Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition

The mark of a great sequel is that it makes the original unplayable. Wrath of the Righteous does this for me in every respect compared to Kingmaker. First off, Wrath is a separate campaign to Kingmaker so it isn't technically a sequel, but it has so many of the same elements (sprawling narrative, building mechanics, choices and consequences) that the comparison can't help but be made. The major difference between the two is epicness. Kingmaker was all about building a kingdom and surviving intrigue. Wrath pulls from the PnP campaign module and breaks the standard game rules with glee. Rather than being an adventurer, you're a fledgling demigod that can become an unholy lich, an angel, a time-traveling aeon, or anything else. This plays true to the original campaign in focusing on Mythic energy and laughing at standard limitations. Limited Rage? Normal Spells? Dying? Forget those, we're going to steer into the insanity and laugh the whole way there. There are some familiar beats here in being able to build areas up, but they are fortresses instead of settlements, and babysitting them and managing the Fifth Crusade is nowhere near as laborious as it was in Kingmaker. Big plus there. The Crusade itself, managing the armies and generals, will be an acquired taste to some. I'm not a fan of how central Owlcat made it, making it an all-or-nothing shindig that you either grind through and get good at, or switch off and feel like you're missing out on part of the experience, but that was probably the point. This is a solid 4 stars, however, because while I admire the ambition of the devs and the scale of their project, that also means bugs and instability. Some areas are solid as bedrock, but others had me save-scumming between disarming traps between the six mandatory CtDs every time I went to the same place. Definitely an epic title, worth the entrance fee or, if bugs bother you, waiting until it's in a polished state. But don't ignore this one - it's pretty epic.

This game is the best dating simulator I've ever played. Oh, I guess the story and gameplay are good too.

Not gonna lie, there was a lot of bugs jus after relese, game need probably two or three patches to be fully polished, but hell, heven, elysium and abbys - its great game. 4/5 with bugs, easily 5/5 when they fix them. Damn, maybe even 10+/10 - mythic music scores are top of the top, companions are great and their stories interesting and engaging, and the feeling you have at the crucial moments of the game are just amazing, you chose your path, and creators know what you want from the experience, and they give you exactly that. I know that each mythic path is different, and between 10 of them and thousand of possible class/race builds experience can be a bit better or worse, but my Angel play-trough give ma a lot of satisfaction. If RPGs are your kind of a game - go for it!

Great until act 5 crusade mode. Even with the toybox mod it takes literal hours of "skip day" to build up your armies and skip through the crusade battles. Just an obnoxious waste of time.

This is a game that is held back by bugs, but if you look at my hours played- a staggering 170h in not even under a month- you'll see I found it more than worth my while despite them. **Strengths** - Amazing art (3D, Drawings, environments, music). Especially the music is memorable. - Absurd amount of customization and options for building your characters class + backstory, and RPing them - Many ways to express your character via consequences and dialogue - The Mythic Paths offer a lot of uniqueness I really loved - Interesting story that kept me entertained from start to finish (sometimes great, sometimes OK) - Voice actors do a fantastic job - Intensely challenging combat **Areas for improvement** - Bugs. I didn't run into game breaking ones, but it's clearly a game without polish. - Some puzzles are great, some puzzles are horrible - The challenge of the combat sometimes comes from poorly balanced encounters. Note: I always found a way to deal with them, but sometimes a boss' minions were tougher than the boss itself. - Pre-buffing is a necessity in this game, and can feel like a chore. I have nostalgia to help me get over this, but for people fond of say Pillars of Eternity, the long time spent on just prepping for fights may be off-putting. - Crusade mode, while immersive and fitting, is tactically extremely simple and offers little nuance. **Final reflections and verdict:** I have patience with games that set the bar high, and want a lot. You can tell Owlcat aims for the stars- and they almost get there. I adore this game and consider it as masterpiece. It is a game that will really, really click with some people and completely turn away others, I suspect. If you feel intrigued, despite the variance in reviews, I think this may be for you. But maybe wait a few months for the bugs to get fixed.