Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth: Book Two (PC) Review

The second book gives some much needed time with Aliena, the daughter of the Earl of Shirring. The first few chapters set up her escape from her city, and led players to where she is at the end of Book One. The flashback sections do a great job of not only building her character into easily one of the best in the games so far, but also giving a better sense of how the villains operate. Spoiler alert: there's something very Ramsey Bolton about William Hamleigh.

Jack, everyone's favourite woodland child, returns, although his return takes place a few years later, leading to him being quite a bit older when he is seen again. The same goes for many of the characters in the first game. While time jumps often come off as disheartening and silly, like the writer couldn't come up with a plot line for this section, here it makes a bit more sense. Even better still, one of the game's strongest points is how choices actually matter - even small ones, like the ones made while travelling between towns, actually mean something. It's sobering to watch an early mistake come back to bite you, but for long-term fans of story-driven titles, it's really exciting to watch.

Brilliantly, every main character goes through a sweeping and intelligent character arc. Phillip, Tom, and Aliena all go through massive character arcs, and Jack's is probably the biggest of all. Even smaller characters, like Ellen and Martha, get some decent story time. Even better, less likeable characters, such as Remigius, get relegated to the background pretty heavily.

The artwork is still the same, and by that, it's meant that it is simply beautiful. Daedelic really outdid itself with this beautiful art style. Even better, the dialogue is sublime, and while occasionally scenes feel pointless, it always keeps the action moving in a logical form. In fact, this book is far more enjoyable and riveting than the first one, in no small part thanks to the game moving its best characters to the front lines.

Even better are the small things you can do on the side, many of which actually act as side-quests. From stopping friends from fighting, to eradicating hornets' nests, The Pillars of the Earth: Book Two is just a joy to play through. Honestly, the plot moves along better, the characters are more enjoyable, and thanks to some smart pacing decisions, it's not nearly as dour as the first.

Complaints? Oh sure, there are a few. It's still annoying moving characters around larger screens with the mouse, and on the biggest maps, it's far too easy to lose track of them. This would be less annoying, save one section where how players move around the map is important to staying alive. Although for a brief moment, these larger maps are still frustrating to navigate even without the threat of Game Over looming over your shoulders.