10 Years Ago, The Makers of Fallout: New Vegas Created the Perfect Spiritual Successor to Baldur’s Gate

Baldur’s Gate is undoubtedly one of the most important games ever made, a pivotal RPG that laid the groundwork for morality in video games, player choice, complex party members, dynamic worlds, and more. It cemented the BioWare formula, and while Baldur’s Gate 3 is now legendary in its own right, it’s a very different game from the original. Despite its influence on the genre at large, very few games have carried on the legacy of Baldur’s Gate. But ten years ago, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas finally did it, finally delivered the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate — and created a vibrant new franchise to boot.

First released on PC in 2015, Pillars of Eternity is one of the biggest Kickstarter successes in gaming history. Obsidian Entertainment completely funded the game on its own with a Kickstarter campaign that raised $4 million. Of course, a decade later, we know that gamble paid off — leading to an equally successful Kickstarted sequel, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, and now a spinoff published under Xbox with Avowed.

But the reason those latter games exist at all is because of what Pillars of Eternity achieved — crafting one of the most vibrant worlds in all of modern video games. More than anything, it’s the compelling world and absurdly dense lore that makes Pillars of Eternity tick, and why it’s world is so entrapturing to spend time in.

Pillars of Eternity, and later Avowed, take place in the high-fantasy world of Eora. Technologically, most of the nations of Eora are comparable to the colonial period, with firearms and gunpowder technology — mixed with a wealth of magic and supernatural powers. It cannot be overstated how complex and vast the lore in Pillars of Eternity is, so much so that there are two massive guidebooks released by Obsidian, outside of the games. But much of the Pillars of Eternity experience is investing you in this world, its problems, and the people who struggle to live meaningful lives. There’s a huge pantheon of gods that influence the culture of the world and the way people live, and you even get to meet a few along the way.

One of the core ideas of the franchise is that being’s souls are a tangible item, and something that can be transferred, stored, and even molded into something else. This lets the game explore some weighty themes around the nature of life, spirituality, and the fear of not leaving a legacy. When people pass, their souls leave their bodies and go through an otherworldly process, before reincarnating into another being. Occasionally, people can be cognisant of the past lives they’ve lived — and that’s where you come in.

You play as a “Watcher,” a person able to read the souls of others. But you’re also what’s known as an “Awakened,” a being that can remember past lives, and across the game, these visions of your other lives plague you, slowly driving your character insane. This is something you constantly have to contend with — deciphering what’s in your character’s head and what’s real. Nearly a dozen party members can join you on your adventure, and they each have their own narrative arc that ties into the overarching themes. Devil of Caroc is a murderous automaton that struggles with the reason for their existence, while Aloth is a mysterious wizard who insists on commenting about nearly everything with a sarcastic wit. But again, these arcs are entirely optional — the more you want to see of these characters, you can.

Narrative is at the heart of Pillars of Eternity, and there’s so much to see and do in the game’s world. Every town is chock-full of NPCs to talk to and side quests to take on, almost all of which help enhance your understanding of the world and lore. If you want to stick to the main path, you can, but the more you branch out and tackle side content, the more you’ll understand Eora. Pillars of Eternity brilliantly rewards your time and effort with narrative context. That’s combined with an exceptional focus on player choice to create an experience that allows the player a startling degree of freedom — even more so than you see in your typical RPG.

But that level of freedom is also reflected in the game’s core systems and combat. The game has 11 different classes that all provide drastically different approaches, both in and out of combat. For example, the Cipher can peer through spiritual energy and manipulate souls — providing a wealth of status effects in combat, but also altering conversation options with soul-related details. Meanwhile, the Chanter constantly sings phrases during battle to apply buffs or special effects to the party, and has a wealth of knowledge about tall tales and legends. Each class has a few different paths and builds you can specialize in, which in turn leads to a ridiculous amount of options when building a party.

That idea of freedom is what makes Pillars of Eternity so special. There’s so much variation between character builds and story choices that you could play the game three times and have a drastically different experience. It’s a remarkable RPG that feels reactive to the player — a living, breathing world that’s a joy to explore. Of course, it’s all given those classic computer-RPG trappings, with the top-down style Baldur’s Gate made famous.

Getting into Pillars of Eternity and its complex storytelling can be intimidating, but if you stick with it and invest yourself in the world of Eora, it’s a journey you’ll never end up regretting.

Pillars of Eternity is available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.