Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition

Kingmaker does the impossible task of translating not only the classic adventure path of Kingmaker, but the entire game of Pathfinder to the realm of CRPGs! If you're a Pathfinder gamer, then this is the perfect way to get your Pathfinder fix on those off weeks when you don't have a regular game. If you're new to Pathfinder, then take your time and read through the explanations of abilities and rules in the game. You may want to leave your characters on "auto-level" so you avoid build disasters in your characters. My only complaint would be that several of the missions are timed, but there is almost no way of knowing which ones are pertinent at any given time and which one should take priority next. This is really a great way to give the game an OSR (Old School Revival) feel, but unfortunately, most players that want the OSR feel are most likely still playing a patched up version of Temple of Elemental Evil from 15 years ago instead of this bright and shiny masterpiece. Pathfinder to them is too "fiddly" and anything beyond rolling a d20 and having game stats is too complicated. Fortunatelt, I love the complicated nature of Pathfinder. I love the mechanics and the ability to design and specialize my characters to the ideal that I carry in my head. I'd love to see the Gunslinger and the swashbuckler added to the game. There should be reminders about ongoing missions, so you don't run out of time or your kingdom falls into ruin over and over again. If everything goes to heck and back in your game, you can lower the difficulty, and set the kingdom mode to "invincible", so there are ways to mitigate the frustration, but there has to be another way to help a player stay on track without the game spiraling into failure. Buy your bag of holding early and invest in a Pathfinder companion as soon as you can. From there, explore to your heart's content and make the Stolen Lands your own! Buy it today and experience your dungeon crawling like never before!

Pathfinder: Kingmaker might have its flaws, however it really just matches all my fantasies about a fantasy world: sword & magic, mythical beasts, and the vibrant colors and the most amazing UI. I really love this game, it's like a slow epic being written by myself. I downloaded the DRM-free installer so you might not see my hours but currently I am fighting troll problems. I do not play this game often but it totally worths the price.

This game has its quirks, that's for sure. Some of the combat balancing leaves "something to be desired", but it does include a changable difficulty slider, just in case you're having trouble with one of those "must be done" combats. And some combats, you really need to know in advance how tough they are, otherwise it's the classic "oops, load again". With the right prep, some of those make a good challenge; I think the piece of the puzzle that's lacking is a mechanic for scouting that doesn't take you forever (running ahead with your scout, and then having the party inch up). There are of course, the 'randomly appearing monsters in an encounter, which just happen to spawn in the middle of your defensive party', which can be amusing, if not exactly realistic. That's pretty much it for the bad. On the good: There's some reasonably interesting characters (and you can get a laugh out of their cross chat at camps) which weave into the larger (and boy, is this LARGE; I'm over 100 hours into it, and about halfway through, and that's not including the DLC stuff, and there are still things I haven't had time to look into). It's a grand RPG in the vein of Neverwinter Nights (as the closest I can think of for it in feel). Well, Neverwinter Nights if they'd included all the expansions in the core game (I think there are 6 sub campaigns in the grand story arc, each of which could almost be a full campaign at contemporary game sizes. You do have to use the scenery to achieve some victories (but hey, in a decent RPG, you should; using terrain is at the core of tactical play; this isn't "cheese" style using terrain, but proper tactical use of choke points and so on). And on top of that, there's the setting up of your Barony! That's just a whole other level to keep the eyes on that I find kinda fun!

First off, don't want to hear the "git gud" from the hardcore fans. I do like the game; I do like the mechanics. It is satisfying for the most part to play, however the difficulty on the 'Normal' setting is beyond ridiculous. I'm an older person who has played these type of CRPGs since Bard Tale on 5.25" disks, so I get it harkens to old school days of difficulty and rules/prep. That said, the Hargulka battle is really over the top. Stag Lord - no problem with some thought and preparation. I have a full party of 7th level characters (Val, Amiri, Tristian, Octavia, Linzi) ... I'm a ranger with a bear companion. We buff with blur, haste, bless, mage armor, barkskin, heroism, shield of faith. I put down grease around the enemies before engaging. Hargulka wipes my entire party in seconds. Grease and entagle - walks right thru. The devs missed the mark on fun in this. I get some surprises and encounters should be challenging, some even that you avoid. This one is neither (you can't avoid it). Anyone looking to buy this for enjoyment needs to realize it will become a chore in regards to strategy and devours the fun of trying to advance the story (yes, STORY mode exists so don't throw that out there either - Normal mode should be accessible to anyone who has played a real CRPG like Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale). Back to trying other strategies I guess.

This should have been a classic, as the engine and characters are just great. Unfortantly there is no balance. Areas will have low level (2-5) mobs right next to level 10+ mobs. Quests give no indication of how hard they will be, i.e. chapter 2 quest might be fight some basic 5-6 level mobs or fight packs of level 11 mobs. There are similar problems witht he kingdom building as you do mission that will take you out of action for 2 week while also being punished for not reacting to missions that pop up during.