If we don't encounter bugs, Pathfinder: Kingmaker with its epic scope is nothing less than the heir to Baldur's Gate.

Pathfinder Kingmaker on PC is incredibly fun and rightfully nominated in our Global Game Awards 2018 for Best RPG. Today Owlcat have already made Pathfinder Kingmaker into a beautiful looking, rich CRPG, that delivers a great place to adventure, an interesting land to rule and the tools to carve out a realm that you can call home.

PC gamers looking for the old time cRPG feeling can’t go wrong with Pathfinder: Kingmaker. The presentation is beautiful, the writing is excellent, and the world offers just enough life to engage the player’s imagination to fill in the gaps. Still, at the time of this writing, balancing issues and bugs keep the game from being a definite recommend – at least for the time being.

Pathfinder has some flaws, but nonetheless delivers a tremendous amount of entertainment for fans of pen & paper fantasy.

Story and exploration in Kingmaker are grade A. Adaptation of Pathfinder system is probably even A+, since it’s simplified, yet still incredibly complex and satisfying. But. Some elements, like titular kingdom-building, are astonishingly bad, and overall technical execution is subpar at best. [Issue#234, p.76]

I cannot help but feel there is a 10 out of 10 game on the other side of my issues with Pathfinder: Kingmaker. It still has a way to go before it reaches its full potential but the vision the developers had for the game is starting to come through; A punishingly hard game, quite unlike anything we’ve seen, that satisfies craving for a deep, engaging and well written cRPG.

RPG for the hardened. Get used to loadings and getting lost in the rules, get ready for an ok storyline - and in the return you will enjoy a deep level of challenge and great management of your own kingdom. Obsidian has a new competitor. [Issue#290]

A great adaptation of the original Pathfinder gamebooks. The story is sidelined by tough tactical combat - its steep difficulty may be daunting to genre newbies, but D&D veterans will be delighted. There are technical problems, yes, but those are overshadowed by refreshing kingdom management and interesting companions.

In the smaller moments, Kingmaker captures the tabletop experience better than any single player game I’ve ever played. I’ve never had to set up watch rotations before or go hunting for meal ingredients. I love how every character has a favorite food and how it affects their stats. There’s a lot of game to this game, and I can’t imagine I’m going to want to stop playing it any time soon.

I’ve only really scratched the surface of things which are going on in this game and trust me I haven’t covered everything by far. This game has a ton to offer to both new CRPG players and players who have been around the genre for a while.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a "classic" CRPG. Nostalgia is strong in this game. The game is solid and with plenty of content.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is an incredibly extensive and complex RPG with great story, characters and fresh ideas surrounding the kingdom building. Unfortunately it suffers from some design flaws, bugs and excessive loading screens.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is similar to the role playing games like Baldur’s Gate and Fallout 1-2. If you like old school RPG games you shouldn’t miss Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker offers an interesting world to explore along with satisfying combat, and the first half of the adventure is top-notch old school fun. Unfortunately later the game loses its momentum and becomes boring. Anyhow, it’s a solid RPG that should keep Baldur’s Gate’s fans happy for many hours. [12/2018, p.86]

Pathfinder Kingmaker is a good RPG if you love the old school RPG games, but there is room to improve.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a huge game. The depths of its mechanics seem to have no limit while the time spent playing it is equally eternal. With complex rules and stripped back tutorials, though, it is not an easy game to jump into to say the least.

Classic, intense, fun but also a little "oldie", that the way Pathfinder: Kingmaker works. A great option for RPG fans that focuses on the fans of the old style.

Pathfinder Kingmaker is a rough gem, which would deserve a sequel only to see developed the many ideas it contains but which are not as refined as they should have been. Vast but too much derivative, at times it seems a mod of Pillars of Eternity.

My overall impression of this game is that’s it’s not a bad game, and I have every belief that the developers will stick with it and work to make it better, but it resides in a very crowded field of very similar games, most of which seem to be just a little bit better in some way. I remember that the interface of Pillars of Eternity seemed just a little bit easier to use. The artwork in Torment: Tides of Numenera was just a little bit snazzier. The plot of Baldur’s Gate just a little bit more engrossing. The characters in Neverwinter just a little more interesting. And none of those games suffered from the kind of the difficulty spikes this one does.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a competent and efficient classical RPG that introduces a new interesting managerial aspect but is also affected by a lot of boring and uninteresting moments. Crashes and bugs also don’t help.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a solid, but flawed, pen-and-paper RPG in video game form. If you are a fan of isometric RPGs or Pathfinder, you will find a lot to like here.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a product with some issues, some flaws, some grit. But the developers use it to channel their love for classic RPGs. This game is pure nostalgia trip, and a very graceful one at that. The devs clearly adore this genre and so may you, if you give Pathfinder a chance.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is definitely one of the most faithful recreations of the D&D experience in digital form and those with patience, a love of numbers and a willingness to tolerate a bit of opacity and imbalance have much to look forward to. There’s something a bit overwhelming and unfriendly about the game’s mechanics and while Pathfinder’s faithful translation of D&D and city building elements are unique, a lot of the setting, story and characters are a bit too “standard CRPG.” There is room for improvement and growth through patches and content, and it will be interesting to watch Pathfinder: Kingmaker evolve.

A lack of balanced difficulty and explanation of core concepts set alongside too many time consuming, anachronistic design choices distract from Pathfinder: Kingmaker's nuanced story telling, moral dilemmas and enjoyable decision making.

A good RPG with some unique ideas, but one that ultimately plays it too safe to really stand out from the crowd.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker delivers a fantastic story and a deep character system to dive into. Without a Dungeon Master on the player’s side to smooth out the rough edges however, its balance is wildly inconsistent and its event design, flawed. So many promising ideas fall well short in execution.

Although inspired in its kingdom management system, Pathfinder: Kingmaker ultimately fails to innovate in any of its presented gameplay functions. Lacking in writing, combat, and even fun, a game that had potential to change things up just becomes a disappointment.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker sets up an epic story, expansive world, difficult combat, and lively characters, but all these elements eventually become tiresome. Its unforgiving difficulty and strict adherence to Pathfinder tabletop rules will likely turn away more players than it attracts, and while its kingdom management sim sets it apart from similar RPGs, no part of the game ever feels wholly original. Despite boldly putting players in the role of a king or queen, it never engages enough with the consequences of your decisions, or whether you have the right to make them at all.

Generic heroic fantasy with naive themes and two-dimensional caricatures instead of characters. The writing is all right, with some bright spots here and there, but this story is not worth the emotional havoc this game wreak on you with its poor game design logic and bugs.

All-told, Kingmaker isn't a stellar outing, hampered by a litany of small issues, balancing, and the gargantuan knowledge base you'll need to play most effectively. But, for those with the patience, the rewards are well worth the investment.

The case in favor of Pathfinder: Kingmaker comes with an overwhelming series of excuses. Epic quest lines exist, but a boring second act hampers them. The kingdom management shows unique advancement, but it houses nasty unresolvable events that result in a game over.

Interesting companions, a unique framework, and a strong story were all enough to force me to keep going, to hope that I could somehow navigate the bugs, ignore the failed questlines I wanted to finish, and persevere through wonky balancing in an attempt to reach the game's conclusion, only to be stonewalled on the last lap. In 6 months or so, once the many numerous issues are dealt with both on a performance front as well as balance, this game could be amazing. But right now it's not, and sadly, it's not close.

In Pathfinder: Kingmaker, you can see the footprints of many great names in the video games industry, but it seems that the main development team was neither able nor experienced enough to execute the game’s ideas and potentials in a right way, and even if you don’t take its many technical issues into consideration, Pathfinder: Kingmaker is still far from a proper CRPG.