[@BW-vp3yk]

I absolutely love this series. So much love and passion went into making these games and it shows in every aspect. I think one of the issues with PoE2 that affected sales was the addition of the "Deadfire" to the title. I think a lot of people really didn't realise it was a huge standalone game (myself included, I'm afraid to say...) I think calling it Pillars of Eternity 2, rather than adding the moniker would've been a better choice.

[@QbertTehKiller]

Especially considering poe1 had a decent called deadfire too lmao

[@rachi7629]

LOL this is so incredibly true. I even started believing that I had actually played PoE2, not 1, and that Deadfire was probably some kind of DLC. Then I got the gamepass and started playing, only to discover an awesome game that was both great as a standalone AND as a continuation.

[@RWAdventures_]

This is a great and well put together critique, but I'll have to disagree with you on the resource management being a downgrade. I for one liked that change the most from PoE1 to deadfire, as the traditional DND spells/rest system just doesn't translate well into video games in my opinion. The player never knows how or when combat is coming, or even how many combat encounters are ahead before the next opportunity to rest. This uncertainty is amazing with the open ended nature of pen and paper, but feels awkward in a video game, since there are quite often little to no ways of circumwenting encounters, or simply retreating. This can and quite often does lead to the player feeling like they are punished for using their resources by circumstances they cannot foresee. The usual player gut reaction to this is being paranoid and avoiding using their interesting abilities at all. It's difficulty in a way that makes the game less boring, not more engaging. By refreshing resources after every combat, the players are instead given a very clear frame to use their resources in. This makes them want to engage and want to spend their resources as opposed to constantly conserving them or looking for ways to not have to use them. The problem with the way the game did it is giving the players too many resources for each encounter, and not rethinking buffs, among many other issues. This makes it feel like fights are the same and very micro management heavy, even in places they shouldn't be. So, TLDR: The problem with the new resource system isn't the idea but the execution

[@beezusHrist]

I agree. I hate how Baldur's Gate, and Pillars do this. I want it to be more along the lines of Divinity original Sins. The system does not translate well into video games at all. I'm playing BG 1 for the first time and I'm in the Naz mines getting fucked up by arrows and I can't ds and not really fun.even use my resources to effectively heal everyone.

[@Blox117]

@@beezusHrist the beginning of baldurs gate is very difficult. its basically just up to chance but once you start collecting coin and buying decent armor the game becomes much more tactical

[@Dimovuha222]

I like how NWN did. You still have limited spells for a fight, but you can refreah or change them right afterwards.

[@eliran9231]

This comment addressed my only problem I had with PoE1 and why I had hard time playing it. At every dungeon I am extremely paranoid about my resources that I almost never use my high level spells that much. It is really a problem, and when I will start PoE2 I will see if the new system is better than that of the PoE1.

[@THAC0MANIC]

for D&D Spells / Rest system is trash/terrible Way in D&D It makes ppl claim Wizards are OP when in reality there glass cannons that are only realy good 1-2 battles a day IF that, Early levels they sucked Mid Game they where over-rated to shit inless the DM Played baby with you never targeting you letting you have your way with shit, or its late game where you can litteraly be a fucken commenor and blow up the moon if you wanted. 4E Did it best honestly and i know ppl are going to hate me ... been playing sence AD&D

[@jeffpritchard1592]

In addition to the points raised here, I always felt that POE 2 was marred by the fact that its main story quest (stop Eothas before he wrecks everything) and the central game-play innovation from the first game (explore the open world as a pseudo-pirate) were so entirely at odds with one another. The result was that POE 2 was never a game you could take as seriously as it wanted to be taken.

[@peddazz2365]

yeah they throw like 4+ reasons at you to do the main quest ASAP

[@r.kolemaistos7788]

Spot on. It would have been so easy to make the threat Eothas posed more abstract, say e.g. that he was going to take years to reach the wheel. As it stands, Deadfire suffered the problem of BG2 in creating this ludonarrative dissonance between what content you as the player want to experience and what in-story decisions your character would want to make.

[@Traktora9]

Deadfire is on sale right now and this video helped me make up my mind on it. Thank you for also including spoilers disclaimer, it really is appreciated.

[@TaigaGaoo]

I just want to point out that the Gods telling you that destroying the Wheel (Basically the Reincarnation cycle) would lead to the world dying after a few generations, as newborns would be Hollowborne WAS explained in Pillars of Eternity 1, its not a PoE2 retcon/plothole. They explain that before the Engwithan transformed into Gods and created the Wheel, Hollowborne was a common disease and was not the only one, as before the creation of the Wheel what happened to Souls was extremely random. They would sometimes reincarnate, sometimes stay in the In-between (Purgatory), sometimes would be destroyed. In PoE2 is explained that the reason the reincarnation circle can't go back to how it was originally is precisely because the Engwithan tempered with it. If I remember right they use the example of a Dam. You can take down a Dam but the river it was holding is not going to go back to the way it was originally.

[@Raren77]

It also isn't a plothole because either party maybe lying or just wrong. That isn't a plothole. Eothas and the rest of the gods just have the wheel getting destroyed will have different outcomes. The game just fails at pointing out that possibility by not having Eothas just say other god's narrative is wrong, the Wheel is actually a tool using kith souls to fuel their divinity etc.

[@jeycii6143]

As a fan of the first game. Im really glad and happy about the improvements but also quite sad because of the many downsides where the devs got themself in. They had way toooo many ideas to put in the game but didnt throughly polish any of them. Im glad that you pointed so much out that many of us players agree with and thanks for the hard work!

[@Omgits7ito]

I genuinely love this game, my only upset is how long the load screens are

[@andrewvincent7299]

Just got the update for your new video!! While it pains me that I have to wait to watch it, I will say that I can't wait to watch it! Love your videos!!!

[@chrisnelson6991]

This is a perfect example of knee jerk reaction changes. I enjoy the turn based combat mode, but I like turn based games. Larian studio's set the bar fairly high.

[@joeyven0m]

Totally agree, Larian set the bar impossibly high. I've had trouble playing subsequent RPG's after playing DOS2. For all of its problems, from a gameplay perspective it's the best RPG i've ever played. In fact I went back to TW3 before the show release on Netflix for fun and I found myself comparing it to DOS2 lol.

[@Grandmaster-Kush]

CRPG's have never been my interest, but I jumped into DOS2, and I was hungry for more but as you said the bar was sat very high. Since then i've played through most of the classics such as Fallout 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment etc but I always find myself returning to DOS2.

[@V3x0r]

I agree Larian with DOS2 has set the bar awesomely high (so much hope for BG3!). Obsidian has released POE1-2+5 DLCs, Tyranny+DLC, and The Outerworlds in a very short amount of time - and all of those games have been fantastically fun. I'm hoping Microsoft just plays the role of sugar daddy and lets them keep making great games.

[@chunghoangthai1338]

@@V3x0r Unlike you I find all 3 games mediocre (except Tyranny because the story and world feels awesome. It is the only game amongst those 4 that I feel something while playing. Kyros is made up to be a perfect Fire Nation type villain)

[@Rastayeti666]

while its better than rtwp (everything is better as rtwp), there is no deny that a game designed from the get go for turn based combat will be far better

[@Devil66633]

I have actually bought the game following this review. And I haven't regret it once! Brilliant game.

[@SK-kl9gs]

Thanks Satan

[@Devil66633]

@Blake Thacker well, don't trust the Devil. Happy New Year, mate!

[@jub6910]

Loved every bit of Pillars. One of my favorite games of all time.

[@smartalec2001]

I love buying and playing these games 1-2 years after release. Good policy for all games, really. Give it a year or two.

[@dima97]

How's your playthru going?

[@smartalec2001]

@@dima97 Trying to finish off the DLC content before going into the endgame. It's been pretty solid, though, pretty solid playthrough. Good times have been had, I'm honestly not sure which faction to side with and will probably go it alone...

[@dima97]

@@smartalec2001 nice, glad to hear you're still playing! I'm currently playing thru the 1st game e b4 resuming the second one

[@Oniric2704]

I wish somehow they merged PoE 1 and 2 in one unique game. Having the amazing PoE 1 story and companions with the graphics, voice acting, effects and gameplay improvements of PoE 2.

[@celies88]

PoE1 lacking multiclassing is one of the big reasons I haven't gone back for a second playthrough, so I would be very glad if they did a remake of the first game or went back and patched in new stuff to it. I'd pay for that.

[@AgentofChaos315]

Even if Obsidian makes mistakes, I will respect them since the guys behind it are actually trying to make it a great as possible, and not nickle and dime you for something they don't care about. If EA had published this, you can bet that you would have to buy turn based, and those extra story scenes, but Obsidian actually cares about quality, they listen to the fans, so they really try. I hope being bought by Microsoft doesn't ruin them.

[@celies88]

I really hope that they get to do PoE3 and that they keep Real Time With Pause. Hopefully the planned release of a console version will improve sale numbers to make it feasible.

[@Xeanorth95]

Love the channel, the channel name won me over in an instant though to be honest :D looking forward to more vids

[@GothaBillsAndDeath]

I actually still adore the storyline as (SPOILERS) the idea of animancy foreshadowed the ending (albeit poorly implemented) and there were multiple instances where souls in this universe were constantly given nuance. While I wish there was more narrative importance given to who I chose in terms of factions, like in F:NV or F1-2, the way different cultures were conveyed was compelling. Does the VTC improve the overall quality of life in the islands should they succeed in colonization, or does this just turn into the Banana Republics or worse, the Belgian Congo wars. Or better yet, how about the natives? Do their customs prevail and allow them to maintain sovereignty and a level of cultural identity? Or do they stagnate under their oppressive caste system with no change whatsoever due to the current government body's success? Does the fictional embodiment of Japan aid in the restructuring of their "sister" people from different islands in a fantasy version of Sinicization? Or do they simply abuse them, establish a new hierarchy, and reap their resources for more wars ahead to spread their version of hegemony? If factions can get me thinking about conclusions far-beyond the game's end, I warrant the storyline a success -- albeit highly flawed in certain areas.

[@r.kolemaistos7788]

Deadfire as a setting was developed marvellously. I just can't help the feeling it would have stood better on its own feet, with a different Charname and lower overall stakes. It's hard to care about politics when the fate of the Gods and the world is supposed to be on your mind.

[@MadAtreides1]

@@r.kolemaistos7788 conversely, I found very tiring caring about the gods and the fate of souls, I very much preferred the cultures and politics. White March showed that Obsidian can do high-stakes adventures well enough, but they should come into playing after you started caring about the setting and no right out of the bat.

[@r.kolemaistos7788]

In fact, I also prefer the cultures and politics. I just found them somewhat narratively dissonant afterthe higher stakes fof PoE I. If parts one and two were swapped, they would fit together much better.

[@bobrown4609]

I’m rewatching a bunch of your old videos, and they’re great! You’ve grown a lot too, and it’s cool to see. I like this video a lot, and it’s really interesting to hear your complaints. Most of the things you dislike are things I love, so it just goes to show.

[@n0cturnalgamer]

I'm curious - given your great videos (and taste similar to mine) what is your top 5 cRPG's?

[@voidabstraction]

I bought this on release and had issues with bugs. So I waited and am now just actually going to jump into it haha! I love real time with pause. There isnt enough out there.

[@JT-iv7ju]

Man, I'm jealous of those smooth frames.

[@Korica]

You and I disagree a fair amount on combat, but on story we agree 100%. If the entire story of this game was about the factions and the complex nuanced exploration of colonialism, it could have been great. I absolutely adore the world of Pillars of Eternity ... except for everything involving the Gods. Unfortunately, Obsidian chose to make the Gods the central story focus of both games.

[@Umur64]

But without the gods it's literally just the 1600s with different continent and nation names

[@buddylord3020]

Honestly...the colonialist BS bored the shite out of me. It's too on the nose and boring. Pirates, capitalist pirates, socialists or a Theocracy....take your pick..they all suck.

[@andrewvincent7299]

Not to mention souls. All that meta physical stuff bores the crap out of me and is so pretentious. I would have preferred classic high fantasy

[@Korica]

@@andrewvincent7299 I think they focus on the soul stuff a bit too much, but it is cool, a world where reincarnation isn't a myth but something that everyone KNOWS takes place. And making Ciphers use soul magic is, in my opinion, the BEST iteration I've ever seen of psionics in fantasy. Most other settings it feels weird and out of place, but it fits into PoE perfectly.

[@sensen7216]

Holy shit it's been that long since the second Pillars game came out? It feels like only a couple of months have gone by since I saw the trailers.

[@Caspenar]

Had a hard time pushing true a slog of PoE1 but this game I completely fell in love with. It's the best isometric RPG since Baldur's Gate 2. I really enjoyed my time with the game.

[@InfamousSirHellfire]

Legit one of my favourite game critics on the site at the moment, plus your voice is like a kitten nuzzling someone's cheek.

[@warmlycalculated390]

Amazing video. But I will note that Woedica's new dialog is voiced, you just have to open the book while the world map is up. Obsidian knew about the issue but were unable to fix it due to "technical limitations."

[@garr123]

Ydwin, Fassina, and Rekke not being party members is a travesty. The party in II feels kind of anemic.

[@MyKeyMoonShine]

I feel like the whole companions Vs sidekicks thing harmed them there. The relationship system is mostly a waste of resources and they could have just used those to give the sidekicks more content and make them all full companions. Doesn't really matter if some have more content than others, BG2 managed fine doing that.

[@battleangel4833]

Seriously man. They tease you a little bit at the beginning then dump these faceless drones into your lap. Playing beast of winter and forgotten sanctum just makes me lament even more that these two were not true companions for the whole adventure. Take them over Maia and Pallegina any day.

[@Xxxkiller101]

I personally liked how the third dlc expanded the circle of archmagi and hope in the third game you meet more of them and deal with their politics

[@xthebumpx]

If a third game ever gets made.

[@tnecniw]

Correction... The wheel (even in the base game I think) have been explained, that it has basically changed how the world works Basically, before the wheel was put in place reincarnation happened, but hollowborn also happened. After the wheel, if it is rremoved, will reincarnation cease completely. Aka no new generations will be born as all the souls will be trapped in the in between.

[@S110SUBMAN]

I was watching this morning,your retrospective video for Pillars of Eternity! And i thought to myshelf: ''man,when he'll upload a POE2 video''? My wish was realized! :D

[@Denkart]

He made a video on PoE2 a year ago already lol.

[@S110SUBMAN]

@@Denkart Yeah,i've seen the critique man! After i watched POE1 retro,i thought it would be nc to have another POE2 video...

[@Denkart]

@@S110SUBMAN yeah I agree. I watched his old PoE2 video and there were definitely some things that were outdated. Pretty nice that he's put out an updated video now.

[@S110SUBMAN]

@@Denkart Exactly my thoughts! :D

[@ImminentDingo]

Changing spells/skills to per encounter is offset by the change in encounter design. There are fewer, more important encounters per quest now. I frequently use all available resources in every encounter on veteran + only scale up. Which is good. A fight where you don't use resources is super boring. Which is what happens if youre afraid to use them or you run out. The worldbuilding and factions are better than anything since New Vegas tbh. Playing turn based makes this something like Morrowind with Final Fantasy Tactics combat. Very excellent.

[@user-mi4ff5dz8g]

Well done. Keep going.

[@zachwolfer7648]

Great video as always. this is the first video i have seen that have been "live" or recent. As for PoE , I have only played the first game for a couple of hours. I have always been a huge RPG fan, but i couldn't ever really get into PoE. This video has certainly peaked my interest into PoE2. I can definitely see where you issues and concerns come from. I hope when i eventually play this game i enjoy it half as much as you seemed to make it look.

[@felixgarstka]

this makes my day and it's 1 AM over here 😂

[@darthsimpius7737]

Just bought Poe1. Resisting the urge to binge buy the sequel . After watching so many hours of reviews about Poe2 I really want to get a good taste of Poe1 before diving into the next . Amazing review . I couldnt put together such a well presented video even if I had a gun pointed to my head . Big respect

[@JimPanzer]

Great video! I'm currently replaying PoE2 and thought your original video doesn't do the game justice anymore. Would love to see something in the same vein for Pathfinder: Kingmaker, which also improved massively since launch.

[@Henri79]

A follow up video to Pathfinder: Kingmaker would indeed be very interesting. I am currently in my first playthrough of Pathfinder and I am having an absolute blast. As far as I can tell, the devs have really delivered with all the post-launch patches and DLC and the game is now probably leaps and bounds ahead of what it was when it launched.

[@nssSmooge]

I feel like Pathfinder Kingmaker is GREAT. It has nice atmosphere, and engaging story. But I FEEL BORED during combat. I just miss PoE2 combat - per combat spells. But even if it wasnt and was still per rest, I feel like melee championsh have nothing to do but click and AA. Also from the little I played it I feel its better suited for turn based mode rather then normal play. Many spells have duration one - two turns and its been sooo long since I knew all the rules...

[@JimPanzer]

@@nssSmooge There's a really, really good Turn-Based Mod for Pathfinder Kingmaker. Give it a try!

[@jtmk1353]

Your name makes me happy... Love FLCL

[@languagemaster5]

I experienced a nasty bug that locked me out of Queen’s Berth due to map loading failure. I sent the issue to Obsidian, and they replied quickly and said they’ll fix it in a patch later this month or so. I’m waiting in anticipation!

[@quint3ssent1a]

I personally hate Deadfire story for it's treatment of the story in the first game: we are essentially again at square zero, there's again a huge cache of souls which you need to decide where to invest (despite the fact that we already did that once, and it wasn't the most pleasant theme), and in the end, it doesn't even matter (no matter what you do, Eothas still destroys the god-machine).

[@dimas3829]

это да, лишать выбор ирока значимости ради собственного удобства написания истории практически с нуля - моветон. Лучше бы это была не вторая игра серии, а отдельная игра, тогда хотя бы прошедшим первую не было бы так неприятно.

[@quint3ssent1a]

@@dimas3829 вопрос не столько в выборе, сколько в том, что вся история первой игры начинает походить на классическую shaggy dog story. Первая игра вообще полна таких прикольных квестов, когда ты долго и нудно копаешься в чём-то, чтобы в конце получить ничего (квесты Эдера, Каны), и вуаля, в итоге вся первая игра оказывается точно такой же историей.

[@ithacathemageofhouseadenti7016]

Great job!

[@Elsewhere72]

Excellent video, especially for someone like me who has the game sat on a wishlist and is still undecided whether to buy it during the next steam sale.

[@Dadagagarod]

Amazing game! Such a cool vibe! Really love the gameplay and characters!

[@StarkeRealm]

I'm going from memory here, but multiclassing in PoE2 was extremely advantageous. While it did lock you out of a few end game abilities, and slowed your character development across the board, that came with a significant increase in resources that a player could rely on. You didn't end up with more abilities, instead you ended up with more ability uses, which was a major advantage. On the whole, the system was good, and did provide the player with interesting choices, but when you started crunching numbers, it wasn't a balanced decision, with multiclassed characters having a serious advantage in combat. Having said that, I think they did attempt to address this issue in later patches, so it might have finally been brought into line in the final release, but I'm not 100% sure.

[@vane909090]

It really depends on what class you play, and how you play it (party, solo, etc). Single class Ascendant can be very strong. So can Monk. Priest is also usually better as single class for all the epic buffs.

[@Pandabarrel]

Awesome video! And now I have to start a new playthrough because I've never seen that Book of Burned Law before...

[@johndeighan2495]

I just grabbed it on discount at £14.99. Never played the first game. Currently 21 hours in. My first impressions are mixed. The Good: It looks polished. It has some good characters (better than DOS2), good writing and good voice acting. I quite like having a ship and a crew to get me around - it's something different in a game that generally feels very familiar. The world is conceived at a deep enough level to feel (kind of) real. The different classes, races and skill trees provide a rich enough variety of playstyles to justify repeat playthroughs. This was one of the great things about the games that inspired it. And there's clearly a lot of thought and love been put into it, which is admirable. The Bad: Too much detail that doesn't add value - I'm thinking in terms of lore, the writing, the interactions and combat. Ultimately, the fine brushstrokes don't really enhance my engagement in the world and in building my characters; more frequently, they just get in the way of my enjoyment of the game. Harsh, but true. The loading time between zones is a minor annoyance... but there are a lot of zones and it starts to grate. If the game was knocking my socks off, of course, I would hardly notice this. As it is, the load times are long, the dialogues are heavy, the fights are finnicky and progress is slow. Overall, it feels too much like a BG2 tribute act. Someone might say there's no need to reinvent the wheel, if it's not broke why fix it, etc etc… For me, that doesn't fly. As a veteran of many BG2 campaigns, playing POE2 feels a bit like walking into a neo-Gothic cathedral. It's nice, sure; but it ain't the real thing. At heart, it's an imitation and an act of homage. That's what makes it good AND what makes it bad.

[@luthien7294]

Lore of PoE is much more interesting than D&D BG, frankly. Roleplay is on superior level than DOS2 ones. This is a different approach to the game.

[@InvertedWIng]

What's there to conclude in the story? Eothas smashed the wheel and ended the cycle of reincarnation, at least as it was engineered by the Engwithians. Only thing left to do is show how that will change the world. Of course, now that they've gotten rid of the one thing that kind-of-sort-of set the PoE world apart from the myriad of other DnD-knockoff settings, there doesn't seem to be much reason to keep going with it, unless you find the gods' bickering fascinating. I think this series should just be put to bed, and Obsidian should start over with a game and setting they really want to make.

[@andrewvincent7299]

Hahaha this was the game setting they really wanted to make and it turned into a bland ripoff of Forgotten Realms that's not even as close to being as interesting lol

[@schlobopoin6348]

POE2 is already way lesser than the first game. There's no more mystery in the world, and they completely devalued their own gods. What player respects or even considers these dumb-dumbs gods anymore? With that said, I think there's potential for a sequel. This isn't DnD, this is a world of their own making, so they can (and at this point, should) go fucking mad with it! First of all, forget this most boring, least impactful difference imaginable that reincarnation existed before the wheel but 'it was just a little bit worse'. How about this: Before the wheel, everyone was basically immortal like Thaos, reincarnating into a newborn when their body died. The Engwithans deviced the wheel to wipe the memories from the souls, and give them to the gods to increase their knowledge and power generation by generation. NOW everyone is immortal again, but because the wheel screwed with the internal workings of the universe, it's all twisted and wrong. People reincarnating into animal and monster bodies, souls conjoining and reincarnating in one body, etc. ALSO the gods are now walking on the planet like people, and while they're still incredibly powerful, the same cruel fate awaits them if someone manages to destroy their body. They're gathering their followers and working towards different goals: some are striving to rebuild the wheel, one is trying to fix the reincarnation cycle so it works like in the ancient times, one strives to make everyone's BODIES immortal so there's no more reincarnation (just perpetual existence), and one just wants everyone to die for good. Lots of politics, internal conflicts, open war and whatnot. Unfortunately, the most powerful and populous faction of all is the MURDER ALL THE GODS faction. This is the primary antagonist. You're against them by default, because you're cursed to play as the goddamn watcher again for the third game in a row (of course regressing to level 1 again) and these deitykiller badasses consider you the gods' toady. During the course of the game, you can aid one god faction or the other, and work against the deitykiller faction. One by one, the deitykillers manage to murder the gods, except for the one you've supported the most. It would also be good storytelling to have one of your allies betray you about halfway through, in a spectacular fashion. In the end, only your chosen deity and you survive, and you can either destroy the deitykillers to get whatever ending your god promotes, OR betray them and support the deitykillers, ending all hope for the future because with the gods gone, nobody has the knowhow to fix the reincarnation cycle. (Canon ending)

[@OneNefiya]

Great Video!

[@M0stlyHarmless9]

It’s unbelievable that you don’t have more subs. This is the best video game analysis content on KZbin

[@danrebeiz4598]

15:40 yea. One of the things that cracks me up with PoE 1 is the loading screen scripted time passage doesn’t make any sense. For instance an underground tunnel that takes 2 minutes to traverse, takes “hours” according to the prompt if traveling the same distance via the world map. The funniest one is taking 15 minutes to walk under an archway in Defiance Bay.

[@drzerogi]

Good thing I waited a year before playing the game. I had no idea that the book and dialogue at the end were post-launch additions.

[@drzerogi]

@drealmerz7 z Indeed. The price of missing out on post-launch community interest and engagement is well worth the extra polish and lower price point.

[@battleangel4833]

@@drzerogi Just look at Pathfinder: Kingmaker for affirmation on the virtue of patience.

[@barryh97]

I dunno what it is about this series but I get to the final 10% or so of the games and then I have no desire to play anymore. Must be some fatigue and the constant travelling you have to do

[@bobbybee2975]

I found POE only about a year ago and I have enjoyed both games, didn't even realize some of the scenes were added after, thanks for the good review.

[@phantomblot6072]

Am I the only one who enjoyed the ship combat in this game?

[@Robert399]

Yes

[@vasya123456777]

oh, ur voice is soo good! like it :D

[@eliaspatrikis1926]

In the videos you have made on POE you have critised the resource management system. Specifically the ease of resting and how it defeats the purpoe of having resrouce management at all. I am curious to see what you would prefer. For me I liked the health/endurance and vancian spell system of the first game as opposed to the instant recovery after a fight in the second. I agree that resting in the first game was far too easy and I found myself artifically limiting my rests in order to actually feel the resource management. Perhaps a fix might be specific resting locations such as at inns specifically instead of being able to camp, or the increased rarity of camping supplies (they are far too abundant).

[@erikhendrickson59]

It's really tough to fairly critique POE2's Turn Based mode, given it was added after release, for free. The game was designed purely as RTP-gameplay-style and to that end it's surprising to me how good they managed to make TB mode.

[@joedatius]

its not tough at all, just because it came later in doesn't mean it isn't a part of the game, thats like disregarding any improvements and bug fixes the game has made, yeah its a nice thing to add for free IF it was good but its frankly terribly implemented

[@ben5056]

Started my first playthrough of the game and went turn based and I love it. I played the first game but I like the more tactical aspect of turn based.

[@Baraz_Red]

With the upcoming Baldur's Gate 3, from Larian Studios, we will all see if D&D-like top-down style combat is a good seller (which will encourage Microsoft to support it or not in relation to Obsidian Studios; though Obsidian devs might just want to do new stuff anyhow).

[@toffeecrisp2146]

I suspect with their kinda middle of the road success with both pillars and tyranny, and the likely high sales numbers they will get from The Outer Worlds, I can see obsidian putting this style of game to one side for a time, possibly a long time, especially if you consider that BG3 is in development, who would want to go up against that behemoth?

[@johnathanera5863]

@@toffeecrisp2146 yeah anyone whos a fan of crpg's wont give a fuck about anything other than BG3. Kinda unfortunate but its the truth

[@aviad61]

When it comes to new story additions- it might be useful to ask people who didn't play the original game whether they noticed the new lines being new

[@vane909090]

It's true that you get per-encounter spells with spellcasters in Deadfire, but they can cast way less in a longer fight, and their spells have been mostly nerfed compared to PoE 1. You can abuse Brilliant + Salvation of Time, though :p .

[@battleangel4833]

Why bother? Just slap Eder down with defensive buffs out the wazoo, have him engage the enemy then empower four level 20 AoE spells. Sure, eder will take an injury, but the enemy and probably the island you're standing on will cease to exist.

[@utalotharingia]

If they made a PoE 3 only turn based, I feel people would go mental. Just looking at the non stop arguments about this re. BG3 is enough to give a person nightmares. Great video as always.

[@maciej8603]

I think we should have an option to choose real-time with active pause or turn-based fights like we have right now in PoEII. I prefer for example real-time fights.

[@utalotharingia]

@@maciej8603 I also prefer RtwP, but I will play either happily and I struggle to understand why people are so inflexible in this. I'd rather a game had one system that works well and more content than trying to please two very stubborn camps. Deadfire adding pause combat is just going to make people more set in their ways and intent on demanding whichever system they prefer instead of getting over themselves and adapting to whichever system is in place, even if it involves the terrible embarrassment of playing on easy at first, which is another thing some gamers are horribly stubborn about. xD

[@zyonhunter]

i liked the game well enough. played through it three times so it got to mean something right? doubt we ever get a third game.

[@ManlyTorchic]

Watching this now in 2020 where Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire is coming to Xbox and I got to play the first one free with game pass am hyped for me to get to play PoE2 again

[@click4gameplay]

Shit, I need to buy this game already!

[@kaisermoneybags4450]

your channel is awesome

[@HVAC_Sean]

I haven't checked out your first video on Deadfire, a gap I will make up for shortly, so my apologies if you've already covered this. A funny inconsistency, or moment of confusion, I had when playing Deadfire is with the companions. I loved Xoti. She was naive, sure, but she was so full of joy and optimism. Her personality was infectious, and the moment that had me hooked on her was when I have her some cool mask, and she shouted "Guys, look what the Watcher gave me!" It was precious. I'd check in with her every now and then to see if the opportunity to romance her was available. So it was heartbreaking when I spoke to her some time after I took Maia aboard, and she was now asking my advice about how to deal with her feelings towards her. I didn't want to be a selfish person, so I encouraged her to just talk to Maia and see where it goes, especially since Xoti hadn't approached me, yet, with her feelings. Eventually, Maia asking my advice on how to deal with her feelings for Xoti, and I again didn't want to be selfish and told her take it at her own pace. When I included them both in my party, I'd have to painfully overhear their flirtatious dialogue towards each other, and their cute nicknames. I think it's one of the first time a game has ever evoked such a powerful emotion. I can't say which. Not quite rejection, not quite disappointment. Is there a name for the emotion at the root of "if you love them, let them go?" This could all be in my head. I felt defeated, and somewhat depressed as I continued through the game at that point. Like, fuck Eothas, what am I even playing for, now? I figured I'd just hit on Tekehu just to fill the hole. I commend them on making the companions feel real and engaging. Can't say I've found characters that evocative since Mass Effect. Anyways, as I was wrapping up the last side quests before the end, Xoti approached me with a lustful hunger, out of nowhere. She wanted me, and of course I accepted her. But like, what happened with Maia? They seemed to be going along happily, and there was nothing to indicate their relationship was failing. I still don't understand what happened with that. My affection for Xoti died after the ending was sprawled out for me, and it turns out that Xoti turned into a psycho. I feel like that's my fault for enabling her harvesting of souls. Probably should have seen that coming considering she woke me up in the night, standing over me with her lantern and scythe, saying she saq something dark in me. Shiet, I could've been murdered! Another commendation I must give to Deadfire is the gorgeous sound design. It was crisp, often relaxing. It gave context to the pictures in my imagination as I read text, or simply listened to the narrator. Speaking of the narrator, her voice was like ASMR to me. The sound quality is unmatched and memorable. The gods all sounded distinct, and despite their driveling, I liked hearing their voices. Same goes for the companions. I had few issues with Deadfire when I played it. I only checked it out when I'd learned it had a turn-based mode, because my introduction to RPG's of this style was Divinity: Original Sin, a game I adore, and is the touchstone for which I measure all other RPGs, now. Understanding that certain spells needed time to 'charge up' before they were cast took longer than I'd like to proudly admit. I was met with confusion when nothing happened during my turn, so I'd use a different spell. Learning curves! I'd say the turn based mode is serviceable, and you'd right about the pathfinding. It was purely frustrating at times. I have yet to see any RPG pull off the mastery displayed by Larian with their turn-based combat design, so I don't blame them. I think i'll try replaying Deadfire with real-time, just to try it out, but I generally avoid it and games exclusively using it. Anyways, enough about my tastes.

[@qjustblessed1]

I absolutely love this game and it only hit my radar because Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2 omg I'm so happy about that. I also picked up Pathfinder and POE1.

[@qa6362]

Most of the criticisms you have can all be changed through the Margrans Fires challenges. Yes they wont fit well with their first playthrough but it lets people who have experience with the game fix certain flaws.

[@Ljngstrm]

I agree with just how slow turn-based mode is. I tried it for one evening, and tought to myself that I wouldn't want to spend months going through all the extra waiting time in between each turn, to get to the end.

[@andrewvincent7299]

That's why I'm not a fan of turn based. It's so slow paced and a quick 5 minute battle in RTWP can take about 15 to 20 minutes in turn based. No thank you...

[@Rheinguard]

The way the faction quests ended left me with a disgusting taste in my mouth.

[@KaiSaeren]

I love this game, its not amazing but I really enjoyed the crap out of it. Many things that bothered people didnt bother me at all and the updates and dlc only improved it further. My biggest complaint is just, that there wasnt enough of it imo, I wanted to speak to my companions more, I wanted more interesting side quests, more main story quests and more decisions, but that only means I loved whats there.

[@pr6897]

Everything that "deletes" enemy turns like Paralysis is just completely broken

[@muaddib9433]

23:04 "why not help Eothas" Isn't it because you're bound with Berath at the start of the game? She revives you and basically can kill you in an instant if you choose to disobey.

[@Kris-wo4pj]

no one understands warlock pacts i swear or how revernants work i swear. piss off thing giving ya powers means no more powers. in this case the power is to not be dead.

[@MadAtreides1]

the fact that you can be a priest of Eothas AND still conspire to kill your own god sure isn't very well tought out...

[@battleangel4833]

Step 1. Roll Fighter/Chanter Step 2. Obtain Sasha's Singing Scimitar Step 3. Bring Eora to Its Knees

[@paulom9107]

Trying to sort out stuttering issues...game was running fine..until I got to deadlight fortress 😔

[@nathanbruce1992]

Did you find anything? I've been having similar issues

[@100HourSave]

Why do you think it is that people seem to hate real time with pause? The only thing I can think of, other than not valuing their time, is that they can't (or don't want to) micromanage multiple characters.

[@johnathanera5863]

That and you never really get to be creative in item and spell/ability usage. Shit happens to fast and it too chaotic.

[@scp7375]

havent played the game but i saw option 4 in the spoiler section and was convinced i knew who to support by that part of the game XD

[@imotje]

Btw the part about increasing the rounds with 20% is not true. The converting rate is that 6 sec equal a round. This does always gets rounded downward. Example: if you have a spell that lasts 12 sec and you increase it by 40%. You’ll have 12x1,4=16,8. 16,8/6 gives you 2,8 which gets rounded down to 2. If your spell lasts 15 sec it would be 15x1,4=21. 21/6 is 3,5 which gets rounded down to 3. So it does influence the duration of you buffs. (Sweet spot is 14 int btw)

[@Warponator]

I'm not sure why, BUT i love and hate at the same time every time you say "BUT" Just recently found your chanel while browsing and kinda binge-watched most of your vids. Great content even tho sometimes i full on disagree with you. Still love it. Keep it up!

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

I don't like it. It's not a good style of discussion to follow-up your argument with a qualifier so frequently. It makes the preceding statement less relevant, less important, as if it doesn't matter. Like when someone says "I am not a racist but...".

[@appeltysken3571]

I thought about balancing action speed in turn based mode and here is my solution (not the best, but) all characters have like 10 action points. Each attack with 1-handed weapon cost like 3. Each attack with 2-handed cost 4. Armor type affects AP too. Heavy armor gives a -5, medium -4 and so on. Also there would be trinkets, perks and racial bonuses for increased AP (like orlans). So that way a heavy armored 2-hander can only attack once, when rogue in light armor can attack 2-3 times. The numbers are not precise, but I hope you get my idea

[@appeltysken3571]

also not all skills and spells would be equal in cost. So that way you can spend left over AP. Or maybe you can save it and get half of left over ap for next round. once again, it is not the best system, but atleast it takes in the account classic rpg classes behavior. Because why would a rogue only strike one time just like a heavy armor warrior

[@peddazz2365]

uff I tried to get through it again but that story and side characters completely killed my will to play it through again (I actually hoped they would add new companions with some of the dlc but they did not and I did not want to get stuck with the same hacks again)

[@NatrajChaturvedi]

I tried to get into poe1 so many times, like 4 or 5 times at least but never did get into it and looking back it was the gameplay more than the world or characters holding it back. Anyways I'm getting a strong urge now to jump into poe2 now after they released turn based mode (could be useful at least as a learning mode as the video notes) I just hope things aren't as bad in those other departments like characters, quest and story as you say.

[@peddazz2365]

@@NatrajChaturvedi I mean the part over the colonies is pretty good it is just the main story which is really weak and dislocated from the rest of the game And well the characters some are decent and have some development but almost all are obnoxious in some kind of way

[@peddazz2365]

@Novem the Reasonable Gamer hmmm maybe but I did not get that far I basically droped it shortly after arriving in neketaka

[@peddazz2365]

@Novem the Reasonable Gamer I did play through the game 1.5 times just not the dlcs

[@peddazz2365]

@Novem the Reasonable Gamer those are didekicjs tho or not?

[@swozzlesticks3068]

Why don't turn based games use the FFT/FFTA system where characters with higher speed (or equivalent) get turns more often. It would make dexterity useful and lowering recovery actually matter in this game.

[@BarokaiRein]

I only got the game after all these changes had been made and I always thought that the whole woedica book thing seemed really disconnected from everything and turns out it was.

[@hexen2801]

I disagree with you on the question of Resting. I remember in all the old BioWare games Rest was just a button you could press and almost always have no real cost attached to it, was just a "recover all things" button. Making the system of recoveries per encounter means the designers can come up with deadlier scenarios and more intricate combat situations where they can simply know the player will be fully recovered and prepared to face, it is a very simple solution to an old design flaw.

[@joedatius]

its not really a design flaw they just handled the original poorly and replaced it with something else. its more about what you're trying to accomplish

[@ThinkBeyondOrdinary]

The whole question of the main plot (or plot hole) involving Eothas is what killed the game for me. I mean, it wasn't a little hole, it was like an abyssal pit in the middle of the game. The motivation of the characters, the reactions they had and all the dialogues didn't even make much sense with what was happening, it's like everyone was assuming something that had never been said or shown. I ended up leaving the game right after the meeting with Eothas. And worst of all, the explanation they gave later didn't even make much sense. "Reincarnation existed... But it was worse." Worse by how much? Human beings existed before and managed to progress to the point of creating effing gods and everything else, it doesn't sound like a big problem, it doesn't seem consistent with what is known about the game's setting. It would have been less bad if they had said something like before Wheel, human beings were indeed born but there was no "reincarnation" per se, but souls dissolved after death and mixed with others, losing their memories and individuality. The Wheel would be the way to really keep these souls intact, at least to some extent. So the Wheel would be a way to really guarantee reincarnation, and without it, life would continue, yeah, but essentially there would be no "life after death" because your soul would be essentially destroyed. Something like the recycling of matter when the body dies, which returns to nature. It was sad. I really wanted do like the game - and I do like some things, but the main plot ruined it for me.

[@nashwise4everGM]

I would just think Woedica is lying to us in order to preserve the status quo. In the end, I still side with Eothas because he's right that kith in Eora deserves better purpose than just being a simple pawn in the gods' machinations. Remember we kill Talos, Woedica's favourite pet in POE 1. So I really think that she's just messing with us.

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

"It was sad. I really wanted do like the game - and I do like some things, but the main plot ruined it for me. " It's because you're overthinking it and focusing too much on explanations and letting your enjoyment be affected by it.

[@pqfire0950]

Really liked this game, I hope theres a 3rd at some point or a Tyranny 2.

[@shockmonkey1842]

I guess you missed the challenges button at bottom of menu which addresses many of your cons of game :D

[@josephisafan]

My absolute fav current game reviewer. love your work. Interestingly, I had the complete opposite reaction to the world and pacing. The literal "Deadfire" sucked so much, the boating around was an almighty pace killer, and the teeny-tiny barely a dungeon "dungeons" dotted around a sea of nothing just made the game feel like a whole load of quick in-and-out crap. Which is probably a result of the lack of resource management you mentioned. What's the point of a 5 level dungeon when resting is easy and lacks a penalty? And funnily enough, the quick in-and-out bullshit of the game feels a fair bit more impactful with turn-based turned on. i feel obsidian have quite a quandary on their hands with TB v RTwP. I'm certain baldur's gate 3 will be turn-based (because they confirmed multiplayer) so we may see the death of RTwP if Obsidian give it away (if they even bother to make another CRPG).

[@heberrodriguez3310]

Maybe its just my taste but for me i see Pillars of Eternity more of the real time paused mode, not turn based. Its just my taste. I prefer Obsidian they keep improving from the mode where they started, it feel more natural.

[@andrewvincent7299]

I agree. I get there is a market now for turn based mode because of Larian studios but Obsidian should stay with RTWP instead of trying to do both and being mediocre at them.

[@HydroKyl240COG]

If you’re anything like me, you couldn’t give a hoot how long combat takes.

[@anthonyburgess123]

I got stuck in a dungeon and can’t get out. Haven’t played sense.

[@88oscuro]

Pathfinder kingmaker enhanced edition just blew POE and POE II out of the water for me.

[@88oscuro]

@log gard Yea I could see that be a turn off. Feelt similar with the ship in POE II.

[@100HourSave]

@log gard You managed to kill the Stag Lord within the first four hours?

[@RadioPlastic]

I'm with you. It's in another league