Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

While flawed, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a grand and ambitious adventure and an impressive adaptation of a popular tabletop RPG. The eclectic characters feel alive, though the thought of that literally being true is terrifying. In some ways, it feels like too standard a CRPG; in others, it stretches the conventions of that subgenre in fascinating directions. The amount of writing here (and pretty good writing at that) is astounding — it’s a rare case where the sheer quantity is a positive, each quest another strand in your character’s tapestry, even if they don’t always hit. As such, if you only play one game you missed out on from last year, it might be this one, as it might be all you have time for. But that decision is less appealing in the shadow of the abuse accusations.

Owlcat Games has made huge progress since Kingmaker. Time limits, randomized elements of kingdom management and other annoying aspects were ditched, while combat and character development return in all their glory assisted by very atmospheric new mythic paths and a bit simple but still cool army management system. For me, the new Pathfinder, Wasteland 3 and Divinity: Original Sin II are a trio of contemporary RPG classics, with the first one being the most faithful to the genre’s tradition.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a fantasy role-playing game that is highly playable and extremely rich in content. Although there are still some obvious bugs and optimization issues in the game, it is still the brightest new star in the fantasy role-playing games.