Travel to the Stolen Lands
The Owlcat Games and Deep Silver RPG, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, debuted in 2018 with its launch on PC thanks to the revenues achieved on Kickstarter, now Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Definitive Edition is coming to consoles and PCs that, in addition to integrating all the downloadable content that has been released so far, adds new settings and extras, such as a turn-based mode to more closely resemble the board game or changes in real-time combat, sections that we will delve into later. As we already dedicated an analysis to the game at the time, here we will summarize some of its characteristics and we will tell you about all the new features.
Its story takes us to the Stolen Lands, turbulent and dangerous places that are part of the medieval fantasy universe of the Pathfinder board game. Here our goal is to become your new sovereign, with a classic style in which every decision we make affects the world around us, whether for better or for worse. But the best thing is that we do this trip together, with characters who have their own plots, decisions and we can even form relationships.
This game is divided into different chapters and, although it has some quite interesting parts, it is true that it suffers some ups and downs in the plot, especially when it comes to our companions. This is noticeable when making certain decisions, which do not have all the impact that we would like at the time, although they will help you resolve the odd conflict without having to fight and can lead to unexpected consequences in the future, where you will even find permanent character death. At least the argument is well spun and easy to follow.
As soon as the adventure begins, you have to choose a difficulty, with many options available and the possibility of adjusting certain parameters, and create the character that represents you, selecting a predefined one or starting from scratch. The first thing is to choose one of the races (human, elf, dwarf, gnome, medium, half elf, half orcs and aasimar) and then one of classes, of which there are many available, although some of them are not available to the players at first. Then you have to select their gender, race, specialty and attributes to adapt it to your style of play, as well as their alignment (how good or evil they are), voice, name and birthday. Finally, you will go to the tutorial where the basic concepts of the game will be explained to you.
As for the battles, if we opt for real time, our characters automatically attack the selected target, with the possibility of choosing certain abilities, objects and even pausing the action to position our group or think more carefully about the next move. If we choose the turn-based mode, which is more similar to the board game and its rules, each character will act sooner or later according to their characteristics and class, with a bar that limits our movements and attack movements, which forces us to think more carefully before acting. In addition, in this mode the attacks are more visible and it is easier to execute certain movements, so it will cost you less to know what is happening on the screen. Both systems are very interesting, being able to switch between them with the push of a button.
As important as a good strategy when fighting is to assign the points obtained and our equipment well. You can get lots of pieces and supplies from fallen enemies or exploring the scenarios, but be careful, carrying a lot of cargo can limit the movements of the characters, forcing us to select the right one and sell the one we don't need.
On the other hand, this version includes as standard the downloadable content that has been released previously and the possibility of playing both from the beginning. The first of these is Varnhold’s Lot, where we step into the shoes of General Varn, another hero and captain of the band of mercenaries, Hosts of Varnling and the legitimate ruler of Varnhold, to discover his story first-hand. Both the elections and their team can be carried over to the main story, as it runs in parallel.
The second is Beneath The Stolen Lands, in which you will find the self-proclaimed protector of Golarion and discover what secrets are buried under the Stolen Lands, in a changing maze of madness where nothing is what it seems and you defend the lands from one of the enemies deadliest the world has ever seen. You can play as your main character, either from the start or waiting for an invitation from a mysterious Golarion protector while playing the main campaign.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Definitive Edition is as good as the original game was at the time, with a classic RPG style that fans of the genre will love. It has tons of additional content as standard and maintains the great challenge we saw in the base game, also correcting some of the bugs that sometimes spoiled the experience. In addition, the controls and interface have been quite well adapted to the controls. Perhaps it fails to be a bit more ambitious, original and fix small problems, such as loading times, but it is still very enjoyable.
This is the best opportunity to get Pathfinder: Kingmaker, offering content that will keep you hooked for many hours