Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire review – swashbuckling retro fun

Pillars of Eternity is an ambitious and successful gamble on role-playing game nostalgia, aimed squarely at people who enjoyed Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment. The first game, released in 2015, brought in $4m in funding on Kickstarter. Its sequel, Deadfire, also raised over $4m in crowdfunding, and has just been released. Unlike its predecessor, Deadfire is arriving into a market with many similar games attempting to leverage 90s RPG nostalgia while adding their own twists to the genre. It doesn't rock the boat too much, but a fresh theme, clever writing and improvements to the look and feel make it a very enjoyable play. Speaking of boats, in Deadfire you are a naval explorer: you choose where you go, on land or at sea, and what route you take.