Even the character creator is very flexible, allowing you to choose everything from gender, race and sub-race, to class, religion, back-story and region of birth.Īs you venture out into the world, you’ll travel from mini-map to mini-map, traversing a huge world map that informs you of how many hours and days each journey will take. So many similar games are linear affairs, and it’s refreshing to play something with so much choice in the main campaign. Choice is massively important, as things you say and do will influence the story all the way up to the multi-branching ending.
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The source of the Hollowborn problem is actually a decent mystery, one that you’re free to uncover at your own pace while also investigating the back-stories of your companions. No one knows exactly why, but your character is a “Watcher”, a feared individual able to see into the past, and read the souls of those around them. Children in the land of Dyrwood are being born without souls – a condition that renders them “Hollowborn”. The story unravels slowly as you guide your stoic hero or heroine and their lethal companions through the world of Eora. In between fights, it’s all about exploration and conversation. Combat is nothing ground-breaking, but it can be fun, and when you know what you’re doing, flicking from tank to healer to DPS characters depending on the situation feels immediate, while unleashing the pretty-pretty spells and special attacks looks glorious. In combat, switching between your six characters and stacking their various attacks can be taxing even when the game is paused, leading to frustration and confusion. There are lots of menus, and lots of screens to cycle through, and even four or five hours in I was fumbling to find the right one. Obsidian has taken great pains to make everything fit onto the controller, using action and combat wheels to put all the necessary actions right there in front of you, but it still feels a little clunky. It’s by no means a “poor man’s” anything, but it’s not all that mind-blowing either.
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But the wow-factor that had everyone wetting their beds on PC is conspicuously absent on console. The writing is great, the story is huge, complex and branching, and the challenging tactical combat is immense fun. Before I complain about anything, you should know that it’s a fantastic game.
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Whether it’s the dumbing down of the controls to fit a fully functional QWERTY onto a tiny little controller, or the fact that they very rarely look or move as smoothly after conversion, I don’t know, but they don’t often feel as amazing when ported.
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Not including the anomaly that is Diablo 3, something weird usually happens when these massively successful PC RPGs hit home consoles. And now it’s come hacking and tactically-pausing its way to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and we’re all thrilled anew. This is the one so many people have been waiting for.Ĭrowdfunded via a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign (with over 77,000 backers), this homage to all things Baldur’s Gate wowed PC gamers in 2015 by being, well, incredible. Titles like Diablo 3, Wasteland 2, Divinity 2, and Sword Coast Legends have given us something to get our teeth into but, for many, Pillars of Eternity is the main event. Well, it kind of still is, actually, but now at least there’s some variety out there for the role-play fan. A couple of years ago we were all lamenting the lack of decent old-school RPGs on current consoles, and it was all shooters and open-world action games.