Dungeons and Dragons dominate the roost when it comes to Tabletop RPG Universes, but Pathfinder isn’t that lately. There are already plenty of great DND video games, but the young Pathfinder is still finding his feet in that department. At Summer Game Fest, I had the opportunity to try out the next game in the series. Pathfinder Avomination Vaults It employs the isometric RPG action of its predecessors to enhance the buildcraft experience and provide full cooperative support. Though it is unpredictable to defeat Baldur’s Gate 3 from the throne placed in DND, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the vault of hatred and was impressed by the flexible approach to cooperative play.
There are so many RPGs in a vast open world, but Pathfinder Abomination Vaults is set in one dungeon. Before we worry about the content and environments all appear the same, we need to mention that it’s not the word of the gigantic “mega dungeon” – developer BKOM studio, under the house of Bellcola Harvex, the game’s big bad bad, that’s not mine. The comprehensive purpose sounds simple. Pass through each level and descend deep into the dungeon to find and defeat Bellcola. However, there are monsters that kill and puzzles become more and more difficult to solve as you go.
Like Baldur’s Gate 3 (unless you’re a hardcore solo snippet), Avomination Vaults are based on parties, but the core difference is that they’re not turn-based events, but free-flowing action RPGs. The cast of four playable characters – Wizard, Heart Schranger, Keiraza Cleric and Ezeren of the Wizard – always navigate the dungeon together. With this co-op support, this means that a team of up to four can combine and control one character. For two or three groups, or when playing solo, the unselected characters will be controlled by the game’s AI. They will automatically assist you in combat, but you can also instruct them to open their chests or participate in environmental puzzles.
However, some neat additions woven into this system make the hateful vault extremely flexible, both as a solo and cooperative experience. If there are fewer than four players in the party, you can switch to unused characters at any point and get full control over them. If you need to throw his magical abilities to help Ezerain defeat a particular enemy, you can quickly snap at him and unleash his attack. Pairing certain characters can also use unique team-up abilities. So, if you need a specific combo attack to get out of a sticky situation, you can switch to the relevant character.
You are not tied to just one character, so you also have the freedom to tinker with the build for all four of your heroes. While each represents a typical RPG class archetype, Avomination Vaults offer the freedom to cross-pollinate other roles when necessary, shifting more characters. For example, if you want to have a more soothing presence in your team, you can push DPS-centric characters even more towards a support-style build. How short my preview was, I couldn’t delve into itemization, skill tree, and other progressions of all the hateful vaults and build craft systems, but BKOM has made it so flexible.
The sections of the megadungeon I explored were unexpectedly lively thanks to some beautiful backgrounds and loads of bioluminescent plants. A few breasts were shoved into every corner, and I was able to find them and awarded new items. There were several environment puzzles and objectives pasted, and they were pretty basic, but offered something a little different to clearing the enemy horde before taking a walk to the next section.
Combat is a hacking and slash event, but it is enhanced with many abilities and special attacks. I mainly used the wizard Ezeren, but I felt that all of its magical powers were happy with the use and was in a rather generous cooldown. I would sometimes switch to the Dwarf Harsk, who dealt some distant damage with his crossbow – a valuable commodity of a rather confusing boss fight at the end of the demo. With the help of the developers I was playing, we were able to stop moving some combos. There is a considerable amount of communication and discipline when it comes to timing and placement.
I won’t describe the overall combat experience as innovative, but it was certainly fun. However, the ability to switch characters seamlessly means that if you’re bored with the heroes you’re playing, or if they’re not as effective as you want, there are alternative options available in the button press. Of course, unless you’re playing as a cooperative quartet.
A solid, flexible multiplayer RPG, Avomination Vaults is something to watch out for, whether or not you’ve already invested in the Pathfinder world. That single mega dungeon should provide plenty of visual and gameplay diversity to avoid getting old. You’ll need to wait to see if it’s as adaptable as developers say. But the 30 minutes I play put a smile on my face, and in this early stage it is the most positive sign you can get.
