The sequel to Pillars of Eternity is landing on consoles later this year as Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and we were able to check it out during our Gamescom 2019 visit. Needless to say, a game this vast isn’t easy to test during a short demo but from what we’ve seen, this might become another great addition for the console gamer.
The complete edition
Although the title of the game might be misleading at first, this console version is the Complete Edition, including the base game and all its DLC expansions, some of those being extra story missions. This also means that you can pick your playstyle at the start of your game. As PC gamers already know, turn-based combat was added to Pillars II and it’s available from the start on consoles. Instead of attacking your enemies in real-time, you’re able to attack them in turns if you decide to go with the turn-based style. It’s something a lot of fans were asking for right from the start so it’s really great to see that console gamers will be able to play the game just the way they like it. For the sake of the demo, I went with turn-based to see how well it played and it’s exactly as you would expect. It transforms Pillars II to a more traditional RPG but I liked it either way. Of course, this means the pacing is a lot slower than what you’re used of but we all know this isn’t a game you’ll finish quickly so it really doesn’t matter that much.
You are reborn
Pillars II also comes with extremely deep character customization. Since this is a direct sequel, you might wonder how you’re able to create a new hero. Well, long story short, you die and are reborn thanks to some voodoo magic. As a reborn warrior, you can select the class, looks, attacks, and almost everything that will define your character. I’m not joking when I see it’s extremely hard for two gamers to create the exact same character without knowing what the other selected. It’s really overwhelming to get this much freedom of choice and at the same time, it’s beyond impressive that the developers gave you this much freedom to begin with. If you want to create the character of your dreams, you’ll be able to do so at the start of the adventure or you can select one of the pre-made characters to ease things up. It doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as your happy with the character in the end. Just like the previous installment, everything you do in the game has an effect on the rest of the story, even your characteristics might affect the way you’ll advance. To be honest, creating my character was the main thing I did during my time with the game, showcasing just how deep it actually goes.
Early conclusion:
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is shaping up to be another stellar console port, offering you a tremendous amount of content. My time with it was a bit too short to really judge it but judging on how well things went with the first installment, I have high hopes for this console port!
