14 DAY TRIAL // Pathfinder: Kingmaker was close to disaster at launch, but the folks at Owlcat Games turn in around in just a few months. Although it's far from being perfect, Pathfinder: Kingmaker is one of the best CRPGs of all time, and if you haven't played it yet, I strongly recommend you remedy the problem.
Just like the original game, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous was made possible thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign. Having learned from the previous mistakes, developer Owlcat completely redesigned the kingdom management system and implemented a much better tutorial.
Another important change is the addition of a turn-based combat option for those who don't like the real-time with pause system. The game is still based on Pathfinder 1.0, just like the predecessor, but it now lets users choose from a wider range of classes.
There are no less than 25 classes that you can choose from, as well as 12 character races, and more than a thousand spells, feats, and abilities. Considering the complexity of the Pathfinder table-top RPG and the amount of content that Owlcat included in Wrath of the Righteous, it's amazing how good the beta is.
After spending around 20 hours with Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous beta, I can definitely say the learning experience, especially for newcomers to the tablet-top system with the same name, is less steep than the original.
The extensive tutorials and intuitive UI make the experience much more satisfying and let you dive into those aspects of the game that are really interesting. The first thing you want to do before starting the game is what your character will be like. Since Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous lets you choose from 25 classes, it's impossible not to find an archetype that fits your playstyle.
The only mild problem you'll have is that one of the 10 unique companions you can recruit throughout the game might be of the same class. Usually, it's recommended to make a party of different classes so that you can be ready for every combat scenario. More importantly, each companion in the game comes with their background story that you'll need to discover by having them in your party.
One last aspect that I want to touch is the Mythic Paths. Throughout the game, you'll make decisions that will influence your alignment. Sometimes, these decisions will also count for your Mythic Paths. There are several Mythic Paths available in the game and each tier in that path will grant your character abilities and features related to that pursuit. Upon achieving your first mythic tier, you must choose one mythic path to follow.
Conclusion
But that's not all! Wrath of the Righteous's story feels much more compelling than the predecessor's. The stakes are higher, but so are the rewards. Trying to prevent a demon invasion is much more interesting than beating up thugs and bandits as you did at the beginning of Pathfinder: Kingmaker.
Although I played for around 20 hours, I have the feeling that I've just scratched the surface. There's so much to do in the game that it will probably take way more than 100 hours to complete the main story alone.
I don't doubt that Wrath of the Righteous will be even better than Kingmaker, I just hope that the rest of the story is just as good. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is set to arrive on PC on September 2, but pre-orders are already open on Steam.
