An instant classic, but not without its flaws.

Kickstarter as a history when it comes to nostalgia-bait titles aimed to fans of certain genres, but sadly, the majority of crowdfunded to live up to the expecations they set themselves by appealing to those fans in the first place. For every Shovel Knight, you have dozens of other offerings ranging from mediocre to just flat out bad.

Thankfully, Pillars of Eternity is to CRPG's what Shovel Knight is to Platformers - It doesn't just evoke memories of it's influences, but instead draws up a chair to sit amongst them. Pillars does too much right for me to accurately sum up its brilliance (and shortcomings) in a few paragraphs, but regardless, I'll try my best.

Gameplay is highly customizatable, with multiple tweaks available for all aspects of the game. If you want no help/tooltips while in conversation, but you don't really want the combat to be too hard, then you can do that easily enough. If the reverse is true, and you fancy your chats brief, and your combat nearly impossible, then that's just as easy to set up! It's a very elegant system that, instead of tying multiple values to the same difficulty, allows you to play the game as you wish to play it. And after that, you get to spend an hour (at least) making your perfect hero in Character Select - Woo! Character creation is top notch, with so many variables for each & every class that your character will almost certainly be unique. Each class has it's own pros and cons, and the spell diversity available is nothing short of amazing... Oh, and don't listen to anyone who says Wizards aren't that good - Wizards are awesome!

The story isn't easy - It's anything but. Expect to be VERY confused for the first few hours while every NPC around you references various places & people you've never heard of before as if you're one with the world. But, as time goes by, and it all comes together, you'll be thankful for the early rounds you suffered at the hands of Obsidian's literary boxers. The fascinating world is enhanced by a selection of very varied companions, but I can't overlook the limited number of them available. This could be one of the few cases where a somewhat limited (yet very generous KS) budget might not have allowed them the time to do so, but I really would've hoped for at least one NPC per class. As it is, there's a couple of classes that you can only experience when you make them yourself, which means you're going to endure a lot of silence unless you find yourself writing up a character backstory yourself - Try it!

The art is some of the best I've seen in any videogame. While it may look a tad dated from the compressed screenshots you've seen online, it all makes sense once you boot the game up and admire the beautifully handcrafted environment and real time lighting effects. The sound design is, for the most part, just as solid, however there's a noticeable lack of variety in music. Every combat encounter, regardless of it's importance, is accompanied by the same instrumental piece. It really would've added to the effect of the larger boss encounters if they'd had a new tune like the Curst Battle in PS:T, but hey, it's a minor complaint.

Okay, so what's wrong with the game? Other than the minor gripes listed above, the game does currently have a few bugs that, thankfully, Obsidian should be patching this week. Keybindings could also be handled a lot better. When in combat, if you hover over a spell and press a key, the game will automatically bind that ability to that key - Great, right? But you're never told which keys you can and can't use, and simple things like unbinding the M (map) key while in combat to allow it to be used as an ability should be pretty obvious, but sadly isn't catered for. And damn, aiming wall abilities with just a mouse can be a pain in the backside, but it's manageable.

Minor gripes that, for the most part, don't detract from the overall experience. It's a stunning game that's best experienced blind, so do yourself a favour and give the game a chance before jumping onto YouTube to check out a few videos.

An instant classic, but not without its flaws. Kickstarter as a history when it comes to nostalgia-bait titles aimed to fans of certain genres, but sadly, the majority of crowdfunded to live up to the expecations they set themselves by appealing to those fans in the first place. For every Shovel Knight, you have dozens of other offerings ranging from mediocre to just flat out bad. Thankfully, Pillars of Eternity is to CRPG's what Shovel Knight is to Platformers - It doesn't just evoke memories of it's influences, but instead draws up a chair to sit amongst them. Pillars does too much right for me to accurately sum up its brilliance (and shortcomings) in a few paragraphs, but regardless, I'll try my best. Gameplay is highly customizatable, with multiple tweaks available for all aspects of the game. If you want no help/tooltips while in conversation, but you don't really want the combat to be too hard, then you can do that easily enough. If the reverse is true, and you fancy your chats brief, and your combat nearly impossible, then that's just as easy to set up! It's a very elegant system that, instead of tying multiple values to the same difficulty, allows you to play the game as you wish to play it. And after that, you get to spend an hour (at least) making your perfect hero in Character Select - Woo! Character creation is top notch, with so many variables for each & every class that your character will almost certainly be unique. Each class has it's own pros and cons, and the spell diversity available is nothing short of amazing... Oh, and don't listen to anyone who says Wizards aren't that good - Wizards are awesome! The story isn't easy - It's anything but. Expect to be VERY confused for the first few hours while every NPC around you references various places & people you've never heard of before as if you're one with the world. But, as time goes by, and it all comes together, you'll be thankful for the early rounds you suffered at the hands of Obsidian's literary boxers. The fascinating world is enhanced by a selection of very varied companions, but I can't overlook the limited number of them available. This could be one of the few cases where a somewhat limited (yet very generous KS) budget might not have allowed them the time to do so, but I really would've hoped for at least one NPC per class. As it is, there's a couple of classes that you can only experience when you make them yourself, which means you're going to endure a lot of silence unless you find yourself writing up a character backstory yourself - Try it! The art is some of the best I've seen in any videogame. While it may look a tad dated from the compressed screenshots you've seen online, it all makes sense once you boot the game up and admire the beautifully handcrafted environment and real time lighting effects. The sound design is, for the most part, just as solid, however there's a noticeable lack of variety in music. Every combat encounter, regardless of it's importance, is accompanied by the same instrumental piece. It really would've added to the effect of the larger boss encounters if they'd had a new tune like the Curst Battle in PS:T, but hey, it's a minor complaint. Okay, so what's wrong with the game? Other than the minor gripes listed above, the game does currently have a few bugs that, thankfully, Obsidian should be patching this week. Keybindings could also be handled a lot better. When in combat, if you hover over a spell and press a key, the game will automatically bind that ability to that key - Great, right? But you're never told which keys you can and can't use, and simple things like unbinding the M (map) key while in combat to allow it to be used as an ability should be pretty obvious, but sadly isn't catered for. And damn, aiming wall abilities with just a mouse can be a pain in the backside, but it's manageable. Minor gripes that, for the most part, don't detract from the overall experience. It's a stunning game that's best experienced blind, so do yourself a favour and give the game a chance before jumping onto YouTube to check out a few videos.