Finishing my second run now.
Wrath of the Righteous (Wrath from here on) is Owlcats second implementation of Pathfinder 1E (which in itself is a branch of D&D 3.5E) adapted to digital form. While I wasn't incredibly impressed with their first attempt at the genre, this second game really does bring what Owlcat learned from the first to a new title. Wrath in itself is one of the most complex, intricate, and rewarding CRPGs on the market period. While it's generation contemporaries (which I consider to be Pillars of Eternity II and Baldur's Gate 3) definitely have their own flags, neither have convinced me of their gameplay, world, and narrative in the same way Wrath pulls off.
To break the ice, Wrath is really, and I mean, really hard for new players. It being my second CRPG after Divinity II really set me up for failure. The Pathfinder system is a deeply complex web of mechanics, classes, backgrounds, and more that overly fleshes itself out for the better and the worst. While this deep complexity really does let it operate on and entirely more complex plane of gameplay over its contemporaries, it makes it very hard to get into if you have not played Pathfinder 1E or a similar system. This is coming from someone who had been a gamemaster for D&D 5E a whole four years before playing the title. To say it may be hard to get into is an understatement, if you do not have the patience to read everything (and even if you do) you will hit a wall at some point in your game or frustratingly quit and come back another time for a new run. For me, I struggled through my first run and am finishing my second now, and I have very little patience, the reason I stuck with the game was the superb writing from the team.
Story
The story of Wrath is nothing unique, or even new, the story itself being based on a Pathfinder 1E module of the same name, but this doesn't stop Owlcat from not only putting their own spin on it, but making it feel new, fresh, and fun. However as a likely 98% of the readers of this haven't played the module, I won't explain the differences. What I can say is that the story encompasses the Player Character (the Knight Commander) leading the 5th Crusade against the Worldwound, a stitching of two planes of reality, and who has, by some miracle, been given mythical powers to aid the cause. However, this game's story is impacted quite heavily by both the player's choices and the players choice of Ten unique mythic paths ranging from slight story flavorings to entire story rewrites for the Fifth Crusade.
Wrath's contemporaries (BG3 and PoE II) both have their own unique implementation of character choice, but neither of them have the vast impact of choice that Wrath does in it's story. While some elements, and some villains will remain the same across runs, each run of Wrath feels like a unique take on a familiar story. A strange comparison I would make it a Disney Animated Classic and Live-Action remake, generally the same vibe and concepts, but major aspects are changed, except there are few (if any) bad renditions of this story. In a more general story sense, the characters (not companions) and the main antagonists are all very well thought out and each have their charm, they each feel like they belong in this story in some way or another, and while some side-quest areas or stories can feel out-of-place, there tends to be a resolution to them that fixes that distortion of writing, and normally in a way that makes them pleasing.
However, I would not say the story of Wrath, or it's ending is entirely better than it's contemporaries. I do think it outshines them both in scale by a fair margin (just by the game being a double to triple the length), but Pillars of Eternity II is definitely a better story, and Baldur's Gate III feels more like a tabletop game (whether for the subjective better or worse). I would say in this sense that Wrath's story works as it is, but it's not something I would praise entirely, as it might be unpredictable, but the themes and such are mediocre at worst and novel at best, but not exclusively unique. I'd put it below Pillars, but above Baldur's Gate in this realm.
Gameplay
As I briefly covered before in the introduction to this review, this game can be unrelentingly complex for new players, however, the tools are available to make that learning curve much less steep than you may think. This game has nearly 30 main classes and 160 subclasses, not including prestige classes (or classes you can only get later in the game), which is a metric onslaught of things to pick from. What's very impressive is not only the scale of this many classes, but the fact that at least 90% of them are playable on the 3 main difficulties (i'll get into that in a moment). As a player who loves customizing, this is a godsend of a choice from Owlcat, and a benefit of Pathfinder 1E being based on D&D 3.5E. Of course this can easily overwhelm players since it can be unclear what each class does or what is good, and in truth, this is a complaint I also have about the game. It's the only time I'd recommend using reddit or forums to pitch an idea or google a build idea and find what class or subclass fits it for you. Use the internet to your advantage. While you will have upwards of 20 companions (in some cases) you also need to build, you can also automate this (again, will discuss in a moment).
However, I am a big fan of this kind of choice. Unlike Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity II, and more so like every other CRPG in existence, lots of Wrath's combat is purely top-down, not overly animated or detailed and so the fact that this many builds is possible is a testament to that fact. While this also means that some gameplay elements are lacking on the visual front, I would much rather have a mechanically deep or complex game over a much more streamlined game like BG3, however, many may disagree with that. The ace up Owlcat's sleeve however is the ability to please all parties, while some people can't play more classic CRPGs like the Planescape or early Fallouts due to their Real-Time with pause style of game, and an equal amount do not adapt well to the recent trend of turn-based only combat, Owlcat just does both, and integrates it very well. At any moment, and I mean literally at the drop of a hat, you can switch from Real-Time to Turn Based. Objectively speaking, this is the best way to have a CRPG and I'm really disappointed that newer titles (like Baldur's Gate 3) did not do this. Pillars II, albeit and earlier title, at least gave a choice at the start of the game for which mode the player wanted, but did not include and in-game switch to change the modes like Wrath. For me, this is a game-changer for a simple reason, trash-mobs. While a lot of people may be opposed to trash-mobs (or mobs that are essentially pointless) being in the game, I am a big fan for a few reasons. The first being that it adds a lot to the immersion for me, this is a Crusade after all, fighting hundreds, no, thousands of enemies makes you feel like you pushing against the enemy. Secondly, it really makes dungeon's feel intimidating and dangerous, it's no longer a "oh let's just freely rest here" as the game has a built-in mechanic to stop rest-abusing, and you really have to make an effort to prepare for long-hauls without break, adding to the care needed to build a team and items, making sure you've stocked up on potions, scrolls, what-have-you. Third, it's just fun to kill a bunch of things. For these mobs though, I don't want to do turn-based every time, the ability to just set it on Real-Time and blaze through is not only making it less of a slog, it actively makes me enjoy using it.
There is also the difficulty system, which literally lets you change the game on a macro and micro level. You can either pick from the 7(?) default difficulties or craft your own from complete scratch. I mean heck, you can even change the difficulty in the middle of the playthrough. I remember in my first run hitting an insurmountable wall, it would've sucked if I literally couldn't just drop the difficulty a stage and win the fight that way. It also helps newer players get into the game since they can change it on the fly. There is also entire modes (like the controversial Crusage Management) that can just be completely turned off. it really does value giving the tools to players to make the game their own. This is one of the games best aspects, easily.
When it comes to the shortcomings of the gameplay though, it comes back to the shortcomings of the system. Besides the utter complexity, Pathfinder 1E is really a numbers game. Baldur's Gate 3 lets you have maybe 30 AC or higher by end-game if you really work towards it, Pathfinder has 30 AC by level 4, halway through the game you'll have a team of an average 30, and tanks with upwards of 50, and enemies with upwards of 60 themselves. This makes the most important thing in the game item optimization and pre-buffing. You will spend 5-10 minutes before a dungeon just making sure you buffs are all on, and the same before a boss. This can be annoying, and it does make some aspects really a drag, and while I could rationalize it back to the "preparation" point I made before, it'd be a load of bull. This is not a fun aspect and most players agree. I also think this game lacks a clear sense of what content is difficult and what content isn't. You'll roll up to a quest and get abslutely hammered and have to come back later, or go to a quest and sleep through it. If Wrath had a system similar to Pillar II's skull-markings on quests this issue could be remedied, as it stands, it's annoying. There are other gameplay issues with specific paths, items, bugs, etc. However listing them all would take me another 20k characters alone, it's simple to say that many of these issues are at best ignorable and at worst a mild annoyance. If you don't like Pathfinder 1E, you won't like Wrath's gameplay, it's that simple.
Companions
This game has the best companions of any CRPG I have played, including Baldur's Gate 3 and Pillars of Eternity II, and I will not budge. Both of it's contemporaries have maybe 5-8 well-written and though out companions with genuine archs, but the downside of such a limited number is that hating one makes it feel a lot more annoying. Luckily, not only are a majority of Pathfinder's 13 mainstay companions each have development that is servicable, I would argue they are all on-par or better than companions from their contemporaries. Not to mentioned 2 hidden companions and 7 mythic path companions that are possible to add to your team. I've made a tierlist of the companions of Wrath and other CRPGs, and while I can't say every Wrath companion is better than every other companion in every other CRPG, at least when there's 13 of them, I can remove half of them, or never recruit them, and still enjoy my playthrough and my companions. Not to mention 7 of them are romancable, no, not the whole cast horny-as-hell BG3, but a significant portion, and each of the romances each have their own unique endings and moments in them, not to mention, some of the romance arches being some of the best archs I've seen in a game.
To not get too overwhelmed myself with how much I love the cast of this game, I'll simply cover the basics. While Badlur's Gate makes the companions feel like they are over-the-top stereotypes that players can latch on too and Pillars II has some of the most emotional depth of companions you can get, Wrath somehow manages to achieve similar levels of depth, and still make characters with standard archetypes deeply compelling. If you told me half of these characters on paper, I would not be interested, but playing the game with them, the only title I can compare it to is Mass Effect. Each character stands out and unique and feels like they fit in some weird way, you're not a gang of outcassts or vandals in any sense of the way, but what Mass Effect takes 3 games to do takes Wrath 5 Acts in one game (albeit with similar play time). On my second run, the one I am doing as I write this, I chose a new romance option and assembled a part of some-new some-old characters, and it really holds up. Yes I've seen the questlines for them before, yes I've heard this dialogue, but man, it really does still work on replays. Maybe it's the near hundred-hour runs that really make the payoffs pay off, or maybe its the fact I am drawn to these characters because I'm stuck with them, but to say it as it is, I would take one or two Wrath companions over an entire team of companions from any other CRPG I've played, and trust me, it's really hard not to gush over my romance choices or party characters as I write this, like damn, Owlcat really excells here.
The only minor problem with companions, geniuinely, is the fact that they have pre-determined classes at predetermined levels. Some start at level 1 so you still get a lot of wiggle room, but some start as late as 10 or 15, and it is really hard to justify using them or building them if they have a bad build or just don't arrive early enough to be in the party. However, only a handful (at most) suffer from this, and you get to use them for their quests anyways, so the complaint is really mute for me. It only limits you in the sense that you may not have the caster you want in your team if you are a caster, but being you have 6 character slots and not 4, you have a lot of free wiggle room for extra characters if you really want there to be.
HOW MUCH DID I WRITE?
I'll stop here, cause I've been drafting this review for the last few hours, but to make it simple, play the game. If you like Baldur's Gate 3 mechanically and not for the AAA-quality animations, Wrath of the Righteous will work great for you, even if it is a lot more difficult. I really am saddened that the game is in the Pathfinder 1E system, but honestly, with time I've changed my tune to enjoying the system in the game, it wouldn't feel as good in any other game system and I think that's part of the point (you know, being a module and all).
TLDR: The game is a deeply customizable and complex game that helps the player learn it's quirks and functions and has some of the best RPG writing, and writing period in any game I've ever seen with unforgettable characters, a pretty decent story, and the ability to fully make the experience your own, even if it ends up being 150 hours long. If you like all these things and can spare time for a few hiccups along the way, you enjoy the game by Act III, if not sooner.
Wrath of the Righteous (Wrath from here on) is Owlcats second implementation of Pathfinder 1E (which in itself is a branch of D&D 3.5E) adapted to digital form. While I wasn't incredibly impressed with their first attempt at the genre, this second game really does bring what Owlcat learned from the first to a new title. Wrath in itself is one of the most complex, intricate, and rewarding CRPGs on the market period. While it's generation contemporaries (which I consider to be Pillars of Eternity II and Baldur's Gate 3) definitely have their own flags, neither have convinced me of their gameplay, world, and narrative in the same way Wrath pulls off.
To break the ice, Wrath is really, and I mean, really hard for new players. It being my second CRPG after Divinity II really set me up for failure. The Pathfinder system is a deeply complex web of mechanics, classes, backgrounds, and more that overly fleshes itself out for the better and the worst. While this deep complexity really does let it operate on and entirely more complex plane of gameplay over its contemporaries, it makes it very hard to get into if you have not played Pathfinder 1E or a similar system. This is coming from someone who had been a gamemaster for D&D 5E a whole four years before playing the title. To say it may be hard to get into is an understatement, if you do not have the patience to read everything (and even if you do) you will hit a wall at some point in your game or frustratingly quit and come back another time for a new run. For me, I struggled through my first run and am finishing my second now, and I have very little patience, the reason I stuck with the game was the superb writing from the team.
Story
The story of Wrath is nothing unique, or even new, the story itself being based on a Pathfinder 1E module of the same name, but this doesn't stop Owlcat from not only putting their own spin on it, but making it feel new, fresh, and fun. However as a likely 98% of the readers of this haven't played the module, I won't explain the differences. What I can say is that the story encompasses the Player Character (the Knight Commander) leading the 5th Crusade against the Worldwound, a stitching of two planes of reality, and who has, by some miracle, been given mythical powers to aid the cause. However, this game's story is impacted quite heavily by both the player's choices and the players choice of Ten unique mythic paths ranging from slight story flavorings to entire story rewrites for the Fifth Crusade.
Wrath's contemporaries (BG3 and PoE II) both have their own unique implementation of character choice, but neither of them have the vast impact of choice that Wrath does in it's story. While some elements, and some villains will remain the same across runs, each run of Wrath feels like a unique take on a familiar story. A strange comparison I would make it a Disney Animated Classic and Live-Action remake, generally the same vibe and concepts, but major aspects are changed, except there are few (if any) bad renditions of this story. In a more general story sense, the characters (not companions) and the main antagonists are all very well thought out and each have their charm, they each feel like they belong in this story in some way or another, and while some side-quest areas or stories can feel out-of-place, there tends to be a resolution to them that fixes that distortion of writing, and normally in a way that makes them pleasing.
However, I would not say the story of Wrath, or it's ending is entirely better than it's contemporaries. I do think it outshines them both in scale by a fair margin (just by the game being a double to triple the length), but Pillars of Eternity II is definitely a better story, and Baldur's Gate III feels more like a tabletop game (whether for the subjective better or worse). I would say in this sense that Wrath's story works as it is, but it's not something I would praise entirely, as it might be unpredictable, but the themes and such are mediocre at worst and novel at best, but not exclusively unique. I'd put it below Pillars, but above Baldur's Gate in this realm.
Gameplay
As I briefly covered before in the introduction to this review, this game can be unrelentingly complex for new players, however, the tools are available to make that learning curve much less steep than you may think. This game has nearly 30 main classes and 160 subclasses, not including prestige classes (or classes you can only get later in the game), which is a metric onslaught of things to pick from. What's very impressive is not only the scale of this many classes, but the fact that at least 90% of them are playable on the 3 main difficulties (i'll get into that in a moment). As a player who loves customizing, this is a godsend of a choice from Owlcat, and a benefit of Pathfinder 1E being based on D&D 3.5E. Of course this can easily overwhelm players since it can be unclear what each class does or what is good, and in truth, this is a complaint I also have about the game. It's the only time I'd recommend using reddit or forums to pitch an idea or google a build idea and find what class or subclass fits it for you. Use the internet to your advantage. While you will have upwards of 20 companions (in some cases) you also need to build, you can also automate this (again, will discuss in a moment).
However, I am a big fan of this kind of choice. Unlike Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity II, and more so like every other CRPG in existence, lots of Wrath's combat is purely top-down, not overly animated or detailed and so the fact that this many builds is possible is a testament to that fact. While this also means that some gameplay elements are lacking on the visual front, I would much rather have a mechanically deep or complex game over a much more streamlined game like BG3, however, many may disagree with that. The ace up Owlcat's sleeve however is the ability to please all parties, while some people can't play more classic CRPGs like the Planescape or early Fallouts due to their Real-Time with pause style of game, and an equal amount do not adapt well to the recent trend of turn-based only combat, Owlcat just does both, and integrates it very well. At any moment, and I mean literally at the drop of a hat, you can switch from Real-Time to Turn Based. Objectively speaking, this is the best way to have a CRPG and I'm really disappointed that newer titles (like Baldur's Gate 3) did not do this. Pillars II, albeit and earlier title, at least gave a choice at the start of the game for which mode the player wanted, but did not include and in-game switch to change the modes like Wrath. For me, this is a game-changer for a simple reason, trash-mobs. While a lot of people may be opposed to trash-mobs (or mobs that are essentially pointless) being in the game, I am a big fan for a few reasons. The first being that it adds a lot to the immersion for me, this is a Crusade after all, fighting hundreds, no, thousands of enemies makes you feel like you pushing against the enemy. Secondly, it really makes dungeon's feel intimidating and dangerous, it's no longer a "oh let's just freely rest here" as the game has a built-in mechanic to stop rest-abusing, and you really have to make an effort to prepare for long-hauls without break, adding to the care needed to build a team and items, making sure you've stocked up on potions, scrolls, what-have-you. Third, it's just fun to kill a bunch of things. For these mobs though, I don't want to do turn-based every time, the ability to just set it on Real-Time and blaze through is not only making it less of a slog, it actively makes me enjoy using it.
There is also the difficulty system, which literally lets you change the game on a macro and micro level. You can either pick from the 7(?) default difficulties or craft your own from complete scratch. I mean heck, you can even change the difficulty in the middle of the playthrough. I remember in my first run hitting an insurmountable wall, it would've sucked if I literally couldn't just drop the difficulty a stage and win the fight that way. It also helps newer players get into the game since they can change it on the fly. There is also entire modes (like the controversial Crusage Management) that can just be completely turned off. it really does value giving the tools to players to make the game their own. This is one of the games best aspects, easily.
When it comes to the shortcomings of the gameplay though, it comes back to the shortcomings of the system. Besides the utter complexity, Pathfinder 1E is really a numbers game. Baldur's Gate 3 lets you have maybe 30 AC or higher by end-game if you really work towards it, Pathfinder has 30 AC by level 4, halway through the game you'll have a team of an average 30, and tanks with upwards of 50, and enemies with upwards of 60 themselves. This makes the most important thing in the game item optimization and pre-buffing. You will spend 5-10 minutes before a dungeon just making sure you buffs are all on, and the same before a boss. This can be annoying, and it does make some aspects really a drag, and while I could rationalize it back to the "preparation" point I made before, it'd be a load of bull. This is not a fun aspect and most players agree. I also think this game lacks a clear sense of what content is difficult and what content isn't. You'll roll up to a quest and get abslutely hammered and have to come back later, or go to a quest and sleep through it. If Wrath had a system similar to Pillar II's skull-markings on quests this issue could be remedied, as it stands, it's annoying. There are other gameplay issues with specific paths, items, bugs, etc. However listing them all would take me another 20k characters alone, it's simple to say that many of these issues are at best ignorable and at worst a mild annoyance. If you don't like Pathfinder 1E, you won't like Wrath's gameplay, it's that simple.
Companions
This game has the best companions of any CRPG I have played, including Baldur's Gate 3 and Pillars of Eternity II, and I will not budge. Both of it's contemporaries have maybe 5-8 well-written and though out companions with genuine archs, but the downside of such a limited number is that hating one makes it feel a lot more annoying. Luckily, not only are a majority of Pathfinder's 13 mainstay companions each have development that is servicable, I would argue they are all on-par or better than companions from their contemporaries. Not to mentioned 2 hidden companions and 7 mythic path companions that are possible to add to your team. I've made a tierlist of the companions of Wrath and other CRPGs, and while I can't say every Wrath companion is better than every other companion in every other CRPG, at least when there's 13 of them, I can remove half of them, or never recruit them, and still enjoy my playthrough and my companions. Not to mention 7 of them are romancable, no, not the whole cast horny-as-hell BG3, but a significant portion, and each of the romances each have their own unique endings and moments in them, not to mention, some of the romance arches being some of the best archs I've seen in a game.
To not get too overwhelmed myself with how much I love the cast of this game, I'll simply cover the basics. While Badlur's Gate makes the companions feel like they are over-the-top stereotypes that players can latch on too and Pillars II has some of the most emotional depth of companions you can get, Wrath somehow manages to achieve similar levels of depth, and still make characters with standard archetypes deeply compelling. If you told me half of these characters on paper, I would not be interested, but playing the game with them, the only title I can compare it to is Mass Effect. Each character stands out and unique and feels like they fit in some weird way, you're not a gang of outcassts or vandals in any sense of the way, but what Mass Effect takes 3 games to do takes Wrath 5 Acts in one game (albeit with similar play time). On my second run, the one I am doing as I write this, I chose a new romance option and assembled a part of some-new some-old characters, and it really holds up. Yes I've seen the questlines for them before, yes I've heard this dialogue, but man, it really does still work on replays. Maybe it's the near hundred-hour runs that really make the payoffs pay off, or maybe its the fact I am drawn to these characters because I'm stuck with them, but to say it as it is, I would take one or two Wrath companions over an entire team of companions from any other CRPG I've played, and trust me, it's really hard not to gush over my romance choices or party characters as I write this, like damn, Owlcat really excells here.
The only minor problem with companions, geniuinely, is the fact that they have pre-determined classes at predetermined levels. Some start at level 1 so you still get a lot of wiggle room, but some start as late as 10 or 15, and it is really hard to justify using them or building them if they have a bad build or just don't arrive early enough to be in the party. However, only a handful (at most) suffer from this, and you get to use them for their quests anyways, so the complaint is really mute for me. It only limits you in the sense that you may not have the caster you want in your team if you are a caster, but being you have 6 character slots and not 4, you have a lot of free wiggle room for extra characters if you really want there to be.
HOW MUCH DID I WRITE?
I'll stop here, cause I've been drafting this review for the last few hours, but to make it simple, play the game. If you like Baldur's Gate 3 mechanically and not for the AAA-quality animations, Wrath of the Righteous will work great for you, even if it is a lot more difficult. I really am saddened that the game is in the Pathfinder 1E system, but honestly, with time I've changed my tune to enjoying the system in the game, it wouldn't feel as good in any other game system and I think that's part of the point (you know, being a module and all).
TLDR: The game is a deeply customizable and complex game that helps the player learn it's quirks and functions and has some of the best RPG writing, and writing period in any game I've ever seen with unforgettable characters, a pretty decent story, and the ability to fully make the experience your own, even if it ends up being 150 hours long. If you like all these things and can spare time for a few hiccups along the way, you enjoy the game by Act III, if not sooner.