Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Review

Aug 11, 2023

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Review

Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous now has its own enhanced edition, meaning now is the perfect time to delve into an RPG that lets you explore the joys of becoming a powerful lich or a Cronenberg hivemind insect swarm.
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Intro - 00:00
The Sequel to Kingmaker - 00:19
Character Creator - 01:55
Game Premise - 04:10
Visuals - 5:40
Music \u0026 Sound Design - 07:38
Adventuring Gameplay - 10:26
Crusade Management - 21:34
Story - 26:27
DLC - 28:43
Conclusions - 31:41
Credits - 32:20
Soulsian - 33:27

#pathfinder #pathfinderwrath #pathfinderwrathoftherighteous #owlcatgames

Content

1.272 -> [loud crash and screeching]

7.239 -> ULBRIG: “What in the name of the Green Mother’s going on in this crazy town?!”

11.959 -> [Captions by: Val Grim]

18.753 -> After the rabbit hole of adventuring that was “Kingmaker”, the sequel has now been out long enough to receive its own Enhanced Edition.

24.097 -> And, as you might expect, it is a dense, gelatinous cube of features –

27.646 -> once again, part-CRPG, part-city-builder, part-empire-builder, and part-… “Heroes of Might & Magic III”…

34.097 -> So the ambition is high.

35.7 -> Compared to “Kingmaker”, some areas have been streamlined down for convenience,

39.198 -> and other that were intricate before, have now reached new levels of complexity.

42.875 -> Story-wise, it’s also not a direct sequel. It takes place in a completely new land, and, besides some Easter Eggs, you can start here just fine.

50.204 -> I will say that, while it’s different story-wise, tonally, this does feel like a sequel.

54.555 -> “Kingmaker” had a good amount of low-stakes murder-hoboing through the woods,

57.863 -> where having rope and tools mattered, and it felt like playing Pathfinder with your friends.

61.628 -> Even ruling the kingdom, you did have a variety of issues to deal with, but it wasn’t super high stakes until the endgame.

66.819 -> In “Wrath of the Righteous”, demons from another dimension invade four minutes into the game.

70.751 -> The tutorial forest has become the tutorial urban warzone, with demons leaving IEDs in the street and crusaders deciding whether or not to burn children.

78.384 -> With that as your starting point, you can imagine the kind of heights it develops into.

82.048 -> In turn, what your character can become to deal with that can also get pretty nuts.

85.891 -> So it does feel like a natural ramp-up as a sequel, and it still has the tons of adventuring side content you’d expect,

91.272 -> but, if you’re completely new, it’s a deep end start that won’t waste time getting going.

94.695 -> The good news is that the tutorial and general onboarding stuff for learning is much better this round.

99.402 -> And, sure, you still might feel compelled to hire a CPA for dealing with the character creator, but the important thing is, it’s not GURPS.

105.751 -> No, I meant, it’s more clear than before. Which is good when your game has this many interlocking systems.

110.751 -> There’s a good amount of stuff to cover, so, for now, let’s step back and look at the character creator.

115.293 -> There are so many options that, for an alarming amount of people, they spend the most hours on this part of the game.

120.827 -> They play an hour or two, get tempted thinking about something else, and come back to the paperwork.

124.975 -> “Kingmaker” already had a lot of options for classes and subclasses, and “Wrath” has amped all of those up.

129.949 -> There are plenty of new archetypes and brand new prestige classes, and what existed before has new feats, spells, abilities – you name it.

136.858 -> To give an example, there are now over a dozen animal companion options, including… dinosaurs.

142.01 -> Which sounds fun on its own, but “Wrath” has also added a mounted combat system. Meaning, it’s viable to ride a Triceratops into battle.

148.868 -> Or forego that for a traditional horse – just make sure to pick your knightly order.

152.646 -> Though, even beyond class-specific options, there are now tons of backgrounds to choose from.

156.654 -> These can get more specific, or hyper-specific, if you go for a regional one.

160.344 -> Plus, some might only show up with specific races, which you’ve got a dozen of.

164.109 -> They still ask your birth date. What’s your religion? Are you allergic to shellfish?

167.57 -> I swear, these “Pathfinder” games are like the doctor’s office clipboard of character creators.

172.112 -> Now, you could use a premade, but… come on…

175.089 -> It’s more in-depth and very welcome. Just having the backgrounds alone would be a huge improvement, but everything else was expanded on.

181.374 -> It lets you fine-tune exactly what you wanna be, which is great if you do have a plan. If you don’t, it can be overwhelming.

187.723 -> You can respec during the game, which is nice, but most people seem to wanna start fresh.

192.277 -> It’s still the best example of where “Wrath” has added complexity for the BETTER.

195.636 -> The extra options give you more control and satisfaction in character progression.

199.644 -> Leveling up lets you fine-tune things closer to where you want them to be, and an early choice, like a bloodline, can have new effects even at the end of the game.

206.107 -> The general difficulty settings are, again, extremely customizable, and the unadjusted Normal setting is more generous this time around.

213.028 -> Aspects you’re not interested in, like city building or army battles, can also be completely automated, but I’ll get more into that when I talk about it properly.

220.038 -> Generally, the systems that were more streamlined down were for the more grand and epic theme.

224.504 -> Like, setting up a camp and resting still has skill checks for camouflage, cooking, and now lets you create potions or scrolls, if you're skilled into it,

230.827 -> but what you won’t see are camping supplies.

232.812 -> If the area is clear, you’re free to rest.

235.025 -> The only drawback is, you’ll start to feel the effects of demonic corruption, until you sleep somewhere sanctified.

239.656 -> It’s just a worsening debuff that prevents you from sleep-spamming.

242.506 -> So it is less inventory management, but you’re still forced to occasionally go back and recover somewhere secure.

247.328 -> At least secure compared to Baphomet’s Airbnb.

250.178 -> See, “Wrath” takes place in the country of Mendev. It was a fairly unremarkable land until about a century ago.

256.336 -> A powerful mage named Areelu Vorlesh tore open a hole in reality that led into the Abyss.

260.827 -> The Abyss is a Pathfinder version of Hell, though Hell itself also exists.

264.555 -> The difference is that Hell is a structured and ordered torture realm, complete with layers, just like everyone’s favorite laugh a minute comedy.

270.687 -> There’s also Cthulhu and chupacabras, because Pathfinder has everything.

274.504 -> Anyhow, the Abyss is the “anything goes” madness realm.

277.532 -> There are a cheesecake factory menu amount of demon lords ruling over various sub-realms, but even in those it’s not really consistent.

283.651 -> On a good day, you can be seized by a demon with more vowels in his name than a street in Hawaii,

287.761 -> because you’ve been randomly selected to fight the titan in the arena.

290.407 -> Because that will amuse whatever McDagon is strongest on your street that week.

293.626 -> The Abyss sucks! And Hell is not involved in any of this.

296.997 -> At least, not directly…

298.804 -> [Doom Eternal OST - All They Fear Is You]

300.509 -> So, when this rift was opened, it was dubbed “The Worldwound”, and Abyss demons poured out of it.

305.102 -> The land itself was horribly corrupted – it rained blood, it STORMED blood –

309.148 -> and neighboring nations, not wanting to be murdered or enslaved by citizens from the worse version of Hell,

313.842 -> began to send forces in, to try and hold the demons back.

316.514 -> The past century has had four declared Crusades, and it’s become a losing battle.

319.987 -> While the Fourth Crusade wasn’t nearly as disastrous as the real life one, it ended in a stalemate where crusaders barely held onto the fortified city of Kenabres.

327.735 -> And you start the game seeing it lit on fire.

329.822 -> Mendev will have to hope that the fifth time is the charm, and you can lead the Crusade to victory and close the Worldwound.

335 -> But the core of its story isn’t just winning, but HOW you win. Maybe you’ll use the war to further your own goals.

340.776 -> Now that you’re caught up, let’s talk visuals.

343.181 -> Having made a game to learn and refine from, for a 3D isometric RPG, it’s a great-looking game!

348.282 -> The lighting in particular has gone through some improvements, and, depending on the time of day, it can look downright gorgeous.

353.219 -> Surfaces can reflect characters and the environment, and without needing any kind of proprietary ray tracing technology.

358.639 -> Environments can be dark and moody, but they’ll still make use of striking colors as well.

362.659 -> It’s an appropriate balance, where dungeons can be dark and oppressive, but they’ll twist things far enough to stop it from getting dull.

367.952 -> It’s also great for navigation, since, while you do have a map, having the areas physically look different is helpful.

373.066 -> Occasionally, some things in the environment can look undercooked, like it was just a “Kingmaker” asset that was ported in,

377.812 -> but overall the game looks rich and colorful.

380.102 -> There were times where I was impressed by just how much detail they could pack into a scene.

384.102 -> Like seeing the aftermath of some kind of blood ritual gone wrong, or… maybe right?

387.952 -> It hits a good balance for me, where things aren’t so drab that it’s dull, but not so colorful that it gets too cartoony.

393.333 -> Effects like how the wind moves through the grass and trees, and the weather effects in general are also improved.

397.774 -> You now deal with some proper blizzards and storms, and weather of the more apocalyptic variety.

402.048 -> These new effects, like heat waves and fog, have also made their way into the spellcasting. So magic can now look about as wild as magic should.

409.275 -> Sometimes, they go crazy with the particle effects,

411.934 -> and it might be outrunning the engine at times, as I’d have an occasional slowdown or hitch while playing the game, and it was usually while using magic.

417.786 -> As another nice bonus, you can actually rotate the camera now.

420.967 -> I thought it was bizarre “Kingmaker” didn’t have this, when that plays to its strength as a 3D iso game.

425.649 -> That’s fully implemented now, including areas that shift and change depending on where your camera’s oriented, which… we’ll get to.

432.163 -> Still, the game world looks great, and there’s a lot of variety to it.

435.229 -> All the characters and creatures are also in about the same place.

438.308 -> You can still see items down to what’s equipped on your belt, and “Kingmaker’s” monster menagerie has been expanded out with new weirdos.

444.326 -> The gore is also as meaty as ever.

446.183 -> [Serstan casting a spell]

447.532 -> [wet, explosive thud of meat]

448.601 -> [battlecry followed by a battleshank]

449.86 -> [stronger shank] WOLJIF: “Can you just die already?”

451.628 -> [meaty thud] LANN: “Ha-ha! Did you see that?”

454.033 -> [lich casting a spell]

455.573 -> [electrical crackle and an oddly familiar scream]

456.501 -> Was that…?

457.684 -> No…

458.524 -> The general soundscape is also good.

460.56 -> Combat sounds are still meaty and satisfying, and the horrible, wet splat of gallaghering some cultist’s head never gets old.

466.374 -> When it comes to music, more grand tone has also carried over.

469.542 -> The core of the soundtrack is a big, epic choir and orchestra, which is in the usual wheelhouse for an RPG.

474.695 -> But even with that, it still has good variation in how it’s used.

477.786 -> There are all kinds of directions you can take your character, and there’s themes for all of them.

481.578 -> It can range from sounding like kingdom of heaven to a haunted house.

484.784 -> [energetic, upbeat horns and a choir that increases in intensity] [Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous OST - Those Who Stand Against Evil]

499.911 -> [more staggered choir building up with the instruments] [Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous OST - The Fifth Crusade]

506.26 -> [higher vocal range enters, music begins to sound more mystical] [Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous OST - The Fifth Crusade]

514.644 -> [plinking, organ-like keys] [Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous OST - Lord of the Dead]

518.168 -> [heavy percussion and choir integrates] [Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous OST - Lord of the Dead]

528.931 -> [warbling, desert-themed strings] [Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous OST - Worldwound Battle Theme]

533.664 -> The game has a lot more music than its predecessor, including battle tracks, which is definitely the area it was lacking in the most.

539.758 -> They can be more subdued and there are pleasant, relaxing tracks, like the tavern music, so it’s not all doom choirs all the way through.

545.547 -> I will say, the over the top music is brought to its greatest heights by the over the top voice acting. The direction is so fun and sincere.

553.028 -> It doesn’t matter how silly or corny a line can be – they put their all into it. And, with the music, sometimes, you see magic.

560.025 -> [actor reads his lines with fiery conviction] NOT GABRIEL: “And as I stare into the flames of the rift itself, the answer still eludes me.”

565.611 -> NOT GABRIEL: “What is the secret to this canker, festering at the very heart of our world? How can we heal it?”

567.888 -> [choir becomes majestic and angelic] NOT GABRIEL: “What is the secret to this canker, festering at the very heart of our world? How can we heal it?”

572.354 -> [character's voice is lukewarm, but also oily and coy] BAPHOMET: “My blood runs in you. I can smell its scent.”

577.455 -> [character's voice is lukewarm, but also oily and coy] BAPHOMET: “I was not aware Ygefeles was able to continue his bloodline before he died.”

584.377 -> [character's voice is languid and teasing] MINAGHO: “Mmm, just in time.”

587.341 -> [character's voice is languid and teasing] MINAGHO: “The place is a bit of a mess, and I haven’t even poured the blood into the goblets yet.”

592.837 -> [character's voice carries impression of detached superiority] REGILL: “Not everyone here is fighting for Mendev and its queen, fallen paladin.”

598.117 -> [character's voice carries impression of detached superiority] REGILL: “When you crossed to the demon side, you betrayed ALL mortalkind.”

603.499 -> [cold, sadistic anticipation comes to surface] REGILL: “And for that… you must pay.”

606.628 -> It’s so refreshing, and the performances all around are excellent.

609.962 -> There are already plenty of great characters, but the audio work brings it to another level.

613.74 -> Like, check this out… This is a smile you can HEAR.

616.692 -> WOLJIF: “Since that night, chief. Melroun didn’t even set eyes on it.” 😁

620.802 -> WOLJIF: “While he was dealing with the golem, I sneaked past them, and that was that.” 😎

625.496 -> Awesome.

626.514 -> Now, on the gameplay side, you can break things up into a few sections.

629.949 -> The first being your standard RPG adventure stuff, the second being event management, the third being city-building, and the fourth being army combat.

637.01 -> These are all intertwined, so, to make it simpler, I’m gonna break it in half.

640.433 -> The first half is still adventuring, but everything else I’m going to fold into being “Crusade management”.

645.242 -> Besides, for the first dozen or so hours, there’s no management to think about.

648.842 -> And, if you never wanna deal with it, it can still be set to automatic, though there are some flaws with that I’ll get into.

653.842 -> Anyways, the early stage is based around traveling the ruined city of Kenabres.

657.659 -> The last holdout is a fortified tavern, and your mission is to find survivors and regroup there, in order to launch a counterattack.

663.321 -> Not every faction is willing to work together, which is a good test run for the later parts of the game.

667.506 -> The decisions you make here still matter, and can be showing up 50 or more hours in, but, overall, this is training wheels.

672.99 -> Combat can change from real time with pause to turn-based on the fly,

676.145 -> but, compared to “Kingmaker”, the game is made with turn-based being in mind, compared to a later addition.

680.623 -> With how many skills and abilities that have been added, turn-based really seems the way to go this time.

685.038 -> It is still nice that you can switch over to real time for a trash fight, but, as the challenge increases, the more it seems you need to play slow and tactical.

691.934 -> While the main story is focused on demons, there is a great variety of combat encounters if you go looking for them.

697.188 -> Even if you stick hard to the main story, it does try to give you a variety of enemies, but some stages, like Act 4, are gonna be demon central.

704.148 -> So where “Kingmaker’s” story gave you a few flavors when it came to the main threat, here, it is more limited, unless you go exploring.

710 -> And you should!

710.852 -> Exploring Kenabres is mainly an itinerary of different bombed out buildings,

714.72 -> which they do try to mix up a bit, and will have interesting events happening in the locations,

718.817 -> but, when the world opens up, you’ll have a lot more variety.

721.476 -> The campaign is staged out in a way where you’re far less likely to encounter an enemy you can’t handle.

725.891 -> It can absolutely still happen, but it’s far more rare, compared to the predecessor.

729.707 -> And, since you can rest up more, that means more time out in the field.

733.092 -> There are tons of side missions, and plenty other things to do that are completely unmarked.

736.934 -> Like diving into a small dungeon and fighting a mini-boss or solving a quick mystery.

741.247 -> You’ll sometimes run across the mini adventure modules, too, which are purely based on choices and skill checks.

746.221 -> So it won’t all be combat, but there is a lot of combat.

749.389 -> That said, some of the best non-combat content comes from your companions.

753.626 -> Overall, your party’s writing and character and development runs laps around “Kingmaker”.

758.969 -> Rather than front- or back-loading your missions, like before, they’re spread out much more naturally throughout the campaign.

764.389 -> You have a lot of companion options, too, with some restricted to certain paths, and others being pretty hidden, unless you fulfill certain conditions.

770.763 -> Most of the characters are really fucking strange, too, which I appreciate.

774.949 -> For example, Daeran could be your primary healer.

777.824 -> He’s a young hedonistic count who’s marked down as being neutral evil. In every sense, he’s a spoiled, pampered asshole.

783.88 -> DAERAN: “As a child, I had my very own pony. But I always dreamed of having a lamb.”

789.656 -> DAERAN: “I was never allowed one.”

791.285 -> DAERAN: “Sheep were seen as peasant animals – utterly unsuitable for the scion of a noble line.”

797.545 -> DAERAN: “The trauma haunts me to this day…”

800.293 -> How in the hell is he the healer?

802.163 -> Well, his parties got so wild that he picked up healing magic to stop bodies from piling up. So he became a pro just to stop S&M malfunctions.

809.402 -> Then you have Regill, who’s a Hellknight dedicated to brutally keeping order.

812.697 -> He’ll do some monstrous things for victory, and, while he usually does it coldly, there is a sadistic side to him.

817.659 -> He’s… also a gnome.

819.466 -> REGILL: “Two more minutes left out in the open, and neither you, nor I will have any troops left to order about, crusader.”

825.929 -> SWORD PRIEST: “But the wounded…”

829.252 -> [wartime euthanasia]

832.939 -> REGILL: “Problem solved. Retreat to shelter!”

836.285 -> And now he and Daeran are sleepover buddies.

838.524 -> REGILL: “Such power, and it is bestowed upon an undisciplined welp. I cannot abide waste.”

848.053 -> DAERAN: “Quite right! I am too good for this little world. Thank you for noticing.”

853.384 -> There’s also a talking weapon, a tiefling thief attached to some kind of evil spirit, a petty criminal turned paladin, a dwarf contract killer,

860.891 -> some kind of borderline feral spider mutant woman and, of course, the redeemed succubus who’s actively trying not to murder and devour people again.

868.855 -> Those are just some examples, and some characters I thought were bland, could have some insane shit brewing beneath the surface.

874.669 -> Understanding them makes replaying the game even more fun!

877.366 -> They do a good and thorough job planting hints for later reveals.

880.56 -> Their stories can develop into a few different ways, especially if you throw romance into the mix. And yes, that includes the succubus.

886.845 -> I know people who bought “Dark Messiah” just for that…

889.237 -> You can still make a completely custom party, but this time around, I never felt tempted.

893.461 -> They feel like a driving force of the story, and have a lot of interactions, depending on what you’re doing.

897.417 -> Sometimes, they’ll even argue with each other, and you can stay out of it or take a side with skill checks, and it’s rare that you can placate both sides.

904.313 -> Managing the Crusade, they become advisors. They bring their own perspective for tackling dilemmas, and they usually make good back and forth points.

910.852 -> When it comes to managing a war, a character you might not usually agree with can offer something really insightful.

916.005 -> Some of the most thoughtful and interesting writing happens at these meetings, whereas in “Kingmaker” you choose an advisor solution based on their personality.

923.282 -> You have lots of opportunities to use your skill checks throughout the game, and failing them can still be fun.

927.952 -> These interactions do start to taper off towards the endgame. Especially in your last talk with your party, I thought you’d have more options.

933.893 -> It’s not nearly as empty as “Kingmaker’s” late game, but there is a noticeable lack of extra stuff to do and options for them.

939.822 -> It’s still an improvement over only kingdom management.

942.328 -> I did most of the quests I could my first playthrough, though I did have some companions dying off for… job purposes,

947.85 -> and that clocked to about 80 hours, but it easily could have been a dozen more.

951.476 -> “Kingmaker” was longer, but it had stretches of not much happening. “Wrath of the Righteous” felt dense.

956.654 -> The pacing of the main story is more under your control, rather than waiting for stuff to happen.

960.654 -> It’s a more packed game, but also screaming at you to replay it.

964.326 -> This is where the Mythic Paths come in, and these shake up the game like nothing else.

968.041 -> They’re not new classes – they’re an entire second aspect to your character.

971.807 -> Early in the game, you discover you have some kind of strange power attached to you.

975.509 -> It’s an incorporeal cosmic jello, but you do have some control in shaping it.

979.796 -> The more obvious early routes can have you start to ascend towards being an angel or a demon,

983.893 -> but, as the game goes on, you have opportunities to lean in other directions.

987.57 -> There are 10 of these in total you can discover, so, again, another good incentive to explore.

991.781 -> The Mythic Milestones are an entire other tree you level up in, with new spells, abilities and everything else.

996.819 -> Your companions also get some of your mythic power, and, while they can’t ascend like you can, they can enhance their own abilities.

1002.506 -> There are options like becoming an aeon, a golden dragon… OR a lich.

1006.578 -> I’m always on the hunt for good necromancer RPGs,

1008.83 -> and, while you can’t drown people with skeletons like “Diablo 2”,

1011.539 -> as far as pure flavor goes, this might be the best necromancer RPG, even more so than “Arcanum”.

1017.137 -> It takes a while to become a full lich, but it is a dark road.

1020.293 -> Beyond getting some Dr. Manhattan-tier obliteration magic, there are significant characters you can bring back from the dead, if you decide to kill them.

1026.578 -> You can have a party made up of completely undead characters, if you want,

1029.656 -> though, unfortunately, you can’t bring your own companions back as undead, if they disagree with you.

1034.288 -> They also rarely have anything to say, and don’t have the great party interaction that the living companions do.

1038.626 -> Which is a shame, because some undead companions were so tied to the main story in their life that they should have a lot more to say.

1044.746 -> Even despite that, it’s still incredible. Beyond the ridiculous magic and abilities you get, the flavor for it is just so entertaining.

1051.463 -> Like, you liberate a city from demons, but then the royal council is concerned, because you’re constructing an undead Tyrell building over it.

1057.43 -> So, while you have the main story, your mythic story runs parallel with it, and intersects it at several points.

1062.634 -> It’s not simplified to “you’re just an evil lich” either.

1065.496 -> It brings up points like: which factions of the undead do you want to support?

1068.868 -> Are you losing your humanity purely to win the war, and afterwards you’ll wander off, or is this a bid for new power?

1074.364 -> It’s such an engaging campaign, and there are 9 other mythic directions you could go in.

1078.295 -> For example, the angel and demon paths have even more stuff to do, and a lot more relevancy to a “good versus evil” story than a bone man.

1085.356 -> Or, maybe, you think a lich is too soft, and, during the campaign, you find a horrible swarm of ravenous insects.

1090.674 -> They’re so awful that killing them off is near the best thing to do for anyone… unless you’re really intrigued by them.

1096.209 -> You can conduct experiments so vile and evil that you can become a Swarm That Walks.

1101.565 -> And you introduce the world to insect politics, where you devour everyone.

1105.42 -> Cities become horrible hives, and you journey on, looking for more meals.

1109.109 -> This is all excellent! Though, some mythic paths clearly have more to them than others.

1113.117 -> Something like golden dragon doesn’t have much to it, or take much to unlock.

1117.01 -> They’re not equal, but, if you don’t care about this stuff at all, you can become a mortal legend.

1120.903 -> This doubles your level cap and lets you level up faster, so you can dabble in all kinds of classes.

1125.674 -> So, with alignment choices and mythic choices, it’s one of THE most replayable RPGs I’ve played.

1131.196 -> But my biggest hang-up is Act 4.

1133.604 -> Past the halfway point of the game, you’re sent into the Abyss. There’s no coming back until the chapter is done, so no overworld travel or any management stuff.

1141.018 -> You’re instead trapped in the chaos realm of torment. Which, to be fair, does have a lot going for it.

1145.852 -> Being full of chaotic evil demons, nearly every mission has more going for it than it first looks. Everyone is trying to scam you, or use you, or stab you in an alley.

1153.906 -> Some of the most entertaining quests can be in the Abyss, but it’s also a weird slog, and the circumstances of you getting here are strange.

1160.636 -> You’re ordered into the Abyss by the queen of Mendev, to investigate the demons.

1164.16 -> Even if you’re winning the war, if she’s unhappy with HOW you’ve done it (for some reason),

1168.295 -> she might also strip you of your rank, effectively banishing you there.

1171.667 -> For a lot of characters, this seems like a point to fight back, rather than being sent to Super Hell.

1176.081 -> I don’t think the story could function skipping the Abyss, but, once you’re there, you might be thinking a lot about if there was a way to avoid it.

1182.506 -> The main pain is navigation. They went to great lengths to make it actually feel like a realm of chaos, and they succeeded in that.

1188.868 -> When you rotate your camera, buildings, doorways and entire landmasses can shift around.

1193.282 -> The shifting can take some time, which means some waiting before you can proceed.

1196.679 -> There are a few areas, like an empty bridge, where it’s clear you do need to rotate the camera.

1200.293 -> Others feel completely random, so, even if you know where you need to be, how you get there can be challenging.

1205.076 -> Not to mention that, while you’re sometimes trying to figure out how to proceed, you sometimes get attacked by street gangs of demons.

1210.458 -> The missions will frequently cross districts, too, which means lots and lots of loading.

1214.351 -> But, even if you’re in the right district, you might need to come from a different part of the district, to get to where you want to go.

1218.766 -> You can unlock fast travel between the sections, which helps, but not as much as you’d hope.

1222.99 -> Because, again, where you’re spit out might not always be the most convenient pathway, and checking for what COULD be the right way can take a while.

1229.542 -> Also, some quests don’t have their locations marked correctly or marked at all.

1233.601 -> I looked all over for the Den of Sweet Horror, just to find out that it was a room in a brothel.

1237.888 -> Like, the rotation idea’s neat, and there are some fun puzzles attached to it – it’s just how far this was taken.

1243.168 -> If you were invested in the Crusade and the war, you’ve been ripped away from that to ride around on Satan’s kaleidoscope.

1248.142 -> So you have fun missions, tedious navigation, and some really annoying fights.

1252.341 -> Anyone who was tempted to re-roll their character or stop playing probably does so here.

1256.667 -> Just having quest directions be more clear would be a huge help, but, even with that, it can definitely be a slog.

1262.774 -> It’s like if the drow city from “Baldur’s Gate 2” was on a merry-go-round.

1266.145 -> I don’t hate the Abyss, but if someone told me they did, I wouldn’t need to ask why.

1269.86 -> You could power through the main stuff, but then you miss out on a lot of engaging side stories it has.

1274.275 -> Plus, visually, it’s so different than everything else in the game, and seeing how these huge landmasses can shift around and over you, is cool, but, man…

1281.73 -> It’s just such a pain in the ass…

1283.193 -> Then, as a lich, when I confront the queen later about all that, she says she sent me there out of fear.

1288.384 -> And…

1290.211 -> [audience cheering]

1291.858 -> STEVE HARVEY: “KILL!!”

1293.664 -> [*ding*]

1294.682 -> Welcome to the horde! Go guard the Tyrell building.

1297.43 -> Alright, let’s get back to the Crusade proper and everything that comes with that.

1301.145 -> When you’re put in charge of the Crusade after Kenabres, you can recruit troops into multiple armies.

1305.611 -> These can move around and explore on the overworld, just like your party does.

1309.033 -> Instead of resting, they just have a limited amount of time they can move per day.

1312.354 -> Their main purpose is to defeat enemy demon armies and capture outposts.

1315.878 -> The troops that you can recruit will refresh weekly, and you’ll have some random mercenary units as well to consider.

1320.611 -> You might also get troops through regular quests – like, if you save a squad of Hellknights, now you have some Hellknights on the campaign board.

1325.929 -> To get more and better troops per week means building up your infrastructure.

1329.084 -> You construct buildings in the capital for more troops and upgrades, and can also build in the outposts you conquer.

1333.779 -> Structures can require a few resources, but, like “Kingmaker”, gold can convert right into that.

1338.601 -> This way, all of your loot and treasures from murder-hoboing could be pumped right into the war effort.

1342.575 -> All of this is heavily influenced by your decisions at the command table.

1345.865 -> Events will pop up that you need to make a decision on, and you could get new resources, or troops, or anything else, really.

1351.107 -> You can put out decrees for researching relics or dealing with a crisis, and how you play the game can influence what events you can get or your solutions to them.

1358.13 -> As a lich, many problem-causers can be turned into loyal soldiers for the Crusade.

1362.099 -> Whereas, if you’re trying to play as a good character, your solutions might need to be more diplomatic.

1366.031 -> What units you unlock on the battlefield are also based on your decisions. So, flavor-wise, it’s all fantastic.

1371.959 -> The units and abilities of your armies reflect your decisions. What your forces look like can vary wildly between playthroughs.

1377.964 -> My lich armies were mostly undead, with a few knightly orders in there.

1381.094 -> My angel army had paladins and inquisitors and other religious units.

1384.631 -> And the Swarm That Walks had more swarms.

1386.628 -> To give some examples…

1388.079 -> Troops can be merged back and forth between armies, and, to make them progress further, you can recruit generals.

1392.901 -> They progress like your regular characters, getting new skills and abilities as they level up.

1396.756 -> Their victories unblock the way for your party, give you great rewards and should be a perfect, harmonious loop.

1401.858 -> Then the battles begin…

1415.976 -> These are so fucking dull…

1419.275 -> They’re not bad in a painful way – they’re just so simple that… (sigh) I’m struggling with how to word this.

1424.644 -> When people say they hate all forms of turn-based combat, these are like goggles that let you see the world through their eyes.

1430.56 -> It also falls apart in progression. This will be a mild spoiler, but here’s the final army battle in one of my campaigns.

1440.27 -> [ray of reckening]

1444.377 -> [brap surge]

1447.072 -> Oh boy…

1448.346 -> The issue is, it feels like there’s very little thought behind these battles.

1451.832 -> Where “Heroes of Might & Magic III” could feel like solving a puzzle, this feels mostly mindless.

1456.463 -> There were occasional fights where I’d think of how to stack up spells and unit abilities, but it wasn’t very often.

1461.399 -> The majority of the fights are decided at range anyways – either by your shooty unit, or by your general casting a spell.

1467.036 -> There were multiple times I went up against an evenly ranked army, where I just one-shot it with a fireball.

1471.616 -> And this was all on the standard difficulty.

1473.957 -> Basic armies have few unit slots, and, besides covering a wider area, there’s no reason to not use a death stack.

1479.949 -> If an army is rated higher than a demon army, you overpower them and can automatically win.

1484.046 -> So the best thing you could do is go for more general skills and choices that let you dump more units into one army.

1488.83 -> The only good things about the army combat are that it reflects your choices and the novelty of playing it inside of a CRPG.

1494.377 -> Those elements still aren’t enough to make it worthwhile, but it is nice having armies that help explore the overworld for you.

1499.466 -> And, while you could set it to auto and never touch it, that’s not ideal.

1502.913 -> You miss out on rewards like special items, and the map is unlocked to you in stages, instead of you being able to control that.

1508.499 -> The best thing you could do is knock it down to Easy, steamroll and only have to fight sometimes.

1513.155 -> It’s just a shame that what’s supposed to be a big part of the game is utterly skippable at best, and at worst, breaks the pacing.

1518.804 -> Especially when they did improve the empire management. There are no negative events you have to corral in, or other time-wasters.

1524.898 -> The difference is, in “Kingmaker”, a lot of the management supported the adventure.

1528.69 -> You might unlock an AC bonus, or get extra damage against a certain enemy type.

1532.341 -> Your choices could unlock unique buildings for your cities, which looped right back into those benefits.

1536.985 -> “Wrath” still has those elements, but they’re streamlined down to focus on the war economy.

1540.852 -> You still get benefits in the field, but now a good chunk of them is diverted towards a skippable tactics game.

1545.916 -> There aren’t really special buildings to unlock, and why would there be? You’re organizing war logistics, rather than ruling over a kingdom.

1552.125 -> The discussions of what units to unlock are way more interesting than actually using them.

1556.667 -> The writing is good enough that I wouldn’t have minded if the Crusade itself was more abstract, and maybe only dealt with in these political meetings.

1562.697 -> You do get some stuff outside the battles based on your choices like that, but a good amount of it did go to the battles.

1568.461 -> What could have been a huge improvement over “Kingmaker’s” management, is instead an awkward side-grade.

1573.27 -> Again, how everything connects is amazing, but the battles themselves not being fun is a fatal flaw.

1578.83 -> It’s still a fantastic and dense RPG, and you can avoid all that stuff completely if you want to…

1583.461 -> I just wish it was better, since everything for the framework is all here.

1586.972 -> This brings us to the story, and I actually don’t have much to say on the main plot.

1591.107 -> It’s good, but I don’t find someone like Areelu Vorlesh that interesting to go into detail on.

1595.649 -> You understand the villain, but they had so many other options open that you don’t really sympathize with them.

1600.662 -> It’s like dealing with a narcissist, where you understand how they’re viewing the situation,

1604.542 -> but there are clearly other aspects they’re either refusing to or unable to see.

1608.384 -> So you do understand her motivations, even if she’s still nuts, and I appreciate that.

1612.926 -> I actually find the story of the war itself, and how it progresses, a lot more interesting.

1617.392 -> Everyone is willing to let a lot slide in the name of fighting demons. My lich campaign was fantastic on that front.

1623.639 -> The Crusade being twisted into an undead empire wasn’t a light switch flip – it was a slow descent.

1628.728 -> People would be clearly uncomfortable with where things were going, but “it’s fighting demons, so let’s not rock the boat too much”.

1634.695 -> In fact, the loudest opposition, and those actively trying to fight the lich, were some of the first to go.

1639.746 -> The party paladin even sat me down to say she’s worried about where things are going, and worried about me.

1644.262 -> It’s like tapping into these powers are the equivalent of a hard drug problem, and I’m now “at risk of lich”.

1649.771 -> A lot of my companions left or died during this campaign.

1652.786 -> Those nice enough to tolerate SOME atrocities got to witness firsthand as Bone Hitler devoured their comrades.

1658.003 -> My only remaining companions were either the most warlike and evil, or the most naïve.

1662.328 -> Even if you don’t go that route yourself, you’ll see others who do – like kidnapping and lobotomizing people to try and fight their own war.

1668.244 -> You can condemn it or go “hey, let me get in on that!”

1671.31 -> There is a lot of wiggle room when you’re fighting ultimate evil, but, playing a good character, you’ll find that things aren’t that black and white.

1677.099 -> The Abyss has dozens of warlords, but only two are actively attacking.

1680.827 -> Why is Heaven barely interfering, when they haven’t come close to matching the escalation?

1684.873 -> It’s not a gray “there are no good guys” tale – there are clearly evil forces at work – but it does explore “war as a cause”.

1690.865 -> Some see the Crusade as a chance for redemption, and others worked tirelessly inside of it, and never got forgiveness, even after nearly a century.

1697.774 -> Maybe the demons are capable of redemption too, and you can be worse than them.

1701.746 -> Everyone has different ideas on what the Fifth Crusade is or means.

1705.216 -> You can turn it into a grand reconciliation, a vengeful holy war, a grab for power, a way to gain favor with gods – all kinds of directions.

1713.015 -> How you got your powers and all that I don’t find nearly as interesting. I do think I’m…

1717.188 -> Oh, God, I forgot about Darven!

1719.148 -> [Hai doggi]

1722.595 -> DLC. I forgot about the DLC.

1725.153 -> There’s still more coming out, but I’ll go over what’s out.

1727.824 -> First up is Inevitable Excess, which takes place right before the final battle.

1731.603 -> Your party is intercepted by an otherworldly force, as something has gone wrong in the space-time continuum.

1736.285 -> At first, I thought that maybe this was a chapter cut for pacing, but there is something intriguing happening here.

1741.323 -> You go through some remixes of the game you’ve been through, fixing anomalies, and there is a few ways things can play out.

1747.545 -> However, it’s too short to develop out its idea, and this is made for a max level party, meaning the combat is incredibly tedious.

1754.364 -> There is no such thing as a trash fight here, and you need to be on your A-game for all of them.

1758.626 -> Max level combat in these games means dealing with stacks of buffs and debuffs,

1762.303 -> and if you’re not into that kind of combat, where every system counts, you’re not gonna find a lot here on that side.

1767.417 -> There are some non-combat conundrums, which are fun, but there’s also the puzzles, which are the most tedious in the game.

1773.397 -> This feels like it could have been a fun and shorter side-off adventure that’s been stretched out through the puzzles and the combat.

1778.868 -> If you beat it in a certain way due to space-time nonsense, all of your characters will get an extra power,

1783.397 -> and sometimes portals will open up in their game, where they can find some extra loot.

1787.137 -> If you enjoy the high-level combat, then sure. Otherwise, it’s skippable.

1791.399 -> Through the Ashes is another strange one.

1793.664 -> You create a new character who survived the Kenabres demon attack, and gather other survivors to try and escape to safety.

1799.084 -> This one’s more experimental, and feels like a survival game.

1802.214 -> You try and stop your friends from dying of disease, and you can use the environment a lot more in fights.

1806.667 -> It’s a low-level adventure, and clearly meant to be played on higher difficulties.

1810.254 -> It’s an interesting, but short idea for a one-off, but there’s two things I don’t get.

1814.542 -> For one, if you wanted lower stakes adventures in this setting, you could probably just go play “Kingmaker” and get it on sale cheaper than this.

1820.674 -> It is fun playing more guerilla, where your big baddies are an undead local celebrity and a petty demon,

1825.156 -> but it’s short, and still ended with a “to be continued”, which blew me away.

1829.3 -> I don’t picture people clamoring for more of this, compared to stuff in the base game.

1833.104 -> So, I liked my time with it – I guess, I’m just more shocked it’s getting a follow-up, since… it doesn’t need one.

1838.092 -> The Treasure of the Midnight Isles. This is very similar to the Beneath the Stolen Lands one from “Kingmaker”.

1843.384 -> It’s a roguelike dungeon you can access either standalone, or through the main campaign.

1847.455 -> Though it is not well balanced inside of the main campaign. You can get crazy items early and fight bosses way harder than anything else in the main game.

1854.491 -> Its main appeal is the same as the other one, where you can quickly test builds inside of it.

1858.295 -> As an example, I made Dar from “Beastmaster”, except, you can’t actually get a tiger companion, so I got a wolf. Which is fine.

1864.669 -> In the movie, they painted the tiger black for some reason, and it turned out to have a horrible allergy to the paint,

1869.533 -> so a good chunk of the movie is watching the tiger get more lethargic and sleepy, as it eventually died on set.

1874.593 -> Not in my game.

1875.814 -> !!MY WOLF HAS NO KNOWN ALLERGIES!!

1878.333 -> “HE-MAN!” !!MY WOLF HAS NO KNOWN ALLERGIES!!

1879.415 -> Ehh, it’s okay on sale…

1881.361 -> However, The Last Sarkorians is the easy recommend.

1884.682 -> You get new areas and quests, a new companion who’s nature-focused, which was lacking in the main campaign,

1889.965 -> a new class, new items and units, and it integrates perfectly into the main game.

1894.3 -> To the point that he has party interaction in the Excess DLC.

1897.29 -> You would think this is all part of the base game if you didn’t know better, and that’s how I prefer it.

1901.679 -> While I still like “Kingmaker”, this game blows it out of the water in a lot of ways.

1906.069 -> It has mountains of content, tons of replayability, great writing and companions, and is the kind of game you could play a bit at a time for months on end.

1913.677 -> It’s extremely flawed on the management side, and some other areas are also janky,

1917.455 -> but, for the amount of options it offers, it’s hard to find better value in a lot of RPGs.

1922.087 -> It’ll be on sale for a little over $10 in the pinned link for the next while. They’re gonna throw in DLC offers too, but weigh those carefully.

1929.491 -> “Wrath of the Righteous” is a gigantic game, so I’ll have something smaller next time. I’ll see you then, as long as I don’t start another playthrough.

1936.489 -> !!ATTACK, MY NARCOLEPTIC, BUT OTHERWISE HEALTHY DINOSAUR!!

1939.746 -> “HE-MAN!” !!ATTACK, MY NARCOLEPTIC, BUT OTHERWISE HEALTHY DINOSAUR!!

1948.93 -> TheMakerofRain: “How do [you] combat the potential of burning out on games like “Pathfinder”?”

1952.15 -> I mean… It sure helps when they’re fun.

1954.618 -> Mainly just playing it over a longer period of time. I don’t think those kinds of games are really meant to be blitzed in a week or something.

1960.674 -> Not only do the games last longer, but you’ve spent so much time with the characters by that point that the big moments also hit harder.

1966.336 -> Mr_Girr: “How do [you] organize [your] game library?”

1968.486 -> On the digital side, GOG Galaxy lets me mark games that are completed, so I have that as the first kind of round. But after that it’s all by genre.

1976.323 -> For physical stuff, I don’t have a gigantic amount of games, so they’re not really that organized.

1980.916 -> Calulu!: “What’s a good tabletop RPG, not Pathfinder or D&D?”

1984.262 -> If you like the roleplaying side over lots of abilities and systems kind of thing, you might really like “Alien RPG”. Combat is fast and brutal, and it’s a lot of fun.

1993.944 -> Nathan Dafoe: “Thoughts on D&D becoming more casual versus Pathfinder?”

1997.01 -> Paizo does a great job, but for D&D, I don’t think streamlining is the issue anymore.

2001.412 -> It looks to me that Wizards of the Coast are just insane, and I don’t think past that.

2007.99 -> Oh, wait, that was a…!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqzh4G9baik