NextHive’s inaugural GOTY is Obsidian’s Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the fantastic RPG that sends players after a rampaging god.

2018 was a strong year for video games. With countless fantastic games released, it was as hard as ever to pick our GOTY. Many titles pushed the envelope in terms of technical achievement or design sensibility. We’ve played plenty that could compete for this prize, and there are many others we haven’t had a chance to get around to yet. Even so, the winner for our 2018 Game Of The Year is Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire.

The GOTY

Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire is the follow-up to 2015’s Pillars Of Eternity. An isometric role-playing game in the vein of the older Infinity Engine games, Deadfire did what the predecessor didn’t. While PoE was largely defined by nostalgia meaning it managed to stand out on its own merits in spite of the setting and story, not because of them, Deadfire brought plenty of fresh ideas to the table.

Replacing the standard green-brown forested medieval Europe copy fantasy setting with a vibrant tropical archipelago was the first step. The game was infused with a heavy dose of pirate inspiration. You have your own ship – which can be customized -, and you could sail among the many islands of the Deadfire. The setting was interesting and unique, incorporating issues of colonialism both into the story and locales.

The morality system is among the best executed in any RPG. The writing, as always from Obsidian, is top-notch. The combat system was refined and tweaked, but not changed too much compared to the first game. Why fix something that isn’t broken? The game’s characters and quests remained engaging throughout its lengthy run.

Where Pillars Of Eternity succeeded in emulating the classics and reach the same heights as them, Deadfire in turn even managed to eclipse the giants that came before. Not only do we think it is the best game of 2018, but one of the best RPGs ever.

The Runner-Ups

As we stated before, 2018 was a strong year for games. Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire had some very strong competition. PlayStation 4 players, in particular, were treated to two fantastic exclusives – God of War and Spiderman. The compelling father-son dynamic in the former and perfectly realized open world in the latter made them defining games of their platform. It’s impossible to go without mentioning the highly anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey brought an even bigger change of pace for the arguably stale franchise than Origins did.

We already know about plenty of major released coming in 2019 and are looking forward to how the gaming industry evolves in the new year.