Pillars of Eternity: II Deadfire Ultimate Edition - Xbox One

Welp, I finely finished it. Lost of words actually.
On one hand this game felt like a slog at some points and I had to do quite a " pauses " to actually finish it and on other hand I liked it and would rather recommend it to people.

So yeah, lets start from " downsides ", which are a few. First and foremost is UI, I hate it. Which in combination of real-time crpg combat with active pause( which I`m not fan of either ) resulted in not enjoying combat what so ever for me. My only saving grace were pre-made AI setups and builds by some youtubers.
Also this game is build on unity, which has it`s own share of problems in optimization.
But outside of that and lesser quarrels like " I wish there was more in that part or system or in that area/quest " I can`t say anything negative, game is really well made.

If you are fan of roleplaying games and looking for a game to dig your fangs into, specially if reading stuff above is not a problem for you and overall your opinion is that I`m babbling nonsense, then you would probably enjoy this game, fairly certain you will.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is the sequel to the award winning game - Pillars of Eternity. This game has everything good about the first game plus even more interesting game elements. The biggest addition is the naval combat, which is there in spades. This game is like most other CRPGs where game offers you a chance to make the character you wish and level them up as they progress through the story as well as recruiting allies and teammates.

*Find Yourself!*
This game offers you a chance to create any character you wish. You can make them look however you wish in terms of appearance. You can choose from a variety of classes, you can be a druid or a mage, a wizard or a warrior the choice is wide and it is yours. You can also dual class and be a mix of different classes, for example you can be a battle-mage, a character who is focused on battling with a bit of magic to maybe buff yourself and allies. One thing the game does better than most other games in the genre is that it offers you a LOT of choices, as you level up in terms of new skills and abilities. The game also lets you choose to continue from your save in the first game, if you have played it. You basically take your character and a few decisions from the first game carry over. But fear not, if you haven’t played and are missing out on the story because this game does a good job of catching you up with the events of the previous game. Others have said that not playing the first one didn’t create a huge difference or gaps in story, but they wish that they have had played it, as it is also a great game.

*Best Combat in the Genre?*
I am a huge fan of this genre and out of all the games I must say this is the one. This is a huge compliment because a lot of games don’t do combat right in this genre. This game has real time combat with the ability to pause it. You can also have the AI to control your allies, although as you play more of the game I suggest you take control of them yourself for more precise decisions. This is something that the other games also have, but there is a certain way that combat has been balanced in PoE 2 that it makes everything feel just right without being too difficult to learn. Don’t get me wrong there is a learning curve for the hardcore fans, but the skill floor is quite low to accommodate for newer players of the genre.

*Ship Combat: Good or Bad?*
The answer to that question is - actually both. The naval combat in this game is good but can also be bad at times and that is the only negative thing I have to say about the game. The ship combat initially is quite dull compared to the rest of the game as it takes form in a text-based format. It makes the game feel like the text-based games from 30 years ago but with a lot of RNG. Although there are some elements that are good about it. There are several roles on the ship and you need the right people in the right role to do those jobs. If you have a surgeon firing the canons, then don’t expect to be hitting a lot of the shots. There is also boarding and that is the highlight of the naval combat. The combat scenarios that come up when you are boarding a ship or being boarded yourself are definitely one of the most fun times in this game. I don’t know why exactly but I guess it might be that it is very close quarters combat in a game like this doesn’t happen often.

*Hours and Hours of Content*
This game is definitely worth picking up and it even does a good job of easing newer players into the genre. It has hundreds of hours worth of content and that is just on a single playthrough. This game offers a tonne of re-playability with the option of multiple character with different playstyles.

Reviewer: Neal UG