Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a really enjoyable CRPG.

Great crpg for people who like Crpgs and are willing to put in the time to learn the game but it also gives you a lot of options like premade characters and difficulty settings if you aren't willing to invest a ton of time.

Why ? Because sadly, one of the biggest issue that so far had been really affective my play experience highly negatively were the insane loading times ! Not only they are long, but they are numerous, because the game constantly switches between different gameplay layers (regular area exploring, map travel, barony management, and town/settlement building) I think at least 1/3 of my playtime had consisted in watching and waiting for loading times... on a SATA 3 mechanical high speed HDD. When launching the game from an SSD however, it becomes still noticable but not long enough to frustrate you and waste your time. Now that is said, the rest of the game. Sadly i could not say much of it, as i only have some 15 hours of gaming on it (not counting loading time), and i am only two monthes in-game of the Barony management part. But the game so far hooked me enough to keep playing and wanting to see more of it and where it plans to go. So i could say this is a good point for it. On technical side, it has issues but also many options in settings both for display and gameplay, to adapt it to your needs. Sadly, as in Tyranny, PiloE and other games, the loot/items key highlight can't be bound to anything else but the default key. I didn't know the Pathfinder tabletop game at all, but from what i understood, it was a sort of fork of the old AD&D D20 ruleset (probably 3.0 or 3.5) so even without any knowledge of it, between past AD&D tabletop experience and the tooltips in the game, i was not lost, even if a few things are left unexplained by tutorial or in-game tooltip and help. However, i am very doubtful of the viability and usefulness of many classes, skills and builds. Regarding the story and the characters, well, it's a mixed bag. Story seems decent so far, but recruitable folks made me feel a bit uneasy and upset. Either too cliché or forcedly exotic... Finally, the game has some issues that could/will be fixed, regarding stability, UI, and stuff...

Yes it still has quite a few bugs. But Owlcat have already proven their commitment to both eliminating all bugs reported and improving the game in general due to user feedback and they are busting their backsides to do so as quickly as humanly possible with the first 3 hotfix patches coming daily and the forth just a little longer and probably only because it fell on a weekend. Pathfinder: Kingmaker remains the only real D&D game since the Black Isle games and Neverwinter Nights games. There were others but they just couldn't cut the mustard. And the difference between a real D&D game and the pretenders is evident from the moment you create your first character. I think the only thing I can seriously say it is lacking, other than finishing stomping out the bugs and fine tuning, is the complete unmasking of all die roll mechanics. This would simplify understanding for those not familiar with D&D and reasure everyone that is that everything is working exactly as it should be. Storylines are, for the most part, as good as anyone could expect, the management area of the game is far less of an inconsequential thing tacked on than The Keep in Pillars was when it came down to the bald fact of the matter and it is used to contribute to and progress events in a far better way. When all is said and done it has just been far too long a wait for a real D&D game and Pathfinder:Kingmaker is as close as you can get without actually playing pen and paper. D&D players will have an advantage at the outset since there's very little handholding here and as soon as you are out of the tutorial section you can expect to run into fights you can't handle with regularity. But isn't that the whole point of a real adventure in a world full of strange and magical creatures. If it were as easy as the console trend has been leading other RPGs then you wouldn't feel the same sense of achievement when you are actually getting somewhere. A must-buy for all RPG fans.

This game reminds me of old-school classics like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. More so than the recent pillars of eternity games. Yes, the game is riddled with annoying bugs and the difficulty balance is questionable. But despite the issues, this is the most fun I've had with a game in years. The old feeling is there, if you know what I mean, and that's the most important, to me.