Pathfinder: Kingmaker Blends Role-Playing, City Management
Pathfinder: Kingmaker – PAX West 2018 ImpressionsI first saw Pathfinder: Kingmaker at GDC earlier this year, and I generally liked what I saw. The game seemed like a modern take on retro RPGs like Baldur’s Gate, where you recruit a party of adventurers, explore a big fantasy world, and tackle a complex political narrative. The game’s big differentiator — creating and managing your own kingdom — seemed more like icing on the cake. But now that I’ve had a chance to see it firsthand, ruling your realm in Kingmaker is a vital, and potentially perilous, part of the experience.
Build Your Own Kingdom and Rule it Like a Jerk in Pathfinder: KingmakerFew games are as beloved as the Baldur’s Gate series. The sheer storytelling the game invoked is thought to be by some as near-legendary status. Many games have attempted to follow in its footsteps, only to be left in the shadow of the juggernaut. Well, times change, and there’s a new upstart challenger coming armed to the teeth. Pathfinder: Kingmaker follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, using the more modern and increasingly popular Pathfinder RPG ruleset that many pen-and-paper tabletop players are familiar with. Thankfully for myself, I had a chance to sit down and watch an extended demonstration of the game at PAX West.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker by Owlcat Games emphasizes exploring and battling monsters as much as any RPG, but players are also expected to put down roots by building a kingdom of their very own. How you build the kingdom, how you run it, and how your citizens react to your civic rule has an impact on the player bonuses you receive. Your engineering can even affect how your city looks, and the inhabitants it attracts.