Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat, all but demanding replays

I played a lot of Obsidian's Avowed after it came out. I appreciate that the game offers both a whole lot of world-building lore if you want it, but also the ability to skip it all if you want to get back to grimoires, guns, and scarfing food while dodging attacks. But all those gods and races and islands must have sunk in. As I neared the end of Avowed's journey, I find myself wondering about the earlier games in Obsidian's world of Eora in its Pillars of Eternity series, which passed me by entirely.

The same thing happened with Baldur's Gate 3, which pulled me in deep and left me wondering if I'd dig the earlier titles. But after an hour or two in the first entry, I was done, for much the same reason as with the first Pillars: I just can't hack it (pun intended) in real-time-with-pause combat.

"Real-time-with-pause" has never been a perfect descriptor; technically, Avowed plays out in real time, as do most games, which also offer pausing. But look at a couple videos and you'll get the gist: your party hacks, slashes, and casts largely on its own, but you can interject to redirect, re-equip, or force a potion on one of your crew. If you have control issues, or don't have the clicking speed you had as a younger gamer, real-time-with-pause can be a humbling experience.

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