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Comparing Tyranny to Pillars of Eternity

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Oct 16, 2013
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Hi I played Pillars a number of times and really enjoyed it. I've been looking forward to Tyranny, and had the pleasure of beating it over the weekend. I'd like to talk about the differences I noticed between each game and share my opinions on the changes.

Lore

The first thing I noticed is the change in tone between the two game's lore. While both games feature a low tech fantasy setting with magic, they feel drastically different.

Tyranny is very dark and depressing. Nobody has any hope, and those that do admit to a suicidal cause. There is death everywhere. Rotting corpses strewn across recent battlefields. There is hardly a hint of any society whatsoever due to constant conflict within the region.

Pillars, on the other hand, had a working society. There were multiple towns with women and children and people going about their lives somewhat normally. But it wasn't all green and roses, there were definitely some extreme dark moments and a nasty villain up to some mysterious yet obviously nefarious work. But the evil felt to be lurking in the shadows, hidden enough that most townsfolk had their own lives to worry about yet evil enough that you had to seek it out.

Since I've only played Tyranny once, I'm not as familiar with the scope of the story as I am with Pillars. However, I think Pillars had a superior world and story. There was heavy contrast which made the world feel more real. Tyranny became bland, and I just got numb to the amount of darkness and death.

Combat

Both games have their merits in this category. There were some really awesome spells in Tyranny. I dont know if its a spoiler to describe them, so I wont. But the special effects were great, and I thought the spells were pretty original...though perhaps over powered.

I loved the idea of custom spells. It reminded me of path of exile gems, and that's just great. However, the game ended before I could really create a cool spell. Just as I was able to create spells with lore requirements over 80, the game was done.

Both games have artifact weapons, which i think are pretty cool. Items that gain renown and grow more powerful as you use them is a cool mechanic. However, I think I gotta say Pillars did them slightly better. In pillars you gained extra effects as the item gained renown. In Tyranny, the numbers just go up "more aoe, more damage". I was really excited to level up my artifact in pillars to gain the extra effects, but in Tyranny I didn't even bother to check their progress after equipping them.

Pillars also had dragons to fight. Really strong enemies that were generally optional to fight, but gave really good rewards for beating them. Tyranny didn't have anything like this really.

Pillars also had an endless dungeon to battle in and farm up gear, Tyranny does not.

Home base

Pillars had Caed Nua that you restored to be your keep. Tyranny has 5 spires that you capture and place an upgrade in each. I honestly liked the Tyranny spires better. They served as portals around the world, while also remaining small and convenient to visit/rest. Caed Nua had like 3 loading screens just to get the rest bonus, and I don't think i ever used it.

Characters

This was a huge change. In Tyranny, you get the NPCs and can customize them a bit. But there are NO complete custom characters. In Pillars, you can recruit a brand new character, give it a name, a race, a gender, a class, everything. You could build an entire party of custom characters and play the game a number of different ways. This added a ton of replayability, and is the reason I played through the game 4 or 5 times.

I'm pretty bummed you can't make a custom party in Tyranny. You can build the characters a couple different ways, but it doesn't compare at all. Playing 6 rangers with 6 bears was really fun, or 6 chanters. I know we all hold balance and diversity as an ideal, but sometimes cheese is a lot of fun.

Game Length

I feel like if Pillars ended after Act 2, that is where Tyranny is. Imagine Pillars if you never get to meet or fight Thaos. Its like they just said "ship it, we'll put Act 3 in text and they'll read about what happens next for 10 minutes, then roll credits"

Beyond not giving a satisfying end to the story, it was a complete blue balls experience for my party. I had just unlocked Edicts, I finally got some powerful equipment, my party was about ready to take on some hefty challenges...and then just nothing. Game over. Credits.

Overall Tyranny is a very good game, but it feels incomplete. If they wanted to wait on shipping the third act, they should have released this for $20. It does feel like a bit of a rip off for $40 to just basically say "to be continued...probably"
 
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I really disagree on Pillars having a better story. It certainly had a larger scope, but to be fair it also had a very cliche and "safe" world. It wasn't anything we hadn't seen a thousand times. It was too generic. Tyranny's world is, in my opinion, enthralling, because it really does escape the norm for fantasy. I loved the concept of a generally low fantasy world where, at the same time, there's this amazingly powerful and conceptually interesting kinds of magic like edicts.

Ultimately, for me, Tyranny is to Pillars what Planescape is to BG1. BG1 is bigger but ultimately less interesting/original. Tyranny has the upper hand over pillars for me though just by virtue of it's potd mode being actually fun. Tyranny doesn't throw dozens of mobs at you to make "challenge", the best builds don't revolve around only aoeing everything to death. Tryanny's combat system makes for more interesting and entertaining encounters, and I *love* the addition of combo abilities.

Also, some of us wish Pillars actually did end at act 2. Act 3 was abysmal in my view. Wish Tyranny were longer, but Pillars length works against it, in my view.
 
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eatssteak3 said:
I really disagree on Pillars having a better story. It certainly had a larger scope, but to be fair it also had a very cliche and "safe" world. It wasn't anything we hadn't seen a thousand times. It was too generic. Tyranny's world is, in my opinion, enthralling, because it really does escape the norm for fantasy. I loved the concept of a generally low fantasy world where, at the same time, there's this amazingly powerful and conceptually interesting kinds of magic like edicts.

Ultimately, for me, Tyranny is to Pillars what Planescape is to BG1. BG1 is bigger but ultimately less interesting/original. Tyranny has the upper hand over pillars for me though just by virtue of it's potd mode being actually fun. Tyranny doesn't throw dozens of mobs at you to make "challenge", the best builds don't revolve around only aoeing everything to death. Tryanny's combat system makes for more interesting and entertaining encounters, and I *love* the addition of combo abilities.

Also, some of us wish Pillars actually did end at act 2. Act 3 was abysmal in my view. Wish Tyranny were longer, but Pillars length works against it, in my view.
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I am going to have to agree here no matter how much I tried I could not get into pillars it never drew me in and I like my rpgs I play a lot of em. Even if tyranny is shorter it's setting and story is setting my mind abuzz with questions and I hope we get dlc's and expansions to expand the story of the game knowing how well the game did I know it's going to happen.

Plus we need to know the most important question

we must know kyros's gender all the archons are so dam coy and cheeky when you ask them.
 
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Did you guys beat Pillars of Eternity? Because the story and ending are fantastic and

but to be fair it also had a very cliche and "safe" world. It wasn't anything we hadn't seen a thousand times.
Click to expand...

is completely false...
 
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Seeders said:
Did you guys beat Pillars of Eternity? Because the story and ending are fantastic and



is completely false...
Click to expand...

I think I felt that Pillars of Eternity had great writing and tried to be a really interesting example of the standard cRPG story, but it still seemed mired in overused traditions in many ways. I admired their attempt to give us an enjoyable narrative, but ultimately to me it still seemed to be fitted onto the same old frame. I've played a LOT of RPGs at this point in my life, and I've seen the whole progression played out enough times that I'm a little weary of Small Fry with Special Ability Becomes Hero > Bad Guy Has Behind-the-Scenes Totally Evil Plan > Hero Confronts Big Bad, Decides the Fate of the World

For me Tyranny is infinitely more interesting because I feel like it's doing so many things that I've never really seen before. I can have my companions obey me out of fear instead of loyalty. I can actively foster wrath among my so-called allies. I'm an agent of a war machine, not some shining beacon of hope. Tyranny fascinates me because of its subversiveness and experimentation, where Pillars eventually bored me because I ultimately found it rather predictable regardless of the quality of the writing. I feel like I never really know what Tyranny might do next, and I love that.
 
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eatssteak3 said:
I really disagree on Pillars having a better story. It certainly had a larger scope, but to be fair it also had a very cliche and "safe" world. It wasn't anything we hadn't seen a thousand times. It was too generic. Tyranny's world is, in my opinion, enthralling, because it really does escape the norm for fantasy. I loved the concept of a generally low fantasy world where, at the same time, there's this amazingly powerful and conceptually interesting kinds of magic like edicts.

Ultimately, for me, Tyranny is to Pillars what Planescape is to BG1. BG1 is bigger but ultimately less interesting/original. Tyranny has the upper hand over pillars for me though just by virtue of it's potd mode being actually fun. Tyranny doesn't throw dozens of mobs at you to make "challenge", the best builds don't revolve around only aoeing everything to death. Tryanny's combat system makes for more interesting and entertaining encounters, and I *love* the addition of combo abilities.

Also, some of us wish Pillars actually did end at act 2. Act 3 was abysmal in my view. Wish Tyranny were longer, but Pillars length works against it, in my view.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you. The lore, design and concepts in Tyranny are way much more interesting and fun. PoE was a good game but Tyranny is literally charming me in. Too bad that its length is so limited.
 
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desiriel said:
I have to agree with you. The lore, design and concepts in Tyranny are way much more interesting and fun. PoE was a good game but Tyranny is literally charming me in. Too bad that its length is so limited.
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I think with the DLC's/expansions the length will be "just" right the ending just left me hungering for more. ; /
 
I agree the writing in Tyranny tighter and less prone to meandering lore dumps that don't add much to the story. By their own admission, the Pillars writers rushed story development and should have put more time into narrative edits.

My problem with Tyranny is the combat is just too damn easy. On hard it's not much of a challenge. I blame this entirely on the switch to ability cool downs rather than a per-rest spell system.
 
Flowmastah said:
I agree the writing in Tyranny tighter and less prone to meandering lore dumps that don't add much to the story. By their own admission, the Pillars writers rushed story development and should have put more time into narrative edits.

My problem with Tyranny is the combat is just too damn easy. On hard it's not much of a challenge. I blame this entirely on the switch to ability cool downs rather than a per-rest spell system.
Click to expand...

I actually greatly prefer that switch. I was constantly hesitant in Pillars about using Per Rest spells when here I don't have to concern myself with it. I do agree that combat is a bit easier here, but that's not much of an issue for me, especially because I also find it more enjoyable and dynamic.
 
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Flowmastah said:
I agree the writing in Tyranny tighter and less prone to meandering lore dumps that don't add much to the story. By their own admission, the Pillars writers rushed story development and should have put more time into narrative edits.

My problem with Tyranny is the combat is just too damn easy. On hard it's not much of a challenge. I blame this entirely on the switch to ability cool downs rather than a per-rest spell system.
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Why not play on potd if comba is too easy on hard?

@Topic
I don't prefer either of the games, I loved Poe and I like Tyranny a lot.
I wasn't a fan of per rest, ut I always used chars that avoided the mechanic.
What I like especially about Tyranny is the addition of precision to accuracy and deflection to the defensive attributes, it's more complex this way and I just love that in a game.
 
@Seeders
Whilst I do agree a lot with your post I just wanted to post a couple of corrections since I am playing through a pillars game now with the latest update.

  • Pillars does not have an endless dungeon, it does end and there is a bottom. Once you reach and kill the underlord.
  • Once you are in caed nua you can just rest anywhere, as if you were resting in the inn you build. The camp icon changes to a bed icon.
Otherwise great comparison. Personally, one thing that is great about tyranny, is that it has encouraged me to play through pillars and I am even planning on playing the baldurs gate and icewind dale series.
 
Haha i totally downloaded Icewind Dale on my phone after playing Pillars. Unfortunately i dont have much time to play on my phone, and its just not a great game for mobile.
 
@Seeders
Once I finish pillars i am gonna play through the other games i they order they were made, IE:

  • Baldurs gate
  • Baldurs gate 2
  • icewind dale
  • icewind dale 2
Also am getting the enhanced editions for all of them. gonna be good :D
 
Seeders said:
Did you guys beat Pillars of Eternity? Because the story and ending are fantastic and
Click to expand...


I have in fact beaten PoE and White March 1&2 multiple times. 323 hours logged on it in Steam, in fact.

I believe you're confusing writing with story. Pillars had excellent and immersive writing, but the story was not amazing to say the least. It was okay, but really, what about it was so utterly fantastic? It seemed like a retelling of Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor (The Brothers Karamazov) in a fantasy world. I don't see how the ending is all that great lol, at all.
 
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