Pathfinder: Kingmaker is an isometric role-playing game created by Owlcat Games, a Russian studio, and published by Deep Silver. The game is based on the Pathfinder series from Paizo Publishing. It was introduced through a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 and was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on September 25, 2018. As of May 2024, the publisher of the game is now Knights Peak, a subsidiary of My.Games.
Gameplay
The game is based on the Pathfinder role-playing game and inspired by classic computer RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. It includes a combat system that can be played in real time with pauses or in turns, and it uses a 3D-like view from the side. A special part of the game is its focus on building a realm, where the player's choices as a local lord influence the game as they become involved in political events and adventures.
Character customization is an important part of the game, along with a system that allows a character's alignment to change based on player choices. The player starts with one character they create, but the game is party-based, with companions joining over time. These companions include both characters from Pathfinder and new ones created for the game. The game takes about 80 hours to complete.
Plot
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is based on six story parts from a game series called the Pathfinder Adventure Path campaign, which was released in 2010.
The Stolen Lands are a rough, lawless area where no one has been able to control it successfully. When a player’s character kills a local bandit leader, they are given the title of Baron or Baroness by Jamandi Aldori, a noble from the nearby kingdom of Brevoy. The Baron or Baroness must face many dangers, including strange trolls, a disease that turns people into animals, and a powerful undead creature called a lich. They gather allies and work to grow their land’s power and influence.
Jamandi Aldori starts a war to gain independence for her part of Brevoy. The Baron or Baroness can choose to support Aldori, side with Brevoy’s rulers, try to make peace, or stay neutral. After this decision, the Baron or Baroness becomes a king or queen (called the Monarch). The Monarch then deals with a new problem: King Irovetti of Pitax, a neighboring ruler who interferes in their affairs. The Monarch defeats Irovetti and takes control of Pitax, becoming the only ruler in the Stolen Lands.
The Monarch learns that all the earlier dangers were planned by a fey creature named Nyrissa. Nyrissa once tried to become an Eldest, a powerful ruler in the fey realm called the First World. Her failure angered the Lantern King, one of the Eldest, who took part of Nyrissa’s soul and ordered her to destroy 100 kingdoms as punishment. Pitax, which Nyrissa secretly harmed, was the 99th kingdom.
Nyrissa sends fey armies to attack the Monarch’s kingdom. The Monarch travels west and finds a portal to Nyrissa’s home in the First World. They fight Nyrissa and end her “kingdom.” The player can choose to let Nyrissa deliver her punishment to the Lantern King, kill her, or convince her to help the Monarch fight the Lantern King.
If Nyrissa completes her punishment, the kingdom is safe, and the game ends. Otherwise, the Lantern King appears and reveals he helped the Monarch secretly. He sends the spirits of Nyrissa’s victims to attack the kingdom. The Monarch fights to reclaim their capital, destroys the Lantern King’s magical items, and battles him in the palace.
The Lantern King is killed but returns to life because he is an Eldest. He offers the Monarch a choice: become his herald for immortality and restore the kingdom, or agree to leave each other alone. The Lantern King accepts the second option but regrets the end of his “performance.”
A secret ending happens if the player does specific actions, like studying curses and convincing Nyrissa to fight the Lantern King together. After defeating the Lantern King, Nyrissa and the Monarch use a magical mask to destroy him permanently. The kingdom then lives peacefully, connected to both the mortal world and the First World.
At the same time, Jamandi Aldori appointed another leader, Maeger Varn, to rule the eastern part of the Stolen Lands called Varnhold. The DLC story follows the General, one of Varn’s advisors, who works with Varn, a wizard named Cephal Lorentus, and other mercenaries to solve problems like centaur attacks, missing travelers, and political unrest. The centaurs warn the General that an ancient evil sleeps beneath the land.
The General arrives at a village torn by a death cult and other religious groups. After resolving the conflict, the cult leader mentions a powerful “master” who has awakened. The party finds the master’s tomb, which is the same evil the centaurs warned about. The tomb is a hidden fortress filled with illusions. Varn and Lorentus are separated from the group by traps.
The remaining group finds a portal to the First World. The Horned Hunter (who is actually the Lantern King, though the General does not know this) explains that the evil is not in the tomb but elsewhere, and the events were a trick. The Hunter offers the General a gift based on the player’s choices: the General becomes a mimic, defends the tomb forever, or is stranded in the First World. The Hunter kills the mercenaries, but Varn and Lorentus survive to join the main story.
At some point in the main campaign, the Monarch has dreams about a dungeon called the Tenebrous Depths. There, they meet a dragon named Xelliren, who explains that the dungeon’s deepest part holds a Spawn of Rovagug, a dangerous creature that could destroy continents. The party fights past adventurers driven mad by the Spawn and enters the Spawn’s nest. After defeating it, Xelliren congratulates them but says the threat may return in thousands of years.
Alternatively, the party finds clues from adventurers who blamed Xelliren for luring them to the dungeon. If the Monarch proves Xelliren was tricked by the Spawn, the dragon helps defeat the Spawn and apologizes. Xelliren then leaves, and the Spawn is destroyed permanently.
Development
After the game was announced, Owlcat considered various ways to get money for its development. This led to the start of a Kickstarter campaign in June 2017. The campaign was described as a way to expand the game, not to fund its creation. The campaign ended by the end of June 2017, having raised US$909,057 from more than 18,000 people who supported it. Chris Avellone, a well-known scriptwriter for other role-playing games, helped create the game.
The game was published by Deep Silver and released on September 25, 2018. On June 6, 2019, an update called the Enhanced Edition was released for computer platforms. On August 18, 2020, versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released under the name Definitive Edition. At the same time, computer versions received an update titled Enhanced Plus Edition.
Reception
Pathfinder: Kingmaker received mixed reviews, with an average score of 73 out of 100 on Metacritic. The Game Debate review highlighted the game's interesting story, features that let players manage their realm, and called it "a beautiful, rich CRPG that offers a great place to adventure and tools to build a realm you can call home." GameSpot’s Daniel Starkey noted that the game has many small problems, such as balancing challenges and a large amount of information needed to play effectively. However, he also praised the game’s story and kingdom management features, saying that "for those willing to put in the effort, the rewards are worth it." The game has also been criticized for having an uneven difficulty level and some parts that are hard to understand.
Technically, the game had many bugs, long loading times, and balance problems when it first launched. These issues affected how well the game was received by critics and players. Over time, many of these problems were fixed through updates.
In September 2021, the game had sold more than one million copies worldwide.
Sequel
Owlcat announced a sequel called Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous in December 2019. The story of the game follows the same-named Adventure Path, which was published in August 2013. In this game, players lead a group of characters involved in a battle between humans and demons. The sequel uses the same game engine as Kingmaker to improve based on feedback from players and critics. It also adds more rules from the tabletop game, such as new character classes and a system called mythic progression, which allows characters to gain special abilities. In February 2020, Owlcat started a Kickstarter campaign to raise more money for the game. The campaign raised over $2 million, which was much more than the $300,000 they asked for. This allowed them to add extra features during development.