Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition

I honestly tried my best to enjoy this game and I will probably still finish it because I am stubborn. But my God does this game not want you to play it. Or at least it doesn't want you to play it as a role playing game. Before I got to the endgame, I would have given it 3 stars because it has massive problems, but I was having fun with minor hiccups. The balance was trash the entire game and you HAVE to metagame, min-max, and reload constantly for the CHANCE to succeed in an area. Like you HAVE to know the layout and what enemies are in an area to even have a chance at winning. Which means you have to go to an area and die so you can reload and position and buff your characters specifically to fight this random new type of creature that is immune to essentially all of the spells, weapons, and abilities you used before this point. This game is not setup for you to actually do what your characters would do and it gives you absolutely no reason to prepare for anything. You just have to magically know that the room you are about to walk in has 15 level 24 fey demigods and also a level 29/30 one while you are level 17. Because this game hates you and it wants you to suffer. Compared to the likes of Pillars of Eternity and even freaking Neverwinter Nights 2 from like 20 years ago, this is just unacceptably flawed. I would strongly recommend a pass unless it is heavily discounted or you just like slogging through dungeon crawlers with a timer.

Я купил эту игру через 10 дней после релиза, наиграв 20 часов на пиратке, которая мне понравилась, а после купил сразу же имперское издание. Потенциал игры великолепен, игроки получили то, что хотели. Получили при этом с очень размытыми и правилами и балансом. Существует множество трюков, чтобы получить преимущества определенных багов(или фич). Но это первая игра в моей жизни, которую я не могу пройти из-за вызывающих поджог седалища багов в сюжетной линии. Я не понимаю, почему она мне при всем этом нравится, хотя я не мазохист. В общем, это алмаз,, не то что неограненный, а еще даже не вырубленный из скалы.

I played the enhanced Version, after August 2020. There are no bad bugs anymore. So dont get afraid by the older reviews, which say its almost unplayable... it is a wonderful game. I played Pillars of Eternety, Divinity Original Sin 1+2 but Kingmaker beats them all in my view. Major point: the story... it made much more sense to me than for example DOS 2. I also liked the new round based fighting mode and got really fond of my companions. I felt like 20 years ago, when i was playing Baldurs Gate.

This game starts off what appears to be a fairly standard CRPG using 3.5E rules. After playing a few hours into Chapter 1, it gives off a vibe that this might be the next best thing to Baldurs Gate. It culminates into a decent blend of exploration, tactical turn based (or real time with pause) combat with some decent RP choices based on alignment, and a fairly decent, if shallow, cast of characters. Then once you finish up Chapter 1, the game goes to hell. Chapter 2, you're introduced to a core mechanic that pretty much makes the game unplayable to me: Kingdom Management. Welcome to a sub-game that has you managing a Barony, complete with RNG events that can basically cause your game to go into a fail state. Choose wisely, and get ready to save scum like you've never save scummed before! Remember that once choice you made 3 hours ago, with an 80% chance of success? Well now it happened while you were out adventuring, but it failed! Now your Kingdom is losing stats! Remember that one event you thought seemed logical to pursue? Now there are Trolls rampaging through your barony and your advisors are all tied up! Better cancel those projects and take a loss, you need your Advisors to put out these literal fires that are breaking your Kingdom. Why weren't you smart enough to know this was going to happen? There are too many random variables and events that pop up during this mode that can end in disaster, making the need to make dozens of hard save states at any given point a necessity. I had to start Chapter 2 over twice because I made choices or chose to pursue things that were "wrong" and came back to bite me later, causing my Barony to go into a decline. There are hard and soft time limits on your adventuring and this is a way to keep a fire lit under your behind, but it all looks good on paper, but in practice it makes for a frustrating and ultimately disappointing gaming experience reliant too much on RNG fail states.

After many hours (I can't game like I used to- adulting) I finally just finished the game. To be clear, I bought this on a whim and know nothing about the tabletop game. I'm the kind of guy who is all about the narrative in all things- I can play a game with terrible graphics with a great story but I can't play a beautiful game with a crap story. I also don't write a review unless I feel strongly about the product- good or bad. I can tell you I bought this at full price and I don't regret a penny spent. If you're one to immerse yourself in a game this story is right for you. I've read a couple reviews with complaints about originality, but let's be honest- all creative types get their motivation from somewhere. Yes, there are a couple cliches here, but far from being a problem, in my eyes they are worked perfectly into the story. You get comfortable with some familiarity and then the originality strikes. It all melds together into a strong story that is well worth your time. Yes, there are some issues, but at this point, you're going to have a great experience. The studio may not be Blizzard-large, but they listen to the community and anything that might be game breaking have been taken care of. You'll have your hardcore complainers who want only diamonds no matter what, but don't listen to them - you can get through it and you'll enjoy it. Bottom line, I fully recommend this game to anyone who likes the genre. Great storylines, realistic interactions, deep emotion and strong narrative await your purchase.