So i have come up with an amusing observation these days, mostly due to prolific activity of one forum member with less than a year of history. I think he represents a typical Western player well enough.
Kingmaker was released with game breaking bugs, with a very complicated combat system that was thoroughly implemented, and with encounters that were reasonable, but happened to be game stopping. The first fight with the assassin in the prologue; the spider swarms in the fangberry cave; the first electrical nobility in the Old Sycamore. Owlcat Games were bombarded with bad reviews for hard fights, complex systems, trick enemies, timed quests and the strategic layer that could ruin the run. The Kingmaker's audience remained a niche at least until the latest Epic giveaway.
Owlcat Games learned their lessons and made changes. They added a lot of UI improvements and tutorials to explain the Pathfinder role playing system. Losing the crusade will not lose the game anymore. The crusade difficulty does not scale up to Unfair - the maximum is always "normal". All the timers are optional, and the game cannot be lost due to poor timing. At no point in the prologue the main hero has to fight alone, and for the starting party of 3 there is Anevia, who is immortal and one-shots everything. Also, the first enemy that can be considered tricky is a Shadow Demon, who happens at level 4-5.
The game has become simpler, more accessible, and the Steam reviews and sales followed. The audience expanded, and, according to Sturgeon's law, 90% of this new audience are crap. Now Wrath is criticized for complex puzzles, for "inclusivity", and for a completely optional enemy in the second half of the game.
I see a positive feedback loop here, which some might call "a death spiral". Every simplification of the game brings in a new audience that requires more simplification which would bring even more new audience. I am far from calling Wrath a "dumbing down", but it is simpler to understand and more accessible than Kingmaker.
What's next? Which iteration will become "dumbed down" for good? The 3d? The 4th? When will we have to jump ship and look for another Underrail developer who would be at the beginning of this inevitable death spiral?
Also remember, that, as I have written after the interview with Mr. Mishulin, it seems that the Owlcat top creative minds are purposefully guarded from direct interaction with the gamers. So they, probably, are having a synopsis of the general opinion, which means they are made to follow the dumbest part of the herd.
I hated the timed quests of kingmaker, if you want to do things properly you don't have much freedom. I almost never entered in secondary maps, because you lost a lot of time traveling.
You can't rule the kingdom properly too, you become a baron and in less than 20 days start the troll arc. If you anex a region and upgrade 2 advisors, you lost jubilost, Bartolomeu Delgado and, I think, ekundayo.
The game forces you to go to pitax tournament, if you wait to long your kingdom is destroyed.
I was running like a crazy to, in the end, wait 5 months for the 5th curse of bald hitop and more 12 months fort the 6th.
I'm sure I enjoyed a lot without this crazys timed quests.
Imn
In relation of classes, maybe is something that comon I'm Pathfinder PnP, but I always think this need of 5 classes to build a great char too much. Even more for a noob like in pathfinder.
Ex. I'm a evocation mage, I want blow stuff.
To be a great evocation mage you have take wizard, in level 4 rogue(thug), them 10 lvls de arcane trickster etc.
Today I understand that I have to take the rogue because of the sneak dice of him. But why we can stick with one clase and be strong too?
Not to mention many feats, and synergies wit other feats its too much. And is one of the strongest points of the game.
In baldur's gate 2, played after kingmaker, I didn't have this problem, I liked me and my companions staying in the same class.
In WotR it's good the removal of the timed quest (still have a bunch, but not so proessive like kingmaker), and have a list of builds made per class, probably its crap but it's possible to play in normal.
