Do you really wish you could play complex, computer RPG Pillars of Eternity on your telly, with a controller? No, us neither, but here we are.
There are a few genres of games that don’t translate particularly well from PC to console, including but not limited to:
- Strategy games
- Management/simulation games
- MMOs
- MOBAs
- Dungeons & Dragons-style RPGs
Keep that last point in mind for the following announcement from Paradox Interactive:
“Pillars of Eternity, originally the result of a crowdfunding campaign by over 75,000 backers, first released for PC platforms to broad critical acclaim, winning several awards for its rich story and deep, original world. Now, the original game, alongside the expansions The White March – Parts I & II, will be released as Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition for the PlayStation®4 and Xbox One consoles on August 29, 2017.”
This isn’t snobbery on our part, by the way. Thumbsticks doesn’t subscribe to the ‘PC master race’ bullshit, and if you want to play a first-person shooter with a controller and not a keyboard and mouse? That’s absolutely fine.
So we’re all in favour of Paradox bringing their games to as wide a variety of players as possible, but on this specific example, we have our doubts.
Given that I tried playing Pillars of Eternity on a high-end tablet PC, both with the touchscreen interface (using a very expensive and precise pen, not my sausage fingers) and an Xbox 360 controller, I can categorically say the only way I found it worked was with a keyboard and mouse.
Apparently, Pillars of Eternity has been redesigned with a new, big-screen compatible UI and gamepad-friendly controls, but the idea that it will actually work, and work well enough? We’ll believe that when we see it.
