Like Neverwinter Nights with Baldur's Gate isometric design...

Game mechanics: far above average, approaching perfection. But before playing, you probably want to be very familiar with Pathfinder (or D&D 3.5).

Art & design: wonderful as though someone fed the Pathfinder 1e Core Rulebook into a computer!

Performance: a test of patience because it's buggy and lags. I have some faith that in time these errors will be both fixed and exacerbated through patches and DLC, and that there will be true fixes in some community patch within the next ten years (yikes).

IMO this would be the very best CRPG made so far, except that the lagging performance and random bugs mean it's hard to just let go and play. The snags don't help with immersion. However, the general design, ideas, and mechanics of the game override its faults. The only catches are: 1) make sure first you are familiar with the game system, and 2) be prepared to spend days getting a feel for the bugs, and possibly finding ways to optimize the installation... such as by choosing many of the lower graphics options even if your computer is a beast.

...I don't see why this game or the Pathfinder system wouldn't perform better as not its own app but a mod for Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate used the Infinity Game Engine, whereas Pathfinder: Kingmaker uses Unity. Baldur's Gate runs smoothly, this game is sometimes not smooth-going. A relatively new isometric game that runs smoothly is Pillars of Eternity, with the Unity engine - so we know it's possible. The graphics/graphical atmosphere of Pillars is the best, the performance of Baldur's the best, and the game mechanics of Kingmaker the best.

Like Neverwinter Nights with Baldur's Gate isometric design... Game mechanics: far above average, approaching perfection. But before playing, you probably want to be very familiar with Pathfinder (or D&D 3.5). Art & design: wonderful as though someone fed the Pathfinder 1e Core Rulebook into a computer! Performance: a test of patience because it's buggy and lags. I have some faith that in time these errors will be both fixed and exacerbated through patches and DLC, and that there will be true fixes in some community patch within the next ten years (yikes). IMO this would be the very best CRPG made so far, except that the lagging performance and random bugs mean it's hard to just let go and play. The snags don't help with immersion. However, the general design, ideas, and mechanics of the game override its faults. The only catches are: 1) make sure first you are familiar with the game system, and 2) be prepared to spend days getting a feel for the bugs, and possibly finding ways to optimize the installation... such as by choosing many of the lower graphics options even if your computer is a beast. ...I don't see why this game or the Pathfinder system wouldn't perform better as not its own app but a mod for Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate used the Infinity Game Engine, whereas Pathfinder: Kingmaker uses Unity. Baldur's Gate runs smoothly, this game is sometimes not smooth-going. A relatively new isometric game that runs smoothly is Pillars of Eternity, with the Unity engine - so we know it's possible. The graphics/graphical atmosphere of Pillars is the best, the performance of Baldur's the best, and the game mechanics of Kingmaker the best.