Pillars of Eternity is significantly different in style and substance from Sui Generis and Exanima. Comparing them is akin to comparing apples to oranges and is unlikely to do justice to either game.
As concerns bugs, anything as large and complex as a game with approximately 60 hours of primary content is going to have some glitches upon release. Given the variety of character builds, spells, and the sheer volume of dialogue paths contained in it, Pillars of Eternity actually had a relatively clean release version. Additionally, Obsidian has already put out a major patch and a number of hotfixes.
The controversy over a Kickstarter backer provided epitaph has been completely blown out of proportion. Obsidian is a business entity and as such it responded to a complaint regarding the silly and potentially offensive poem, that somehow made it past editors into the released game, by asking the backer (Firedorn) to change it. He readily consented. The changed content in no way affects the game's narrative, gameplay, or atmosphere. Things should have ended there except that certain activist gamers thought that this was too fine an opportunity to let pass and proceeded to make a big stink labeling Obsidian's action an abridgement of free speech and artistic expression. Never mind the fact that the content was generated by a third party and was totally peripheral to the game itself. Or that as the developer, Obsidian had and has every right to change the game as they see fit. The ironic footnote to the whole affair is that Firedorn has admitted that he knew that his epitaph was offensive and never expected it to get past the vetting process.
Pillars of Eternity is a game designed around tactical, party-based, combat. Frequent pausing is entirely to be expected of a game presented as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment. Micromanaging combat is part of what its core audience wanted when Obsidian decided to crowdfund the game.
As concerns the writing, I think it ranges between fair to excellent, with a few jarring exceptions (primarily backer provided content). The central narrative might fall short of Obsidian and Black Isle's best but it is engaging as are the main NPC stories/interaction.
As a niche game it is definitely not for everyone. I, for one, think it is a very good game and well worth the effort for those who have enjoyed the Infinity Engine classics.
