Pillars of Eternity
Pillars of Eternity is a PC role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment. It centers on area exploration, combat and party setup, and character progression, with controls and information arranged around keyboard and mouse, with a controller where the game supports one.
- AI score · out of 10
- 8.9 / 10
About this game
Pillars of Eternity is a PC role-playing game centered on area exploration, combat and party setup, and character progression. Story beats, exploration, and progression resources support a longer campaign, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Characters, world building, environments, and music carry most of the atmosphere, while resolution, graphics settings, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio, text scaling, and hardware performance need to preserve action, state, and text readability together. The genre-specific limitation is that dense text, menu layers, repeated battles, loading, or language dependence can slow progress. Platform conditions also include OS and hardware requirements, installation media, patches, drivers, DRM and launchers, key binding and controller support, save locations, mod compatibility, servers, and era-specific OS compatibility affect the current release. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features or conveniences from remasters, emulators, or other console editions.
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Windows PCAI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Tactical parties and consequential dialogue sustain a rich adventure for players willing to read and learn.
Pillars of Eternity makes character choices matter in conversation as well as combat. Pausing to coordinate control, support and attacks complements negotiating through background and reputation, so a party becomes more than a collection of damage values. The setting takes patience to absorb. Its opening moves slowly, and stronghold management does not always connect closely to the main adventure, but later developments give earlier reading weight. Painted environments and restrained music establish a solemn, uneasy mood; expressive prose compensates for limited models and intermittent voice work. Adjustable movement and combat speeds, alongside convenient storage, make complex systems easier to manage. This assessment covers the 2015 PC base campaign with real-time pause, excluding expansions and the later turn-based mode.
Strengths
- Deep party cooperation
- Responsive dialogue
- Coherent atmospheric presentation
Weaknesses
- Slow opening
- Detached stronghold system
- Limited character presentation
Who it is for: RPG players comfortable with extensive reading and deliberate party tactics.
Play notes: 2015 PC base campaign with real-time pause; later modes and expansions excluded.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension The substantial adventure rewards commitment, though some side systems dilute pacing. | Reviewed | 8.7 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Tactical cooperation and role-playing both allow meaningful expression. | Reviewed | 9.2 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Art and music cohere, while character presentation shows budget limits. | Reviewed | 9.0 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension PC tools support complex rules well, while learning still takes patience. | Reviewed | 8.5 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher
- Paradox Interactive
- Release date
- 2015
- Platforms
- Windows PC
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Role-Playing · Primary genre
- Tags
- 2D GraphicsReal-time with PauseClass BuildsTop-downSolo-friendlyStory-drivenEquipment-driven ProgressionFantasyLong-term Progression
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- Not provided
- Perspectives
- Not provided
Release editions
- Windows PCWorldwide2015
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided