Leveling up also offers points to spend on out-of-combat skills, like diplomacy. I unlocked game-changing skills (like greater base MP at the start of every fight for my own custom-made Cipher) within the first few hours. As massive as it is, Deadfire progresses at a pretty steady clip. The trade-off is that both classes take time to warm up, although that doesn’t feel like much of a detriment most of the time. When they do, they generate MP for abilities that disorient, dominate, and explode enemies. Similarly, Ciphers ( PoE’s word for psychics) do bonus damage with every basic attack. These useful actions reward Chanters with effectively unlimited spell casts that can paralyze foes or summon baby dragons to fight. The former class (your basic bard stand-in) generates the equivalent of mana by belting out passive buffs and debuffs. Huge monsters put Deadfire's more balanced combat to the test.Ĭhanters and Ciphers are bigger outliers than ever. But there’s a distinct sense of adventure this time around, compared to PoE’s grim journey. I didn’t relish learning about a disease that drowns its victims in their own fluids or how the impoverished and diseased are killed rather than cured in one of the game’s major cities. There are still serious, even grisly moments along the way. Deadfire has me sailing for buried treasure so I can pay to track down a god possessing a hundred-foot statue. The previous game centered on a plague of children born without souls in the wake of a bloody crusade. Maybe it’s just because the plot is less dour. Maybe the voice acting is why Deadfire’s writing seems sharper than the original’s. So that same tank’s attempts to communicate with a bird land with firm comedic timing. Every line of dialogue (besides your player-character’s) is fully voiced and with pretty good acting most of the time. Now I know just what my chain-smoking tank of a farm hand (who then became mayor) is meant to look like. Its top-down perspective is complemented with bigger, more detailed 3D models for party members. Luckily, Deadfire does a much better job of presenting it all than the first PoE. There is an enormous amount of lore and activities to absorb. But my player-character is the perfect psychic, soul-reading, pirate lord for the job. It’s a lot of intrigue to disentangle-with consequences rearing their ugly heads immediately after doing so. For the time being, though, I’ve got pirates to hunt, my own crew to manage, several imperialist governments to support or betray, and a talking sword to placate. He’s not the one I’m hunting as part of Deadfire’s main story, but I lied to him in the first PoE. Some of my choices from the previous game have already come back to haunt me, thanks to an imported save, though newcomers have the option to write their own history near the beginning of Deadfire. The pirate-centric sequel to developer Obsidian’s throwback RPG doesn’t skimp on that facet of the pen-and-paper role-playing game it replicates. There is no shortage of choices to make in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. It’s making me uncomfortable, but the bonus stats I get for keeping Modwyr around are too juicy to pass up. Her name is Modwyr, and she only stops insulting me when the conversation turns toward potential violence. I know this because she (he? it?) told me so. Links: Steam | Official WebsiteMy sword really likes being stabbed into people. Platform: Windows (reviewed), Mac, Linux, PS4 Switch and XB1 (due Q4) Game details Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
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