Golarion. For many it is just a word, with nothing in particular. But for many, many others, it is an incredible world, full of beautiful and terrible stories, a universe of a thousand colors in which to choose both who we are and our role in the world. A place where you can tell and be told a story together with your friends and where you can rediscover yourself as the actors of a work in progress. This is the magic of role-playing games, and above all of Dungeons & Dragons which, especially in recent years, have experienced an explosion of popularity, which now live as much on paper as on screens. Pathfinder: Kingmaker it is in fact one of the Pathfinder campaigns (one of the many versions of D&D), which now also arrives on consoles thanks to a port that, although it does not shine for quality, widens the number of possible users of this fantastic world. But let's go in order.
Becoming king
As the name implies, in Pathfinder: Kingmaker we will start from simple but ambitious adventurers to become… barons. Always noble, calm, albeit with a less high-sounding title but still full of responsibility. Our mission, financed by the noble house of the Aldori, will fit into a web of intrigues and political frictions that we will only discover over time. Behind this rise many will be plotting to win our sympathies or destroy us before we even reach the goal. But before we are officially appointed barons, we will have to eliminate a dangerous band of bandits, along with their leader, embarking on a risky and long mission in the Stolen Lands.
Our followers will be joined by more and more companions, each with its own story, its own moral axis and, as in any self-respecting RPG, its own sequence of unique missions. Our companions are really well characterized and, from the first meeting, the first sympathies will be built. Not only will they assist us in our travels but, once we acquire the lands, we will be able to give them political positions, thus making them manage certain aspects of the kingdom at their discretion. The moral axis, both of the protagonist / kingdom and of his entourage, therefore takes on a certain relevance, also unlocking unique structures. The good, for example, will be able to build orphanages and shelters for the less well-off.
A class to bring them all
If you are familiar with Pathfinder, you will know how one of the more complex versions of D&D is, for better or for worse. Likewise, Pathfinder: Kingmaker takes up part of that complexity both for the class system (16 basic, each with 4 archetypes, and 7 prestige) and for that of the talents. While not finding every single class described in all the manuals, the variety is such that you can play a large number of character types. So fear not, rodomonte fans, you can recreate something very similar by carefully building the growth of your fantasy alter ego. The problem behind such a complex system, however, is that it is extremely dispersed and difficult to access for those who do not already know it.
The talent system, for example, does not allow you to filter the type, search by keywords or view a sequence of talents. The game merely recommends or discourages some of them, displaying them higher or lower in a list that is always a little too large and difficult to access. For those unfamiliar with so many technicalities, there is the possibility of managing the level increase in the game itself or to select certain pre-built paths. A good solution to not get trapped in a thousand screens at each level up of the party. The console version, the Definitive Edition, also contains the DLCs released so far, further enriching the base experience with new areas and a new class, the Cineta.
The target audience
We tend to abuse that hackneyed "not for everyone", but with Pathfinder: Kingmaker the sentence is apt. Among the tabletop versions of D&D, Pathfinder is the most criticized (but also among the most appreciated) for its complexity, and its videogame transposition takes up its strengths and weaknesses. Among the thousand terms and values to refer to, we have in our hands a difficult title even for those who are familiar with role-playing games. The target audience are mainly those people who already know D&D and Pathfinder and have at least a basic smattering of it. Attention, this does not mean that the game is impossible for those who do not know it or that it is difficult to enjoy. Indeed, there are many possibilities to simplify the player's experience, from decidedly gentle difficulty levels to more or less invasive aids in managing levels. In this way you can focus more on other aspects, such as the narrative and purely role-playing component (statistics aside), but this means giving up a decidedly substantial part of the game.
We come therefore to the main criticality of the title: the technical component. Of course the graphics in RPGs play a secondary role and it would not normally be a problem to have some undertone textures, an unconvincing effect or some slowdown from time to time. The problem is, unfortunately, the frequency and the more or less constant presence of this kind of elements. One would expect from a title with not particularly detailed graphics an excellent stability in the framerate, which is instead denied already after a few minutes in-game. Combat actions, opening menus, saving games - it all crashes FPS.
The uploads only make the situation worse, turning out to be quite long and often entering the game (if you have grown up, videogame speaking, with the motto "Save often, save now" you will know very well what we mean). Even a quick save requires loading, proving to be anything but fast. The situation does not improve if we then add small related bugs to these to different situations including fights, with abilities that do not trigger when they should, and rescues, with sudden crashes that cancel the rescue operation and lose part of the progress. Technically we are below average, at a level that affects the game experience and even the pace of the game, even causing some frustration.
