
This part is well explained in the initial tutorial, and it works great. When you first engage in combat, time freezes and gives you a chance to plan out a strategy for your party. That includes automatic dice roll mechanics. It is a virtual tabletop RPG, and it plays like one. That's, of course, not the way Pathfinder works. Your first instinct will probably be to dive in and start mashing the buttons on your action bar, much like you would in countless other RPGs. Gameplayĭiving deeper into its gameplay, you'll really feel how strange Pathfinder: Kingmaker seems at first. It never gets perfectly smooth, but it is possible to adapt to it and feel mostly comfortable down the line. However, there are others, like live action combat and formations, which feel sort of strange and out of place initially.
#Pathfinder kingmaker Pc
There are elements of that pen and paper gameplay that translate very well into a PC game. Pathfinder: Kingmaker mostly succeeds in its control design. That means that the controls would need to be highly intuitive to your average gamer while still preserving the tabletop gameplay elements. Most gamers, even RPG fans, have never played a game that controls like a tabletop game. Such a relatively bold move presents a unique set of challenges when it comes to controls. It is your dungeon master, and you're playing much the same game you would if gathered around with a group of friends. Kingmaker is a tabletop RPG in digital form. Pathfinder: Kingmaker isn't the PC RPG (CRPG) that you're probably used to. That's really where the similarities end, though. Then the combat controls themselves come on a tried and true action bar.

On a more practical action based front, the camera controls are your standard WASD keys. The character screen offers a very familiar inventory and equipment management interface that centers around dragging pieces of gear around an animated model of your character. It features a small menu with different character management and game system options. Interface and Controlsįor anyone who has played anything similar to a true roleplaying game in the last 15 years, Pathfinder: Kingmaker's user interface should automatically feel familiar. Spoiler alert: the answer just might be yes.


In a world where the RPG has been popularized and ultimately toned down by the likes of The Elder Scrolls and World of Warcraft, is there a place for the unforgiving nature of tabletop RPGs? But does Pathfinder: Kingmaker stay true to those same roots? The Pathfinder tabletop game earned its popularity and devoted fan base by staying true to more traditional elements of Dungeons and Dragons.
