Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Last updated

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous.jpg
Developer(s) Owlcat Games
Publisher(s) META Publishing
Director(s) Alexander Mishulin
Designer(s) Alexander Mishulin
Programmer(s) Alexey Drobyshevsky
Artist(s) Vlad Konstantinov
Writer(s)
Composer(s)
  • Dmitry V. Silantyev
  • Mikhail Kotov
  • Pawel Perepelica
  • Dryante
  • Sergey Eybog
Engine Unity
Platform(s)
Release
  • macOS, Windows
  • 2 September 2021
  • Switch, PS4, Xbox One
  • 29 September 2022
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is an isometric role-playing game developed by Owlcat Games and published by META Publishing, based on Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder franchise. Announced through a Kickstarter campaign in February 2020, the game was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on 2 September 2021. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 29 September 2022 alongside a cloud-based version for Nintendo Switch. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

The Worldwound is a magical chasm that allows demons to travel from their home dimension to the mortal world, where they maraud and do great evil. The country of Mendev has fought a series of wars against these demons, called Crusades. The Crusades have been slowly losing ground, primarily because demons killed in the mortal world return to life in their home realm.

The player-character is a citizen of the Mendevian city of Kenabres. They survive a demonic surprise-attack, then discover that they have strange magical "mythic powers" from an unknown source. After leading a counterattack to drive the demons from Kenabres, the player-character is appointed Commander of the Fifth Crusade by Mendevian royalty.

The Commander deploys armies against the demonic forces while trying to figure out how to close the Worldwound. They recruit various individuals to their party, and eventually retake all land save the Worldwound itself. Their mythic powers grow, setting them onto one of several "mythic paths" such as becoming an angel, trickster or lich. The chosen mythic path significantly affects the Commander's abilities, leadership style, and personal fate.

The Commander learns that their mythic powers come from an experiment conducted on them by Areelu Vorlesh, a half-demon mad scientist who created the Worldwound. Vorlesh attempted to place her murdered child's soul in the young Commander's body, but ended up creating the source of the mythic power. Vorlesh then erased the Commander's memory of her interference. The mythic source was activated by the stress of the attack on Kenabres and fueled by the Commander's battles with powerful beings. After learning this, the Commander can choose to abandon their mythic powers, becoming a "Mortal Legend".

Vorlesh tells the Commander that the Worldwound is bound to their two souls, and that one of them must die in the chasm for it to close. The two battle near an entrance to the Worldwound. Vorlesh is defeated and attempts to commit suicide out of spite, but can be talked down. The Commander can then choose to push Vorlesh into the Worldwound (if she is still alive), jump in themself, or use various other solutions based on their mythic path. If the Worldwound is closed, Mendev and the region are finally peaceful. However, some mythic paths can co-opt the Worldwound for their own purposes.

There is a secret ending that requires specific actions and research throughout the game. The Commander learns more about Vorlesh's experiments and realizes that she is trying to become a demigoddess. The Commander gathers the materials and knowledge necessary for this goal, and finally completes it after defeating Vorlesh, gaining more power and near-immortality. They can choose to do it alone, or let Vorlesh and/or their party members also become demigods.

Development

The game is a sequel to Pathfinder: Kingmaker , the previous role-playing game of the same developer, but it does not follow the same story. The sequel builds on the engine from Kingmaker to address concerns raised by critics and players, and expands additional rulesets from the tabletop game, includes new character classes and the mythic progression system. [3] Owlcat launched a Kickstarter campaign in February 2020 to raise additional development funds for the title. [4] The Kickstarter successfully raised over US$2 million of its requested US$300,000, allowing for several stretch goals to be added during development. [5] Like its predecessor, Wrath of the Righteous follows an Adventure Path of the same name, which was originally published in August 2013.

Downloadable content

Five major pieces of downloadable content have been released for Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. The first DLC, Inevitable Excess, was released on 3 March 2022. In it, the Commander is trapped in another dimension by a "keeper of magic" who believes their mythic powers violate the laws of the universe. The second DLC, Through the Ashes, was released on 21 April 2022. This story follows a group of ordinary people trying to survive the demonic attack on Kenabres. The third DLC, The Treasure of the Midnight Isles, was released on 30 August 2022. It is a rogue-lite campaign where the party searches for a mysterious treasure in the Abyss. The first and third DLCs can be played on their own or incorporated into the main campaign, while the second can only be played standalone. [6] The fourth DLC, The Last Sarkorians, was released on 7 March 2023. This DLC adds a new playable class with 6 archetype variations, a new companion, and a new area. [7] The fifth DLC, The Lord Of Nothing, a sequel to Through the Ashes, was released on 21 November 2023. This DLC also adds 15 new archetypes, new spells and new feats for the main campaign. [8] The sixth and last DLC, A Dance of Masks, is set to release on 13 June 2024. It will include new personal events for each companion, including romantic events, an adventure set in Kenabres and beyond, and 11 new character archetypes. [9]

Reception

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. [10] [11] [12] Writing for IGN , Rowan Kaiser praised the game's story and technical improvements over its predecessor, but expressed disappointment with the military management aspects. [13] Jody Macgregor of PC Gamer proclaimed the game is "well worth your time", but criticized its inconsistent writing quality. [14]

During the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Wrath of the Righteous for "Role-Playing Game of the Year". [19]

By January 2023, the game had sold one million copies worldwide. [20]

Controversy

On 24 July 2023, update 2.1.5m was launched which among other things added the third-party analytics program AppsFlyer. The game's community sent heavy backlash in posts relating to the update. This was resolved with update 2.1.5n, which removed AppsFlyer. [21]

Related Research Articles

<i>Elite Dangerous</i> 2014 space trading and exploration simulator

Elite Dangerous is an online space flight simulation game developed and published by Frontier Developments. The player commands a spaceship and explores a realistic 1:1 scale, open-world representation of the Milky Way galaxy, with the gameplay being open-ended. The game is the first in the series to attempt massively multiplayer gameplay, with players' actions affecting the narrative story of the game's persistent universe, while also retaining a single-player mode. Elite Dangerous is the fourth game in the Elite video game series. It is the sequel to Frontier: First Encounters, released in 1995.

<i>Left 4 Dead</i> 2008 video game

Left 4 Dead is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the Left 4 Dead series. Set during the aftermath of a zombie outbreak on the East Coast of the United States, the game pits its four protagonists, dubbed the "Survivors", against hordes of the infected.

<i>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game</i> Tabletop role-playing game

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that was published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing. The first edition extends and modifies the System Reference Document (SRD) based on the revised 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) published by Wizards of the Coast under the Open Game License (OGL) and is intended to be backward-compatible with that edition.

<i>Grim Dawn</i> 2016 action role-playing game

Grim Dawn is an action role-playing game (ARPG), developed and published by Crate Entertainment for Microsoft Windows in February 2016 and released for Xbox One in December 2021. Developed using the Titan Quest engine, it is set in a thematically dark fictional world loosely based on the Victorian era. It received generally favorable reviews from critics and had sold 7 million units by February 2022.

<i>The Pinball Arcade</i> 2012 video game

The Pinball Arcade is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios. The game is a simulated collection of 100 real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb, Alvin G. and Company, and Stern Pinball, a company which also owns the rights of machines from Data East and Sega Pinball. Williams and Bally games are no longer available since June 30, 2018, as FarSight had lost the license to WMS properties, which has since passed to Zen Studios.

<i>Awesomenauts</i> 2012 video game

Awesomenauts was a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by Dutch video game development company Ronimo Games. The game was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in May 2012, and for Microsoft Windows systems in August 2012. It was later ported to OS X and Linux. Another version of the game, Awesomenauts Assemble!, incorporating all the changes and additions available on Windows, OS X and Linux, was released for the PlayStation 4 in March 2014 and for the Xbox One in September 2016. In May 2017, the PC version of the game transitioned to a free-to-play title, incorporating an in-game currency and reward system to allow players to gain access to new characters and other customization aspects. In September 2019, Ronimo Games announced that development on the game has stopped indefinitely. Despite this, Awesomenauts was still available to play, until the servers went offline on September 15, 2023 due to Ronimo's bankruptcy.

<i>Divinity: Original Sin</i> 2014 video game

Divinity: Original Sin is a role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. The fourth main entry in the Divinity game series, it is a prequel to the original game Divine Divinity, and to the other main games in the series. It was first released on Microsoft Windows on 30 June 2014.

<i>A Hat in Time</i> 2017 video game

A Hat in Time is a 2017 platform game developed by Danish game studio Gears for Breakfast and published by Humble Bundle. The game was developed using Unreal Engine 3 and funded through a Kickstarter campaign, which nearly doubled its fundraising goals within its first two days. The game was self-published for macOS and Windows in October 2017, and by Humble Bundle for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles two months later. A version for the Nintendo Switch was released in October 2019.

<i>This War of Mine</i> 2014 video game

This War of Mine is a war survival video game developed and published by the Polish game development company 11 Bit Studios. The game, inspired by the siege of Sarajevo among other conflicts, differs from most war-themed video games by focusing on the civilian experience of war rather than front line combat. Characters have to make many difficult decisions in order to survive everyday dangers. There are various endings for each character, depending on the decisions made in the game. The game has received multiple DLCs and sold over 9 million units worldwide across multiple platforms.

<i>Defense Grid 2</i> 2014 video game

Defense Grid 2 is a 2014 tower defense video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and published by 505 Games. As a sequel to the 2008 Defense Grid: The Awakening, the game was crowd-funded on Kickstarter in 2012 and released on Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on September 23, 2014. Linux and OS X versions were released on October 15, 2014, and the Nintendo Switch version was released on February 7, 2019.

<i>Victor Vran</i> 2015 video game

Victor Vran is an action role-playing video game developed by the Bulgarian independent development studio Haemimont Games. Victor Vran is published on Steam by EuroVideo Medien. It entered Steam Early Access in February 2015 and the final version was released in July 2015. The setting of the game resembles Gothic-fantasy fairy tale where both magic and science have a place in the world. The title exited early access on July 24, 2015. An updated port titled Victor Vran: Overkill Edition was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 6 June 2017, and a Nintendo Switch port was released on August 28, 2018. A version of the original game was made available for Amazon Luna on 20 October 2020.

<i>Pathfinder: Kingmaker</i> 2018 video game

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is an isometric role-playing game developed by Russian studio Owlcat Games and published by Deep Silver, based on Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder franchise. Announced through a Kickstarter campaign in 2017, the game was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on 25 September 2018.

<i>Session: Skate Sim</i> 2022 video game

Session: Skate Sim is a sports video game developed by independent developer Crea-ture Studios for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game is considered a spiritual successor to the Skate series.

<i>Prodeus</i> 2022 video game

Prodeus is a first-person shooter game developed by Bounding Box Software and published by Humble Games. The game was crowdfunded by a Kickstarter campaign in April 2019. An early access version was released on November 9, 2020. The full game was released on macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in September 2022. A DLC was announced for the game in 2023

<i>Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot</i> 2020 video game

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an action role-playing game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, based on the Dragon Ball franchise. It was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows in January 2020, Nintendo Switch in September 2021, Stadia in October 2021, PlayStation 5 in January 2023, and Xbox Series X/S in February 2023. The game follows the main protagonist Goku and the Z-Fighters throughout the events of the Dragon Ball Z anime, including anime-original storylines and moments.

<i>Hell Let Loose</i> 2021 first-person shooter video game

Hell Let Loose is a 2019 multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Expression Games and Cover 6 Studios and published by Team17. Players fight in iconic battles of the Western, North African and Eastern Fronts of World War II at the platoon level.

<i>Iratus: Lord of the Dead</i> 2020 video game

Iratus: Lord of the Dead is tactical role-playing game developed by Unfrozen and published in 2020 by Daedalic Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon</i> 2014 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon is a computer wargame developed by Flashback Games and The Lordz Games Studio, and published by Slitherine Software for Windows on 26 November 2014. It is based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owlcat Games</span> Video game developer

Owlcat Games is a video game developer founded in 2016 by Oleg Shpilchevskiy and Alexander Mishulin. It is headquartered in Cyprus, with satellite offices in Moscow and Armenia. It is best known for developing computer role-playing games such as Pathfinder: Kingmaker (2018), its successor, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (2021), and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (2023).

References

  1. ↑ "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch launches September 29". Gematsu. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  2. ↑ Meo, Francesco De (14 July 2022). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Launches on Consoles on September 29th; New DLC to Release Next Month on PC". Wccftech. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  3. ↑ Palmer, Philip (4 December 2019). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous announced". PC Gamer . Future plc . Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Watts, Rachel (14 January 2020). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Kickstarter launches in early February". PC Gamer . Future plc . Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  5. ↑ O'Conner, Alice (16 March 2020). "Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous smashed its Kickstarter goal". Rock Paper Shotgun . Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  6. ↑ Owlcat Games. "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous". Steam . Valve Corporation . Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  7. ↑ Owlcat Games. "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous". Steam . Valve Corporation . Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  8. ↑ Owlcat Games. "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous". Steam . Valve Corporation . Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  9. ↑ Owlcat Games. "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous". Steam . Valve Corporation . Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  13. 1 2 Kaiser, Rowan (29 September 2021). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Review". IGN . Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  14. 1 2 Macgregor, Jody (13 September 2021). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous review". PC Gamer . Future plc . Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  15. ↑ Adam, Khayl (7 October 2022). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Enhanced Edition Review (PS4)". Push Square . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  16. ↑ Kobylanski, Abraham (22 February 2022). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous". RPGFan. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  17. ↑ Denzer, TJ (2 September 2021). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous review: Go your own way". Shacknews . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  18. ↑ Wilson, Jason (2 September 2021). "Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous review — Treading an epic path". VentureBeat . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  19. ↑ "2022 Awards Category Details Role-Playing Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Owlcat Games on YouTube". YouTube . 23 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  21. ↑ Joshua Wolens (26 July 2023). "Fan outcry pushes Pathfinder dev to delete new data-sucking tool and all its info one day after introducing it: 'The scale of the outburst surpassed worst expectations'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.