I wish I'd written this review a year ago, but this game deserves as high a recommendation as I can give. It deserves better than the slow success it saw. It's not fresh enough for me to go too in-depth, but even this small collection of praises which stuck with me leave me wanting more.

Reactivity: The world acknowledges you, and you acknowledge it.
Having set my character's homeland in PoE 1 to the Deadfire Archipeligo, I was pleasantly surprised by how many small dialogue options I had to comment on the fact that this was a homecoming for my character; and even more so by the amount of NPCs who actively commented on it throughout the story. From characters across the islands bitterly telling me that I know how things are to some companions actively asking me how it feels to come home, I was able to roleplay the bittersweet homecoming that this was.

Companions: If you thought the first game had strong companion writing, Deadfire knocks it out of the park!
Though I still miss my beloved Devil of Caroc and my bff Sagani, Deadfire did not leave me at all wanting.
-Eder quickly becomes your reliable bro, having pulled your unconscious body from the smoking ruins of your castle. He spares no effort in his attempts to save everyone he can, all the while having a larger crisis of faith than he ever thought possible for a follower of a formerly-dead god.
-Aloth returns along the character path on which you helped set him in Pillars 1, though now he's all-in on being nerdy elf boyfriend material. He has a goal, and he has his loyalty to you as his friend or partner. It's up to you stand by the values you instilled in him before, or to bring him around to the realisation that you both got it wrong.
-Maia Rua joins the party in lieu of her brother, Kana Rua, and brings with her a delightful pet bird! This definitely-not-an-assassin has her beliefs put to the test in the most brutal fashion, though even if she cannot stand by you at the end (choices-depending) she remains willing to part ways as friends.
-Xoti is your new cleric, and whilst she doesn't have the fiery devotion and conviction of Durance; she carries her own beliefs and convictions as she harvests the souls of those who fall along your path, to ferry them to the other side. Whether she succumbs to the harvest, is able to form a healthy friendship with ||fellow Eothian Eder|| or even a budding romance with ||Maia Rua|| or the player, she has boundless empathy for those who may struggle along the way.
Serafen the former slave, Tekehu the insecure prince, and Pallengina the... You remember Pallengina, all have just as much depth and character, but this is getting a tad longer than I expected.

The two strongest DLC, Beast of Winter and The Forgotten Sanctum, additionally expand upon and flesh out the two sidekicks who didn't have quite enough funding to make it into full companions for the base game. Beast of Winter turned Ydwin into a permanent fixture in my party, alongside its own strong writing.

At the end of the day, I remember and enjoy Deadfire even more than the first Pillars of Eternity. If you're looking for something on the narrative level of Original Sin 2 or the original Baldur's Gate, this is the series and the game for you.