Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Interview @ Gamespace

Purpleblob spotted an Owlcat interview at Gamespace:

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Interview with Owlcat Games About Upcoming Content

A few months after the release of cRPG Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, we had an opportunity to chat with Creative Director Alexander Mishulin about the development of the game: Mythic Paths, the ever-changing landscape of Alushinyrra, player choices, additional management elements like the Kingdom/Crusade and more. What is more important, the amount of epic or a heartfelt personal story? Give it a read to find out.

Now, with the approaching arrival of Through the Ashes, the second DLC out of the three announced, it's time to look forward and learn everything there is to know about the new addition - and, perhaps, about the previous DLC Inevitable Excess as well. We had the pleasure of chatting with Creative Director Alexander Mishulin and Lead Narrative Designer Alexander Kamzolov and asking them some questions about what the game has in store for players.

Gamespace: Please introduce yourself.

Alexander Mishulin: Hello, my name is Alexander Mishulin and I am the Creative Director at Owlcat Games.

Gamespace: Can you tell us about your general approach to the development of the base game and the DLCs? Have you planned for the three DLCs and settled on what they will be about from the very beginning?

Alexander Mishulin: We designed the base game without any regards to the future DLCs, it is a complete experience as we envisioned it. All the DLCs are designed as separate small games, based on the original one. We are trying to experiment with the game tone, structure and try to provide an experience a little bit different from the original game.

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More information.

Good interview, thanks @HiddenX and @purpleblob1!

They always seem able to identify the issues, and take action on that. Well, they still aim very high so game releases remain bumpy. But that doesn't take too long to settle and it's better than having no ambition.

So DLC#2 is 5-7 hours, again rather small. I think I'd rather have a smaller MC and bigger DLCs, but perhaps most people prefer it that way? I wonder how they decided it. Their initial aim for the MC length was lower, that much we know. But are the DLCs so short because they are too busy?

I liked this idea:

there is no experience gained just for defeating the enemies, it is given for accomplishing something (like reaching a certain passage, or getting valuable loot, thus allowing player to skip the fights they can. They are trying to survive, not free the whole city from demonic threat.

I saw this too, so I wasn't so wrong after all, and that location did matter.

Right now we are actively helping our employees to move to different places like Cyprus, where our HQ is located, a new office in Armenia and other European countries where they can focus on work and creativity

Do the DLCs for this expand the main campaign? Or are they idependent? If they say they’re on the smaller side I’d hope they’re not independent.

They are planning for a enhanced edition this fall, and a season pass 2 as well. Pretty cool

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
Do the DLCs for this expand the main campaign? Or are they idependent? If they say they’re on the smaller side I’d hope they’re not independent.

Independent like in Kingmaker, ie only small effects of the main campaign. At least the ones released for season pass 1.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
Independent like in Kingmaker, ie only small effects of the main campaign. At least the ones released for season pass 1. .

Technically but one of the DLC is an extended ending.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Inevitable Exces

New additional campaign. Import your character from the main campaign to the moment of their greatest triumph — their victory over the Worldwound. Answer a plea from a powerful entity and leave Golarion behind to defend the space-time continuum against imminent collapse. Use your unparalleled mythic powers to do battle with truly invincible opponents. This additional campaign offers 7–8 hours of gameplay.

DLC #2

New additional campaign. The demon attack on Kenabres changed the lives of many. While the mythic hero and their loyal companions were busy liberating the city, the common folk had to find a way to survive, relying only on their humble skills.

Band together with other survivors and try to reach the Defender's Heart tavern, the last foothold of the crusader forces in the city. Choose who will join your group, and make difficult decisions about allocating scarce resources. Remember — in fire-ravaged Kenabres, every scroll and potion could make the difference not only in an individual fight, but also to your very survival. Act in the group's best interests or focus solely on your own well-being. Import your choices to the main campaign and look forward to seeing this story develop in other DLC. This additional campaign offers 6–7 hours of gameplay.

DLC #3

A new rogue-like mode with partial integration into the main campaign. In Alushinyrra's port, climb aboard a cursed ship that will transport you to a mysterious whirlpool lost amidst the Midnight Isles. Dive in and discover a dungeon whose proportions you can only guess at. Go exploring in search of glory, loot, and battles, and come face to face with a secret that will benefit either Nocticula, the mistress of the archipelago, or her enemies. The dungeon's levels, created using random zone generation, are populated with various enemies, devious traps, and secret rooms. You will return victorious to Alushinyrra — or else the cursed ship will return on its own, laden with trophies from the last expedition, to await new adventure-seekers.

Anyway I'm surprised they are releasing more DLC in the so called season 2.

Gamespace: It seems like you have some good stuff prepared for players in the near future. Do you have anything to share about your plans for Wrath of the Righteous and the studio itself?

Alexander Mishulin: We already announced, that the second DLC is coming on April 21st. The third DLC that will feature endless dungeon mode is going to be released somewhen in July. What is even more important, we don't want to stop with these content and we are going to make several more adventures in the world of Pathfinder and those will be included in Season Pass #2 that is coming later in 2022, including the first DLC that is to be launched this Fall.

Enhanced Edition also is going to be available for everyone this Fall, it will have new features and quality of life improvements. We will reveal the full list of features later but we can share that it will include photo mode as well as additional high-level content related to several mythic paths.

Don't know if I should be excited. As their past DLC is lackluster.

Guess I'm waiting for at least the Enhanced Edition now, might even wait for DLC #4, 5, and 6 too… Was hoping I'd be able to play after DLC #3 came out But I want to wait until it's "complete".

Originally Posted by Stingray
Guess I'm waiting for at least the Enhanced Edition now, might even wait for DLC #4, 5, and 6 too… Was hoping I'd be able to play after DLC #3 came out But I want to wait until it's "complete".

They'll call it the platinum edition after releasing the extended edition.

I can see how it must be tempting to wait for the Enhanced Edition.

In the mean time, they've released the DLC, and a major patch.

Through the Ashes DLC is out!
[..]
Through the Ashes is an entirely distinct experience from the main campaign and the previous DLC, where you played as a hero imbued with incredible powers. This time, you will take on the role of a regular person, a citizen of Kenabres, who managed to survive Deskari's attack on the city. With extremely limited access to resources, no decent weapons, and no safe place to rest, you must focus on survival, think strategically, use the environment against the strongest of enemies, and try to lead your small group to safety while danger awaits around every corner. You will meet two new companions and a number of helpful NPCs who won’t join the fights but may be helpful with other tasks if you learn their strengths and weaknesses. Hide, scout, and use everything you can find to lead your new friends through the ashes of Kenabres.
[..]

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And a Collector's Edition, for good measure (just the 2 games together with a discount).

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
They'll call it the platinum edition after releasing the extended edition.

Then a diamond edition after that? That happened with NWN1 right?

Originally Posted by Redglyph
And a Collector's Edition, for good measure (just the 2 games together with a discount).

Still waiting on my physical collector's edition from the Kickstarter. Last update we got is that UPS will no longer ship packages out of Russia so it's delayed indefinitely……

Originally Posted by Stingray
Still waiting on my physical collector's edition from the Kickstarter. Last update we got is that UPS will no longer ship packages out of Russia so it's delayed indefinitely……

That sucks

That does suck I remember him mentioning he was still waiting for his physical collector's edition. Don't see that getting fixed anytime soon with the current embargo.

Owlcat should refund his money or offer some type of gift for him and others.

Originally Posted by Stingray
Guess I'm waiting for at least the Enhanced Edition now, might even wait for DLC #4, 5, and 6 too… Was hoping I'd be able to play after DLC #3 came out But I want to wait until it's "complete".

That's what I've been doing regardless the past couple of years. You'll play a mostly bug-free, "complete" game at a reduced price at that (since you should be able to pick it up at a discount by then). It's just a no-brainer imo.
My backlog is so lengthy at this point I can't bother with replays, so I always want to play the most complete version.

Unless of course I really want to support the dev (like PB or Iron Tower Studios), then I'll buy at release but still wait to play until complete.

Yeah that's pretty much exactly how I do things. Play games only when they're fully complete, but buy them at release if it's a developer I want to support. Otherwise, buy the game when I play it.

I haven't really been sold on any of their paid DLC up to now, including for P:K. I finally decided why bother waiting.