Behold the king; the king of kings
All I want from a modernDungeons & Dragonsvideo game is a virtual approximation of the tabletop role-playing game. We already have hack-and-slash games, we already have dungeon crawlers, that road has been well-tread. I want a god damnD&Dgame; a sprawling, epic campaign with plenty of dialogue and a veritable spreadsheet of numbers hovering over me like a mathemagical Sword of Damocles.
So, hey, good news.Pathfinder: Kingmakermight not be an exact 5eDungeons and Dragonsvideo game, but it’s close – it’s aPathfindervideo game. You knowPathfinder, that old standby of tabletop fans who never really let go ofD&D3.5.Pathfinderis toD&DwhatARMAwas toCall of Duty, in video game terms.
But whileD&Dis out here remasteringold video gamesand enjoying thetabletop renaissance,Pathfinderis going after the interactive entertainment market while the CRPG iron is hot.Kingmakerplays fine, and it has many of the underlying systems I’d want from a tabletop adaptation, I just don’t know if the full game will be able to hang with actualPathfinderor the other Kickstarted CRPGs floating around.
Kingmakerreminds me ofFable 3, which is normally an unkind comparison. You’re a Baron or Baroness who will eventually rise to the rank of King or Queen, and you’re the kind of ruler who likes to get their hands dirty. It’s like Harrison Ford inAir Force One! You can either choose to make each decision yourself, or appoint a leaderin absentiato make decisions in your absence. That leader’salignment(Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, True Neutral, etc.) will determine the kind of choices they’ll make. The player’s alignment isn’t set in stone, on the other hand – your actions will shape your alignment as well, which affects your standing in the world and the kind of companions you keep.
During my time with theKingmakerdemo, I took more joy from solving problems and making dialogue choices than I did from any one combat encounter. Monster fighting is fairly standard – you click on things until they’re dead, with abilities tied to hotkeys occasionally making an appearance. you’re able to control your party members directly, or just let the AI handle things, which seemed fairly viable. But there’s so much dialogue and flavor text out there to read, so if I end up playing the full game, I’ll probably spend most of my time looking for ways around the combat.
The “role playing” part of this role-playing game may not be as fluid as an authenticPathfindergame, since the game is working from a set list of options rather than the (hopefully) limitless imagination of a Dungeon Master, but that set list felt deep and expansive. I don’t know if I could make the exact kind of Chaotic Good wizard I am perpetually drawn to in tabletop gaming (the kind who probably leans a little too “chaotic” for the group’s liking), but theKingmakerdemo led me to believe it was at least possible.
For as plentiful as the writing may be, those options won’t be as enticing if you turn up your nose at entry-level stuff likeThe Lord of the Rings. The writing inKingmakerseems like above-average fantasy writing, so if you’re already down with goblins and dwarves, you’ll be sated. But like I said, there is alotof content; this is a rare case of quantity making up for quality.
Although the breadth of content in theKingmakerdemo makes me think it might be able to mimic the fluidity of a tabletop RPG campaign, there’s honestly no substitute for the real thing. I once played a mini-campaign that climaxed with my character was fistfighting with stevedores while my friends helped a vampire get ready for an all-night rager. Even if that kind of content is inKingmaker, the nonsense I cited was the result of the DM reading the room and shifting accordingly.
Good tabletop gaming relies on action and reaction – and there’s definitely some of that inKingmaker! The game throws something at you, you react, it reacts to your reaction,et al.Kingmakerwill be a fine substitute if you may’t get a bunch of players together. But if you have a way to play tabletop RPGs with other people (especially now thatRoll20is a thing) just do that.Kingmakerlooks like a great RPG, but I left with a desire to play some tabletop RPGs with my friends rather than play more of this game. It’s fine on its own merits, it just reminded me of what I’d rather be doing with my time.
