Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - 7 Minutes of Gameplay

Gamespot spent some time playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

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Coming off of yet another successful Kickstarter campaign, Owlcat Game's Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous continues with its predecessor's focus on storytelling and in-depth combat. Focusing on a new adventure path during the events of the years long war shown during Kingmaker, Wrath of the Righteous focuses on a new party exploring a demon-infested land known as the Worldwound. The developers have stated the sequel is focused on expanding the scope of the world while taking the story to darker territory. While their crowdfunding campaign is still ongoing, the developers made the time to drop by PAX East 2020 to show off new gameplay of their CRPG.

In this first gameplay demo, we took part in an epic battle where our party had to defend a settlement from invaders. According to the devs, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous will maintain the original's focus on intricate storytelling based on the Pathfinder tabletop RPG series. The team also acknowledged that they wanted to ensure the game could live up to fan expectations. In addition to focusing on real-time-with-pause combat, Wrath of the Righteous will also feature an optional turn-based combat mode for players who want a different approach to engagements. Though the CRPG is still a ways off (it's set for sometime in 2021) Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is shaping up nicely based on our hands-on experience.

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Great tactical gameplay. Select all party members and click on enemies one by one until the health bar disappears. I see now why some people prefer RTwP. You can play it while watching a movie with the boyfriend, or while preparing lunch.

We could rename this game as "Idlefinder: Health Bar Simulator of the Righteous"

Originally Posted by Nereida
Great tactical gameplay. Select all party members and click on enemies one by one until the health bar disappears. I see now why some people prefer RTwP. You can play it while watching a movie with the boyfriend, or while preparing lunch.

We could rename this game as "Idlefinder: Health Bar Simulator of the Righteous"

It's people like you who make me want to stay away from forums.

Granted, the person who was playing the pre-alpha wasn't very tactical (probably playing the game on storymode) but doesn't mean WotR isn't tactical.

If you don't like what you see, don't play it. Simple.

The powers above forbid me from having an opinion and voicing it in a place called "forums". Lest someone with a different opinion may feel slightly inconvenienced about it. We should all say what the sensitive ones want to hear, so they don't go in a tantrum and stop visiting the forums.

Originally Posted by Nereida
The powers above forbid me from having an opinion and voicing it in a place called "forums". Lest someone with a different opinion may feel slightly inconvenienced about it. We should all say what the sensitive ones want to hear, so they don't go in a tantrum and stop visiting the forums.

Having an opinion and being a douche is two different story.

I feel the only different story here is that one of us speaks disfavourably on a topic, and the other one finds no argument to counter it and attacks the messenger instead. Ad hominem discourses usually signify which side has a valid point of view in any given discussion.

Originally Posted by Nereida
I feel the only different story here is that one of us speaks disfavourably on a topic, and the other one finds no argument to counter it and attacks the messenger. Ad hominem discourses usually signify which side has a valid point of view in any given discussion.

Originally Posted by Nereida
You can play it while watching a movie with the boyfriend, or while preparing lunch.

"Boyfriend" - what are you getting at here? Nice sexism.

We could rename this game as "Idlefinder: Health Bar Simulator of the Righteous"

This is being a douche, not having an opinion.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
"Boyfriend" - what are you getting at here? Nice sexism.

I'm a woman, so I speak for myself. Nice way to make a fool of yourself, though.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
This is being a douche, not having an opinion.

That is called humour, and doesn't even use any dirtiness, racism or black-labelled words, just plain humour. Calling douche someone who uses humour, however inconvenient it is to you, ranges from being a censor to being toxic.

Originally Posted by Nereida
I'm a girl, so I speak for myself. Nice way to make a fool of yourself, though.

LOL so you think because that comment is made by a girl, it isn't sexism?

What the-- where are you from?

So if I wanna play an idle game while watching a movie with my boyfriend I have to say "I play an idle game while watching a movie with my girlfriend/partner/S.O." just so your screwed up education doesn't understand it as sexism?

I'm baffled.

That is enough about that. If you want to continue that discussion, use a PM.
Let’s get back to discussing the game.

Originally Posted by Nereida
Great tactical gameplay. Select all party members and click on enemies one by one until the health bar disappears. I see now why some people prefer RTwP. You can play it while watching a movie with the boyfriend, or while preparing lunch.

We could rename this game as "Idlefinder: Health Bar Simulator of the Righteous"

I'd say Kingmaker was actually quite hard (relative to most RPGs these days) at higher difficulties. Even its default difficulty was tough for people who are used to RPGs that are auto-win at default difficulty (eg BioWare) and try to just jump in and start mashing buttons.

Though I gotta agree it is rather amusing that this particular video is titled "Strategic Combat", but I guess that title is coming from Gamespot, not Owlcat.

Suppose this is some attempt to resuscitate near death KS campaign, rather then well prepared presentation of game.

I am actually convinced that TB combat allows for much deeper tactical approach. And I think, that to ensure RT combat flows well, lots of combat management detail has to be sacrificed. Suppose each way requires different compromises.

That said, Kingmaker had interesting elements in encounter design and I found it rather well done in most of the game. I remember reading criticism of high difficulty after release. For example swarms were considered bugged, because players couldnt hit them by normal weapons. I think things like this also elevated image of buggy game, more then it actually was.

I really wish every discussion of a game with TB or RTwP didn't get into a borderline religious argument about the virtues of one versus the other.

I personally love Larian's turn-based DoS games (and think BG3 looks great). I also love the RTwP style of Pathfinder, Tyranny, etc and this new Pathfinder looks great as well. Games which are incorporating the 'other' style as an option gives people even more options.

Just give me all of the RPGs. Variety is the spice of life in these.

Is the party AI turned off? They mostly seems to be responding as a blob of fighters. I suppose it is just a demo.

Originally Posted by Andrew23
Suppose this is some attempt to resuscitate near death KS campaign, rather then well prepared presentation of game.

Near death? I believe you're mistaken. Watch what happens during the final week.

Originally Posted by rjshae
Near death? I believe you're mistaken. Watch what happens during the final week.

Well thats possible. And I would be glad for them. But its clear the pledges almost stopped in past weeks and at the moment the interest is very low. Is it crazy to see this as attempt to raise it again?

Originally Posted by Nereida
Great tactical gameplay. Select all party members and click on enemies one by one until the health bar disappears. I see now why some people prefer RTwP. You can play it while watching a movie with the boyfriend, or while preparing lunch.

We could rename this game as "Idlefinder: Health Bar Simulator of the Righteous"

The complexity of tactics needed to succeed in the battles of Kingmaker was very high in the last 1/3 of the game. Granted at the beginning there were some battles you could get through with just basic attacks, but these were mostly "in between battles" with battles against major opponents being quite challenging (for me at least).

Originally Posted by Andrew23
Well thats possible. And I would be glad for them. But its clear the pledges almost stopped in past weeks and at the moment the interest is very low. Is it crazy to see this as attempt to raise it again?

New to this? Kickstarts often follow a bathtub curve: fast at the start, flat in the middle, then picking up again near the end. It is currently trending toward a finish just shy of $2 million; double what their previous Kickstarter accumulated. Publicity is just a necessary part of the process.

Originally Posted by rjshae
New to this? Kickstarts often follow a bathtub curve: fast at the start, flat in the middle, then picking up again near the end. It is currently trending toward a finish just shy of $2 million; double what their previous Kickstarter accumulated. Publicity is just a necessary part of the process.

Im just saying the gap between great start and low middle is eye-striking compared to big kickstarter campaigns in past. That has nothing to do with curve or where its trending, because it doesnt contradict neither.