Pillars of Eternity II Deadfire

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is Obsidian Entertainment's sequel to their critically acclaimed isometric RPG revival, shifting the setting from Eora's continental Dyrwood to the tropical Deadfire Archipelago. The story opens with a literal earthquake: Eothas, god of light and rebirth thought long dead, has returned by inhabiting the stone titan buried under your keep at Caed Nua and torn his way out of the ground, destroying your stronghold and nearly killing you in the process. Saving your soul means tracking down the wayward god across the sea and demanding answers.

The sea is the new gameplay layer. You captain your own ship — the stronghold-equivalent of this game — across the archipelago, upgrading the vessel and the crew, learning ship combat for sea encounters, and dealing with the multiple factions competing for control of the Deadfire's hundreds of islands. Some of those islands have never been charted; others house rich native cultures and a new wave of colonial settlers. Your role in the political situation is more open than the first game's framing.

Mechanically the game refines and expands its predecessor substantially. Seven companions are available to join your quest, each with their own class options and significantly deeper personal relationship arcs through the new companion system. Multiclassing lets you mix two classes per character. Patch 5.0 added a full turn-based mode that can be played alongside or instead of the original real-time-with-pause combat, plus The Ultimate challenge for players seeking the highest difficulty the game can offer. Detailed character customization, true freedom of exploration, and meaningful choices at every turn maintain the studio's signature commitment to player agency.