I definitely get where you're coming from.

Had I not backed at "design a weapon" tier, I likely wouldn't have finished it. It was boring and I really didn't like any of the companions.

PoE2 was far better, though.

It's on my wish list, however, the reviews I read of it make it seem like it might not fit. I am not great at tactics for one thing. Additionally, I read stuff about how characters have permadeath and sometimes it's completely random (that review made it sound like you couldn't just go back to a previous save either, not sure if that was due to save points or something) and even that if you make too many wrong choices, you can keep going but ultimately not be able to finish the game.

I'll probably play it at some point, but I have POE and all it's add-ons already (I was a kickstarter backer), so I might as well play it first!

It's got a standard save system, so I'm not sure what that reviewer was talking about.

Characters with their health going below zero further than their constitution score die. There is an option (Death's Door) that gives them a second chance, and it's reset by resting in a safe place (like the capital). It's very rare to have a character dying 2 times before you can reset it, I never had this in Kingmaker on the normal setting.

There are multiple difficulty options to make it easier too.

The "random and not being able to load/save" part is simply not true. Unless you specifically select "Last Azlanti" mode, which only allows you one save file, so you can save your progress, but not come back.

The only issue is the kingdom management, but you can prevent bad decisions from destroying your kingdom with an option (there's an automatic mode but it doesn't work, unless they fixed it recently).

All that being said… if you play PoE and extensions, chances are Wrath of the Righteous will be released and hotfixed enough when you're finished, it could be a better choice than Kingmaker. To confirm once someone has played it through, to be on the safe side. :)

Sounds like a reviewer really screwed up the review of Kingmaker then. There are so many options on difficulty to customize how you want to play. If you play on easy or story mode you really don't need tactics and can just focus on your own character for the most part. You can save when you want. You can even set it so all characters get up at the end of the battle if knocked unconscious (killed) assuming someone lives (not sure if just needs to be one person or the main character).

I think it was one of the GOG reviews now that I think about it more. It was up near the top. A lot of the reviews indicated the game was just freaking hard. Sounds like you guys know better! Like I said, it's on my wish list!