Kingmaker is the equivalent of a tabletop roleplaying game where you are playing with the most vindictive, unfair, and inconsistent DM ever. And yet, he's probably a pretty good friend and the adventure is fun, so you keep showing up.

My biggest gripe is that the writing didn't speak to me. The world lacks charisma or character. The dialogue feels like it's "baby's first conversation tree." The voice acting is poorly directed and actively detracts from the already one-dimensional characters. Kingmaker is somehow overwritten while simultaneously feeling like there were pages of dialogue inexplicably cut for content. The foundation is there for a good story, but the implementation feels jilted, inhuman, unsubtle, and ultimately amateurish. The original Baldur's Gate does not have stellar writing; it's often pretty sparse, in fact. But Baldur's Gate tells a simpler story more succinctly and with a better hook than Kingmaker does - and it came out two decades before.

I personally do not like Pathfinder 1e. Kingmaker is so intertwined with that system's flaws that it's hard to overlook them as someone who just isn't a fan of that gameplay model. The barrier to entry is enormous and the pay-off is substandard at best. Kingmaker also isn't doing itself many favors outside of its core mechanics, either. The game is riddled with quality of life problems, still has its fair share of weirdness and bugs, and its implementation of Pathfinder is held together by duct tape. The list of unforced errors that Kingmaker creates for itself is practically endless.

Everything about Kingmaker feels so fussy and inorganic it hurts. All of this would work fine at an actual Pathfinder table with a handful of players and a real DM, but in the context of a single player RPG, these problems with the presentation and gameplay are glaring and unacceptable.

In so many ways, Kingmaker is a strict and unforgiving dungeon crawl. You're here to kill stuff. It's a combat simulator. Get with the program or get out, buddy.

And you know what? If you meet the game on its own terms - as a story-lite, open world, combat-focused game - it plays pretty spectacularly. Most of the time, looting enemies and equipping your characters is pretty intuitive. If you enjoy Pathfinder build optimization, there's genuinely a ton to explore. The combat encounters are archaic, unforgiving, and swingy. But if Pathfinder is your jam, Kingmaker has a whole lot more jelly for you. There's just enough story here to lead you by the hand towards the next encounter - and if all you want to do is fight with your cool build, that's all you really need.

But Kingmaker's gameplay does nothing for me. It's too bogged down by its own ambition and the idiosyncracies of Pathfinder for me to enjoy the experience. And the storytelling is so generic and stilted that I can't justify playing any further. This isn't the story driven roleplaying experience I was hoping for.

Kingmaker is the equivalent of a tabletop roleplaying game where you are playing with the most vindictive, unfair, and inconsistent DM ever. And yet, he's probably a pretty good friend and the adventure is fun, so you keep showing up. My biggest gripe is that the writing didn't speak to me. The world lacks charisma or character. The dialogue feels like it's "baby's first conversation tree." The voice acting is poorly directed and actively detracts from the already one-dimensional characters. Kingmaker is somehow overwritten while simultaneously feeling like there were pages of dialogue inexplicably cut for content. The foundation is there for a good story, but the implementation feels jilted, inhuman, unsubtle, and ultimately amateurish. The original Baldur's Gate does not have stellar writing; it's often pretty sparse, in fact. But Baldur's Gate tells a simpler story more succinctly and with a better hook than Kingmaker does - and it came out two decades before. I personally do not like Pathfinder 1e. Kingmaker is so intertwined with that system's flaws that it's hard to overlook them as someone who just isn't a fan of that gameplay model. The barrier to entry is enormous and the pay-off is substandard at best. Kingmaker also isn't doing itself many favors outside of its core mechanics, either. The game is riddled with quality of life problems, still has its fair share of weirdness and bugs, and its implementation of Pathfinder is held together by duct tape. The list of unforced errors that Kingmaker creates for itself is practically endless. Everything about Kingmaker feels so fussy and inorganic it hurts. All of this would work fine at an actual Pathfinder table with a handful of players and a real DM, but in the context of a single player RPG, these problems with the presentation and gameplay are glaring and unacceptable. In so many ways, Kingmaker is a strict and unforgiving dungeon crawl. You're here to kill stuff. It's a combat simulator. Get with the program or get out, buddy. And you know what? If you meet the game on its own terms - as a story-lite, open world, combat-focused game - it plays pretty spectacularly. Most of the time, looting enemies and equipping your characters is pretty intuitive. If you enjoy Pathfinder build optimization, there's genuinely a ton to explore. The combat encounters are archaic, unforgiving, and swingy. But if Pathfinder is your jam, Kingmaker has a whole lot more jelly for you. There's just enough story here to lead you by the hand towards the next encounter - and if all you want to do is fight with your cool build, that's all you really need. But Kingmaker's gameplay does nothing for me. It's too bogged down by its own ambition and the idiosyncracies of Pathfinder for me to enjoy the experience. And the storytelling is so generic and stilted that I can't justify playing any further. This isn't the story driven roleplaying experience I was hoping for.