Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part 2 Review

I love Pillars of Eternity. A true modern CRPG masterpiece, it took the fundamentals of the infinity engine games and brought them into the 21^st century and a whole new world. Coming from the developers of such experiences as KotOR2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout New Vegas and South Park: The Stick of Truth, it was a true spiritual successor to the classical isometric RPG’s of yore.

Set in the fantasy world of Eora, you play as a “Watcher,” who can see souls and past lives, as you hunt for an explanation as to why you have these powers and a solution to the big fertility issue known as the Hollowborn Problem. It was originally Kickstarter’d in 2012, came out last year and was quickly followed up with the first part of the expansion, which I gave a solid 4/5, Based on current Score that would be 8/10

Finally, after a few months and a short delay Obsidian are about to release the final part of Pillars; but does it do the rest of the game justice.

Yes. Yes, it does.

Coming up to speed, the Watcher and his/her band of (rather depressing) followers have recently reignited the White Forge in Durgan’s Battery and “saved” the village. Upon returning to their stronghold for a nap, the Watcher is plagued by a horrific nightmare which eventually leads him/her back to the March.

I really, really don’t want to spoil the storyline, as it’s distinctly better than the previous expansion, but it begins back at Durgan’s Battery, where the people of the village of Stalwart are attempting to use the reignited forge to rebuild their lives, but find themselves faced with an army, which, as the hero, you are asked to take down.

All in all, the baseline of the story it pretty standard. It starts as you’d expect with a few interesting twists along the way, but is of a similar quality to the stellar storytelling of the base game.

Whilst this expansion takes place in the same world-space as the previous one, you won’t be re-treading all of the exact same areas. An early example is the inclusion of the mines as an explorable areas; now open following the return of the White Forge to operation. As always, landscapes and areas are beautifully drawn and rendered to perfection, with a variety of interesting new enemies to battle with inhabiting the new areas. Possibly the most striking of these areas is the Abbey of the Fallen Moon; a strange temple partially constructed from bones. It’s beautifully bleak, setting the location apart from almost anything else in the game.

Apart from the landscapes, my favourite thing about Pillars has always been the general character design philosophy and Obsidian’s attention to detail when crafting characters, both good and evil, in terms of not only their visuals but their dialogue as a whole. And oh boy, they didn’t disappoint for this expansion either.

The newest member of the Watcher’s team is Meneha; an Aumaua (How on earth do you say that again?) Barbarian with a holy purpose and a hell of a lot of strength. She’s a pretty funny character with a deep, convoluted story surrounding her which I wouldn’t want to spoil, but I will say that I vastly prefer her over the other Aumaua companion in the game. I mean, seriously, who likes Kana Rua? Whilst I found The Devil of Caroc from Part 1 more interesting overall, Meneha is still pretty fun to play and a welcome addition to any party.

Arguable the most interesting enemies in the expansion are the Eyeless. I won’t say who they are or what role they play in the story, but they’re basically massive golems made out of a combination of organic material and metals, and when I say massive, I mean massive. They’re powerful, they’re ominous, they’re terrifying and they’re awesome. Need I say more?

All in all, I could sum up Pillars of Eternity: The White March – Part 2 in ten words if I wanted to; It’s more of the same, but that’s a GOOD thing! It’s not really an improvement on either the base game or the previous expansion, but it increases the level cap and gives you even more of Eora to explore if you so wish. If you didn’t like the original game or expansion, you shouldn’t bother, but if you want more Pillars of Eternity then you should just buy it. Now.