Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Map Praise

With its fairly impressive visuals, overworld map reminiscent of Storm of Zehir, and incredibly detailed and tactile city maps, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire can be considered a benchmark when it comes to isometric RPG maps. Kotaku seems to agree, having penned this article that praises Deadfire’s maps. Here’s an excerpt:

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is a big epic fantasy game about gods, pirates, boats, and ghosts, but what’s stuck with me post-game is how good the maps are. They’re really good, and the navigation is even better.

Following the Baldur’s Gate franchise, the first Pillars of Eternity game has two “layers” to the world. The first is the area that you wander around and do your adventuring in, and the second is a regional map with lots of nodes that you could travel to in order to do that wandering, fighting, or whatever. It was a functional, old-school system that hearkened back to its roots, but it was nothing to write home about.

Deadfire’s maps—done by Obsidian’s Matt Hansen and Kaz Aruga—are infinitely better and cooler than its predecessor. You move across them in real time, pick up items that have been abandoned, and can go to “minor” locations that trigger little skill checks and story events. They’re there to fill out the world and make it feel like you and your party are on a real adventure with all of the small, bump-in-the-road moments that a real party might experience.