Recent reviews by Unlicensed Cyclist

Right now the game is in a state that makes it... not unplayable, but certainly not finished. The UI has been criticized to death, deservedly so, but the real issue is that the game's tutorials don't do a good job at explaining the mechanics or advising the player on how to utilize them. The system of progressing through 3 'ages' where the game resets with changes to cities and units is a solid attempt to keep the feeling of a new game without the tedium of micro-management, but it just makes the required micro-management more difficult to achieve. As with all Civilization launches, I'm sure all of these issues will be balanced, patched and addressed- but save your money until then, and until it's on sale.

This game has almost unlimited potential, ruined by decisions leading to a lackluster and shallow experience. It would be tolerable with mods and additional content, except that they've decided to milk it for every last cent without offering anything to justify it. Skip this one, replay New Vegas or even FO4.

This DLC is not only a bad addition (filled with buggy fetch quests and busy work), it actively detracts from the main game. You're pulled away from the Commonwealth and the settlements you're building and wrapped into a poorly written story in which you're forced to break character to support a bunch of raiders. The locations are dull and uninspired and the gameplay is tedious at best. Best avoided, even if you can get it for free.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker feels like playing Baldur's Gate for the first time. It's frustrating and confusing, the learning curve is high and many of the rules are unintuitive (though thankfully they've gotten rid of THAC0), and the uninformed decisions you make have a real feeling of permanance and significance. Without a guide or intimate knowledge of the system and the game beforehand, it's easy to find yourself regretting decisions you've made with little choice but to soldier on and hope your Kingdom or party will survive regardless.

Some might find this frustrating, but this game doesn't feel like you're supposed to be able to access all the content on a single playthrough. Instead, each decision you make etches a unique mark onto your Kingdom- with no two playthroughs being the same. The game inherits from Pathfinder (the tabeltop RPG which the game is based on) a classic D&D alignment system, with two axis- good and evil, and law and chaos. To Owlcat's credit, not every decision is simply a matter of selecting your preferred alignment. Issues that come up in your Kingdom can be complex and the writers don't see the need to shoehorn options where they don't belong or add nonsensically rude options that you often see in RPGs- as if a lack of social grace or even basic manners is more evil than a polite but deadly word.

The bugs are certainly off putting. There's (currently) no way to play through more than one act without some script failing or event acting strangely- sometimes in a way that breaks your game and requires a reversion to an old save or even restarting the campaign. With the rate at which updates are coming out I have no doubt that the wrinkles are being ironed out, but going in right now it's something you should know to expect.

The loot system and combat are satisfying, especially if Baldur's Gate style combat appeals to you. Some of the spells fail to make the transition from pen-and-paper gaming to video gaming in a significant way (color spray, for instance, goes from one of the most effective early level spells in the tabletop game to nearly unusable because it's not turn based), but others are as satisfying as they are in their tabletop forms. A fireball is a fireball, after all.

The story is well written- not only a faithful adaptation of the Pathfinder adventure path, but plenty of stories are included that stand on their own merit. The lore of the world is as rich as any setting- and vastly moreso than the average RPG. Voice acting isn't ubiquitous, but occurs often enough to keep the player engaged. The sound track is solid for a fuedal era fantasy setting, but doesn't stand out very strongly.

I'm no where near done with Kingmaker. I'll be playing this game a decade from now, and probably discovering new things about it even then (just like I did with Baldur's Gate I and II). The longevity and replayability of this game make it a must for any fan of CRPGs or D&D style games.

This game was an ambitious attempt to revitalize the general form of Civilization V. On a theoretical level the game had the right ideas; more compelling 'story' elements to individualize your civilization, relevent and distinct cultural tracts that can intermingle, non-colonist NPC units that are more relevent and engaging than barbarians, and perhaps most importantly, the asymmetrical nature of the single player (the player starts before other NPC colonists do)- all that on top of art direction that implied futuristic societies steadily expanding.

It falls significantly short of the goals it sets for itself, however. The story elements feel too much like branches from a tech tree that have special requirements, rather than actual social differences and decisions. Similarly, the cultural differences are more related to scientific achievement and infrastructure development than any sort of social phenomenon like language, religion, traditions, or government. Other than alienating other NPC colonists with different technology, there seem to be few effects of differing ideologies or cultures. The 'asymmetry' of the game still leaves the late game very stale- either you are hopelessly overpowered or boringly unchallenged.

The actual gameplay mechanism functions as a very poorly balanced version of Civilization V. The resources required to build special units and buildings are accessible depending on your technological focus, but due to the zero sum nature of the tech 'web' rather than a 'tree', that means you're either relegated to being stuck with just one special resource option or accept being technologically inferior to the other NPC colonists.

Rising Tide resolved some significant balance issues, as well as finally creating a balanced and satisying trade system that is relevent without becoming the focus of the game. Unfortunately, it also introduced the necessity of such tedious and continual micromanagement that the sense of satisfaction by building a new facility or researching new technology is entirely sapped.

If this is on sale, grab it and check it out for a few games. If you're looking for something particularly deep or with perpetual replay value, this might not be the game for you.