Pathfinder: Kingmaker

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 598 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 402 out of 598
  2. Mixed: 82 out of 598
  3. Negative: 114 out of 598

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  1. cremadiscampi
    Jun 23, 2020
    8
    I was quite surprised by Kingmaker, it is a great CRPG and a worthy spiritual successor to the old isometric rpgs such as Baldur's Gate. The story is simple but nice, the characters and companions are enjoyable but what I liked the most was definitely how immersive the game is and the huge amount of choices it offers. The kingdom management mechanics might not appeal to everyone, but II was quite surprised by Kingmaker, it is a great CRPG and a worthy spiritual successor to the old isometric rpgs such as Baldur's Gate. The story is simple but nice, the characters and companions are enjoyable but what I liked the most was definitely how immersive the game is and the huge amount of choices it offers. The kingdom management mechanics might not appeal to everyone, but I personally enjoyed that aspect. I didn't really enjoy the combat, but I fixed it thanks to the marvelous turn-based mod.
    I'll definitely be eager to play the next game.    … Expand
  2. MinionX
    Dec 14, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (1) First & foremost.. the AI system only has an on/off button, so the AI system of this game is literally ¡TRASH!
    (2) During the Amiri & Armag duel a BUG happens that ends the duel abruptly, which makes that part of its plot LAME, because it doesn't look good in the slightest.
    (3) At certain points.. all the options have the same result, such as.. if the player refuses to exterminate the Trolls.. the same 'll forcibly lose Ekundayo & it doesn't matter what one answers to him, like really.. what's even the point of having magical abilities like hypnosis.. if one can't just brainwash someone like Ekun.. ¯_ツ_/¯
    (4) Owlcat Games really messed-up my boy "Lander Lebeda" in this game.. like seriously.. ¿WTF?
    Lander Lebeda is a fairly decent noble.. in fact, his alignment even is Lawful Neutral, not Chaotic Evil, & not just that.. but Owlcats even turn him into a ¡BACKSTABBER! (╬ಠ益ಠ)    … Expand
  3. BoomerZoomer
    May 7, 2022
    8
    Don't know how this game is rated lower than divinity original sin 2
    1. Its more complex
    2. It has better story
    3. It has better setting
    4. It has more variety
  4. Prometheus1241
    Feb 1, 2020
    8
    Since a year after release, Pathfinder:Kingmaker have become a good, playable game. It takes a lot of good ideas from other CRPGs and releases them in unique setting, which has not been used in games. Plot of Pathfinder is really good, characters are well-written, but yet, companions of main hero are not good enough to be remembered. Gameplay is classical for this type of games. Graphic isSince a year after release, Pathfinder:Kingmaker have become a good, playable game. It takes a lot of good ideas from other CRPGs and releases them in unique setting, which has not been used in games. Plot of Pathfinder is really good, characters are well-written, but yet, companions of main hero are not good enough to be remembered. Gameplay is classical for this type of games. Graphic is good.

    I think, that the main reason to buy this game is plot. it is really good, i liked it a lot. It is based on one of Pathfinder's series table game. I want to say that it is, perhaps, one of the best plots in RPGs i have seen, i really liked it all.

    So, in the end i want to say, that it is 8/10 game and i can recommend it to those, who like CRPGs. But yet, if you have not yet played games of this genre i recommend you to start with other games, like Dragon Age: Origins or Divinity:Original sin 2 because it is really hard to cope with local fighting system.    … Expand
  5. EmperorProtects
    Apr 25, 2020
    8
    Mostly fun game with some minor issues. Long with good pacing throughout. Kingdom management can definitely be annoying. Added points for D&D, subtracted a bit for NPC dialog being too cutesy-wootsy for the setting.
  6. S3XU4LH34L1NG
    Jan 15, 2022
    8
    I am a fan of the genre and overall I loved this game. The "chaotic good" playthrough took me 140 h for about 95 % completion on normal.
    There are sadly some caviats: If you want a playtrhough with high completion rate you need to look up a lot of **** especially if you are not super well versed in the pen and paper mechanics. The game has a countdown of doom looming over your head all    I am a fan of the genre and overall I loved this game. The "chaotic good" playthrough took me 140 h for about 95 % completion on normal.
    There are sadly some caviats: If you want a playtrhough with high completion rate you need to look up a lot of **** especially if you are not super well versed in the pen and paper mechanics. The game has a countdown of doom looming over your head all the time and you get the feeling you need to be super efficient with every decision and turn you take. The game is insanely hard and not always fair. There were quite a few situations i was hours deep in a dungeon and i had to reload because i simply coudlnt pass the skill checks / I didnt have the right counter or other stuff.
    On the other side: The romances, graphics, sound, VA, build variety, companions, world are really great!
    Sadly i feel like the game is too hard (in the trial and error unfun way) and I wont start a second playtrhough    … Expand
  7. flwixs
    Apr 23, 2022
    8
    Пиздатая днд, с годным сюжетом и геймплеем, но есть огромные минусы, это баги, даже за столько лет осталась вязка неприятных багов и супер душное управление крепостью начиная с середины игры, как и все подобные в ней поручения от спутников и прочих ублюдков. И на мой вкус слишком затянут мейн сюжет и не понятно нахуя вообще было добавлять приквел мейн сюжета в виде отдельного длс сПиздатая днд, с годным сюжетом и геймплеем, но есть огромные минусы, это баги, даже за столько лет осталась вязка неприятных багов и супер душное управление крепостью начиная с середины игры, как и все подобные в ней поручения от спутников и прочих ублюдков. И на мой вкус слишком затянут мейн сюжет и не понятно нахуя вообще было добавлять приквел мейн сюжета в виде отдельного длс с возможностью выгрузкой от туда в мейн сценарий, кароче, как игра заебись, но претензий так же приличное количество.… Expand
  8. Avey123Avey
    Mar 19, 2023
    8
    An extremely long RPG with a main story that truly puts you in the role of a king with cursed land. This games greatest success is really tailoring the story around you and your choices. It feels personal to your PC and by the end of the game you will really feel as though you've experienced an entire saga. This game isn't for everyone. The combat system and ruleset is very complex and notAn extremely long RPG with a main story that truly puts you in the role of a king with cursed land. This games greatest success is really tailoring the story around you and your choices. It feels personal to your PC and by the end of the game you will really feel as though you've experienced an entire saga. This game isn't for everyone. The combat system and ruleset is very complex and not properly explained in many ways. You will need a walkthrough, you will need to read forum posts, and you will be a friend of the wiki. These are strict negatives however your time investment in learning will be well rewarded as this is one of the longest quality CRPGs out there. My biggest complaint would be some of the enemy designs towards the end of the game which push the games difficulty to being unbearable without very particular additions to your party.… Expand
  9. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    8
    Absolutely fantastic RPG that feels like a true old-school epic. Quests are involved and complicated, there are many role playing opportunities both influential and not, and it escalates so well. You really feel like youre exploring and uncovering the secrets of an ancient land. Gameplay is awesome with many classes and builds. The only serious downside is that kingdom management, whileAbsolutely fantastic RPG that feels like a true old-school epic. Quests are involved and complicated, there are many role playing opportunities both influential and not, and it escalates so well. You really feel like youre exploring and uncovering the secrets of an ancient land. Gameplay is awesome with many classes and builds. The only serious downside is that kingdom management, while fun at times, is incredibly punishing and requires a lot of micromanagement. There are ways around it, but they often mean missing out on content. Also the early game balance is totally out of whack.… Expand
  10. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 23, 2023
    8
    Very good adaptation of Pathfinder pen&paper rules to a computer game, the game is really long and good constructed, plenty of options and with solid mechanics, but the history behind it is not so good and tends to became boring late game. The kingdom management is a good idea but poorly implemented.
  11. Thothistox
    Sep 6, 2021
    7
    Pathfinder: Kingmaker is the hardest game I've played this century. Granted, I sort of asked for it by playing on "Challenging" mode, but the combat isn't the hardest part. The difficulty is, in many ways, both its biggest strength and biggest weakness. Years in the future I'll remember how I got past the hardest fights in this game. In fact, I won't remember anything about thePathfinder: Kingmaker is the hardest game I've played this century. Granted, I sort of asked for it by playing on "Challenging" mode, but the combat isn't the hardest part. The difficulty is, in many ways, both its biggest strength and biggest weakness. Years in the future I'll remember how I got past the hardest fights in this game. In fact, I won't remember anything about the unremarkable story or the unremarkable characters. I'll only remember the PnP and how I actually managed to whoop the giant fireball that is the final boss.

    I both love and hate PnP rules. I understand why they made it like this. It makes a good succinct pitch to a board of directors because they don't play games and have short attention spans and they they will reject complexity. But you can hide complexity when you pitch it as "PnP rules", even though much of that complexity is outright gratuitous.

    There are half a dozen different ways to die in combat besides a zero hp. If dexterity on your mage is zero you die. If strength is zero, you die. If you turn to stone, you die. The default result for anything is you die, and reviving a dead player is so expensive you'll usually reload.

    Most of my reloads weren't because I actually lost but because things went sour in ways that were too annoying. There are dozen ways your enemies can break your 'will' score and make your team useless. You'll start fights charmed, confused, dazed, asleep, laughing uncontrollably, etc., I always reloaded and hurriedly cast one of dozens of completely different buffs before the fight. The same goes for if the enemy AI targets my mages instead of my tanks. (Quite a few fights come down to which of your people the AI decided to target.)

    I'm generally against streamlining in games, but does it really make sense that stoneskin protects against slashes but not arrows?

    At least the buff spells are guaranteed to work. Most offensive spells never work unless the enemy is already easy to defeat. P:K's fighting odds are stacked against the player who fights anything more than one level higher, while anything more than one level lower is very easy. Attacks on higher level enemies will nearly always miss, while lower levelled ones get hit with crits.

    If it's going to be like that then why have combat at all? Why not just auto-win any fight with lower level enemies and auto lose higher level fights?

    Too much of P:K's game play feels like I'm rolling dice and repeatedly reloading a save and re-rolling. No where is this more prevalent than the kingdom management. A hint to new players: your kingdom managers have to succeed. The dice are rolled once before the day of a project's completion. Keep reloading until they succeed.

    Playing P:K's kingdom management feels like playing Civilization on diety mode. Winning means reloading hundreds of times. To make things more annoying, there are situations where your entire kingdom is paralyzed for two weeks while you upgrade something or annex something. You often have to re-run that two week cycle in hope of rolling a better outcome.

    What happens when the outcome is poor? Your kingdom can die and the game ends. There are at least two separate stability scores that can fall to zero. I remember one particular time when I was crowned king and there was a long sequence of dialogue about how great I was doing. Then I ran the skip day feature and my kingdom flopped over like a wet corn flake. Stability equals zero. Game over.

    Nothing stressed me so much as that stability score. All sorts of things can reduce it and very few things bring it back up. Your kingdom is periodically invaded by hill giants or other stability-reducing enemies that would be a minor nuisance if you had to actually fight them. But you can't. Instead they have to be purged using kingdom management, and the stability penalty (usually) doesn't get restored after you've rolled the dice a dozen times and gotten rid of them.

    Thankfully, you can throw your citizens a feast and bring stability back. I spent most of my in game money on feasts.

    Speaking of feasts, if this game were a pizza it would be lined with ghost peppers. The hot spiciness would disguise the fact that the sausage is rancid and the dough has whitefly larvae the same way as the difficulty disguises the fact that the story is uninspired, the characters are a cliche mix of cutesy and arrogant, and the C&C is not all that deep. For example, there is one character whose entire persona turns out to have been completely false, but if you forgive him his betrayal he reverts to that deception as if it never happened and everyone else does too.

    That said, the game hides its depth well. I wasn't expecting some of the twists in the main conflict. The game is also pleasantly long. There are lots of environments and enemies crammed into it.

    Would I recommend P:K? Maybe. I'll definitely consider buying the sequel. But I'm not replaying the original.    … Expand
  12. blubberguts
    Mar 6, 2019
    7
    I was really attracted to this game and wanted to play it back when it came out. I liked the look, I liked the system, it was so pretty, and I was hooked storywise from the start by the treachery of Tartuccio.

    But bugs. So many bugs. So I put it away and waited..until last a couple of weeks ago. By then the games was up to patch 1.16d. Surely by now I could enjoy this great game? No.    I was really attracted to this game and wanted to play it back when it came out. I liked the look, I liked the system, it was so pretty, and I was hooked storywise from the start by the treachery of Tartuccio.

    But bugs. So many bugs. So I put it away and waited..until last a couple of weeks ago. By then the games was up to patch 1.16d. Surely by now I could enjoy this great game?

    No. At one stage, the "i" for inventory button stopped working and i was unable to see the inventory ..then all the other hotkeys stopped working too...loading an old save did not fix this. In the end I had to exit out of the game and restart before the keys would work again.

    Sometimes enemies become invincible - for example there will be a set of goblins on a map and you will kill most of them easily but the last one will be invincible...you will hit and hit but nothing kills him and finally your entire party is wiped out...so you reload from an old save, go back in and discover he's just an ordinary enemy this time and wiped out in seconds...

    There are items that give bonuses like "ac+1" - now i know these don't stack; for example if you have two items that give "ac+1" on one character then only one of the bonuses will be applied...(you can see this by inspecting the armour bonus; it will list in green all the bonuses that got applied and red all those that were not applied)

    But i got one item that was NEVER applied, no matter who I gave it to, and didn't even appear in the listing, red OR green....it may as well have been a piece of fluff. (I guess it was a cosmetic item!)

    I got my entire party up to level four and was able to wipe out several sets of bandits....one set included a warrior, a necromancer, an archer and a thief but I got them all..then entered the next map and was wiped out by a single "mature leopard" who was apparently invincible...I watched the combat log and noone in my entire party, even the magic users, got a single hit against him until he eventually wipe us all out... a single leopard!!

    If they ever get the bugs out, it could be a good game...but will they? It's been six months and from what I've seen for myself and others it's still a buggy mess, even to the point of game breaking bugs....

    I'm giving a seven, because it's so beautiful and when it works - when combat isn't bugged and hotkeys function and monsters aren't invincible and your party ai works - it's fun. I hope they do a better job next time - guys, whoever did your coding needs a kick in the ass. Fire them and keep whoever did the music, the graphics, the story writing and music and item design.

    Better luck next time deepsilver.    … Expand
  13. Auticus
    Sep 26, 2018
    7
    Great game in the spirit of Baldurs Gate, Torment, Pillars of Eternity etc. The Kingmaker series is one of my favorite RPG modules of all time, so seeing this was pretty exciting.

    The game out the gate is pretty good for a group of developers' first attempt. The game for the most part plays solidly, has good voice acting, and an engaging story. The visuals are on par with existing    Great game in the spirit of Baldurs Gate, Torment, Pillars of Eternity etc. The Kingmaker series is one of my favorite RPG modules of all time, so seeing this was pretty exciting.

    The game out the gate is pretty good for a group of developers' first attempt. The game for the most part plays solidly, has good voice acting, and an engaging story.

    The visuals are on par with existing games in the same genre.

    I'm giving it a 7 right now instead of a higher score because there are some initial bugs that need worked out. Nothing has been game breaking for me, but I have had one crash to desktop, and there are little annoying minor things such as string place holders for descriptions showing, or the name of an item being called NULL. Little things like that.

    Bottom line for me is if you enjoy isometric RPGs, then this is worth checking out.    … Expand
  14. Valkyrje
    Nov 26, 2020
    7
    It scratches BG itch better than BG3 but ends up being too repetetive and relying too much on its pen and paper Pathfinder mechanics which means that the end game is an endless slog through the same enemies and micromanaging your equipment and skills. Loved it until I didn’t. Story-wise it’s solid but nothing groundbreaking. Also kingdom management is boring at best.
  15. Syrona
    Sep 28, 2018
    7
    Only played it for 2 hours and got a refund.

    1. Noticed a large amount of clipping and glitches. The characters don't even hold 2 handed swords properly, as the right arm is bent at an unnatural angle and looks very bad. Also, I couldn't get out of a room in the 1st part because apparently clicking on a space in the hallway outside the room, means the character needs to move to another    Only played it for 2 hours and got a refund.

    1. Noticed a large amount of clipping and glitches. The characters don't even hold 2 handed swords properly, as the right arm is bent at an unnatural angle and looks very bad. Also, I couldn't get out of a room in the 1st part because apparently clicking on a space in the hallway outside the room, means the character needs to move to another spot in the same room. So obviously has some pathing issues as well.

    2. There is only one portrait for a human female, and that one looks bad as well. Overall very very small selection of portraits that I, personally, can work with.

    3. The combat is highly complex, with a lot of spells and gimmicks, and you don't get slowly introduced to them, you're just handed a whole party group in the first 15 min of the game, and they all have like 10 abilities each or something. I'm sure this is a good thing for many, but personally I cba with it.

    Overall, my sentiment is "meh!". Maybe I'll buy it again when I really have nothing else to play.    … Expand
  16. Cb11106
    Oct 9, 2018
    7
    I'm biased being a backer of the game, so keep that in mind.

    To me this reminds me of those sandbox games of yesteryear, all the Pathfinder core classes (D&D "3.75" for the uninitiated) are there, plus a bunch of archetypes for each. There are also a handful of prestige (advanced) classes. The area(s) you explore are fairly big, loot a-plenty. While I like the game overall, there    I'm biased being a backer of the game, so keep that in mind.

    To me this reminds me of those sandbox games of yesteryear, all the Pathfinder core classes (D&D "3.75" for the uninitiated) are there, plus a bunch of archetypes for each. There are also a handful of prestige (advanced) classes. The area(s) you explore are fairly big, loot a-plenty.

    While I like the game overall, there were balance issues & I still have some issues with kingdom building. The good & bad in equal measure is/are that OwlCat Games are addressing the issues. They've been releasing hotfix patches fairly often. Today they released the largest one yet (1.07 at 5.4 GB). That in itself is a potential problem, no one in their right or wrong mind wants to play a "buggy mess".

    My opinion as it stands, keep an eye on the player reviews on both Steam & GoG, as well as any game streams. They're currently mixed, but steadily getting more positive as time goes on. Once you see that that patches have essentially stopped then check out the title.    … Expand
  17. Macbaine
    Mar 3, 2019
    7
    I like this game.. the story is rich and interisting ... you need like reading for enjoye this game
  18. Pigofiend
    Sep 27, 2020
    7
    Prepare for a 100+ hour ride. The game was riddled with bugs, but now, 2 years after release you can actually play it without a hitch. BUT you will have to manage

    - items, items, items, lots of them - your kingdom - the whims of your companions - your advisors. Early advice: do not go to Fangleberry cave early in the game since the SWARM will zero your party. You have been warned    Prepare for a 100+ hour ride. The game was riddled with bugs, but now, 2 years after release you can actually play it without a hitch. BUT you will have to manage

    - items, items, items, lots of them
    - your kingdom
    - the whims of your companions
    - your advisors.

    Early advice: do not go to Fangleberry cave early in the game since the SWARM will zero your party. You have been warned :). Maybe after level 5!

    All in all a beautiful RPG, but requires a lot of time because of unnecessary micromanagement and too many, way too many options. Play it on cold winter days when you have literally nothing to do.    … Expand
  19. SpookyTanuki
    Aug 5, 2021
    7
    First half of the game is really nice. I enjoyed the character creation, turn based combat, open world (kind of) and really nice quests. After maybe 20-30 hours I felt like I'm wasting my time using turn based combat because there is a lot of fights with low-level enemies and it takes ages to go through quests. And what seemed to be a big world with a lot of locations turned out to be aFirst half of the game is really nice. I enjoyed the character creation, turn based combat, open world (kind of) and really nice quests. After maybe 20-30 hours I felt like I'm wasting my time using turn based combat because there is a lot of fights with low-level enemies and it takes ages to go through quests. And what seemed to be a big world with a lot of locations turned out to be a bunch of small places with single monsters and nothing really exciting.
    Anyway that's a really okay game if you like rpgs, maybe not the best but solid.    … Expand
  20. Hyperfailure
    Apr 29, 2023
    7
    A well-meaning tRPG hitting on nostalgia notes of Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment. However, the balancing of the end-game is ridiculous. Wolves should not have higher stats than my level 16 barbarian ffs. Main story was good, side-stories could be hit or miss. Enjoyed overall tho.
  21. Malvolio
    Oct 4, 2018
    6
    Half these reviews: Game needs fixing 10/10 That's not how scores work. As of 4 Oct not a single person has completed the game according to steam. Is it that long? Nope its so bugged out you cant even fkn complete it but my god 10/10.

    Numerous Kingdom bugged events that end the game entirely, your advisors bug out in your own throne room making numerous quest un-completable, Act 3-4 bug    Half these reviews: Game needs fixing 10/10 That's not how scores work. As of 4 Oct not a single person has completed the game according to steam. Is it that long? Nope its so bugged out you cant even fkn complete it but my god 10/10.

    Numerous Kingdom bugged events that end the game entirely, your advisors bug out in your own throne room making numerous quest un-completable, Act 3-4 bug either ends your game or prevents you from moving forward at all. But call a game difficult and the hipsters come out of the woodwork to call a game that isn't even fkn finished a masterpiece.

    Game has good writing, amazing character backstories, great voicework on the parts that are voiced, and a ton of character customization.

    What it doesn't do is actually work at all. People who say nothing is wrong have no idea that a bunch of their items aren't granting bonuses at all. One misclick and items disappear from a bugged stash. That one advisor that walks up to you at your throne and talks about random stuff is actually supposed to be different people but he bugs out. Artisans capable of crafting you items at the beginning of every month almost all stop functioning.    … Expand
  22. iamaneviltaco
    Jun 2, 2021
    6
    I swear some times I like this game despite the developers' best efforts. I'm gonna give it a 6, but it's really like a 9 game bogged down by some truly baffling design choices. Very mild spoilers for a few very early fights, but I did my best to not give any specifics.

    The good: - Combat. Both real time with pause and turn based feel satisfying, turn based in particular is like    I swear some times I like this game despite the developers' best efforts. I'm gonna give it a 6, but it's really like a 9 game bogged down by some truly baffling design choices. Very mild spoilers for a few very early fights, but I did my best to not give any specifics.

    The good:

    - Combat. Both real time with pause and turn based feel satisfying, turn based in particular is like playing the pen and paper game on a computer. They nailed the game play, at least on a mechanical level.

    - Sound. The music is great, and the voice acting is surprisingly good for an old school crpg. The sound effects, too, this is a genre that tends to suffer from bad voice acting and sound design. It's good to see owlcat thought of this when they made the game.

    - Kingdom management. If you like this sort of thing, the kingdom management is honestly pretty fun. Manage advisors, handle crisis situations and opportunities, build stuff to improve your barony's stats, it's got a lot to it.

    - The aesthetic. It looks like the game is written on a book, with the dialog choices and various cutscenes. The map is an actual map, with little toy pieces that slide around it. They spent a lot of time on the ui for this thing, I bet. It's beautiful.

    The bad:

    - Henchman balance. Harrim is a dwarven cleric with a dex of 8 and a cha of 10. He gets hit every other swing and his channeled healing is legitimate garbage. Valerie has mostly odd numbers for stats, literally wasting points. The only cleric that CAN heal properly, Tristian, can't wear freaking armor. Most tellingly? Amiri and Linzi are built using 20 points, like a mercenary. Valerie has 2 more points than the player, but they're wasted. Regongar and Octavia have 5, they're flat out better than the "main character". Ekundayo? 6! He's hilariously better than you, if you build an archer as well.

    - Combat balance. Some fights you steamroll over. Alternatively? In one area, there's a few bodies dead near a camp site. A skill check (knowledge nature) has a high difficulty, so you won't pass it by the time you get there. Gotta sleep, because some of the fights in this area are hard? Free camp site! Oh, but there's a demilich. That has an ac in the high 30s. Who is immune to healing spells. And magic missiles. And has concealment, so you miss 50% of the time. And casts fear every round. And has an automatic aoe electricity attack. You're level 3. Oh, and you know what skill you use to tell if something died from undead? It's not knowledge nature, it's knowledge religion. Another fight? invisible were rats that do like 20 damage per swing with sneak attacks, while you lose a lot of your defensive bonuses. The main tank in the game has about 60 hp at this point. She dies pretty much instantly. Another one? Bug swarms you can only kill with fire or aoe spells, that do damage and poison you. Again, level 2-3. With probably no mage, so you have very limited grenades (if you found any) or freaking torches.

    - Troll developers. That previous statement about the demilich that attacks out of nowhere? The game is full of that, random fights that are much higher level than you, and nearly impossible at times. With no warning. In an area you're set to at a level way below what you'd need to fight them. This has gotten better over time, but it's still a major problem.

    - The Deal With the Devil quest. This is a tie in to the Troll developers. Some dude on kickstarter paid 4 grand to put a quest into the game, and what he added was a mary-sue led adventure that the entire community absolutely hates. You have one path through it, it railroads you into helping this dude (Darven) and actually doesn't have any options to just end the quest or arrest the dude. Even though he kills people on sight, and is very very evil. Kill him? That's an evil action. Ignore him? Kingdom crisis events your advisors can't fix, slowly destroying your entire game. Oh, but help him? Your alignment is screwed, and you have 70k gold for some reason. It's actually the worst thing I've ever seen in a video game, and I played Ride to Hell Retribution.

    The final verdict:
    It's like dungeons and dragons, but you're playing with a malicious and vindictive DM. There are moments of absolute brilliance, but you will want to uninstall the game at times.    … Expand
  23. marc5477
    Oct 24, 2018
    6
    Should be called Roguefinder: Sneakmaker. Why? Because of its insane bias towards sneak attack.

    But 1st let state the obvious. There are a lot of new accounts on metacritic reviewing this game with 9s and 10s... think of that what you will but to me this says the real score is about 2 points lower than stated and that the group is either paying for reviews or making accounts to review    Should be called Roguefinder: Sneakmaker. Why? Because of its insane bias towards sneak attack.

    But 1st let state the obvious. There are a lot of new accounts on metacritic reviewing this game with 9s and 10s... think of that what you will but to me this says the real score is about 2 points lower than stated and that the group is either paying for reviews or making accounts to review it themselves.

    Apparently, Pathfinder rules removes backstab immunity from everything and gave dexterity full damage bonuses via "agility" weapons. This renders the strength stat practically worthless by comparison since you also get armor class with dex as well as range weapon flexibility. They also added backstab feats to any class (precise strike). This is terrible design, for the obvious reason that is forces you to balance the entire game around backstab damage and that is exactly what they did. In this case, they overtuned enemy stats and sadly, this pigeonholes you even farther into sneak attack classes.

    Full caster can eventually do some damage at high levels but that comes very late in the game when you no longer need them to do damage. Before then, casters are very weak due to mediocre spell damage and high resists. Case and point, playing on normal, my level 5 sorcerer with greater necromancy feats tried to cast blind on a bandit lord, a not so strong enemy. Again, this is around a level 5 encounter and I beat him easily... but his fortitude save at level 5 is 40!!! To give a comparison, my dedicated tank units barely have a fortitude of 9 at the same level. A paladin may has about 14 or so tops at that level. I was able to land a hideous laughter on him after 4 tries (his will save was 23).

    On top of gimping every other non-thief class, this video game makes backstabbing ridiculously easy. You only need 2 units engaging an enemy in melee. Once the 3rd melee attacker engages, all 3 units can backstab with impunity from any angle... So basically, if you want to do any meaningful damage in melee through most of the game, you have to take thief or hybrid thief classes (trickster or that alchemist subclass) or backstab feats. Even a caster cant do anything without backstabs from touch spells for 80% of the game so you really need to take a rogue splash and the trickster class for damage.

    I did try a optimized high strength 2H build at one point just to see how it works out and as expected it has many weaknesses, the biggest is that it cant do any major damage until about mid way through the game. The only reason that short trial succeeded is because I got everyone a companion pet which doubled my party to 12 units. It was very sad to see that the extra 6 pet units barely made up for 2 rogue units on a previous run in terms of damage output. Its really ridiculous how powerful rogues are.

    Other issues to note. At hard and unfair difficulty, game devolves into a slot machine. Completely dependent on random roles for success for at least 6-7 levels before you have enough hit points and gear to survive a few bad roles. Dont be surprised if your custom made tank dies in 1 hit the 1st 4 levels because enemies have such high stats that even a dagger wielding kobold can kill anyone with 1 critical hit. It it manageable if you cheese via pets and all archers but it gets boring fast. How bad is it? At level 2, a bandit at one of the starting areas (just a regular bandit) has a attack of +17!!! At level 2 lol. My 2 hand weapon specialist with max strength and rage and charge barely hits +11. If I throw on a bard and bless we get up to +13. When my guy hits, he does so for about 6 to 18 damage on average with a greatsword. The bandit, who was asleep on the floor when the fight began, stands up, takes one whack and averages about 20 per hit and crits about 25% of the time for over 40. I should know, i had to save scum that fight about 15 times. His sidekick rogue backstabs on every hit for about 18 and has an AC of 28 lol. Yes, this is level 2 in a game where resting (which does not even completely heal you) is punished by invisible timers. It can be done, but the design is atrocious, depending too much on luck and specific builds.

    One of its biggest features was kingdom management which is completely broken and poorly implemented. Its not playable right now (prevents finishing the game) so just set it to easy so that you cant fail (failing = game over).

    Aside from the above issues, the game is actually ok. It is definitely not as good as the old infinity engine games and it has other annoyances like MEGA TONS of bugs and A LOT of slow load screens (actually stopped playing a few times because of this), but its still a fun game overall. You can still build traditional stuff but you need to be mindful of design biases and plan around them. I would say that in time, once everything is fixed, the game will be worth a play and is definitely more fun that most of the drivel being peddled by the big companies.    … Expand
  24. Artur_
    Feb 14, 2022
    6
    Pros: great idea to expand a typical RPG journey by building a kingdom :-) Companions have a short histories, but still well done. Easy and clear management of team, equipment, trade. A very stable game: I didn't experience even one crash.

    Mixed: nicely done companion progress, stats, fights but using overcomplicated DnD rules limites fun. Cons: difficulty of clashes constantly jumps    Pros: great idea to expand a typical RPG journey by building a kingdom :-) Companions have a short histories, but still well done. Easy and clear management of team, equipment, trade. A very stable game: I didn't experience even one crash.

    Mixed: nicely done companion progress, stats, fights but using overcomplicated DnD rules limites fun.

    Cons: difficulty of clashes constantly jumps between trivial and impossible, in the same part of map. On normal difficulty you are going through enemies with little to none trouble then WHAM! a very next hostile brings your whole team to ground in a few seconds, or it is untouchable and you can't do jack. It happens with random encounters too, not just statically located antagonists like turbo-cat, Rambo-zombie or that overclocked troll in dwarf keep.

    Lacks field of view: how far enemies can see.

    I spent about 100h hours playing this game, it has the potential to be very enjoyable, but due to hidden timers in many quests I abandoned this game - if they were as clear and consistent, as timers of curses, then everything would be fine. Making such a decision screwed up the game for people, who aren't fanatics.

    Update: with "Kingdom Resolution" mod the game feels more controllable, it restores some fun, so finally I completed playthrough :-)    … Expand
  25. beewarrior
    Jul 29, 2021
    6
    Story: 6/10 (pretty meh)
    Gameplay: 8/10 (good after recent fixes, but Kingdom management is still a joke)
    Voice Acting: 3/10 (very few lines are voice acted)
    Music: 7/10 (good, but not that many musics)

    Overall 6/10
  26. Avva
    Oct 26, 2018
    6
    It’s a good game, though I would not compare it to the old classics like BG or modern one like PoE. As many here mentioned, it’s a faithful transfer of well known (in Pathfinder universe) P-n-P campaign with the same name. Let me say it again – TRANSFER. Not adaptation, not a “computer variation” – but literal transfer from one media (table top pen-and-paper) to another (computer). TheIt’s a good game, though I would not compare it to the old classics like BG or modern one like PoE. As many here mentioned, it’s a faithful transfer of well known (in Pathfinder universe) P-n-P campaign with the same name. Let me say it again – TRANSFER. Not adaptation, not a “computer variation” – but literal transfer from one media (table top pen-and-paper) to another (computer). The result – it did not work all that well.

    P-n-P is designed to work with a human DM (and creative group of human companions). DM is there to correct, interpret or simply remove the rules that spoil fun. He is there to help the group to solve the quests, to create the adventure. When you remove that DM and leave rules only, observed by a computer, you get what many call “unbalanced difficulty”, that in reality is simply a bare ruleset. All things DM would do – giving hints for the nature of the future encounters, description of atmosphere, directions for the party, so it would not wonder somewhere they should not have, ability to assess the danger by different means, creative use of skills and abilities, even simple things like to be able to “take 20” on a skill check – nothing is there. It’s just an animated basic rulebook with all variations and interpretations cut off. And the difficulty level is adjusted by universally hated bloating HP of the mobs and shifting probability of dice scores.

    Developers said it was done to accommodate the ability to save/load. The problem is, save/load was left as THE ONLY mean to get anything done in the game. You want to open the chest? Better save before, because you have only one chance to roll the dice (and the roll is not in your favor, and as I said, you can not “take 20”). You see a monster or expecting one? Save! There is no way to check his stats and it’s not what “monster manual” (not existing in the game, btw, use the book) will tell you. The fact that this little goblin in front of you has Strength and Dexterity of a young dragon, you will learn only during the fight.

    It would not be even that bad, if not for the engine problems. Owlcats used Unity – same as Obsidian for PoE (many features from PoE too, but not enough, unfortunately). However, they did not have enough skills/time/money to optimize it. Meaning first and foremost lag and long-long-looooong loading screens. So, you can (and you have to!) constantly save/load, but you will be swearing every time you do it, because of a long waiting time. Btw, those loading screens are everywhere and you will be swearing endlessly anyway.

    Kingdom management could be fun should there be any synergy with adventuring. So far one is always on the way of another. Add to this many artificial restrictions within already very restrictive system of kingdom management, many bugs and bad communication (a lot of things happen without so much as warning) – and the fun can be gone pretty fast. Again, faithful to PnP campaign but without DM. To their defense, there is an option of “automatic management”, that you might consider to use at your first run to see the plot.

    Speaking of plot – you would not really see it. It sure exists (!) but you will be too busy fighting the game (and the monsters to some degree) to notice it. And as in a campaign itself, it’s very discrete – to let you wonder around like you do in Skyrim, for example, forgetting about the main goal, yet, because of computer limitations, very strict – you have to do everything in a specific order, or you will ruin not only the current quest, but some quests after that you do not even know about yet. Somewhere in that plot supposed to be bits from Chris Avellone, but aside one companion (not typical for Avellone either) it's hard to find any. Well, at least Zhur’s music is there for sure and it's beautiful. Though, I can not help but wonder what if they spent money on a rules adaptation and the engine optimization instead of expensive luxury like famous writer and composer.

    Anyway, despite everything above, the game is good enough (or will be after bug fixing) to entertain CRPG lovers. Give it half a year and buy!

    P.S. IGN reviewer described problems very accurately.    … Expand
  27. gunther_nt
    Oct 16, 2018
    6
    I had to restart the game 4 times (new character, repeating all quests) and today I just gave up - it's broken again and I can't continue it past Act 4. That's it, I'm done.

    1) Buggy as Hell, basically unplayable. 4 times re-rolled, still unable to finish it. All hot-fixes are on. 2) Terrible loading times, 1+ min on a machine capable of running Witcher 3 on High 3) Almost every    I had to restart the game 4 times (new character, repeating all quests) and today I just gave up - it's broken again and I can't continue it past Act 4. That's it, I'm done.

    1) Buggy as Hell, basically unplayable. 4 times re-rolled, still unable to finish it. All hot-fixes are on.
    2) Terrible loading times, 1+ min on a machine capable of running Witcher 3 on High
    3) Almost every location requires a loading screen to enter or exit
    4) Difficulty is not high or low, it is just ridiculous and stupid. You can wipe 3 monsters with ease, and in the next room you will be killed by one monster of the same type. DnD has always been about random rolls, but there is no touch with reality in this game.

    And still I liked the game, but I will never recommend it in THIS state.

    When tech is fixed it will be solid 7.    … Expand
  28. Whiskeyjacker12
    Sep 29, 2018
    6
    Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a faithful adaption of the pen-and-paper that seeks to emulate the old golden age of isometric RPG's such a Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, and in this it is successful for better or worse. The game definitely gave me a nostalgia trip, the writing and combat are very much reminiscent of the games it seeks to idolize. But as a fun CRPG competing with the likePathfinder: Kingmaker is a faithful adaption of the pen-and-paper that seeks to emulate the old golden age of isometric RPG's such a Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, and in this it is successful for better or worse. The game definitely gave me a nostalgia trip, the writing and combat are very much reminiscent of the games it seeks to idolize. But as a fun CRPG competing with the like of Pillar's of Eternity and and the Divinity: OS series it kinda falls flat on its face. The difficulty level is extremely variable between instances, you can easily carve your way through two dozen bandits without one tactical pause but god help you if you run into a spider swarm or any creature with poison or level drain because the incredibly fast stacks of these effects will wipe out even a high level party in a few paltry seconds. And in explaining these effects and how to counter them, the game does an extremely poor job. I found myself trawling through game books and bestiaries just so I knew what exactly the my poor characters was rolling against as the in-game bestiary is all but useless leading to more than a few frustrating moments where spamming healing spells and potions were all that got me through a 5 minute slog of a fight. Which brings another weakness of the game, a poor combat UI. Oh, you can easily see when your own characters health is going down, but trying to see if that wyvern you're attacking is nearly dead or if you're spell had any linger effect on it and it turns into a guessing game. In comparison to Pillar's of Eternity and it's open and helpful stream of information, I felt like i was flying in the dark for most fights. In this it definitely sticks close to it's pen and paper roots, but in a modern computer game it feels dated and a little cruel, though I'm sure old CRPG fans and Pathfinder fans will beg to differ. The only thing more frustrating than getting a party wipe are the quest bugs that prevent you from finishing a quest in the first place, twice now (30 hrs played) i've seen questlines break or otherwise railroad me into a decision just so I finish them without the game glitching out. The counter intuitive usage of the kingdom management section also irked me. Several timed missions may give you a year to complete it's conditions but will only lay down the quest strings for it's completion 3 weeks before quest failure, the lack of side quests in between these sporadic bursts of questing are a dull drone of aimless exploring and waiting for events and projects to complete improving a kingdom stat that... really doesn't change anything but does mess up the tension and pacing of the story. In conclusion, the game has promise. It's balancing issues and bugs aside, the aesthetic of the game and writing are beautiful but are dragged down by balancing issues, bugs and poor implementation of the kingdom management feature. I'll aim to complete this run through but I can't see much of a draw after to turn around and do another run through.… Expand
  29. tma2
    Oct 2, 2018
    6
    The game has alot of potential but it is not the masterpiece these 10/10 reviews claim. It is full of bugs, including many which are game breaking. Basic class feats don't function. The difficulty even on normal is very unbalanced to the point where you will reload just to hit an enemy, let alone win encounters.

    The content is definitely good but its not comparable to Baldur's Gate 2.    The game has alot of potential but it is not the masterpiece these 10/10 reviews claim. It is full of bugs, including many which are game breaking. Basic class feats don't function. The difficulty even on normal is very unbalanced to the point where you will reload just to hit an enemy, let alone win encounters.

    The content is definitely good but its not comparable to Baldur's Gate 2. Graphics are pretty good but the loading times are very very slow. Story and voice acting is good.

    At launch and currently, the rampant issues seriously detract from its rating. 6/10. In time a 9/10 may be reasonable.    … Expand
  30. MyBestFriend
    Oct 14, 2018
    6
    It is incredibly complex and lacks a meaningful tutorial where character progression and classes/races would be explained. The gigantic "encyclopedia" only complicates everything. I found only later that the game is based on a table game. So I guess that's why I was so frustrated with the whole combat system and character progression.

    So I guess it was targeted to the players who    It is incredibly complex and lacks a meaningful tutorial where character progression and classes/races would be explained. The gigantic "encyclopedia" only complicates everything. I found only later that the game is based on a table game. So I guess that's why I was so frustrated with the whole combat system and character progression.

    So I guess it was targeted to the players who already played the table version of it. It does not mean It does not need to have better tutorial for complete newbies.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
100
#100 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. CD-Action
    Feb 13, 2019
    75
    Pathfinder: Kingmaker offers an interesting world to explore along with satisfying combat, and the first half of the adventure is top-notch old school fun. Unfortunately later the game loses its momentum and becomes boring. Anyhow, it’s a solid RPG that should keep Baldur’s Gate’s fans happy for many hours. [12/2018, p.86]
  2. Games.cz
    Jan 15, 2019
    80
    A great adaptation of the original Pathfinder gamebooks. The story is sidelined by tough tactical combat - its steep difficulty may be daunting to genre newbies, but D&D veterans will be delighted. There are technical problems, yes, but those are overshadowed by refreshing kingdom management and interesting companions.
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 31, 2018
    80
    RPG for the hardened. Get used to loadings and getting lost in the rules, get ready for an ok storyline - and in the return you will enjoy a deep level of challenge and great management of your own kingdom. Obsidian has a new competitor. [Issue#290]
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