Baldur’s Gate 3 is the massive, world-changing isometric party-based RPG that everybody’s nonetheless speaking about, however I’ve all the time felt that Pillars of Eternity is the sport that basically first began turning that engine over. The OG Infinity Engine vibes have been sturdy, but it surely stood properly by itself deserves too: We known as it “a deep, wealthy, and splendidly written RPG that lives as much as the towering legacy of the video games that impressed it” in our 92% assessment.
That was in 2015, thoughts, almost a full decade in the past, which is why it comes as a bit little bit of a shock that developer Obsidian has launched a model new patch for the sport that is now accessible within the Pillars of Eternity beta department on Steam.
The patch does not add any new content material but it surely does repair numerous bugs and gameplay points. There are no full-scale sport breakers within the listing of fixes, however stuff like surprising T-poses, troubles with audio triggers, slowness when skipping intros, and inaccessible areas in varied scenes have all been cleared up.
One factor you will not see within the patch are any of the brand new options added to the sequel, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. In response to at least one fan who requested for a turn-based mode, which was added to Pillars 2 in a post-launch replace, Obsidian design director Josh Sawyer (through GamesRadar) urged that tech limitations imply it isn’t going to occur.
So why is an almost 10-year-old RPG getting a brand new patch? It is potential that with Avowed, Obsidian’s upcoming first-person RPG set on the earth of Pillars of Eternity, set to return out this yr, the studio desires to verify every part is tuned and tightened for newcomers who need to see the place it began. It is also potential builders bought bored over the vacations, though… properly, no, that is in all probability not it.
Just a few optimists put ahead the hope that the patch may sign that the wheels are turning on Pillars of Eternity 3. Sawyer mentioned final yr that he’d love to do a 3rd sport, however provided that he had a Baldur’s Gate 3-size price range to do it. He additionally mentioned throughout a GDC roundtable that the primary two Pillars video games are “probably the most compromised” he is ever labored on as a result of crowdfunding backers wished a really particular Infinity Engine-style expertise, “and now I’ve a bunch of latest concepts for a way in a different way I might do it if I have been doing it by myself”—that’s, with out being beholden to different individuals’s concepts or expectations.
Pillars of Eternity 3 does not appear to be fairly the lengthy shot it did even only a yr in the past. Baldur’s Gate 3 demonstrated emphatically that there is nonetheless life left within the outdated style, and with Obsidian now no less than theoretically accessing Microsoft cash, something appears potential—after Avowed, after all.
Pillars can also be apparently a favourite of a vital individual on the Microsoft gaming entrance: Xbox boss Phil Spencer just lately shared his Xbox Yr in Evaluation stats, revealing that he is bought 124 hours within the sport, placing within the high 5% of the sport’s most energetic gamers.
Each minute was price it. So enjoyable to see this yr’s Xbox Yr in Evaluation and look again in any respect the video games I performed in 2023. Let’s see your #XboxYearinReview https://t.co/17kJSLiNIE pic.twitter.com/KTeBuxGL5JDecember 12, 2023
To see the brand new Pillars of Eternity patch in motion, right-click on the Pillars entry in your Steam library, choose “Properties,” after which head to the “Betas” menu. Underneath “Beta participation,” select “public_beta,” anticipate the sport to replace, and also you’re set. The complete patch notes are beneath.
Common:
- We have now up to date to Unity Model 2019.4.11.
Navigation:
- Fastened areas that might not be navigated in quite a few scenes.
- The lake in Cayron’s Scar ought to not be unintentionally traversable when submerged.
Visible and Audio:
- Fastened a number of circumstances the place characters may T-Pose briefly at first of a cutscene.
- Fastened a difficulty the place paperdolls in character creation and stock screens may seem blurry.
- Overwhelming Wave ought to extra reliably play its visible results.
- Fastened VFX points with the Woodskin spell rotating or attaching incorrectly.
- Symbols western chamber of Lle a Rhemen ought to now correctly gentle up when anticipated.
- Fastened redundant horn audio taking part in after the battle of Yenwood.
- Fastened a difficulty the place making an attempt to open locked containers may play a number of voice traces directly.
- Fastened a handful of circumstances the place dialogue audio wouldn’t play when sure nodes have been re-triggered.
Quests and Dialogue:
- Prepared the Cannons aspect quest ought to now correctly replace its aims.
- Dialogue from Buried Secrets and techniques quest ought to not enable the participant to demand their fee greater than as soon as.
- Fastened a difficulty the place a number of barked traces in Gilded Vale may overlap excessively.
- Fastened a difficulty the place Eder’s bark traces within the Temple of Eothas might finish abruptly.
- Fastened a case the place Calisca may set off the unsuitable bark line close to the camp inside Cilant Lîs.
Fight and Mechanics:
- Earth Blights ought to not typically detach from their choice circles when dominated.
- Scroll of Ray of Fireplace ought to now seem appropriately and extra precisely match the conduct of the Ray of Fireplace spell.
- Fastened a case the place manually resolving stronghold fight may typically yield no rewards.
- Fastened a case the place susceptible characters may attempt to transfer whereas susceptible, leading to sliding conduct.
- Concelhaut’s Draining Missiles ought to not often present 0.0 harm within the fight log.
- Weapon Specialization: Peasant ought to now reliably add its harm to unarmed assaults.
- Fastened some circumstances the place the Halt spell may confuse enemy AI, inflicting them to repeatedly interrupt and re-attempt their very own actions.
- Eliminated errant untargetable Xaurip that might typically seem in Dyrford Crossing.
- Fastened a case the place Sleafhota may teleport to an alternate location mid-dialogue earlier than attacking the participant.
- Attacking Osrya instantly will now reliably have interaction along with her revenant and skeleton minions.
- Fastened a case the place all survival tenting bonuses may seem after spending solely a single talent rank on Survival.
Consumer Interface and Interplay:
- Fastened a UI subject the place chants may typically clip past their scrolling body.
- Fastened a case the place the harm sort icon on the character sheet won’t place appropriately.
- Fastened some circumstances the place assigning companions to a number of stronghold missions directly may trigger UI points.
- Fast loading with the crafting or enchanting UI open ought to not end in a everlasting black display screen.
- Fastened a typo within the description of Animal Companions.
- Fastened a difficulty the place highlighting sure components of a defeated enemy wouldn’t permit you to loot them.
- Doorways in some scenes that have been tough to work together with have had their collision revised and will now be extra dependable.
- Fastened a case the place the ultimate strain plate within the Temple of Woedica wouldn’t seem.
- Analyzing the wall trophy within Elm’s Attain ought to now be potential.
- Skipping intros when first beginning the consumer ought to now be extra responsive.