Pillars of Eternity

Some mechanics and progression felt good in the beginning.
I started the game in the highest difficult and even though I managed it, it just made the experience worse.
Overwhelming amount of enemies plus overwhelming amount of text everywhere worn me out by the middle of the campaign. By the end I just wanted to be done with it.
Companions with little charisma and reactivity didn't help it either.
4/10 The game is massive in all it's boring aspects.

I like RPGs a lot but I am not very good at this game, still, I really like the writing and do enjoy the combat when I'm not getting obliterated

If you like world building, very well written dialog, and fun/ interesting characters then this is the game for you. combat can be super challenging and also come out of no where which can keep you on your toes.
I did notice some bugs that would pop up here and there but a quick google search helped me figure it out.
P.S. make sure you do all the fun side quests in this game before jumping down in the hole. its worth it.

If you want to experience an awesome RPG, similar to what Fallout or Arcanum used to be, this is it.
It's not perfect, but it blows most others out of the water. PoE was so good that many people like myself would autobuy any game set in this world, just hoping it would be 3/4 as good.

I finished it two or three times, and when they release Turn Based Mode for this, I would just immediately install it again.

If you enjoy reading dense fantasy novels with prose that's immerse in its world-building, this is a treat. I'd go as far as to say that, in terms of emulating a fantasy novel, PoE is contender for being the best RPG at this.

The story is very engaging, interesting and entertaining. The mechanics are tweaked beyond the standard RPG and everyone of those additions I enjoyed. The art style it pretty great as well. I never got bored looking around at the maps etc.

Один из лучших представителей своего жанра. Имхо такой формат боевки в разы предпочтительнее пошаговой запары

If you're into lore-heavy RPGs, go for it. Just be aware the lore is dense and you probably won't understand all the nuances of the various races and nations on your first character.

I have tried to play this game over and over since it came out. Could never do it, I am forcing myself to play it now, and it's ok, there's still the odd bug that was never fixed that you'll come across. It feels like a mediocre experience at best. Owning your own keep sounds cool and all, but some of the features it brings are terrible (I'm looking at you prison cells). The market value on items is ridiculous as usual, thankfully you can just travel around with an endless storage of near worthless items. But somewhere in there is an okay story.

It's an alright experience, a solid 7 out of 10.

I tried getting into this game couple of times. You have to babysit AI path finding during combat to go around table etc.

Really great writing and characters and a good ending. I played most of the game on "story mode" difficulty because I did not like the combat system at all. I understand that real time with pause was a nod to the old Baldur's Gate games, but it got repeatedly in the way of me enjoying the story. Still worked well as a package, I did not miss more intense fights.

here's a random review out of nowhere because I saw this in my steam library again even though it's been a while.

I wanted to be more immersed in this but I wouldn't say I would never recommend it. that said, I highly think that this is a matter of preference. I like some characters (few) but a lot of them just felt like generic DnD troupe (I'm not normally anti-DnD troupe or archetypes at all) and I find it difficult to deeply empathize with them as if they're beyond video game characters living their lives. I find myself feeling a separation between me and the game and experienced a constant reminder that I'm not in it (I rarely felt that divide with some other RPGs like say shadowrun: hongkong). I say this even when I like some other games with heavy ttrpg/DnD elements such as divinity original sin 2 (I like that one a lot better and was much more immersed) because there's just something about it that humanizes characters better imo. I feel like some characters in this game are just stereotypes of those commonly drawn archetypes to the point that they feel less dimensional and it feels a bit off despite the fact that the voice acting is good.

the main plot is awesome on paper to me but I don't know why I'm just not that into it in practice. love the concept of characters coming from different cultures and background but it doesn't feel like some parts of the game harmonize that well so stories might feel a bit fragmented and less natural when they come together. that said though, I can see people being into this stuff more than I was (still have to finish the game but got bored semi-bored really).I feel like I might eventually regret this review (who knows) if my opinions change after I go back to finish it (if I do) but also I'm speaking from 83.7 hours of gameplay experience at this point in time. I love the graphics. love the pause option (I'm more of a turn-based person). don't hate it.

if I'm feeling very generous I'd give this a 7 something out of 10 but for now I guess 6.5~ or a bit more or less. I don't really want recommend it but I also don't want to say I absolutely don't recommend it so the thumbs up or down system feels arbitrary to me at this point in time.

First off: I don't like real time with pause, now based on reviews from people who like that kind of gameplay it is good though.

Now with that said, is there something in this game for those who don't enjoy this gameplay? Yes! The game was slow to start and there's a lot of side quests I didn't care for, but there's also a lot of interesting questlines and characters. My biggest problem in the writing is that it sometimes felt lacking, there are many factions in the game but it rarely felt like we got a lot of engagement with them. A few quests here and there and a reputation sign and that's about it. The ending slides will be a bit different and such.

Despite that it is still a great story with a very fashinating lore, the companions are interesting and have very unique personalities with good voice acting.

For the downsides it all seems to be based on a relatively low budget, I don't know the budget of this game but have to assume it was pretty low for an RPG of this scale. Only parts of the game is voiced, with majority of side quests and parts of the main quests being written instead of voice. It is not a very pretty game, with mediocre graphics and non memorable artstyle (beside when they use actual art and Caed Nua). While understandable and by no ways a dealbreaker I consider this a negative for the game.

Overall very solid game, but didn't quite grab me as I had expected leading to playing through it slowly over a long period of time.

Good game play and characters. Your interactions have an effect on how the world sees you. Though it's in isometric view, it wasn't too much of a hindrance on game play. There are multiple paths to take during this game as well as multiple tasks and missions. I like building a team to see what works with the circumstances given.

Good game with interesting history, but not my kind of game.

Isometric 4 the win!

Really good game. I've owned it forever, but finally pushed through to the end including both DLCs after getting Deadfire on sale. I wanted an endgame save. This game mostly stands the test of time, with no lack of features to aid QOL. My overall hours are inflated by starting and quitting several runs.

I play these types of games more for the character/party/base building and battles rather than the story. I felt like the story was good, and presented a lot of different choices, some more consequential than others.

Character building was solid, maybe even great, but not amazing. A lot of repetitive build choices in terms of feats or whatever they are called in this game.

The combat is fun and many battles needed to be approached strategically and were quite challenging. Satisfying to finally win sometimes.

Looking forward to Deadfire.

not a big fan of real time with pause gameplay but i liked the little bit of poe2 that i played so i want to play this one and get to use my save file for the second game, and i dont wanna wait until they add turn based in like 6 months or so

i really like the worldbuilding and lore though so thats enough to push me through

Very fun. I kickstarted this way back when and I do not regret it.

Easily one of the greatest CRPGs ever made. I wasn't expecting much going in, but came out with a genuinley philisophically moving game with some of the best worldbuilding I've ever seen in an rpg.

Gameplay tragedies

But in terms of the gameplay itself, it's kind of mediocre. The RTWP combat hasn't aged too great, it feels pretty janky and not entirely fun, either. The pathfinding is kind of atrocious. A lot of times companions choose the worst possible route to reach their destination and end up spazzing trying to get there. There are, admittedly, some pretty interesting ideas for the classes and their kits. I especially like how customizable wizards are and how the grimoire system works. I'm not particularly excited for the turn based mode they said was coming later this year, given how that turned out in Deadfire.

Worldbuilding

But if you disregard the combat, Pillars has one of the richest fantasy worlds that's ever graced this format. I love Eora, I love its weird but plausible gods, its nations, its history. The whole game feels historically grounded without feeling too much like a 1:1 allegory onto the real world. The world feels extremley lived in, and a lot of little details go a long way to sell that. How you can find all sorts of different currencies depending on where you are in the world. How you can see the impact of thousands of years of different wars, occupations and past religions on various areas. How intricate and realistic the dialogue feels, not like the characters are in a video game, but in a real, breathing world.

Act 1

The exploration is one of the highlights of the game, too. The music and the nostalgicly beautiful landscapes makes your treks through the Dyrwood feel both moody and cozy. This makes the first act, Gilded Vale and its surrounding wilderness, really work for me. Gilded Vale is such a gnarled and hopeless place, the first entrance into the town and seeing how dark and gloomy it was with that iconic tree really set the tone for the rest of the game. Raedric and the general reaction to the legacy as a whole was a really interesting look at human behavior when confronted with something unknowable. Raedric was a great villain to start the game off with and show how morally messy the themes and motivations of the game were going to be.

Act 2

I've seen a lot of people say they loved act 1 but then dropped the game in act 2 because there were "too many side quest". They're not entirely wrong, but it's a shame, because I think they've robbed themselves of some genuine peak. Defiance Bay (despite its really stupid on the nose name for a revolutionary city) is a really intricatley crafted fantasy city and its quickly become one of my favorite video game cities, in general. It all flows so well together. Yes, there are a lot of quests, but I think that should kind of be the point of a big city in a game, right? The quests and "exploration" of the city all flows really nicely. You get into Copperlane, for instance, and are overwhelmed with quests, with factions, with locations; you hear people mentioning something with the catacombs. You find a man with a quest for said catacombs, you go do the quest, and in the process you find the temple of Woedica for the main quest. You go wipe out the temple and emerge in First Fires, where you meet the Crucible Knights, and now you're tangled up in the conflicts between the three factions. The three factions, by the way, are great. I was expecting them to be pretty one-dimensional, but I was surprised at how complex and multi-layered they were. The Knights, for instance, weren't just a fantasy law enforcement group. They had their own strange culture, their worship of Abydon and love of smithing as well as their strange fascination with the purity of actions in their members past lives. I love how doing quests for the factions puts you at odds with the other factions. It's all great stuff, good job to Obsidian.

Act 3 and the Kickstarter problem

There is a pretty big issue with the game's foundation and conception as a whole, and that is that it was born out of a Kickstarter. The ugliness of the Kickstarter is all around you with those annoying Kickstarter npcs littered everywhere with their boring walls of text and those horrible grave epitapths. The effects of the Kickstarter go further than just the individual donation rewards with the stretch goals. I love having Caed Nua being a stronghold as a concept, and some of its features are pretty neat. The petitioners who come and visit your keep had a fair amount of reactivity, for example. Having a giant, 15 level mega-dungeon undeer your keep that you revisit throughout the game obviously sounds pretty cool, and its executed pretty well, too. Most of the floors are unique enough with their own quests, loot and little backstories. By the last 5 floors, though, it starts to kind of fizzle out, some of those floors feel like filler. Yenwood field was great, too, but that's where the good of the Stronghold kind of stops. The prison system is laughably pointless, you can't take any notable antagonists prison, stronghold security and bandit attacks never feel like they work the way they should, the bounties are kind of lazy. An even bigger issue with the Kickstarter is act three. It might've been a bad idea to link the entire last act of the game to a "big city number 2!" stretch goal. I loved the first thirty or so minutes of Twin Elms, I loved learning more about the Glanfathian culture, about their tribes and weird customs, I loved how beautiful and serene the music was throughout. It seemed like it was going to write itself, too. You were going to have to garner the support of some of the tribes in order to gain access to the rest of the city? The alliances or enemies you make with the Tusks, Fangs, Arrows (etc etc) would affect things later on in the act? I was getting really excited for this but then there's some stupid orlan spirit who shows up and tells you that you can actually explore the city and they won't care because you're a watcher. The druidic orders you can gain reputation with have almost nothing to do compared to the Defiance Bay factions, and you have to wipe them out in their entirety to progress the main quest. There's a lot of giant interior spaces with nothing to do but a lot of low health enemies you're forced to kill. There are still some highlights in act 3 (talking to the delegams and the gods, for instance) but it mainly left me disapointed.

Act 4 and the companions

The end made up for that, I think. The final reveal, the conversation you have with Iovara and Thaos at the end, it was all genuinely kind of perfect. It was really where the philosophical messages and claims of the game really came into view and it left me kind of speechless at the end. The ending slides were really well done too, I loved seeing the fates of the places you visited and the companions you traveled with be impacted by your choices throughout the game. The companions, who I haven't mentioned yet, were all fantastic too. Eder was a peak fiction character, he felt like a real person in this fictional but grounded world, Durance is one of the greatest rpg companions ever (too bad his quest glitched for me and he ended up killing himself in the end slides), Sagani's quest and ending was one of the more raw and moving things in the game, Kana could be a little much at times but he's just really happy to be alive which I can't really fault him for.

Final Score : 9.7/10
Held back by some kickstarter tragedies, but overall a beautifully written and philosophically engaging game with a really captivating setting, great companions, great quests, great exploration, okay combat

I never played a RTWP game before, but after Avowed I wanted to play more of this series. Pillars of Eternity is awesome, I love basically everything about it.

Perfect Steam Deck game btw

Fantastic game one of the best CRPGs i've played since BG2 and that is saying something.

If someone told you that you don't need to play this game before Deadfire, they clearly have no idea what they are talking about... and you only hurting yourself not play this game.
Although they change and revamp alot of stuff in Deadfire...

Re-purchased on Steam after playing on GOG a few years ago.
It's my favorite CRPG ever. Matt Mercer voice the best two characters in the game: Aloth, and Eder. And there are other Critical Roles voice actor in there as well :)
The world or Aora lore is rich and deep. There are plenty of books, short stories, and the game guides and manual is filled with RPG lore. It's great stuff for RPG enthusiasts.

Took me a long time to actually get around to playing it, but it was a great game. Very deep story and world, look forward to the second game & Avowed at some point.

This is the first Real Time with Pause combat game I've played essentially, and at times it was simply chaos, but I got better as time went on.

I'm more comfortable with turn based combat, but it was unique for me in this instance.

The visuals and world are beautifully detailed.

I played with Developer Commentary enabled and it was nice to hear some insights into development and design decisions for specific areas as I was playing them, I do wish they were pause-able in game though.

Great RPG. Hits all the right notes? Polished and engaging. Highly recommended,

essential CRPG with one of the best stories. It is showing its age somewhat, and Deadifre is much, much better, but this is still one of the classics of the genre

This is the first CRPG I have played through to its end, I have tried a few in the past but never really took to the genre. I'm a bit older now so I decided to stick with it and try to understand the appreciation people have for these games, wow have I had my mind opened.

Pillars of Eternity is an incredible experience. It's engrossing, pulsing with vitality, teeming with endearment, a great story well unravelled, rewarding of effort, nourishing of the mind, it's simple but with depth. There is a learning curve when you start out which will determine whether you continue with the game and a lot of reading that can put you off, but it is imperative to be able to weave the rich and captivating tapestry of the game's character. If you can endure the acclimatisation process and you are still in decent shape, everything from that point just starts to grow and flourish.

It really felt different to other games I've played, it was refreshing and rejuvenating to play, not a grind or inconsistent. I enjoyed the vast majority of my time in Eora and it has reignited the affection I have for gaming in general, reminding me of what the art can be. You can feel the love and passion infused into Pillars' creation, it takes itself seriously and in turn is life-affirming.

I'm a bit undecided on the story's ending but it really is only a minor contemplation in the grand scheme of things. A great game I will remember for a long time, thank you Obsidian.

This is going to feel right at home for anyone who has played the classic Infinity Engine titles. It is a fantastic spiritual successor to those games, an inspiration that it wears on its sleeves. It plays much like a modernized version of those games, with the same Real-Time with Pause combat and old-school CRPG aesthetic, but using its own well designed ruleset rather than adapting an existing tabletop system.

Character creation is fantastic, with lots of options for builds. No matter what class you pick, every attribute has some level of benefit. Int gives spellcasters bigger AoE, for example, but that also applies to melee class abilities. It's a very forgiving class system, and while it is certainly possible to create a sub-optimal character by not paying attention to what the different attributes do, there's no need to min-max your character on regular difficulties.

It does require some legwork from the player, as there's not much in the ways of a tutorial. The game throws a lot of information at you, and expects you to figure it out. It's by no means a difficult game to learn, it's all fairly intuitive, but you'll have to thoroughly read through the combat log, ability descriptions, and your character sheet to get a full grasp of the game mechanics.

The world of Eora absolutely delivers on the worldbuilding, and it delivers it through a copious amount of lore books and exposition, some of which will even be relevant to the main story.
The start of the game I found especially compelling, with the hollowborn crisis and the surrounding conflict. The game has a lot of really creative ideas, but the execution of some of those towards the latter half of the game is a little unsatisfying. Still kept me engaged the entire way through, the writing of the game is incredible. There's lots of nuance both in its quests and its characters, particularly for the companions that follow you throughout the game. Their conflicts are all deeply rooted in the world, they all have their own perspectives and beliefs, and their own side quests tying into the main storys themes. Durance in particular ended up being one of my favorite RPG companions, in all his insufferable glory.

While the main story has a few kinks, its DLC, The White March, delivers some of the best content in the game. Its story feels more focused, with stronger pacing, more companions, further expanding upon and exploring the themes of the main game.
The DLC is available as a side adventure during the main story, and I'd recommend playing it before you start the third act of the game.

Whether someone wants a more polished entry point to this style of game than some of the older titles, or if they just want more of that style of game, I can strongly recommend Pillars of Eternity.

You must gather your party before venturing forth.

Great Game, after 65 hours of playtime im absolutely hooked. The Story is greatly written and the tactical aspect of the fights is sometimes a bit much but its very interesting and has a very high learning curve.

This is a good RPG, and they sale the type of DLC that I consider really worth buying. A high res map, wallpapers, a freaking novella, that's just cool.

More devs should strive to make games like this.

If they patched health/endurance and resting to work like it does in Deadfire this game would have been a masterpiece, as it is right now I can't recommend the game.

That said, I love this game.

Played on easy mode, story was lame. I died a lot to lame interactions, waste of my time.

For someone who's not a huge fan of CRPGs, it's challenging but pretty good.

Personally, I don't mind the text walls which I know many complain about. I could not read all the dialogues in BG1 and BG2, but this one is fine in this aspect. The combat is on the harder side but also pretty ok, considering I've played through a lot of classic CRPGs and beaten honour mode in BG3.

What's difficult for me is, broadly speaking, that things are a bit difficult to navigate. My biggest obstacle so far has been getting stuck in a big dungeon because I explored most of it but couldn't find my way to complete the quest.

Can't really speak on the lore and world building since I've not gone that far yet, but I've played Avowed and really enjoyed the lore there. I can only say you'd like it if fantasy worlds and pantheons are your thing.

Honestly, it might fall into my backlog if it was a standalone game, but Deadfire seems so good and I thoroughly enjoyed Avowed, which presents the RPG elements in a format much more friendly to me and I believe most people, so I will power through this game before Avowed gets any expansions.

Enemy AI in this game is really good. Get the game people. Play it and import your character into poe2 and enjoy.

Excellent CRPG with a well fleshed out original setting with unique, yet familiar trappings of the genre.

A fantastic game with an original world, deep lore, and meaningful choices. It gives many tips of the hat to Baldur's Gate 1&2 with certain encounters and map design. The Icewind Dale vibes of the white march DLC's are unmistakable. The metaphysical deepness that the story provides definitely feels inspired by Planescape Torment. Overall, it's a true love letter to the Infinity Engine CRPG's of old.

There are some issues with the party A.I. settings, the HUD is pretty bad, and there are some pretty redundant level ups once you start to figure out the systems. None of it is bad enough to avoid the game though. Pillars of Eternity 2 actually fixes almost every issue I have with this game.

Overall I highly recommend a playthrough, mainly to transfer your character to PoE2. A great game created by great people. Play this!!

This is a game I have been coming back to for the past 6 - 7 years. I have mainly played it on my PS5 due to being more of a PS5 user. It's just absolutely amazing how the characterisations of the characters, great voice acting & music throughout the game can have such a positive effect on a person! Well done to every single person included in this project! :))))

Pillars of Eternity....

So, I'll just say that Real Time With Pause roleplaying games are my favorite genre of game, ever. Can't really explain why, it's just my favorite type of game. The hybrid of action and turn based just scratches the itch for me in a way other RPGs don't... And I think this game is maybe the best of the best within this genre, though it has some stiff competition to be fair, lot of great real time with pause RPGs out there. Even Final Fantasy 12 with it's custom AI "gambit" systems represents a pretty strong competition here.... But I would describe this game as something like this... It's Icewind Dale on steroids, combined with some similar themes and writing style as Planescape Torment. Everything that made the original Icewind Dale great is here I think and just amplified overall. The art, atmosphere, and design is top tier Imo. I wouldn't say the story is as good as Planescape or even most of Obsidian's other works prior to this, mainly because the cast of characters are a little weak compared to Obsidian's past titles, but I still find the philosophy of the game to be really compelling. Much like it's predecessors in KOTOR 2, Mask of the Betrayer and New Vegas.

Looking back I think this game was tackling a lot of subjects that were extremely relevant in 2015 and remain relevant 10 years later. The role religions play in people's lives in the game world, the different things they worship and playing god through moving souls into objects and other people... I interpret some of these themes as being sort of about the "God shaped hole" hypothesis in Christianity and it's about this form of transhumanism that exists within the game world here, and maybe even themes of post modernism in some ways. I don't know if the writers intended it, but the echoes of these themes speak strongly to me, and I think it's really interesting. I'm a religious person myself, and the ending of this game comes at you really hard with really brutal anti religious arguments. When I first played the game I felt a little preached to and wasn't kind to it at the time, thought it was maybe pretentious, but on replays I really think it makes the game more compelling. It's trying to challenge your perceptions of things and really ask hard questions. It's ballsy and I think it's actually really cool.

Combine that with how reminiscent the game world is to Forgotten Realms... That Defiance Bay resembles Neverwinter in many ways and the White March expansion area is very reminiscent of Icewind Dale, this game really feels like an Icewind Dale 3 and a Neverwinter Nights 3 combined. Also the reincarnation of souls and the way "Adra" works in the setting reminds me a lot of the lifestream from Final Fantasy 7 or the fayth from Final Fantasy 10. I just love all of these influences this game took, it's like a perfect homage to RPGs in general. I think the game is brilliant and the only other RPG within this genre that I like more is Dragon Age Origins, in all of it's Arthurian influenced glory, and epic LOTR level stakes in the plot about the darkspawn invasion, and of course the lovable fellowship of characters that became Bioware's signature at the time... I've come to realize I do love both of these games almost equally though... But it's kind of insane to me how Obsidian's little kickstarted project here ended up in my top 10 games of all time. I didn't even like this game much when I first played it, thought it was slow and boring like many others did, but once it clicked for me, it REALLY clicked. And I can't emphasize this enough, the white march expansion elevates this game to a whole new level, so I think it's pretty much mandatory if you play this game.. I was so glad I tried it again when I finally did, this is a game I'll most likely be replaying for decades, just like I do for New Vegas, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, ect, ect.

So, yeah, Pillars of Eternity 1 is a modern classic for me.

I really love crpgs and Pillars of Eternity is becoming one of my favorites. I also have it on Switch because I couldn't help myself. It's a great game with a great storyline that I can easily see myself replaying over and over.

The combat is very fun, loving it, kind of addicting

Pillars of Eternity had been on my radar, but i didn't manage buying it until the world of Avowed pulled me in. The harsh colonial world (adding a few animancers and old gods in between) really made me enjoy PoE, and i can't wait to carry my save over to Deadfire.

my favorite feature has to be the "dispositions", which are essentially speech-based skills that level with use. this allows you to build many speech traits naturally and have them develop in usefulness over time. dispositions seriously change the way roleplaying is performed and i really hope to see them in future releases, much more satisfying than base skill checks. quests can range from simple to complex but always leave some level of player agency.

combat was difficult as this is a more realtime gameplay style, but this makes getting into combat much less of an ordeal typical in RPGs. i never found myself going "ugghh another fight", just because combat feels really well baked into this experience. tactics can bounce from simple to complex, rewarding inquisitive players for learning while also keeping new players in their safezone if they so choose. i recommend utilizing some of the companion automation systems to keep combat going while you're busy directing the other fronts of combat. speaking of companions, i feel invested in their individual quests and i get exactly what i put into them. many large and minor storybeats are voice acted and the rest is usually interesting enough to inspire the reading power out of you! i would not let your interest in reading impede your purchase of PoE, it really is a nonissue.

Pillars of Eternity is a story you deserve to have told to you.

if you like baldur's gate 3 (even a newcomer to crpgs), i think you will have an easier time getting invested with PoE than many other games on the market! there are plenty of diffiulcty modifiers, plus the realtime combat and ability to have companions "autoattack" can really ease up the mental load that comes from many combat systems. this game requires use of keyboard and mouse (no controllers, really), but most of the game can be played with simple clicks on the screen. if you're new to keyboard and mouse, i promise your effort will be rewarded here. i hope you enjoy this game as much as i do!

Should I recommend Pillars of Eternity?
Well, no.
This game is both brilliant and deeply...frustrating.

I had to play the game in "story mode" until the last boss to finish. And I was playing on "normal mode."

When I finished the game, I unlocked the achievement and realized that 15% of players had unlocked it.
My question is: How many people finished the game with the "Ultimate" achievement?
0.1%?

It is a solid game. And I enjoy it, because I am really into RPG.

But i cannot really recommend it to the general public. Especially the balance is complete out of whack. As an example:
A shadow is considered a level 1 enemy (the lowest enemy class possible). And it stuns on every hit for 5 seconds and deals about 40 damage.

There are just a lot of balance issues, that make this game not feasable for newcomers at all.

So if you are into RPGs a lot, then give it a try. But otherwise, I recommend you try a other games first.

The game starts by slowly setting up it's lore and terminology with heavy amounts of text, but if you prioritize story, lore and worldbuilding it's worth reading. When you do the homework, the set up pays off and leads to an interesting story that explores metaphysical conversations that challenge you on an intellectual and moral level. This game has clear strengths, but it's not for everybody especially the gameplay. Otherwise POE has what you'd want from RPGs: player agency, choices that matter, believable world, solid companions, memorable music and immersion. The White March DLC is just as good and the bundle has good discounts sometimes.

I was sceptic at first, i'm really not into retrogaming. But after playing Avowed and learning about the universe, I remembered how much I had fun with baldur's gate and Ice Wind dale in the past.

Really beautiful isometric RPG with great story & writing. Mechanics similar enough to D&D to be familiar to players who remember the original Baldur's Gate (and BG2), or Icewind Dale, but a lot of well designed mechanics to make it feel and run in a unique way.

A grand adventure and love letter to late-90s/early-2000s cRPGs.

This is RTwP, not turn-based. For newcomers, you can't really tank and smash you're way through, especially early game. Always consumables prior to combat. While in combat buff/debuff first.

When leveling, a good rule of thumb when selecting skills and attributes Passives > AoE > Individual Target.
Always look for synergies, both local to a character and between characters.

Respec is super cheap if you screw up any character or want to try something else. Make a named save file prior to respec and test your heart out.

Runs great on Steam Deck, but you will need to spend some time mapping controls. Pillars will give the track pads something to do.

As a very casual player of CRPGs who mostly plays for the writing and story, I would say this game is okay or a weak recommendation. The underlying premise is interesting which revolves around souls, how souls pass through the cycle of life and death, and what happens when souls are absent from a living being. But the execution was flat in some parts of the story and could've been done better.
There's a lot of worldbuilding in this game with plenty of lore but these info dumps don't really matter outside of some background on soul studying (animancy). The soul reading mechanic is a very unique mechanic but outside of some scenes in the main story and some companion side quests it's very underutilized. Even though a lot of NPCs have this soul reading dialogue it's just a paragraph of irrelevant text.
I also felt that the ending could've been written better. It tries to give you a shocking realization about the true nature of the world, but I felt that the reasoning didn't fit into the high fantasy world this game is placed in.

I love Obsidian writing and this definitely delivers.
Gameplay is very solid as a CRPG but don't expect anything mind blowing.

Consider playing their other game, Tyranny, first if you want to get into CRPG's.

Extreme punishment for wandering off the beaten path. This game feels like playing on a ladder with a bunch of e-sport min/maxers where every new area is a new chance to wipe your team if heaven forbid you didn't pick the optimum class and select at every level the optimum spells, and pause combat at the optimum times to deliver the perfectly matched spells or feats. Where's the story? Can't tell through all the blood spatters that used to be my party.