This game - bug of the year.
It'll be nice game, when developers will fix all bugs/crashes/lags/glitches...
Hope they will release the expanded version, but for now I'll wait ;)
For better or for worse, Pathfinder: Kingmaker is the closest you're going to get to the tabletop RPG experience as a video game, right down to having That Guy's half-elf OC as part of the main story.
This game is far more about the mechanics and the journey than it is about the story; it starts strong and has interesting party members that I grew to genuinely like, but the final chapter is a tedious slog, the early game can be rough, and your character's allignment will always skew toward neutral; it's hard for a paladin or a monk to stay lawful good. Not to mention how game is quite buggy. Nothing game-breaking, but the turn-based combat would occasionally freeze; you'll need to open the options menu before it will resume.
Despite this, I wasn't joking when I said that this game is a tabletop RPG come to life. The Stolen Lands are vast, you have lots of options when creating your character, and if you let this game suck you in, hundreds of hours will just vanish.
If you like tabletop RPGs even a little bit, pick it up. You'll love this game, warts and all.
Did you read the other reviews about how kingdom management is an atrocious endeavor? I did, too, and thought, "It can't be that bad."
It wasn't. It also wasn't fun and didn't feel like there was a point to it.
-Example: a medical emergency hits your barony; a character laments the lack of hospital in the city; but there is one - I built it long before the chapter began. Thanks, game.
Did you read the other reviews about how the game allows switching between turned-based and real-time combat? I did and thought, "Sounds great!"
It sort of is.
-Very often, combat is better than Neverwinter or Baldur's.
-But the classes and characters or so unbalanced, and the enemies go through such obnoxious power spikes, that any fun you might have in experimenting in oddball characters is subsumed by the need to keep overpowered units on hand.
-Min-maxers will have a blast!
Did you read about the slog that is map movement? I did, but saw the size of it and figured, "That's a place that'd be fun to explore!"
It isn't.
-The consensus was right.
Did you read all about the role playing? I didn't.
It sucks.
-It feels irrational (e.g. game conflates Neutral alignment with not taking sides in conflict).
-NPCs can be interesting but usually wind up as flaccid tropes.
-Curiously high DC skill checks encourage save scrumming.
-Some points will seem to provide copious options - most lead to the same conclusion.
-Some points provide few options, shoehorning you into only performing uncharacteristic actions.
-You will never, ever cast magic in an event or conversation.
There's pleasure to be had here, but this household decided it got enough and could move on, confident that we wouldn't get any more out of the game.
First review on GOG after some 14 years. This game is that compelling and I nearly missed it.
This game sold me on Pathfinder as the successor to D&D 3.5 but one of the potential drawbacks of that RPG system is the emphasis on optimised play. If you are not prepared to put the time into planning out viable builds, you will not enjoy this game as much as the developers intended.
That said, for my first play through I went in completely blind and it was a comedy of blunders. I am pretty sure the only reason that I made it through was to play as an evil tyrant - using atrocities and pitiless opportunism to break through the web of genuinely difficult story and strategy choices. This was not only supported by the game, but it was well written and even rewarding to the point I say Kingmaker has the best 'evil plot' in a Baldur's Gate inheritor. This is very very clearly not the only way to play and there is a mind boggling spread of content for people who play something other than a poorly optimised, socially inept gnomish abjurer.
It's also the first BG Inheritor that supports a summoned army without mods - I could and indeed *had* to create some 40 skeletons to take on the challenges the game threw at me, and the 'evil path' enhanced this approach through quest rewards.
It also looks pretty and the sound engineering is top tier, especially for magic sound effects. Some of the music and voice choices have some bland notes, but it is forgivable.
Those are the good parts.
The bad is that the game is woefully optimised and playably buggy. Development has improved the bugs since release but my play through with the latest Linux build had at least 6 CtD. Loading times are woeful despite user side optimisation, slowdowns are noticeable with the aforementioned 40 skeletons, autosave takes progressively longer without mods as the game goes on, and basic activities require multiple transitions.
And yet it is worth it.
I want to play this game again then get the sequel.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a great throwback to good ol' times of Infinity Engine games. It is powered by Pathfinder tabletop RPG ruleset, faithfully adapted for this game. The system is full of crunchy complexity -- in my opinion, this is great, but beware of character sheets full of obscure statistics. If you never played Pathfinder or D&D 3.5 (or any game based on latter, like Neverwinter Nights 2), expect a steep learning curve.
There are two modes of play -- real-time with pause and turn-based. So Kingmaker can be both Baldur's Gate and Temple of Elemental Evil. Now, don't get me wrong. The game plays great both ways, but I would still prefer BG and Pillars of Eternity for RTWP experience. But Turn Based mode makes this game an absolute blast to play. This is what Pathfinder was designed for, after all. And, well, good turn-based RPGs are few and far between. This is definitely one of them.