3/5 ★ – eatpotatochip's review of Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

​​This is a game I really wanted to like. Pathfinder: Kingmaker has basically everything I would like in a game. It's an RPG (which I'm a sucker for), it uses the Pathfinder tabletop RPG system (which I'm playing in two separate real-life campaigns), and it's isometric (which I find leads to the best RPG gameplay) and has a great character creator (which I'm a HUGE sucker ​for). And yet, I ended up abandoning it after 25 hours. There are a whole bunch of computer RPGs that have adapted some sort of tabletop RPG system - the first two Baldur's Gate games adapted the AD&D system, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines and the recent Shadowrun games are also examples of good system adaptations - but what you'll usually see is that these games have never really faithfully adapted the systems into their gameplay for a simple reason - they wouldn't be fun to play if they were. A lot of the fun in tabletop RPGs comes from improvisation, both on the part of the Game Master (the one creating the world, telling the story and organizing the encounters) and the players (who roleplay characters in this world and affect the story by interacting with it), and there is no room for improvisation in a computer RPG, since the computer itself is the GM and strictly follows the design of its code. Pathfinder: Kingmaker faithfully adapts the ruleset of its tabletop counterpart, and all those associated demerits hit even harder because of this. For example, say you journey through a cave and get stuck in a web trap. In the system, webs can affect a large area and trap you for 10 minutes per level, and you can attempt to break out and slowly make your way out of the heavy web strands. This can be scary and challenging when there are enemies approaching, but when there's no danger, it ends up being a chore (you have to keep rolling to break free of your immobilization, and once you do, you need to keep rolling while slowly making your way out to make sure you don't get trapped and immobilized again). A good DM would fast forward through the trap to make sure the players didn't get bored or irritated and got to the good part quicker, but Pathfinder: Kingmaker doesn't give you that benefit - you have to wait until the randomized dice rolls the computer generates come in your favour, and hope that they keep favouring you and don't suddenly trap you again. Now, imagine you're going through a cave system with five web traps and have to go through the same arduous process and waste time if you didn't spot and disarm them first - or if they were never meant to be spotted before they were sprung. Modern isometric RPG games like Shadowrun and Pillars of Eternity come with a lot of quality-of-life improvements, making sure you're challenged and still having fun. It's kind of strange seeing a modern game giving very few concessions in this regard, when even Baldur's Gate 2 made plenty of adjustments to keep the pace snappy and fun. The core gameplay is good through, and if the dungeons were designed better then I would definitely have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I've spent too much time with this game and gotten very little in return, so I've had to abandon it, which is a pity.