Deadfire Should Have Lost Me

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire gave me a massive world to explore, but its companions are the reason I actually wanted to explore it. Eder, Aloth, Xoti, Tekehu, Serafen, and the rest of Deadfire’s crew argue, flirt, judge your decisions, annoy each other, and occasionally abandon you entirely. Somewhere along the way, familiar RPG archetypes start feeling remarkably like real people. In this video, I’m looking at how Deadfire uses its companions to bring its world to life, along with its faction-driven worldbuilding, layered visual design, atmosphere, and the technical problems I encountered playing the game on PS5. Because after multiple playthroughs, crashes, combat glitches, and more load screens than any human being should reasonably endure, I realized something: Deadfire’s companions didn’t just make the game better. THEY SAVED IT. Music: Selections from the Mass Effect Legendary Edition / Mass Effect trilogy soundtracks. Mass Effect, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and related names, characters, music, and assets are trademarks and/or copyrighted works of Electronic Arts Inc. and BioWare. All rights belong to their respective owners. Music is used for commentary, criticism, and review purposes. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and related names, characters, imagery, and assets belong to their respective rights holders. Gameplay footage is used for commentary, criticism, and review purposes.