New build of an old RPG will Shanghai your heart and your time
It’s no secret that I’m a self-proclaimed champion of crowd-funded video games. Maybe it’s my way of getting back all those years of experiencing good games die at the hands of loot boxes and half-finished titles at 100 percent market price with only 20 percent gamer value.
Call it what you will, the truth of the matter is that I’ve found more joy for my dime and time with games created by the free range field of passionate developers conducting guerrilla warfare on the likes of EA. So no list about E3 2018 folks, I’ve got better things to tell you about. Things like pirates, krakens, and angry heathen gods.
Obsidian Entertainment’s Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is the sequel to 2015’s Pillars of Eternity, a game that is by all accounts the true successor to the Balder’s Gate series of yore. Obsidian is well known for defining the party based Isometric RPG genre with their heavy emphasis of storytelling and brutal tactical combat.
They’ve defined the isometric RPG genre which has slid into cult status with the fan base tied mainly among those of the PC persuasion. Thankfully with Fig and Kickstarter these well-crafted and developed games are being brought back from the depths by developers like Obsidian to bear their guns toward the console market.
POE II: Deadfire begins sometime after the conclusion of POE 1 with the main character being horribly crushed beneath the foot of a gigantic statue possessed by the enraged god Eothas. Yep, you start off with a hysterical death and sent to an afterlife dimension to create a hero from scratch or recreate your imported hero from POE I.
It’s here face to faces with the duel aspects of the death god Berath that allows you to set up the starting narrative, character motivations, and character class. You have the typical Paladin, Fighter, and Wizard along with other specialized and duel classed options that expand the fun by fiddling around with class customizations based on player flavor. Needless to say, those well acquainted with any RPG understand that the character creation phase is the most important.
After waking up from the near death in a Dr. Who style resurrection the adventure begins and all your decisions will be weighed and measured, every NPC will judge you, everything will judge you. Will you be a ruthless privateer cashing out on a fantasy world in chaos? Or will you be a benevolent savior to the huddled masses?
The choices are as numerous as they are meaningful as they play out in a story book method similar to choose-your-adventure style games and cleverly written character driven plotlines. Deadfire has a beautiful narrative that places a warm feeling of rightness inside you like reading a fun novel from a favorite author.
You will care about your team, you will be invested in seeing each questline through, you will care about the lore, and it feels alive and complex without being long winded.
Resource and party management are two big factors to Deadfire. Eventually you will repair a ship, hire a crew and have to deal with their morale and well-being as you try to survive sea monsters, blood thirsty dwarf pirates, and scurvy. Mutiny can and will happen and members abandoning ship or dying at pivotal moments in a sea battle is a reality.
This mechanic is very well thought out and outside of the usual extensive dungeon crawling it becomes a welcomed addition within the fantasy setting. Deadfire forces you to make the tough decisions. Should you buy the expensive chain mail at the added cost of not having enough food to make it to the next quest?
Aligning the right party members with each other is also an issue. Obsidian has created some big personalities for this sequel and try as you might the Wizard and Barbarian will not get along, ever.
Naval combat plays out in story book method which can be real challenging if you do not know the difference between port and starboard or remember the effective range of your cannons. It’s not bad just requires some learning and focused underway preparation, a lesson Deadfire will teach you very quickly and very harshly.
Deadfire beckons you to set sail in a rich fantasy world to discover strange wonders and interesting creatures to befriend or kill. It’s an epic journey worth playing and best part is that this sea worthy title will also be ported to consoles so everyone can enjoy the swashbuckling fun.
When not vaporizing zombies or leading space marines as a mousepad Mattis, Brandon Watson is making gourmet pancakes and promoting local artists.