Zakk

It’s a decent game. I’ve only seen love or hate for the game, but I’m 16.5 hours in and I can confidently say it deserves neither love nor hate. The combat feels satisfying, although at the same time it can be a little clunky. The world is not as interactive as a lot of RPG’s I’ve played, especially when compared to Elder Scrolls or the Fallout series, which is somewhat disappointing considering I absolutely love New Vegas and was hoping to see some of that here. There aren’t any player romances, companion customization is extremely limited and they serve more as punching bags to distract enemies rather than anything else due to them being weak. Resource scarcity isn’t as bad as some people are saying, as all crafting materials can be farmed and then upgraded to better crafting materials, along with the materials you get being tied to the rarity of the equipment you have on although it would be nice if you didn’t need as much of a resource to craft it into a higher quality upgrade material. The lore I think is interesting, and I appreciate how the game gives you lore explanations in the dialogue as I never played the Pillars games myself. Some characters are very likable, while others are just shrewd and irritating (Marius is a dick, but it’s played off like he’s softhearted with thick skin even though he doesn’t come across that way, whereas Kai has some decent quips and tends to have a sense of relatability at least in my opinion). Another big thing, the game seems scared of gore for an M on ESRB. There’s some blood during fights and blood on your weapons, but that’s it. No crazy heads exploding or limbs getting ripped off, which is interesting to me considering part of the reason it received an M rating was due to gore. All in all, it’s okay. I enjoy playing it, but probably won’t ever touch it again after my first play through.