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The Video Game Hole
Sep. 30th, 2018 04:44 pmI have spent most of my waking hours this week playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Which would be fine, except that I was not expecting to spent most of the past week playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker and was not well-prepared to do so. Normally if a new RPG I expect to like is coming out, I clear my schedule and make sure I have lots of food and the house is reasonably clean and friends and family know not to try and talk to me for a while. (Look, other people go on holidays to real places. I spend a week or two of each year touring Thedas or Eora or - apparently - Golarion and kill imaginary things with imaginary swords.) This time I did none of those things and have to keep leaving the keyboard to do stupid RL stuff when I want to be killing trolls.
This release kind of snuck up on me since it's the first game from the studio and I wasn't sure whether it would be my thing or not ,but it turns out that it absolutely is - it's basically Neverwinter Nights 2 except actually good and fun. All right, maybe that's unfair to NWN2, which does have its good points. But Pathfinder: Kingmaker has nicer graphics, a more involved and complex land management system, no irritating crafting and best of all, a proper camera that lets you see things! Seriously, that is the worst part of NWN2. Three camera modes, and all of them manage to be awful in their own unique way.
Hopefully Kingmaker also does not end with 'rocks fall, everyone dies', which would be another major improvement.* Of course, nothing in it has hit the heights of the writing in Mask of the Betrayer yet, either, but assuming it doesn't melt my graphics card that is a compromise I am willing to make. (Yes, I once had a graphics card literally melt while playing Storm of Zehir. It's not even a pretty game!)
I love everything about my Lawful Neutral Half-Orc Inquisitor, especially the way she never fails and Intimidate check <3. Next time she gets a Feat I am picking Dazzling Display and then she will be able to demoralise everyone in a thirty-foot radius just by twirling her Falchion around.
I would certainly recommend the game IF you are familiar with D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder rules OR you are willing to turn the difficulty all the way down and enjoy the story, roleplaying and kingdom management aspects that way. I gather from many comments on Steam and elsewhere that it is a very tough game if you don't know how to build a Pathfinder character, and I have certainly had to reload more than a few times myself. Screw those wererats in particular.
*If I just ruined the end of NWN2 for you: you should thank me.
This release kind of snuck up on me since it's the first game from the studio and I wasn't sure whether it would be my thing or not ,but it turns out that it absolutely is - it's basically Neverwinter Nights 2 except actually good and fun. All right, maybe that's unfair to NWN2, which does have its good points. But Pathfinder: Kingmaker has nicer graphics, a more involved and complex land management system, no irritating crafting and best of all, a proper camera that lets you see things! Seriously, that is the worst part of NWN2. Three camera modes, and all of them manage to be awful in their own unique way.
Hopefully Kingmaker also does not end with 'rocks fall, everyone dies', which would be another major improvement.* Of course, nothing in it has hit the heights of the writing in Mask of the Betrayer yet, either, but assuming it doesn't melt my graphics card that is a compromise I am willing to make. (Yes, I once had a graphics card literally melt while playing Storm of Zehir. It's not even a pretty game!)
I love everything about my Lawful Neutral Half-Orc Inquisitor, especially the way she never fails and Intimidate check <3. Next time she gets a Feat I am picking Dazzling Display and then she will be able to demoralise everyone in a thirty-foot radius just by twirling her Falchion around.
I would certainly recommend the game IF you are familiar with D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder rules OR you are willing to turn the difficulty all the way down and enjoy the story, roleplaying and kingdom management aspects that way. I gather from many comments on Steam and elsewhere that it is a very tough game if you don't know how to build a Pathfinder character, and I have certainly had to reload more than a few times myself. Screw those wererats in particular.
*If I just ruined the end of NWN2 for you: you should thank me.
