Ken Folletts The Pillars of the Earth

Follett
I reviewed some games already where Daedalic was only the publisher (The Suicide of Rachel Foster, Decay: The Mare) and some where they were the developer, too (State of Mind, A New Beginning - Final Cut). When I learned they'd made a game for The Pillars of The Earth I decided to purchase it. I did watch the series a couple of years ago. Matthew Macfadyen is superb in the role of Philip - he also plays Tom in HBO's critically acclaimed series called Succession. As for the game: unfortunately, similarly to many other items it did end up in my backlog but I'm happy to say I was able to pick it up not long ago.
I understand Ken Follett was mainly known for his spy / crime novels then in the late '80s he published The Pillars of The Earth, the first in the so-called Kingsbridge series. I have yet to pick this one up from the library - I will not finish it very soon considering it is at least 800 pages. So, I went into playing the game that the reference point was only the series and not the book. Fans / experts of the novel might criticize the game.
Story
We have an interesting story set in 12th century England where we meet Tom Builder who desperately needs work and eventually ends up in a priory in Kingsbridge where he is given the opportunity to rebuild the cathedral. Philip, the prior there, is also one of the protagonists. But we have more main characters as Tom has a family and while Kingsbridge is in development there is an anarchy going on in the country following the death of the son of the king. His daughter is not very much favoured by nobility once she is on the throne. The overall story arc covers around 40-50 years and while the book is divided up into 6 parts the game has 3 main sections (referred to as Book 1-3) consisting of 21 chapters.
Gameplay
It is a point-and-click game alright. However, we don't get to receive many items in our inventory so it is never really difficult to guess which way forward. In fact, the game is full of cutscenes and dialogues (some chapters barely have the option to be able to walk around) and some players already (rightfully) pointed out that an option to skip these sections would have been useful.
An interesting aspect of the game is the clues we collect. Following dialogues with other characters we often get a new clue. The inventory is in the lower-left corner while clues go into the lower-right. These affect future dialogues but we can also apply them on interactable objects depending on which chapter we're playing. A returning minigame is when we have to click at the right time as there is a moving circle in a bar at the bottom of the screen. You can consider it a sort of QTE but it is always pretty much the same. The speed will change as well as the number and the width of the highlighted sections. Too bad the creators didn't really come up with any real puzzle / challenge.
Summary
For me the highlights are the animation, voice acting and music. They are all top-notch! The main menu also changes in accordance with the book we are playing. In some instances when decisions can be made a later section mentions our specific choice. However, I do not know if the options can affect who lives and dies, therefore, I cannot comment on the replayability. One walkthrough can be around 12-14 hours, though. Achievements can sometimes be chapter specific. It's best to save at the beginning of each chapter. The story is very interesting and the fact that chapters alternate between the characters we control only makes it more exciting.

When they say choices matter, they definitely do. Decisions made early in the game lead to much different circumstances later in the game which is much of the reason I've played it through three times already and likely will again. I'd argue that it's one of the better choices matter games out there and it's a great story to boot. More or less a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Even after you've played it through once, you'll enjoy figuring out how to play it through a different way. You get the idea.

Takes some time to get into the story, but once that happens its hard to stop playing. Good amount of content in here, and different choices affect how the story plays out and ends.
If you enjoy visual novels, this one would also be a good shout as the story is very good.

How to play this game
1. Do a good thing in the beginning
2. Sike, now you're monster
3. Wait, I can fix it...
4. Suffering.
5 ???
6. Good Ending

I was a huge fan of the original Ken Follett novel, as well as its sequel, World Without End. As a modern epic about medieval times, this story has no peer. It's a great story laid over a compelling political thriller and mystery, and delivers a great amount of atmosphere. In whatever way you choose to consume the Pillars of the Earth--the book, the miniseries, or the game--you're in for a treat.
However, and this is a big however.
IF you don't mind reading a long novel, I would recommend it over this game. It's a well-crafted story in any context, but this is a story meant to be consumed in novel form. The miniseries did well enough, as did the game. But lord, the adaptation troubles show in this. if you could believe it, it took me two years to finish this game. This is mostly because the filler chapters, while nice sometimes, are often gratingly dull. Every dialogue, every movement, every cutscene, takes a long time to wind up. In short bursts this isn't too bad, but when you're navigating multiple scenes of static 2D characters talking about the year's crops or priory politics, there's little payoff for all that delay.
That said, there are definite advantages to the game format. The voice acting is consistently good. The artsyle matches the story much better than I thought it would, and really shines in expansive bids-eye shots of cities. The developers and artists clearly have the same love for architecture and history that Ken Follett has, so their product respects the spirit of his books.
Overall, this is a worthwhile experience. I don't regret buying it at full price ages ago, and if you're already a fan of Pillars of the Earth, neither will you. If you haven't read/watched/played this yet, I'd seriously consider which I'd prefer to engage with first: a well-crafted, if long novel, or a slightly shorter and less consistent video game.

Pretty easy game, but similar to other quality Daedalic Adventures. This game really piqued my interest into the Pillar's of the Earth franchise.
The puzzles that are here are pretty simple and straightforward, and also not abundant. They help to keep things interesting and keep the player engaged, but because there are only a few, it is not as challenging to manage inventory like in Night of the Rabbit. I would say it plays most like Memoria or Chains of Satinav.
The animations are nice, and sound design is pretty epic. Lot's of great voice acting.
There are little side quests and missables, and plenty of choices to make. The game explains how choices early on result in events later in the game. This game does a great job of presenting you with difficult choices that make you pause and think.
There are some really streamlined over-world/travel segments where you just read a short paragraph, see the icon on the map move, and make a decision at points. On one hand it is a little underwhelming, but on the other hand, you know you will not get bogged down in going from one main location to another.
I couldn't stop playing it til I finished it. The choices made are presented at the end similar to a game like Life is Strange or Beyond Two Souls. Although that is interesting, I still have not been compelled to replay.
The game is certainly long for an adventure game, but there are 4 or 5 chapters, so they are nice servings of game with clear stopping points for breaks. I think each chapter has 7 sections they are divided into.
Often when you go into a new section of story, you will change control to one of the other characters. All the protagonists are pretty likable, and the antagonists perfectly loathable.
Try it out!

I was looking for something immersive, yet slow-paced. This was it.
"Pillars of Earth" is a visual novel in which you are given certain choices which, of course, affect the outcome of the game. Stunning visuals, great (albeit sometimes repetitive) soundtrack and very good voice acting. You care for the characters and what becomes of their fate.
Possibly there's a replay value a few months apart. I recommend this game.