Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth is indeed a beautiful game with amazing visuals. The story is super engaging, with great character development and unexpected twists. That said, by Book 3, I felt like the choices I made didn’t matter as much. It was kind of a letdown after the earlier episodes where my decisions felt more impactful. Still, it's a solid game if you're into historical fiction and narrative-driven adventures.

Underrated Gem..💎

A beautiful visual novel. Based on an already well received book and I believe mini series (I swear I've seen the mini series of this) so the story is very solid and paced well throughout. Lovely music and graphics, great voice acting and a nice bit of interaction for you to keep you involved. I've always loved themes to do with this time period and religious stuff like the cathedral which is central to the plot.
Definitely a must have if you enjoy visual novels.

Recommended, with some caveats.

The tl;dr: if you're looking for a narrative driven game, and don't mind mostly watching events unfold, with some occasional decision making, this might be for you. The voice acting is great, the story engaging, and it's not a typical setting for a computer game. I have no idea how closely this game sticks to the story in the books, nor whether your actions have more than just cosmetic impact, but I don't expect much in the way of replayability. The game is not without flaws; there are numerous little bugs and spots where you can see corners were cut for budgetary reasons, but nothing that spoils the enjoyment. Perhaps not worth picking up at full price, but pick it up in a sale and you won't regret it.

The long and rambly, mostly dealing with the game's flaws:

The game is linear. Maybe choices you make have a real effect on how the story develops, but apart from some immediate failure states that produce a "game over" and force you to retry the last section, I don't think they do. There are numerous clues to that effect, e.g. failure to perform certain good deeds to curry favour with the monks having no effect on the outcome of the chapter meeting, or how it doesn't matter how good or bad of a midwife you are, the baby still gets born and the story still unfolds the same. You get a summary of your choices after each chapter, and they get mentioned later in the story, but have no impact beyond that. It feels more like watching an interactive movie, where you have to occasionally select which "alternative scene" plays before going back to the main track.

It's also very much an experience on rails; it may look like a point and click adventure, but it's a succession of scenes that each play out in a limited environment, with a clear goal, and very little in the way of actual puzzle work. You don't gradually open up more of the game world to roam freely from then on. It borrows some game mechanics from point n' click adventures, such as an inventory (so small it's not even a separate screen), left-click to walk or interact and right-click to describe things, the ability to use inventory items on things in the game world, but that's where the comparison ends.

There are some minor nitpicks w.r.t. the game design. For starters, while the game offers "documents" that offer insight into the happenings in the broader world, it completely lacks a story log. If you've been away from the game for a while, there's no convenient way to refresh your mind about what happened so far. You're not stuck, as your next objective is always displayed on screen, but it might make it harder to get back into the story. Then there's the overuse of the word "take". At regular intervals, the game offers you some insights into things, or questions, which get stored in your "clue inventory", and which you can use on people to talk about that subject. So it will display a text such as "Where is Jack?", and underneath there's a button labeled "take", as if it were an object you pick up that goes into your inventory. This may be a minor nitpick, but how exactly does one "take" a "where's jack"? Then there's some minor audio design issues. At the beginning of the game, you find yourself standing outside a door from which you hear a muffled sermon being delivered. When you open the door to enter, the sound of the sermon abruptly cuts off as soon as you touch the door handle, utter silence while the door opening animation plays, utter silence as the animation from inside the room with you walking in plays, and suddenly the sermon starts again while the camera pans over to the priest. This was the most jarring example, but it shows a lack of attention to detail. And some inconsistent interactions, e.g. when using an item on something where it's not applicable, sometimes you'll get a remark to that effect, sometimes you'll just initiate the default "left-click" interaction. And some things evoke a reaction when interacting with them, whereas others have you walk over and just stand there.

There's also the map. In this game, you can "collect" maps to areas you visit. This happens automatically. They probably meant to do something more substantial with it, but as far as I can tell, you only ever get to "collect" one map: that of Kingsbridge. It doesn't allow you to fast-travel, only to see where locations are in relation to the other locations. Given how small the town is, it's rather pointless. It looks as if this feature has been cut down for budgetary reasons, but instead of removing it altogether, they left it in in an unfinished state. Similar budget cuts are evident in the "cutscenes": they consist of minimally animated conversations, bookended by black screens where people enter/exit the room, to save on animation budget. There are also some typos and grammatical errors in the subtitles, and near the end, some instances where the subtitles don't match the spoken dialogue/narrative. Nothing serious, and it happened rarely, but shows limited testing budget.

But the worst offenders for me are the "challenges" and the stupid "bible mechanic". At random points in the game, you need to interact with something in a way that shows some prowess. E.g. using your hammer and chisel to chisel some stonework. Instead of just assuming that the person doing the work is indeed proficient with the tools he has been using for years, the game forces this stupid minigame on you where a white dot does the "knight rider" animation inside a rectangle, some parts of which are coloured green. And you have to click exactly when the dot is over the green areas, clearing them all out, while a timer counts down to put you under time pressure. This kind of minigame has absolutely no place in a narrative driven game like this. It's just busywork designed as gameplay, and shows an utter lack of understanding of what makes games fun. In a game like this, it only serves to break immersion. Similarly, the "bible mechanic". One of your characters carries a bible around. You can use it on people to discuss matters of faith, but also on objects to offer insight from a religious perspective. The game explicitly tells you this, so in the beginning you try this mechanism out on anything and anyone you meet. And it's just a third way of interacting with things. You have the left-click for direct interaction, but now the bible also serves a similar purpose when used on people. You have the right-click to describe things, but now you also have the bible to "describe from a religious perspective" when used on objects. And at no point is this mechanism actually useful. Except for one very specific scene, where you must use the bible on someone to lecture them, so you can convince them to do what you asked.

Finally, some minor bugs: when highlighting interactive objects and exits, the exits are not always marked. In the documents screen, the scrollwheel sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. The map of Kingsbridge becomes randomly inaccessible at times, only to show up again if you move to another screen. The interaction icons at the bottom randomly disappeared on me once, only to return after I moved one screen over and back again. The mouse "locks up" when the game is "busy". I had one lock-up when interacting with an object, forcing me to stop the game from the Steam client. But worst of all: the game minimises when it loses focus (e.g. when you move your mouse off-screen), and doesn't restore to the same screen in my multi monitor setup.

That last bug was quite annoying; the others are just things I noticed, but which weren't bad enough to ruin my fun. All in all, despite feeling somewhat "unfinished" and despite the bugs, the game had me coming back for more, to see how the story would unfold. If it hadn't been for the story, I probably would've been a lot less lenient in my review, but the story is what redeemed the game in my opinion.

Everything is stunning in this game from the art style, music, voice acting, and the deeply moving and engaging plot. This brought me to tears more than once, and I am already missing playing it for the first time.

This game is THE Must Have one, take this gem especially on sales! Great and heartbreaking story, easy gameplay. 10/10.

Interesting story line with your choices playing a vital part and a range of characters; can be a bit slow at times.

Wasn't able to finish the game, however, as unfortunately (seems to be a common bug) if your save game is over a couple weeks old, your progress is lost and you are sent back to the start of the book. I was into the last book and was sent to the start of book 2, which for me was to far back to have to replay.

If you like Pentiment and/or Disco Elysium, you'll vibe with this game.

The game has a rich story and a slow but absorbing pace. There isn't really anything in the way of puzzles, but this doesn't detract from it.

its so kino its so kino empress mathilda is my blorbo that made me happy i have been cathedral pilled by this game going to go 1 hour on the bus to go to the cathedral now

Not your usual point & click game, mostly cause the emphasis isn't really on the gameplay as there really isn't that much of it. There aren't any puzzles or elaborate combinations to figure out, it's all very straightforward.

I'd call this the walking simulator of point & click games, but one that has a very rich story that evolves very organically over time, depending on your choices. The voice acting, art style and music are all top notch, you'd be hard to find anything to complain about. Apart from maybe the very slow pace of the game.

All in all, I enjoyed this game very much. It's slow, very very slow but the story and characters are so good that I'm actually interested in reading the books, so well done Daedelic.

8/10

Some mature and violent themes, particularly dealing with loss of faith and the lives surrounding a cathedral, but Masterful storytelling, beautiful graphics. The Gameplay is very satisfying.

Amazing story, voice acting, atmosphere, graphics

Amazing game.

The Pillars of the Earth follows the book it is based on very well. Do note that this is quite linear, so if you do not like linear story telling, then this will not be the game for you.

Solid adventure game. It's based on the popular novel by Ken Kollet. That alone guarantees the story to be of high quality. Graphics, sound and voice acting are also ok.
This is basically a visual novel. The gameplay consists mostly of dialogue and various choices while at dialogue, and in between there are easy puzzles.
You can influence the story fairly well.
It does a good job at presenting the atmosphere and reality of the middle ages.

It has 3 "books", each with 7 chapters.
With that said, it's also true that some parts are more interesting then others. The interaction animations are slow, and also the story is sluggishly slow in some parts.
There are no subtitles.

Very good adaptation of a good series of books. The graphic art is gorgeous and works very well. And go read the books if you didn't already!

my heart ughhhhhhh yes I recommend

Interactive story where technically your choices don't really matter, but I think that isn't quite meaningful. Your choices are generally meaningful and relevant in the moment, and are sometimes called back to later. I think that has more to do with this being a truly interactive and largely well-written story, though it does have some points that are more of the "click for next scene" sort of thing that give the genre of interactive stories a bad reputation.

It's not a perfect game. I found book 1 (of 3) to be less interesting -- in particular it's a ton of lore that would benefit from a character biographies page, and I just couldn't really keep the story straight. And the clicking minigame doesn't have an accessibility mode, which is unfortunate -- the minigame is used as a barrier when doing "challenging" tasks, and involves clicking when a moving ball zips through a highlighted zone. I managed it but was annoyed whenever it came up, and for some people it may not be playable. Won't stop you from playing through the game and I'm not sure how much it'll change the story overall, but will give slightly different interactions in some areas for "failing" a task, and so that's unfortunate. Hey game devs, lots of point and click players like these games because they *don't* force complex hand eye coordination, so make sure we can play the game still!

If the other two books weren't already included I would have stopped at the end of that book, but as long as I had the rest I figured it was worth continuing. Then toward the start of book 2 I ran into a bug forcing a reload from the start of the book, and considered dropping it again. I'm glad I didn't. The story gets much better handled after then as the game focuses on a smaller number of clearer storylines. I can't speak to the book (though it's been on my to-read list for, oh wow, since 2012? hmm) but this becomes a really lovely telling. I think it's worth sticking it out through the beginning; just expect that this is a game about interpersonal connection and honesty and deception (and, uh, clicking on a zoomy ball) rather than about puzzles.

fantastic game, (story, characters, voice acting, plot twists, art style).

Beautiful story based on a beautiful book. Loved the artwork in the game, as well.

Great game, great story. Third part is a bit lame, but first two cover for it

Great story and amazing handmade art work/voice acting. Would absolutely recommend !

Chill twelfth-century English life simulator. There's not much game-play, but more so observation and listening. It's quite relaxing to play especially if you're interested in history. It's fairly long, feeling more like three adventure games in one. That being said, the best part is Book I, which includes more puzzle-solving and manual exploration/dialogue. Book II less so, and Book III was pretty much just a walking-simulator. If the first book's a 8/10, I'd rate book II 6/10 and book III maybe a 4/10. Book III is barely worth playing (I bet most people just go through it to finish the story and reach some closure). Book I was pretty solid though. Go play it on a sale or something.

Beautiful retelling of this epic saga.

What a wonderfully engaging story game! I have read the book, watched the series and know that some scenes weren't in either originally--however the creators of this game very truthfully showed medieval England as I would imagine it--Norman/Saxon knights vs. full-on late Medieval period armor.

I'm a beginner at games and found this challenging but not frustrating. The artwork and animation are beautiful. The story is a little hard to follow sometimes but it doesn't prevent progress in the game. It indeed pays off in the end and I'm glad I played it.

nice game

Yes

For those who're into European Christianity-and-medieval theme! Willing to know more details about the lore/plot in the original novel.

· 在“交互小说”这个门类里叙事天花板的存在，因为基于一个优秀的原作剧本，个人觉得在情节上比大部分同类型其他作品（比如《直到黎明》、《超凡双生》、《底特律变人》）要优秀和有深度许多（虽然补了原著后感觉游戏编剧功底确实差一些，情节上的BUG也不少），可以和《行尸走肉》以及《艾迪芬奇》坐同一桌。游戏分为三章，第一章会比较慢热，但后两章会更加短小精悍，而且剧情会愈发高潮，一口气玩下来会很上头（主要有不少角色都挺畜生的，很想在后面弄死）。
· 游戏的音乐和美术风格跟故事发生的时代很贴合，类视觉小说的美术风格适合比较深刻的故事，原声管弦乐也很有中世纪波澜壮阔的味道。
· 交互上中规中矩吧，经常出现比较阴暗的场景，使得不少交互项在初次游玩时不好发觉，本质上就是一个“点击互动”类的游戏配上少许的qte要素，不过也是这类游戏的通病，导致除艾迪芬奇外我不觉得有哪一作真的能比肩那些最好的游戏。
· 对于全成就玩家来说相对轻松，两个周目基本该拿的成就都能拿到，一个小缺点缺点是每个小章节之间不能跳以及有些成就跨章节，导致为了拿一个成就要在一个大章节熬四到五章。

Review: Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth (ChatGPT)
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth is an interactive visual novel and point-and-click adventure game based on the best-selling historical novel by Ken Follett. Developed by Daedalic Entertainment, the game spans across three "books," offering a compelling narrative-driven experience set in 12th-century England.

Story and Atmosphere
The game faithfully adapts the epic tale of ambition, love, betrayal, and power struggles surrounding the construction of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. The story is rich with political intrigue and emotional depth, featuring characters who are intricately woven into the overarching narrative. The developers have done an excellent job capturing the essence of Follett's work, making it engaging for fans of the novel and newcomers alike.

The medieval atmosphere is beautifully portrayed through hand-painted art, evocative music, and authentic sound design. The visuals immerse players in the gritty and turbulent period, and the voice acting adds another layer of emotional resonance to the story.

Gameplay
The gameplay combines traditional point-and-click mechanics with narrative choices that impact the story's progression. Players take control of several characters, including Jack, Aliena, and Philip, each with their own perspectives and challenges.

While the puzzles are relatively simple, they serve to complement the story rather than detract from it. This makes the game accessible, but it may disappoint those looking for more complex or challenging gameplay. The focus here is clearly on storytelling, and the branching dialogue options provide a sense of agency, even if the overall plot remains linear.

Strengths
1. Faithful Adaptation: The game stays true to the spirit of the novel while condensing the story into a manageable format.
2. Art and Music: The hand-drawn visuals and orchestral score create an atmospheric and immersive experience.
3. Character Development: The narrative gives ample time for players to connect with the characters, making their struggles and triumphs feel personal.
Weaknesses
1. Limited Replayability: While there are some branching choices, the overall impact on the story is limited, reducing replay value.
2. Simplistic Gameplay: The lack of challenging puzzles may make the gameplay feel too straightforward for some players.
3. Pacing Issues: The slow pacing may deter players who prefer more action-oriented games.
Verdict
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth is a masterfully crafted narrative experience that appeals to fans of historical fiction and story-driven games. While it may not satisfy players looking for intense action or complex puzzles, its rich storytelling and atmospheric presentation make it a memorable journey through medieval England.

Rating: 8/10
If you value immersive stories over intricate gameplay, this game is a must-play.

There has been a long running and rather annoying bug related to a red scarf which means you have to go back and load a pre-set game from Steam, thereby wiping out all of your choices made to that point - a fairly major part of the gameplay. There is no way of knowing what those preset choices were, either.

This game is amazing. The story is immersive, Ken Follett is amazing writer but this game's graphics and voice acting is top-notch. Definitely one of the best narrative driven game that I have played.

Ending made me tearful

really nice story

Made me interested with the original novels, would like to read more. Very engaging story

More of an interactive story than a game, and as such will be too slow paced for some tastes. Neither am I entirely convinced that many decisions taken impact on the direction of the story. However, it is a story I love, having read Ken Follett's Kingsbridge series, and the graphics and atmosphere are thoroughly charming. Another huge plus is that so far, Follett's love of terrible sex scenes have been omitted, and I very much hope it stays that way!

Epic of war, conspiracies and romance spanning over 30 years. Beautiful hand painted backgrounds. Top notch voice acting.

It's a great adaptation of the book!

That's so beautiful! And the story keeps me engaged. Definitely worth playing!

no clue this game existed but man its phenomenal, wish i played it when it came out.

I'm in love with this game already.
So far, the story's pacing is perfect. It's like savoring a hot meal you enjoy.
The storyline, voice acting and graphics are just wonderful. The choices you pick has consequences to your story.
I highly recommend especially when it's on sale.
It's a good bargain for $1.99

Good story and good style.

I am speecless, such amazing experience, story is just substantial, in my completely blind playtrough i got amazing ending, i dont knw what to say, i almoust cryed multiple times, better then any TV show 10/10

Overall:

Story: 9/10 – Story is actually very good
Music: 9/10 – Good for an indie game
Voice Acting: 10/10
Gameplay: 8/10 – Not too difficult; QTE's are hard to fail, almost baby like
Character Design/Visuals: 10/10


I bought this game on sale, I was looking for something fresh, and was surprised, as it turned out to be a hidden gem. I heard this is based on a book too, so I might grab that as well.

Enjoyable, if a bit slow-paced at times.

As someone who read and liked the book prior to playing the game, I really liked the game!

perfect...

So inteeeeeeeeense, loved it!

Good