Pathfinder: Kingmaker is an RPG that is a lot of fun at the beginning, but unfortunately quickly becomes redundant. In the game, the kingdom is constantly plagued by threats such as pandemics, wars with neighbours and barbarians. Although the story is okay at the beginning, it eventually becomes uninteresting due to the unreasonably long playing time. What we have here is a story for perhaps 30 to 35 hours stretched to almost 80 hours, according to HLTB.
Another point of criticism is the unnecessarily difficult battles in the later stages of the game. Instead of the enemies becoming stronger and more powerful, you are simply bombarded with an excess of 20 to 30 enemies. This not only affects the game performance, but also the enjoyment of the game.
One annoying aspect is that potential companions can be missed. As these companions are needed for kingdom management, this leads to problems. An example is a companion who is found in an uninteresting location during a single specific main quest. It is possible to spend the entire game without a chamberlain, causing the kingdom to fail and the game to be lost. One could argue that you should simply explore more, but this leads to the next point of criticism.
All quests have an invisible time limit, which reduces the enjoyment of the game. Although it is realistic that NPCs do not stay in one place indefinitely, this gives the player little freedom. What if you want to pursue the main quest before doing the companions' side quests? What if you want to explore the map, but time passes and you run the risk of losing the game? What if you just want to spend a few months in the game managing the kingdom?
The questlog often does not give you enough information. In the majority of the quests you will find yourself wandering all over the world map hoping to finally find the place you are supposed to go. I think it's pretty obvious that this, along with the time limit, is pretty bad design.
Despite these points of criticism, there are also aspects worthy of praise. The level of difficulty can be customised very nicely so that both pros and newcomers can have fun with the game. In addition, kingdom management can be minimised by only taking on the most necessary tasks. The lore of Pathfinder is also explained quite well, so that even players who have never come into contact with Pathfinder before are not completely lost.
Another point of criticism is the unnecessarily difficult battles in the later stages of the game. Instead of the enemies becoming stronger and more powerful, you are simply bombarded with an excess of 20 to 30 enemies. This not only affects the game performance, but also the enjoyment of the game.
One annoying aspect is that potential companions can be missed. As these companions are needed for kingdom management, this leads to problems. An example is a companion who is found in an uninteresting location during a single specific main quest. It is possible to spend the entire game without a chamberlain, causing the kingdom to fail and the game to be lost. One could argue that you should simply explore more, but this leads to the next point of criticism.
All quests have an invisible time limit, which reduces the enjoyment of the game. Although it is realistic that NPCs do not stay in one place indefinitely, this gives the player little freedom. What if you want to pursue the main quest before doing the companions' side quests? What if you want to explore the map, but time passes and you run the risk of losing the game? What if you just want to spend a few months in the game managing the kingdom?
The questlog often does not give you enough information. In the majority of the quests you will find yourself wandering all over the world map hoping to finally find the place you are supposed to go. I think it's pretty obvious that this, along with the time limit, is pretty bad design.
Despite these points of criticism, there are also aspects worthy of praise. The level of difficulty can be customised very nicely so that both pros and newcomers can have fun with the game. In addition, kingdom management can be minimised by only taking on the most necessary tasks. The lore of Pathfinder is also explained quite well, so that even players who have never come into contact with Pathfinder before are not completely lost.