Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition Review

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition is a rather interesting port from PC to console. Normally I hate ports from PC titles, as they usually lack quality or have significant issues. Pillars of Eternity shines through, doing an excellent job mapping controls and optimizing the game for the Playstation 4, but there is more!

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Platform: Playstation 4 and Xbox One
Release Date: August 29, 2017
Players: 1
Price: $49.99

If you want the complete review for the game, I highly suggest you read our lengthy but well detailed review of the original by contributor Carl Batchelor.

I found my points align with his on the game for the most part, but there are a couple of things that should be noted about the Complete Edition that makes it, in my eyes, a better overall experience.

First is the ease of access to the content, and I don’t mean the simplicity of consoles vs PC. The game genuinely feels as if it’s smoother and easier to get into, compared to before when I tested the PC version before the review.

Overall it feels more competent than before, which is hard to imagine and this opens the game up to a much larger audience. So those who might have been intimidated by the game before will most likely find that they will have a full grasp of the game within 20 minutes of play.

The second point is the fact that Complete Edition is just that, complete.

You will find all the additional content, including DLC and expansions, at your fingertips. This is a massive game. Many players will find themselves putting in 200 at least hours into this game, without even really thinking about it. Yes you read me right: 200 hours.

With the added polish that comes with the console experience and the multitude of things you can see and do within the story, you will easily find yourself staring at the sunrise, wondering whatever time it is. With that said, many of the issues Carl did have with the original have been almost completely fixed/reworked into not existing. So not only is it a more perfect game, it has loads of new content to boot.

The game is a solid home run when it comes to story, style, and substance. If you have been putting off picking this title up, now is the time. I could not think of a better way of spending 200 hours of my gaming time, and after you play Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition, nether will you.

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition was reviewed on Playstation 4 using a review copy received from Obsidian. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.

The Verdict: 10

To quote Carl’s review:

While it may have been plagued by glitches upon its release and frequently gets compared to industry giants that no game studio will ever manage to slay, it’s a fantastic game in its own right and deserves a place in every RPG’ers collection.

With its well fleshed-out world and clever twist on classic Dungeons & Dragons-style rules, Pillars of Eternity could be the next big RPG series that people have been wanting from the genre for the past decade.