Pathfinder where to start? Well I think it’s safe to say that a good portion of people who play table top RPG’s probably play RPG videogames… besides stating the obvious. The concept of turning table top RPG’s into video games isn’t new. I could write a whole article on this by itself and probably will later… To give these game a little more context they are spiritual successors to games such as Baldur’s Gate II, Neverwinter knights, Icewind Dale etc. The games mentioned above came out in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. With the Baldur’s gate series getting an enhanced edition circa 2013. This sort of sparked a renewed interest in Isometric RPG’s. We got Pillars of Eternity(released 2015) which was not truly based of any particular tabletop game but played like the previously mentioned titles.
Anyways after that history lesson… We got Pathfinder: Kingmaker in 2018. which featured a real-time-with-pause combat or turn-based combat allowing you to switch between them. The Game is based on a adventure path campaign published in 2010 for the table top. Featuring several Iconic character/class archetypes published in Pathfinders material. Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous also follows an adventure path officially published by paizo circa 2013.
Kingmaker deals with exploring your territory and claiming it from bandits. After it’s established you are tasked with ruling your kingdom, improving it, and so forth. After all that hard work starts the politics. Trying to hold on to what you have claimed and so forth. As with most D&D/pathfinder campaigns official or player made… There seems to be a puppet master pulling the strings behind the curtains that must be dealt with. While this is a common theme in table top campaigns official or player made it is executed perfectly in Kingmaker. This all taking place over your 100+ hours of gameplay makes for a satisfying experience.
Wrath of the Righteous’s plot starts a little more climatic than Kingmaker’s with a full on demon invasion. One of the major antagonist being the Demon Lord Deskari making an entrance in the first few minutes of the game. Really set’s the tone for the whole experience. One of the interesting aspects of this game is the several mythic paths you can follow. Which change your character drastically by the end if you so choose. While not a cliché per say I personally have had several player made campaigns focusing on Demon invasions and so forth. When it’s done right it works out to be a quite a fun experience.
While both games use the same formula for combat and controls. Wrath of the Righteous makes a few improvements over Kingmaker. Overall the gameplay could be a little more user friendly in my opinion. It’s hard to translate the table top mechanics into video game form. This has been a problem for most games of this genre… from my first hand experience. Although I have been informed that Bauldr’s Gate III does this better than most using strictly Turn based combat. I have yet to experience this game. I plan to buy it when the full release drops in 2023. So that I can experience it in full.
As of now Wrath of the Righteous released Treasure of The Midnight Isles as their latest DLC. The future for future Pathfinder video games is unknown at this point. So we will have to wait and see for further development. All in all these two games are solid and deliver hours upon hours of gameplay and story. That I can highly recommend for any lovers of tabletops and RPGs alike.
Dungeon Dudes Tryo 