I've never been a fan of the "real time" type RPGs, for whatever reason this one broke through for me, probably because the systems in this one feel like they have depth, are thought out, and the game gives you tons of class options.

Story is pretty simple yet satisfying, characters are competently written. I like how it fully incorporates the travel aspects of the pen and paper version too.

Combat is tough at first and the pathfinder system can come off as convoluted and pedantic, but once you know how to get advantages and navigate the UI/system terms it becomes pretty easy.

Kingdom management is the weakest part of the game, can seem like its a bunch of nothing and overly complicated and it can lose you the game outright; I turned all that stuff off b/c i didnt wana play that type of game and focused on adventuring, which saves most of the game.

If you've felt stuck on more classic feeling RPGs this game could be the moldbreaker.

TLDR : Fantastic story, companions, art, it's definitely worth playing for that alone. The rest ? A bit more flawed.

It's honestly one of the most fun CRPGs story i've played. The story unfolds in a very intersting way, and it feels like a real TTRPG campaign because of how acts are written. Each one of them is "standalone" in the sense that you have a clear goal and BBEG that you fight at the end of it, but each of them contributes to the bigger narrative that overarches everything.
The story progresses as your kingdom grows, and it's much more in depth that i expected. There's a whole (lite) strategy/management game that is great - but can get a bit frustrating, as i'll explain later.

Your companions are fantastic, i really loved them all, and it's been a while since i cherised NPCs that much in a RPG. I felt like a child discovering Dragon Age Origins for the first time, where every companion was so unique and rich. I grew attached to them, even those i thought i would hate (Jubilost, Harrim for instance). They all have a rich companion quest(s). I gotta give a special s/o to Nok-Nok, your goblin companion that i found really hilarious ! They are very varied, i'm not gonna detail them because i don't want to spoil any surprises, but some of them have quite a twist. Just like Bioware at its prime, you have the opportunity to grow really close to them. As friend and/or as lover for some. I'm not gonna say anything about romances, because some of them have an impact on the main quest, but i enjoyed the one i chose. I do feel like it's very glitchy, and some flags seem to never have been triggered despite doing what was supposed to unlock them (i looked the options after finishing the game). So save often if you want to pursue romance (unfortunately, you can't do that in real life).

As i said, the game features a kingdom management aspect, and it's indepth : you have to chose advisors, take important decisions, solve crisis, deal with foreign affairs, city planning, etc etc. It's great because it really gives an additional depth to your character, how you roleplay dealing with a kingdom : do you encourage the free use of magic ? Or control it ? Do you side with the wealthy merchants, or the scoundrels ? Etc etc ...
But - at the same time - it sometimes slows the story a lot. I sometimes felt like i missed the trigger for a main quest because i was doing nothing but dealing with random non-important events for the kingdom, and nothing else was happening. Also, i played the kingdom management in easy mode, but i can imagine it getting a bit frustrating when playing on higher difficulties, especially because it impacts how the story unfolds.

Let's talk about choices and consequences a bit. Your actions matters. A lot. Stuff like "you have to go to A and B, both are urgent, where do you go first ?" for instance, and it has an impact on the story (the situation will get worse in the place you go at last). Sometimes, what seemed like menial dialogue options turned out to be really important choice hours and hours later. I think you either love it or hate it. I loved it.
There's a secret "true" ending, that i won't spoil, but it does seem a bit "railroad-y" in its conditions. I got it by chance, but i can imagine it being a little bit frustrating if you missed a part of the trigger by error.
There's an alignement system, which is quite well done imho. You are never locked out of acting CN if you play a LG character, but it will shift your alignement a little bit. It's trends more than a real locked category. Each alignement unlocks some specific choices every here and there, but it's not really frequent (which is good imho, it makes those choice a little bit special). It also reflects on how you handle your kingdom (unlocks certain buildings, bonuses etc etc).
Some of those alignement choice are weird, and imho don't work, but it's the curse of the DnD alignement system.

There's timed quests, which i hated, especially because some of them are not really indicated as such. But i also can understand the intent because of how they are tied to your kingdom, and its developpement. I think it would be better if they were all indicated very clearly.

Gameplay wise, it's Pathfinder 1E, which means it can get quite confusing when it comes to building a character. I recommend checking guides, because it's really easy to ♥♥♥♥ up a character (you can respec, so it's not a big deal, but it's not fun). There's a lot of spells, classes, subclasses, feats, weapons, magic items to combine, and i think people who enjoy digging through that will love it. It's not really my case, i'm playing for the story, so i ended up playing on the lowest difficulty. And i'm glad because the late game really drowns you with combat encounters, a bit too much imho. Especially since it's a lot "trash mobs" and not really intersting encounters.

The game is still a bit glitchy, in 70h i didn't have a single game breaking/soft locking/CTD, but i got a few moments where i had to save/reload because a NPC wasn't spawning, or a few flags for very minor sidequests that never triggered (+ the romance stuff i mentionned). Nothing dramatic, but it's noticable.

I have to say, the art is gorgeous. Every character portrait in the game is so beautiful. Maps are really pretty too, they have a warm vibe to them, because of the colours, the lights, it's really pretty. It makes it very enjoyable to spend time in it. The UI is also amazingly pretty, very reminiscent of fancy character sheets, which is what i want in a crpg. There's a very pen-and-paper vibe to it. Your quest log is an actual book written by your bard for instance ! With snarky comments made by her. (We don't deserve you Linzi <3 , i love bards, and Linzi is fantastic)
The music is great too ! Really really high quality stuff that i will recycle for my TTRPG campaigns without a doubt. I think some of them changes depending on your alignement too, which is a neat detail.)
The pen-and-paper vibe is also reinforced by the "chose your own adventure" moments. You know, those books from Joe Dever, Steve Jackson, Ian Livinstone : Lone Wolf, Fighting Fantasy etc etc. Basically, for some encounters, you are presented with a book interface, where you have to chose options, pass skill checks, and it feels very ttrpg-ish, it also change the flow a little bit, so i loved those moment.

The ending of the game is very cool, it's epic, and it really compliments the time you spent playing. It's a worthy final act, which is not always the case (i'm easily let down by endings). The ending slides for the companions made my eyes water a bit, which tells a lot about how much i liked them.

Play time wise, it's a LOOOONG game, even for CRPGs standards. I spent 70h, and that was by playing on the easiest difficulty (which mean i never died once, i never had to retry a fight, i didn't spend a lot of time resting, micro managing my stuff etc etc), and by ignoring some minor side quests/optionnal dungeons. I think you can easily reach 100h, 120h if you try to do everything. It's never got boring, but the pacing of the story is a bit weird, between acts especially, sometimes there's a bit of soft moments where nothing really happens. Combat can get a bit repetitive. I saw there was a turn based combat option, and while i vastly prefer turn based over RTWP, i don't think it's a good idea because the latter fights have so much ennemies that turn based will most likely turn into a slog.

As a closing word, i want to say that us, crpgs enjoyers, are really lucky. Between Larian and Owlcat, we are getting some really really cool new CRPGs that are definitely on par with the classics from Bioware for instance, and i'm really incredibly eager to see what will be their next games. I think Larian games are overall more fun "games", more polished, better presentation, but i feel more attached to the way Owlcat' stories/characters are told. I love them both.

A really, really long game. This is not for the impatient or people who dislike kingdom management. If this is your first time playing and you're completely lost, I'd recommend going on story mode first to understand the mechanics. Also, be aware of timed quests and use an advisor event guide for the management system. Save generously.

Kingmaker is far from perfect—it is buggy and tedious at times. However, I ended up enjoying this for the well-written characters and narrative. This was my second Owlcat game after Rogue Trader, and I can't wait to start WoTR next!