Pillars Of Eternity: A New Baldur’s Gate

In an industry where the console market steals all the headlines (and most of the funding) the hardcore PC gamer can often feel overlooked.

Enter Kickstarter, and the slew of PC only games that took to crowdfunding as a means to prove there’s still a market for the kind of game that can only be played with a mouse and keyboard. Obsidian Entertainment is no stranger to the RPG, having cut its teeth on Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II and established itself further with the hit Neverwinter Nights follow-up, the studio has proved itself in almost every facet of the RPG, so to see Obsidian hit almost $4 million on KickStarter is reassuring.

Pillars Of Eternity plans to hit upon the nostalgic buzz generated by the memories of  Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale or Planescape: Torment. Obsidian wants to do that by powering Pillars with an engine that spiritually encapsulates the Infinity Engine Pillars has an extensive character creation system that underpins traditional tabletop roleplaying inspired gaming: deep, complex inventory systems, sprawling, text based worlds leading to labyrinthine dungeons, and a visual style that instantly evokes Infinity rendered memories all come together to create something that feels familiar in the best possible way. There’s an open beta, accessible to backers of the KickStarter, that showcases the game’s D&D inspirations and multiple threaded narrative intentions. This side of the game even in its pre release phrase is everything a gamer hungering for pre-millennium RPGs is after, but the combat
currently leaves a lot to be desired.

“ Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic
RPGs that we enjoyed making and playing ”

You’re going to have a busy team with so many complementary classes and abilities, most of the game will revolve around getting the perfect setup and having them all throw themselves at enemies just ends up a mess. Different character models overlap and swarm around each other, negating any attempt you make to manually select a character. The effort to reward system seems a little lax, too: it’s possible that because the beta is a vertical slice of the game, the loot and items you receive post combat are unbalanced, but from what we’ve played, we hope Obsidian makes some dramatic changes to the way combat works and rewards you before the final release hits this Christmas. Other than that, Pillars looks like a watertight RPG, and one that players disillusioned with current console RPGs will really appreciate.

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