Question What makes Pathfinder so great?

[Sciophyte]

I've played pretty much every major RPG since the original Baldur's Gate (and Ultima Underworld before that), and tried Pathfinder: Kingmaker, too. It's very nice, but it seems that many people find it exceptionally nice. So I was wondering, what do you think stands out about this game compared to other RPGs on the PC?

 

[Zloth]

I agree with you - I'm trying to wrap the game up now.

One thing that was very fun at the start (at least for me) was the class flexibility. Even sticking with one class, there's a TON to choose from!

 

[Judge]

1) Tabletop roots: D&D/Pathfinder 1st Edition;

2) Huge possibilities in character creation/progression (spells/abilities etc);

3) Party of six characters (created or companions);

4) Tactical battles in RTwP or Turn Based systems (the latter with mod) - this is a great feature because most of the times action rpgs dont have a great tactical feeling (i.e Skyrim, The Witcher, Mass Effect - etc)

5) Isometric perspective - it helps in creating that tactical layer.

6) Its basically Baldur's Gate 3.

7) Challenging difficulties - its difficult to have an action rpg with challenging battles - the exception is the dark souls series, but even dark souls is not a great rpg example, because the numbers that represents the character traits are not that important. what is more important is the player skill, so not very rpgish here.

8) The exploration aspect is good (not exceptional), and it does not have a gps with quest markers.

9) It's a huge game with 150+ hours of gameplay (at least in the harder difficulties); but if you really like this game you will not play only one playthrough.

10) The story is good, it invites the player to make an excuse to go adventuring.

 

[Sciophyte]

All right! Maybe I should pick it up again. Thanks, guys!

 

[Dan]

It's on the humble monthly, so can be got for cheap.

 

[Mknott]

For me it's the sense of adventure.

It really sells that you're on a journey spanning years. The writing and characters are functional, but the scale bolsters it all really nicely.

I absolutely loved it, if you can overlook some of the, to be honest after all the patching relatively minor, technical stuff in favour of atmosphere then it's gold. Don't be too worried about hammering it, do a few areas and take a break, it's an easy game to burn out on.

 

[Zloth]

What's bumming me:

The kingdom management gets tedious. I can't ever seem to catch up on training (even with 7 day training) and picking which advisor should do what just isn't that interesting. Building the buildings is fine but, compared to what all those events are doing to your stats, the buildings are pretty small pickings.

Ironically enough - the pathfinding needs serious help. If you try to attack an enemy in a crowd, you might just run up to a good spot and attack. Or you might run around in circles, trying to find an opening. Sometimes that's just funny to watch but, if you get close to an enemy, you can get hit with an opportunity attack. You can take some pretty awful damage at times.

Some of the mechanics are pretty opaque. Every time I think I understand the rules on sneak attack, for instance, I'll have one not count for no reason I can fathom.

Music is good but there' not nearly enough of it (something I've started calling "The Tropico Syndrome"). Or perhaps it's just a little too engaging? At any rate, it starts out great but I eventually have to turn the volume on it WAY down because of the constant repetition. The music at the Rushlight festival was particularly bad with just two short songs repeating over and over and over.

Remember how Dragon Age 2 re-used maps? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

But, as others say, there's certainly lots to like as well. The combat (with the turn based mod) is great fun, there's lots of tactics to pick from, you pick up new skills/spells/abilities to explore often enough to keep the game interesting, and it's got some unique ideas for exploring the realm. I certainly don't regret playing it but I'm not seeing the "OMG awesome!" that others are getting.

P.S. Except the new rug at the tavern. That was awesome!

 

[Lee_Bo]

Just added Pathfinder: Kingmaker to my Steam wish list.