In 2012, video game studio Obsidian Entertainment underwent financial difficulties following the abrupt cancellation of their then-current development project.1 The studio that launched successes such as Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords had hit an unexpected run of bad luck, and hesitantly turned to Kickstarter to raise funds for their next idea. Out of this, Project Eternity – Obsidian’s working title for an old-school RPG aiming to capture the magic of classic Dungeons & Dragons games – was born. Obsidian requested 1.1 million USD to develop their proposed game. Whether it was nostalgia for the groundbreaking Dungeons & Dragons titles they promised to honour or pure faith in the studio itself, Obsidian reached their campaign goal in less than two days. By the time the Kickstarter page had closed for donations, fans had invested nearly 4 million dollars in Project Eternity. After the first year of development, Obsidian confirmed that the official title of the game would be Pillars of Eternity. In 2015, development finished and Pillars of Eternity was released to the public.
By citing genre-defining role-playing games as their source of inspiration, it is fair to say Obsidian stirred high expectations. Nostalgia can be a dangerous marketing tool, but in the case of Pillars of Eternity, referencing the legends was deservedly appropriate. Pillars of Eternity is a time capsule for the CRPG subgenre that feels fresh despite harkening to the past so frequently. The game’s sophisticated narrative remains true to the ways of its predecessors, offering a thoughtful story that envelops the player. In conjunction, the combat system runs as deep as the storytelling, promoting complex mechanics and combinations to create unique gameplay experiences. At its core, the Pillars of Eternity universe boasts a charm and quality that is worthy of ranking among the most established names in fiction.
Pillars of Eternity belongs to the CRPG subgenre. Historically, the term CRPG meant “Computer Role-Playing Games”, and was used to describe pen-and-paper adventures like Dungeons & Dragons that had been reimagined as video games. This provided players with an alternative format to the tabletop, though CRPG has been adapted to more aptly describe “Classic Role-Playing Games” in modern usage. Despite the acronym being somewhat fluid, CRPGs are defined by their strong emphasis on character development and storytelling.
The Infinity Engine games are among the most prolific of the subgenre. In the late ‘90s, game studio BioWare created the Infinity Engine, a game development toolkit first used for the original Baldur’s Gate, one of the most beloved Dungeons & Dragons games of all time.2 The Infinity Engine would later be adopted by Black Isle Studios to create the equally praised Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment. Although these titles have largely fallen out of the public eye, each game was critically acclaimed, with Baldur’s Gate being cited as “single-handedly revitalis[ing] the traditional RPG genre”.
From a design perspective, Pillars of Eternity draws heavily from the Infinity Engine. The game uses isometric graphics that position the player’s camera angle from a fixed, slightly top-down point of view; this approach is often associated with the Infinity Engine games that proudly employed the same style. Beyond visual comparisons, Pillars of Eternity shares a similar pacing as the Infinity Engine games, drawing on the Real-Time With Pause technique. Real-Time With Pause is a pacing style where the player can freeze in-game time at will to reposition their character, give instructions to the rest of their party members, or determine a new stratagem. The inspiration from the Infinity Engine is, in part, not surprising since personnel such as Josh Sawyer, a former Black Isle designer on the Icewind Dale series, was the game director of Pillars of Eternity. In fact, Obsidian Entertainment was founded as a successor to Black Isle Studios. This connection to the Infinity Engine invokes a unique justification in Obsidian’s claims to recreate its allure.
Moving past the admiration for BioWare’s game engine, Pillars of Eternity uses its own in-depth mechanics to simulate the complexity and customization of tabletop role-playing games. The game uses an attribute system to categorise and distribute player statistics. These attributes are taken into account for damage calculation, unlocking specific dialogue options, and taking specialised actions during scripted story events. Attributes are an artefact from the digitization of pen-and-paper games, and are a commonly used character-building model that has been interpreted many times over. Pillars of Eternity allows the player to leverage attributes in exciting ways that often result in one-of-a-kind builds and playstyles. Using this complex system as a foundation, the player’s chosen metrics heavily influence gameplay through the playable classes. Each class represents a subset of unique talents and abilities, with a diverse selection ranging from the hulking barbarian to the shapeshifting druid. Classes rely on specific attributes to scale the player-character’s strengths. The game’s classes are fine-tuned, actively influence gameplay, and above all are enjoyable to play. Effectively designing such an ecosystem is the mark of a well-crafted role-playing experience that leaves players wanting to return to try new combinations; Pillars of Eternity is a paramount execution of this.
Although rewarding gameplay is a crucial component in a CRPG, the most memorable aspect is often its ability to effectively convey a story. “The story is really, yeah, a big part of I think what people are paying for when you buy an Infinity Engine-style game”, says Eric Fenstermaker, Lead Narrative Design for Pillars of Eternity. “That’s part of what people remember about those games that made them good”, he adds. It was important for Obsidian to tell a thoughtful story, one that would remain relevant and worthwhile over the course of time. To achieve this, the game follows the Chosen One archetype, where the protagonist possesses an innate gift that qualifies them to solve an impending conflict. In this case, the player-character’s gift is being a Watcher, a person with the ability to peer into others’ souls. This characteristic provides an explanation for the player-character’s involvement in the main story.
Additionally, the nature of Pillars of Eternity’s plot provides a unique writing opportunity. Being a Watcher, the player-character possesses the ability to communicate with the souls of the deceased and, occasionally, the living. The writers at Obsidian use this mechanic as a means of seamlessly injecting extra context in dialogue. This expands the game’s storytelling abilities beyond the scope of the player-character, allowing for multiple perspectives to be explored in a conversation as the player has an explicable reason to observe events from the perspective of other characters. This technique greatly enhances world-building and makes dialogue feel far more detailed.
The quality of Pillars of Eternity’s gameplay is apparent, but there is also significance in its supplementary content. Along with the game itself, the Definitive Edition includes a plethora of extras, including a 500 page strategy guide, a digital map of the game world, and an original Novella, to name a few. This additional content helps to round out the universe and exemplifies the immense effort that went into creating a world that feels established and full. Pillars of Eternity may not have the decades of existence that Dungeons & Dragons has, but it is evident Obsidian did not cut any corners when attempting to compete with the power of such an established franchise. Today, Pillars of Eternity lives at the forefront of Obsidian’s creative focus, with their upcoming game Avowed taking place in the same universe.3
Because Pillars of Eternity is the first entry in an original world, it does not have the advantage of building off of an existing universe like the Infinity Engine games. Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment are all products of Dungeons & Dragons. These games were created atop of an established foundation, allowing them to focus on telling particular stories without the worry of contextual overhead. Obsidian not only had to create a compelling narrative, but fill in the blanks of the game’s history and lore. A common complaint the game faces is that it offloads too much information onto players, overwhelming them with information. There is a hint of truth to this concern, as large blocks of text are present through the majority of the game to provide a high level of detail to its characters and setting. However, this is a necessary step in creating a world so immense. This may cause friction among some of the game’s audience, but the objective of bringing a world to life that no one has seen before is achieved thanks to this.
At its core, Pillars of Eternity is a love letter to not only to the Infinity Engine and Dungeons & Dragons, but to the art of making games. The game draws from its predecessors in more ways than one, but breathes new life to the design choices present in the classics to colossal success. The execution of thoughtful mechanics and a captivating narrative intertwine to form exceptional gameplay. Above all, this game proves it is not the renown of a franchise or childhood nostalgia that make the classic CRPG experience so worthwhile; instead, the qualities that lead to a game as successful as Pillars of Eternity are impactful storytelling and engaging system design. Obsidian’s passion for these qualities pulled them through one of the studio’s most difficult times, resulting in a game that would not only save them from shutting down, but become a brilliant example for the CRPG subgenre.
- In the opening scenes of the making-of documentary, The Road To Eternity, Obsidian employees detail the hardship and layoffs that occurred as a result of the project cancellation. ↩︎
- Baldur’s Gate – the first game built with the Infinity Engine – sold its initial 50,000 physical copies immediately, according to Mark Asher’s article on CNET Gamecenter. ↩︎
- From Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart, “Expanding the universe that we created for the original Pillars of Eternity games, Avowed brings a new perspective, a new way to fight, and a new land to explore in the world of Eora”. ↩︎