GameSided Game of the Year 2015 | Daniel’s Picks

Daniel’s Game of the Year #5 – Pillars of Eternity

Tapping into “The Good Ol’ Days” for gaming is an effective way to sell a video game. Considering that Obsidian Entertainment was on the brink of bankruptcy before launching the Project Eternity Kickstarter (eventually becoming Pillars of Eternity), the company could very well have only had those gaming memories to look back fondly upon.

Thankfully, Pillars of Eternity brought back the CRPG genre in a style similar to that of Baldur’s Gate, with a deeply immersive world that harkens back to a time where storytelling was just as important as gameplay mechanics. Those punishing skill systems, wonderful companions and intriguing storylines added a certain mythos, harkening back to a very specific time in games development back in the late 1990’s.

More importantly, Pillars of Eternity was developed, created and engineered by people who were making these kinds of games back when they were new pieces of gaming property. Chris Avellone, Josh Sawyer, Tim Cain and Adam Brennecke were among the chiefs in charge of bringing it together in a functioning form, using a gameplay engine that is era-appropriate. Everything about Pillars of Eternity screams of a better time, yet releasing in the year 2015. Can’t go wrong with that!

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