Update: 03/01/2025 (long post, please be patient when reading)

I felt like it was important to update anyone who found my review at all useful.

Dear Development Team,

Since Oct 2024 I have been enjoying exploring, building, giving feedback and reporting bugs within this lovely and wonderful world that you have all created.

While I was aware that a subscription was in the cards for us(as it was the thing that made the most sense) I was very disappointed to learn how your teams have decided to implement this required and, admittedly, necessary addition to the games full launch.

My understanding is that Pax Dei will charge PER PLOT. Not a monthly sub, a PLOT sub.

For those that are new to the game and haven't found their legs yet I will clarify that plots are used in game to claim land. Land that you build your home, fortress, clan hall etc. In a sandbox game that implements raid style content(albiet casually) the importance of plots and the land required to build your machines becomes much more nuanced.

Since EA launch the game and it's development team have supported the clan system. Making clans and the social aspect contained within to be incredibly important to the longevity of the player base. To support these larger clans more space is required. Why you ask? Because some of these machines are massive. Having multiple machines to support dozens of clan members becomes incredibly neccesary for those wanting to wear the best stuff and raid the t5 raids(make no mistake the player base DOES include these individuals, myself amongst them).

So - to put it in very clear words - Paying for plot space is a pay to win system. Those without the cash to maintain multiple plots for bigger clan spaces will find their teams falling behind those with mass disposable income.

Pax Dev teams - this was not your only option to support your servers. There are many many systems for other games, in place, that work very well. I wanted this review to be a love letter to a team that has, up until now, made every effort to hear out their player base. I'm at a loss. The disappointment I feel at having paid over 100 dollars towards this game(some of my clan members even more given how many accounts they have to build with) and the subsequent knowledge that in addition to the cost of those additional plot spaces(I have 4 - the game gave you one for free in EA) I will have to pay a monthly fee for those plots I already bought - is, in a word, heart breaking.

So more than a review this is my way of explaining why, should this not change before launch, I will stop playing this amazing game. I will not pay to win in this game. I will not pay more for something I've already paid for in support of your development of this game.

I cannot, in good faith, encourage people to play a game that will become like every other pay to win model. I wanted your team to be different. I wanted to have a development team I could have faith in when so many other bigger companies with better models(overall and in comparison to) have spent over a decade continuously letting me, the player that helped make your dreams come true, down.

If your team adjusts this issue with a better model prior to launch I will be happy to change my review. Until then, this will not be a recommended game from me. I will not support a pay to win model.

Sincerely,
One very heartbroken player.












I don't usually write reviews. Theyre subjective and don't always fully highlight all the nuance good and bad for any given game as the author(myself included) will focus on the things that either delight or enrage them.

****If you're here for a short YES this is great or NO don't do it....you should scroll on****

If you're here because you saw the MMORPG tag - please....do not come into Pax Dei thinking that you will be leading epic raids against telegraphed opponents to get the big phat loot.

As a former raid leader in wow and ff14 I have to say that all the things that I found positive about the MMO experience and all the things I hated about it are both present and not present in the game. To clarify, the social aspect of grouping up to take on a dungeon(as opposed to a several hour raid) is present while the required time and effort to keep being relevant is not. I can choose to find a group on their discord server and try my hand at large strong holds or dungeons or I can just chill out and chop trees, mix elixirs, build my clan home or do some exploring of the area at my leisure.

As a busy business lady who also loves to game I don't have time to sit down for hours worth of required farming so I don't let my team down because the point of Pax Dei isn't world server firsts. It's a more relaxed version of what you might expect from an MMO --- which the traditional concept of the MMO has changed over the decades ---

The best first impression I got from this *Early Access* game was my first night cycle...where the horizon of the game lit up with glittering lights from player made structures dotting the mountain side or valleys. The landscape is constantly changing as players log in to build up their plots and grind for power creep.

Is this game grindy? Yes, yes it is. But you can do it at YOUR pace. The player base isn't super bent over whether or not they have the highest skill or the best gear because of the relaxed nature of the game.

While there are definitely server frame drop issues for older graphics cards - I'm using a 1080 Ti - it hasn't really impacted my experience of the game in an overall negative manner.

The best piece of knowledge I got from the community was how mindful the crafting system is. Like many games you have tiered(1-4) ingredients. One might expect to consistently get elevated stats to their crafts based on this alone but this isn't the case. The players skill in the role they play and the tools they use are just as important as the materials used to create them. Each item has a base set of stats that is altered depending on your skill with the tool or your skill when crafting the item in addition to the potential for tiered stats.

I might like to see optional world bosses that all the clans can get together to murder and loot but I don't think it would be a game changing experience for me negatively if that never happened.

Overall if you're looking to marry the traditional concept of sandbox and MMORPG this is a very palatable target of that desire.

The developers go out of their way to give the player the quintessential wizarding experience.

I found the combat to be incredibly smooth and intuitive and the sheer amount they've packed into this game is, quite frankly, impressive. This game had potential to be a total flop in terms of content but they've really pulled lore and brought in fan favorite secondary characters that were loved in the books and didn't make it into the theatrical cut of the movies.

Lastly and certainly not least...the dev's really gave a big ol' F-you to Rowling in the form of character Sirona Ryan. If you don't know what i'm talking about that's okay but make sure you follow her quests (some are part of the main quest line) to really get a lead on her back ground and you'll understand.

Game has a bit of a learning curve

pros:

-Game is a split between tol and tos in terms of game play and things you can do with your winnings. You can buy items to help increase your chances of playing roles you like. I find this to be much better than cosmetic items and is similar to ToS in that sense.
- Like ToL the game has diverse rolls cards to influence how the game is played and won
- The community is fairly helpful and patient. This is worth mentioning because there's a pandemic of toxicity that usually accompanies social deduction games due to the anonymous nature of the game play. It's easy to forget or not know who's new as the titles require you to mouse over players name to see they're new.
- the tutorial is pretty good at explaining the basic mechanics of the game but does give you the option of how comfortable you are with social deduction games and gives you a tutorial based on your response.
- Lobby DOES show you the lvl of the players in the lobby which helps with recognizing newness outside an active game unlike during game where you need to mouse over the target to see titles like "newbie"

Cons:

- I dislike the set up. The ready button kind of blends into the aesthetic of the games UI and isn't immediately apparent. I find this to be a con because the second you don't ready up people initiate kicking due to being impatient and given that you cannot access the game store because of items being equippable this makes for some uncomfortable interactions. A new social deduction game has a lot of information to take in and being unable to access the store even to read the descriptions necessitates not being ready.
- new player information isn't readily accessible if you dont know where to look for it.
- not immediately obvious where class cards can be found in lobby (it's f1 - someone told me in lobby)

Game play:

The game starts off differently than other games of the same type I've played. Instead of everyone being the "good" guys you are a lobby full of netsec (evil doers) and you need to sniff out the agents (the good guys). Agents have access to public chat and to their own private chats during both day and night phase. Most neutrals are shown a little more love in this game as opposed to other games I've played with neutral class types. The netsec Operations Leader has the ability to mass email the entire lobby to give directions to the team and it can sometimes be a little difficult to know WHEN to use some of the more nuanced abilities.

All in all - despite the learning curve I've found the game to be a lot of fun - a nice fresh of breath of air compared to the toxicity that follows other games of its nature. I cannot emphasize enough how important that is given you will be in lobby with the same players repeatedly even during peak times. I'd love to see this game grow and get the recognition it deserves.

If you love social deduction games you should definitely give this game a try.

While the classes are repetitive in their meta before major class change patches the devs strive to consistently work to better their product in various different ways. In that I have no complaint.

However, I do strongly recommend not getting involved in post game chats and especially in discord. This game has received a lot of drama for various different reasons. Some of the negative reviews are earned and some of them are not.

The crux of a social deduction game is that it's social and I'm horrified to be saying this after spending so many hours playing it but my firm belief is that the moderators believe beyond reasonable doubt that they can never make mistakes. If you speak up for yourself against the status quo you are immediately "insulting" and receive anything from veiled to outright threats against your continued ability to play the game. The only right opinion is theirs so keep yours to yourself no matter how respectful you actually are being.

If you can slide through all of that the game, in and of itself, is a solid choice for social deduction. I would love to keep out all the negativity about how the game is moderated but given the nature of the game experience it is neccessary to include this sort of information so that potential buyers may walk into the community being informed of the potential pitfalls.

I want to preface that I come from the Throne of Lies community so a lot of my comparison comes from that.

THAT SAID...I'm so impressed.

This game seems to be, at least on first play, very very early development with all the things that occur in that state. There's definitely bugs to work through so if you're looking for a polished game I'd definitely advise waiting a few iterations and SMASH THE HECK out of that follow button. If, however, you're not the type to be stymied by early development road blocks then keep reading.

First I want to address my experience with the game developers:

While playing in a game with a streaming friend of mine, one of the developers was on hand to watch the bugs happen live and assist with how to complete bug reports. The staff in the discord are responsive and show genuine interest in fixing any problems that arise as soon as is possible for them. Being a small development team with a fledgling game they've certainly capitalized on their ability to engage their audience though I will be plain in that I suspect that as they grow they will appropriately move towards a well walked balance between engagement and being the business professionals I'm learning they are :)

As for personal impact for myself I have this to say:

As a streamer and one that, in particular, does a lot of social deduction streaming I have to express my gratitude that the layout comes with a built in streamer mode that removes key features from the display in game that would assist people in stream sniping. This is something that other games of this caliber have failed to adequately address. If you're NOT a streamer this obviously would not interest you but the fact that it's there and doesn't negatively impact play or viewer pleasure from watching is something that's pretty damn cool. Still, there's room for improvement on the overall UI to be had and as I've stated this is early access so it's exciting to see how much further this feature can go.

In terms of gameplay:

This is a social deduction game who's player limit is the largest I've seen personally; boasting up to 64 player slots. I would probably not recommend that many players as it can get hectic during trials with so many voices but the fact that you can do it is interesting. Personally I believe the available player slots should not exceed 15-20 people for the above mentioned reasons. Herding people is like herding cats in my experience; they're all unruly and have something to say. 64 voices might be to much all things considered.

The vast number of classes that can be added and banned at will of the game host are rich. There's a robust handful of evil, good and chaotic roles to choose from and the vast quantity of such roles offers new and interesting ways to create games with each deck telling a different story of the town you're supposed to save. I personally like to imagine how each roll got to be in my head as I play.

One of my personal favorite features in this game is the item system. Items can be purchased with gold earned in game or through chests that can also be earned. The purpose of these items are to increase EXP gained or the likelyhood of getting particular roles. Want to play the jester as much as humanly possible? YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT! Well at least maybe not as long. Pop in the offering that increases your chances to spawn as the Jester, Riding Hood or a slew of other choices. VERY cool to have some control over what you're playing.

In short, if you like social deduction games and have been looking for something just a little bit different then I suggest giving this game a try. Help playtest in this open Beta, talk to the dev's in their discord and watch them bring alive a world where intrigue and lies run rampant.

To everyone making such a huge deal over the Epic release:

Firstly this game is fantastic. I have every expectation that BL3 will be just as brilliant.

If you're coming here to make a negative review on the game simply because gearbox choose to release it exclusively to Epic for the first six months I have this question for you -- are you aware that Epic store is only asking for 12% commission on the purchase of EVERY game? Compared to the 30% that steam requires all developers to fork over?

If anything this opens Gearbox up to more cash flow to produce more games faster than this last title was currently developed. Be mad at STEAM for NOT competing thus opening the door for Epic to walk away with Triple-A titles like BL3. Be GLAD that its ONLY six months.

Campaign not against the game OR the developers but for a market that is fair and competitive. PC games do NOT need a console style war for exclusivity.