Pillars of Eternity
Title: Pillars of Eternity Complete Edition
Developer: Obsidian
Publisher: Versus Evil, LLC
Website:https://eternity.obsidian.net/eternity
Genre: Action Role Playing Game
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed) PS4, XBox One and PC
Age Rating: 16
Release Date: 08/08/2019 on Nintendo Switch
Price: £44.99 on Nintendo eshop– Rapid Reviews UK was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.
Introduction
A township looms on the horizon, framed in the pale glow of street lighting, the promise of a warm bed and a cold beer beckon you come closer. As a party you head for the pub and cosy up by the fire. All six of you on the chair together. After all there comes a time in the life of every lover of RPGs when one character just isn’t enough.
Obsidian’s beautifully crafted story Pillars of Eternity will have you coming back for more regardless of your playstyle preferences. Whether you are one of carefully thinking through every move you make or the kind of player who runs in and auto-attacks all the way to victory (if this is you…. Why?? Why would you do that??) You will be more than happy with what is on offer here.
Gameplay
I began my time with Pillars of Eternity in my usual way for these kinds of games, spending far too long in character creation. Given the choice of gender, race, class, heritage, starting attributes and spells… It could lead to the loss of a whole evening deliberating what to do, and it did.
The story then leaps into the heart fo things with your character and a companion having to find a cure for your illness then find some water then runs for your lives…. It’s all good fun. Seriously though the writing in Pillars of Eternity is utterly fantastic.
Managing your party of six is relatively easy using the shoulder buttons to open the various inventories and character sheets which can then be cycled through using the shoulder buttons again.
In combat managing the party is made easy by the ability to pause the game and treat it like a traditional turn based combat system, alternatively you can leave it to play out in real time, bouncing between characters to use their abilities however I found this method far too chaotic, which for me detracted from the overall experience.
Similarly the camera can be toggled between following the whole party / active character or freely scrolling around on the right thumb stick. It may be because I’m a ham fisted idiot, but I found myself often accidentally toggling between the two.
Visuals and Sound
Whilst it is often true to say the best RPGs are not always the prettiest, Pillars of Eternity is gorgeous. With amazing spell effects and environments that really help with the immersion in the story. Additional sound effects are very good with large amounts of dialogue being voiced, a really nice touch given the amount of text that is usually present in these games.
Pillars of Eternity runs perfectly on all play styles on the Nintendo Switch and continues to look fantastic in handheld with no noticeable slow down, at least not in my experience. That being said I did fall victim to come item bugs in my inventory. At one point every item in my parties bags appeared to be a bow…. This meant I had to cycle through everything to find the item I was looking for. However that is a minor issue given the general polish of the rest of the game.
Conclusion
It is easy to see how Obsidian were able to raise nearly $4000000 through Kickstarter in order to make the game, it is also clear that ever single penny was well spent.
Pillars of Eternity is a fantastic game on the Nintendo Switch which is easily worth the purchase price and should be a part of every Switch owners library. If you havnt already, make sure you buy Pillars of Eternity.
If you would like to buy Pillars of Eternity you can find it on the Nintendo EShop here: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Pillars-of-Eternity-Complete-Edition-1609747.html