Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth – Handheld Goodness

Do you ever just enjoy something? Savoring every bit, every crumb, so that nothing is wasted? Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth has been that game for me. The story is a perfect marriage of faith, politics, and human nature.

I have been wanting to play Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth for quite sometime. I often see it, from time-to-time, on sale in the PlayStation Store. But time and time again, I pass on it, not quite sure of what type of game it is.

Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth is a game in the style of old graphic adventures. Or, as we call them today, adventure games. One wanders around, talking and interacting with people and things that are highlighted. The proper amount of conversation, often with many characters, or an item given end up moving the story forward.

The story starts out with a family, traveling, through the woods. They have stopped for the night due to the cold. Their mother is pregnant and the baby is coming. Tom Builder, the husband, has to assist his wife in labor. How will you:

  • Keep the children busy (you have two, a boy and a girl)
  • Warm your hands so that they provide comfort
  • Speak to your wife

A baby ends up being born. A son. What will you do when your family is cold, starving, and miserable? Will you take care of the baby… or leave it in the cold forest to die?

What We Loved

  • The hand drawn art style. I can’t emphasize this enough. This game looks pretty!
  • That you do not have to choose all of the individual dialogue options available. You can tell a character as much as you like. Use up all the dialogue options, and you may end up revealing something you didn’t want to.
  • Playing this on the Nintendo Switch, which seems like the ideal console for Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. Handheld goodness.
  • I do not ever think I’ve played a game where you could walk around quoting scripture (while playing as Philip the monk).

What We Disliked

  • Technical glitches. I had the game remove the markers it uses to indicate what I can interact with. I thought, for a moment, that I was stuck in the game. Did I mention I hadn’t saved in awhile? Thankfully, after restarting, I started exactly where I had left off.
  • The glacial pace of some of the storytelling.

In the End

Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth is full of intrigue, suspense, and backstabbing. It is a tale of the Kingsbridge priory and village, set against the backdrop of building a cathedral. I’m in love with the unsettled world of law and order in wake of the accidental death of the King’s son. I want to play more.

5 – Just buy it already

Title: Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth
Developer: Daedalic Entertainment
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, iOS
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch
MSRP: $19.99

Review by Bryan Hall

*Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth was reviewed using a code provided by EvolvePR.

Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth – Loose Lips Sink Ships

In almost every adventure game I’ve ever played, the game wants you to click all of the dialogue choices of a particular character.

Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth encourages you to do the opposite. Don’t want a character to learn something? Simply do not tell them.

I’ve been playing adventure games FOREVER. Retraining myself to not click on all of the dialogue options is hard! But I think it is necessary in order to keep some mystery.

Oh, you didn’t want to know that little Bartholomew killed the puppy with a stone? That he is a little mass murderer? Okay then.

Mystery.

From Across the Net – “Revival at Asbury: A Cold Take”

Tim Challies wrote some thoughts on the Asbury Revival today. I know that many have offered their takes, but I found his comments to be helpful.

“When revival breaks out, we need to guard against treating it as something that has an almost mystical or mythical quality to it. God’s plan for the world is centered around the church, so we should be careful not to inadvertently disparage his “Plan A” which is—and always will be—the church. Of course we should also hesitate to treat revival as if it is nothing or to speak ill of what God may be using for his glory.”

Read more here