Pillars of Eternity: The White March announced (two part expansion)
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EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
Well I complained a lot about the base game, but I'm still hyped. Wonder if there'll be stuff for the old companions as well?
Basileus777
Member
I'm interested to see what they do, though the base game leaves me pretty hesitant to jump back in.
sturgboski
Member
I can't tell from the announcement: do we get Part 1 AND 2 or just Part 1 free?
Sportbilly
Member
Excellent. I'm still to finish the base game- even though I'm over 50 hours into it- so the timing of the release might perfectly match when I actually finish it.
Hmmm The original KS campaign description only states "FIRST EXPANSION PACK ".
I think they told about Sword Coast type expansions
decoyplatypus
Member
I'm ready. For all its flaws, I had a lot of fun with Pillars of Eternity.
anexanhume
Member
They also allowed it to be added to any pledge later in the campaign. That's what I did.
Prime crotch
Banned
I'm still not done with the base game ffs, despite not appreciating the combat it's addicting as Icewind Dale was.
I backed it but i still didnt play it. What kind of flaws are we talking about?
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I love(d) it. It was pretty much everything I was expecting it to be as a a huge fan of the Baldur's Gate franchise. I don't think anyone would say that it surpasses (or even matches) Baldur's Gate 2, but that's hardly a serious knock against it.
Absolutely psyched and ready for an expansion, and I love that we are getting exposure to additional parts of the world. The setting has a lot of potential.
story, encounter design, the dungeons aren't very interesting, the stronghold is useless, act 3 feels a bit rushed, the game becomes too easy after act 1
It's very, very good.
I honestly think it's probably one of the best RPGs I've ever played.
It lived up to everything it promised. It's not that the game doesn't have its problems, it does - It's very much a first iteration and sometimes the smaller budget is felt. The quest density is better than BG1, but much closer than that to, say, BG2 for example. But really, as a first iteration it's amazing. These sort of expansion are sure to make the game so much better, as they add more quests, companion and abilities.
I see your points about the stronghold and the game becoming a bit easy in the later parts (though in no way is act 2 easy. Maybe if you play super slow.) The rest - I don't know what's you're talking about. The story was top notch, the writing was ace, most encounters were awesome etc.
The base game was amazing, but I really can't wait to see what they can do with everything they learned from it. Base game seems almost like any new Civ game, which are usually great games by themselves but quickly become legendary with a handful of patches and a couple expansions to flesh out the content and add in some systems.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
Well the one main criticism of encounter design that I agree with is how the "stick your tank in the door and have the rest of your party use guns" tactic was pretty much far and away the most effective to way to tackle most of the game. Even that didn't really detract from my enjoyment much though, and like you I really enjoyed the story and dungeon design overall.
It's clearly not a perfect game, but it is really a fantastic foundation. If they can build off of it in a way similar to how BG1 lead to BG2, the future for the series/genre is looking pretty bright.
I'm not complaining about the quality of the writing. The main story is serviceable but not terribly interesting, the villain isn't particularly noteworthy
The encounter design is frankly pretty simple and I'm far from the only one who feels that way - aside from the fact that you often fight the same enemy groups again and again in too-large dungeons that mostly consist of corridor mazes filled with combat encounters and little else, nearly every fight can be be effectively dealt with the same tank & spank strategy
It's a good game, but I believe there's much room for improvement
Sir_Crocodile
Member
I assume Chris Avellone won't be writing any part of this? Or is it already done? :/
Unbound By Death
Member
Too easy? Maybe if you cheese it but I was fighting tooth and nail all the way till the end. Didn't bother with the Adra dragon after dying 20 times straight. Finished the game on hard.
Also story is personal opinion but I think it's one of Obsidian's best writing, not Planescape level but nearing Kotor 2.
Basileus777
Member
He's gone. He barely contributed to the base game.
QuantumZebra
Member
All its flaws? Genuine question. I just bought it yesterday but haven't dived in yet. Considering the glowing reception I thought it was gold...
StereoVsn
Gold Member
I personally liked it more than BG
I will give you BG1, but in no way, shape or form is it better then BG2. Encounters, story, villains, companions, magic system, enemy types, were all better in BG2 even considering it was all same tired forgotten realms. That's OK though, considering this is the first take. PoE2 is going to be much greater I am sure.
It most definitely is, but it's not perfect. I think that's where msot criticism comes from. The game is sooooo close to perfect that the little things that bring it down that tiny, little bit, seem like giant chasms to hardcore fans. But that doesn't mean we didn't love the game, it's just that we want the expansions and maybe, hopefully the sequel, improve. And I'm sure it will.
The biggest thing that bugs me about PoE right now is that Monks need to be in plate armor and there are no unarmed class weapons that have effects and still grant the unarmed bonus.
Whats the point of being a monk if i'm not punching shit in fancy robes or leathers. I like that you CAN be in plate, though.
Whats the point of being a monk if i'm not punching shit in fancy robes or leathers. I like that you CAN be in plate, though.
Exactly. This first showing was already better than Baldur's Gate's first showing, so with any luck PoE2 >> Bg2, and we'll have a new champ of the genre.
I hated monks in settings that are mostly western. They never made any sense to me - unless as supernatural beings of some kind. You don't bring fists to a sword fight.
But I agree, givent hat they ARE in here for better or worse (worse, IMHO) they should go all the way and allow them to be played like most people interested in a monk class would want to play them.
It's easy to cheese it sometimes though. Some spells really need to be redesigned.
I found most of the story to be very well done, but maybe that's a matter of opinion. Most of the themes were right up my alley... Kana, for example, really reminded me of my home country - A place with war tendencies and inhabitants that distance themselves from their surrounding, and Kana's quest to show them their beliefs are have actually been influenced by outside cultures really struck close to home.
My main criticisms in that regard is the lack of really emotional relationships with the companions, it's mostly a matter of "Tell me about yourself", and "yeah, sure I'll go there" but I didn't see something quite like Anomen in BG2.
As for encounters - Some dungeons are more boring. The door trick can be too useful in close corridors. But mostly, I found combat to be a blast. It has a lot of features that made it a lot better than the old games - Scout mode made the game a lot more interesting for me for exam didn't see it as a major flaw.
My only complaint in combat was magic. Most spells were boring and there are almost no utility spells - Nothing like Sleep, for example, that changed combat entirely. It was mostly a "cone fire damage" vs. "ball ice damage" kind of deal.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I liked the story overall, but my one main complain would just be that the antagonist never really felt all that developed or sinister. He was just sort of there as the face of the forces/events you were working against, and even the late-game plot dump right before you fight him didn't do that much for me when it came to strengthening the connection between your main character and the bad guy.
deaderinred
Banned
Honestly? Best RPG you've played? Game reminded of Inifnty Engine games but it accomplished is making me want to play THEM instead.
It has:
repetitive and bad encounter design
boring spells and loot
too many loading screens (why couldn't this be done seamless, I mean games did it oh I don't know, 20 years ago)
simple quest design
visually, the combat is a clusterfuck. BG, IWD was still RtwP, but somehow it fetl much much better
Overall the game looks nice and is polished, but it has nothing, I don't know, nothing special going for it. Just feels rather mediocre. Feels OK. Nothing else, very safe all around.
I said ONE of the best I've played, and I stand by what I said.
I won't respond to each and everything you said, because I felt like I've already commented on similar complaints in this thread. But I'm quite baffled by some of the things you're saying. Maybe the game wasn't for you, but the combat wasn't "a clusterfuck", you could slow it down thank to the godsend that it Slow Mode, and it had quite a nice bit of depth thanks to several abilities (the combination of the Engagement system with stuff like Knockback made for very nice strategies in combat). The combat system was vastly improved over the IE games, even if the spells weren't quite as interesting (though arguably, the new abilities sort of made up for it) and the combat design wasn't always there to take full advantage of it.
The quests were not simple. The tasks were obviously simple, but they were mostly filler, the actual quests were mostly quite good (even if not as dense as BG2.) You can't honestly tell me Raedric Keep was a "simple quest", and that's in act 1. Act 2 had several very nice long quests (along with some very simple tasks.) It surpassed BG1 at least in terms of quest density and complexity.
You didn't like the game, it didn't hit the right notes for you, I get that. The game was far from perfect, but seriously - at least explain how the quests were simple, or why the combat is "a clusterfuck".
deaderinred
Banned
The thing is, I wanted to love the game. I still like it. I was very very impressed for the first few hours. But then all the things I listed started presenting themselves. I love isometric RPGs, and I bought this day 1. I am 30 hours into it, but I am not hooked, I now just play it once in a while.
Combat is a mess, as I said visually. Very hard to distinguish, spells, creatures, active affects at a glance. Was not so in IWD/BG. Pausing helps, of course, but then I have to mouse over everything to see what is happening, and sometimes even that is hard when there is a melee going on because characters are so closer to each other they basically overlap. Plus its hard to see through all the visual effects on top of them. Just messy.
As I said, game has the right idea, but the implementation needs some work.
As for quests, there was nothing beyond just A to B really. Simple stuff.
Finally, if the game had seamless inside/outside transition I would play it twice as much as I do know. But the loading screens and waiting everywhere just kills me. They should not have used that crap Unity to make a 2D game. I played Divine Divinity 1 not long ago, and going in and out of buildings was good. That was 15 years ago.
CrichtonKicks
Member
BG2 is, to this day, my favorite game of all time. I never, ever expected PoE to top it and I think that's an absurd standard to hold it to.
Personally, I think the fact that PoE can stand toe-to-toe with the entire gamut of IE releases is a remarkable accomplishment considering the classic status of those games.
I look forward to the expansions and eventual PoE 2 but, even then, I don't think they will be able to top BG2. I don't think anything will. I replayed it just after PoE and BG2 is still a staggering accomplishment that almost feels like a an anomaly considering I don't think anything since has been able to match it terms of density of quality content (even Witcher 3).
decoyplatypus
Member
My attitude is pretty close to what Kinthalis describes. The game is very, very good, but because the gameplay and writing raise so many exciting possibilities, it is all the easier to see -- and develop outsized disappointment about -- those places where it falls short. The paucity of encounters that force you away from dominant tactics is frustrating because you have a lot of fun tools at your disposal, and the few challenging fights (mainly bounties) are wonderful. The limited reactivity to your PC's background stings because the game offers so many role-playing choices in the first instance. And the absence of a compelling villain or a well-engineered plot means the game can't fully exploit its excellent lore or well-written characters.
There are, of course, some weaknesses for which I can't cite a qualifying strength (the stronghold comes to mind), but please do not let my reference to its flaws turn you away from Pillars of Eternity. It's one of my favorite games of the past several years.
https://twitter.com/Obsidian/status/611312569454870530
Josh Sawyer is apparently going to demo The White March in fifteen minutes on twitch here: http://www.twitch.tv/twitch
Josh Sawyer is apparently going to demo The White March in fifteen minutes on twitch here: http://www.twitch.tv/twitch
LurkerPrime
Member
Obsidian, why would you split an expansion into two parts? That's sorta missing the whole point of them. (Starcraft 2 comes to mind.)
Anyways, I'm curious to see how this new content will slot into the game. As it is currently balanced & set, there's very little room for additional content or post-game content of any kind. And, during the campaign, they'd have a heck of a time justifying such a diversion. I guess I'll have to wait and see...
Impress me, Obsidian.
Anyways, I'm curious to see how this new content will slot into the game. As it is currently balanced & set, there's very little room for additional content or post-game content of any kind. And, during the campaign, they'd have a heck of a time justifying such a diversion. I guess I'll have to wait and see...
Impress me, Obsidian.