It’s certainly been a good few years for CRPG fans. We’ve seen a resurgence of such games, from the Pillars of Eternity and Divinity series to smaller titles like Tyranny and Torment: Tides of Numenera. Heck, Baldur’s Gate 3 is actually coming out. And last year, Owlcat Games released Pathfinder: Kingmaker, set in the very popular Pathfinder tabletop-RPG universe. Kingmaker had a few problems, but it also stood out with its kingdom management aspects. One moment you’d be diving deep into a crypt, and the next you’d have a wedding to attend. The sequel, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, promises to improve on the original and up the stakes of the storyline.
A demonic invasion
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is based on a campaign from the tabletop RPG, but it also introduces its own characters and twists. The story will focus on a massive conflict between mortals and demons. As such, I doubt there will be many weddings here — you’ll have demons to fend off. If the single image released for the game is anything to go by, you can expect the battles to feature hordes of crimson demons, one particularly Balrog-ish bad guy, and flaming swords. Also, players will descend into the demonic Abyss (Hell, basically).
An improved game
When Kingmaker released last year, it had a few bugs. I know a few people who lost their games because of one particularly nasty game-breaker. But Owlcat Games continued to work on the title, eventually putting out an Enhanced Edition that improved stability and moderated the contentious difficulty. According to Oleg Shpilchevskiy, head of Owlcat, they learned a lot from the experience. “We laid a solid foundation [with Kingmaker] and are going to push the boundaries of the CRPG genre with our next title.”
Owlcat is introducing a new mythic progression system in Wrath of the Righteous, as well as new classes and customizations from the tabletop game. Two of the new classes include the witch and the oracle, but more will be revealed in the future. After all, they have plenty of classes to pull from the tabletop game. The new mythic progression system will give players additional powers according to their chosen mythic path. Some of these include the path of the trickster, which creates chaos and befuddlement across the battlefield; the path of the angel, which allows you to summon celestial allies to aid you in your fight; and the path of the lich, which offers powerful spells and the ability to command an undead army.
No word yet on a release date, and all we currently have is the single piece of artwork. Still, we’ll keep you posted when future updates arrive.
