Ken Folletts The Pillars of the Earth

My mom has read this book (she is an ameteur writer), she is not very good with video games but since she was sick, every afternoon I'd bring my laptop to her and we would play this game for about an hour. There were a lot of saves and re-loads but in the end she loved how the story was depicted. Though some things in the game are different than in the books (the books version is much more graphic), she became a huge fan of the environment, how each choice truly mattered and how each character was portrayed.
I mainly bought this for her since I remembered the name. Money well spent!!

I enjoyed this game so much I read the book afterwards. For once, the game is better than the book.
As well as being beautiful to look at and to listen to, the game sticks faithfully to the story of the book while still finding ways to fix some of the less tasteful scenes Follett is - as I later learned - notorious for. The important story beats are intact, but the main characters have more depth, more charm, and a less intense focus on certain physical assets. Likewise, although the antagonists are as abhorrent as their literary counterparts, the game adds more nuance to their motivations, making for a richer experience overall.
Sometimes the historical inaccuracies can be distracting (unless you enjoy single-handedly inventing the entirety of modern architecture), and the gameplay is gentle, with little in the way of challenge. If you just want to immerse yourself in memorable characters and a story on an epic scale, however, this is an easy game to recommend.

• Multiple-perspective narrative. The pace in the first few chapters is kind of slow.
• Ecclesiastical influence, royal rivalries, family feuds, faith crisis, tons of Christian elements.
• Many missable achievements, but still possible to get 100% on a single playthrough.
• Treat it as a work of fiction, not as something that needs to be historically accurate.

Good visual and sound design, point-and-click gameplay with a few easy QTEs, quite simple puzzles to let you focus more on the story itself. But if you're really not into the story, this lack of gameplay variety could bore you easily. The storyline is deeper than I expected, but easy to catch up since all the information you need to know is already given in the game. I really like how later chapters introduce details that echo earlier sections. For example, I accidentally let venison spoil, and the characters still remember it and bring it up many years later:^
This game doesn't have a chapter select so when the story is finished, there's no way to rewind except through your save slot. It's a bit of a shame that I can't rewatch certain plots.

It's okay as long as you understand that this is a visual novel and not a point-and-click adventure. I don't think your choices matter much despite the tags, all roads lead to Kingsbridge as it were and you'll get a bit of an overview about the choices you made at the end of each chapter but that's about it.
There were a few points where I wanted to just vibe out with it as a visual novel letting some of the cut-scene narratives play out while I wandered about doing other stuff and listening with headphones - only to have a timed dialogue appear directly after and give me a 'The End' screen. That was annoying - I don't think having timed dialogue choices (nor a handful of quicktime mouse click events) added anything to the game.
But it's well produced, artwork is nice, the voice acting is quite good, there are a couple of bugs where the audio comes out of just the left channel but not often. It's pretty funny when Jack starts using "Big Boy Voice" but then often forgets to use it. The story lost me a bit around the end of Book 2 and into the start of Book 3 (apparently every story needs a lovelorn romance), but I got it on sale like most other reviewers seem to have so I can't complain much. Solid 6.5/10 and that's pretty good for a cheap and long-ish game which is mostly interesting.

For someone who hasn’t read the book this is based on, I was quite skeptical if picking up the game would be the right choice. I knew that The Pillars of the Earth was a rather complex story spanning multiple decades and filled with a myriad of characters. However, I had also heard that Ken Follett’s writing (an author I am not yet familiar with) tends to be a bit problematic in parts and that the game actually improves on the more questionable writing choices he made for the book. In any case, when I saw the positive reception this game received, I looked at some screenshots and that’s when I knew: I had to play this.
The reason for this sudden burst of determination was simple: I was hooked by the art style immediately. This game may actually be the most beautiful adventure game I have ever played. The artistry at work here is simply stunning. From the cold and wintry forests of the English hinterlands to the bulky and massive medieval castles all the way to the grandeur of early Gothic French cathedrals, the visuals of this game never ceased to amaze me. It’s not “only” craftsmanship that makes the art stand out, it is also the way it is used for storytelling purposes. A handful of scenes brought a tear to my eye simply for how elegant the art was incorporated into the story. I remain vague here to avoid spoilers but I needed to emphasize this point. The artistic talent on display is beyond doubt and I dearly hope that all the artists who worked on this found new employment since Daedalic closed its gates in 2023.
Besides the art, the narrative is where Pillars of the Earth really shines. We follow the events of a handful of main characters whose fates seem to be intertwined. The building of a large cathedral and the political circumstances surrounding its construction are at the forefront of the story. The setting is England in the 12th century. The king’s family has been slaughtered, the throne usurped; there is turmoil all around and people from all walks of life are affected by the geopolitical events happening around them. A power struggle between the current King Stephen and the Empress Maud has broken out, devious plots are hatched and alliances broken. And amidst all the chaos and the scheming, a humble prior undertakes the quest of a lifetime – to rebuild the church – figuratively by calling out high-ranking church officials for their sinful transgressions and literally by rebuilding the grand cathedral of Kingsbridge. It is only the start of a grand and intriguing tale about faith, trust, love, hate, the lust for power and the sacrifices one is willing to make to satiate it.
All that is to say that Pillars of the Earth is only a point-and-click game on the surface. Going into this expecting brain-wrecking puzzles or a high level of interactivity in general will only cause disappointment. This is a narrative game, more akin to a visual novel than an actual adventure game and you should be aware of that. You make small choices with short-term effects, you solve little puzzles to progress but overall, the story is set in stone and you are only here to experience it in a semi-interactive form. If that is a problem for you, don’t bother playing this. Every now and again, the game gives you a bit more freedom to explore a city or its surrounding areas but these segments were honestly the lowlights for me. You just walk around aimlessly looking for the right location to progress the story and it just drags on for no reason. The game is best when it confidently presents itself as what it is – a book in video game form, nothing more, nothing less.
For a narrative-focused adventure game I was surprised by the game length. I spent approximately 17 hours to beat it and honestly, with the exception of the aforementioned walking segments, I never got bored or felt like the story was unnaturally extended for playtime. The pacing was great and the story so gripping that it didn’t feel like 17 hours at all. I was so enamored with the characters, whose personalities are distinct and complex, that I simply couldn’t put the game down until I came to its conclusion. My love for the characters was consolidated even more by the voice-acting, which is simply fantastic, especially for one of the protagonists – Philip. Sadly, I found the character writing for some of the antagonists not as strong. I can forgive Waleran Bigod for being the power-hungry bastard that he is portrayed to be but William Hamleigh was a bit too comical for me. He is such an exaggerated comic book villain without any depth, complexity or nuance that I came to despise not only him but pretty much every scene he was a part of. I would have wished for a more multifaceted portrayal of his character but I assume that the source material simply didn’t provide enough in this regard.
If you are in the mood for a cozy narrative game with a strong focus on character depth and development, set in a medieval context and featuring beautiful hand-drawn background graphics, this should be a no-brainer. Pillars of the Earth made me realize once again what we lost when Daedalic’s game development branch was closed. I can only dream what the next step could have been for all the talented people working on this. Alas, we can still enjoy the art they left behind and wish them all the best for the future. They have created something truly special here – a game rich in detail and depth, filled with lovable and hateable characters and a timeless story about the deeds and misdeeds of the human race that I will think about for quite some time.

This was a great adaptation of a compelling story, and I feel like I should have paid a lot more for it than I did. It was a fairly long game and a labor of love, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys story-based games and/or quality historical fiction. The characters were complex and memorable, the voice acting was great, and somehow your decisions felt like they had weight even though the outcomes are obviously predetermined. If you can scoop this gem up on sale, definitely do, but imo it's worth whatever the original cost to support the studio and the folks who adapted this so well and lovingly.

Haven't run into very many games that have affected me emotionally but this had me weirdly invested from the beginning to end. I'm quite impressed with the movie like quality of this game and the heart tugging stories it leaves you with.
EDIT: Finally finished and this game wrecked me, omg. It will stick with me a long time