The word ‘RPG’ has lost meaning in recent years, with almost every game being branded as one so long as it has a semblance of a role-playing element. This has been the case mainly in the ARPG genre, where we haven’t really seen a true namesake since Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that almost felt like interacting with a living world. However, after what seems like an eternity, we have another Action RPG in the form of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. It is a game that feels like a living world with an extremely well-told central story while also providing hundreds of choices for players to role-play as Henry.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is in every way a single-player ARPG masterpiece of this generation, standing tall alongside games like RDR2, Skyrim, and Elden Ring. The storytelling style of KCD 2 makes it almost feel like you are watching a movie while also playing it with complete freedom. The game has grown on its predecessor, changing many of the annoying mechanics of the past and making it much more friendly for a wider player base. Well, thanks to a copy provided by Warhorse Studios, I have spent over 70 hours exploring the mid-1300s Kingdom of Bohemia once again in KCD 2. With that, here’s my review of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
KCD 2 Main Story: A Cinematic Masterpiece
One of the biggest highlights of Kingdom Come Deliverance was its story. As such, I had even higher expectations from its successor. But I have to say that even with a tall order, KCD 2’s storytelling completely blew my mind. The developers did not lie when bragging about the over six hours of cinematic cutscenes added to the game, as they truly enhanced the storytelling to another level.
The story of KCD 2 starts with Henry and Lord Hans Capon making their way to Trosky to negotiate with Lord Otto von Bergow and bring him to the side of King Wenceslas. However, the start of their little trip to Trosky takes a drastic turn as Henry and Lord Hans Capon’s company gets attacked by bandits.
Although Henry and Hans Capon barely get away with their lives, the toll on them sits heavy as they have to start from the bottom again in an unknown land. That’s where the story starts in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, with Henry and Hans Capon trying their best to appear “Noble Like” and get an audience with Lord Otto Von Bergow. Eventually, the story brings back many old faces like Ishtvan Toth and Markvart Von Aulitz, finally allowing Henry to get his revenge.
KCD 2’s story takes part in two different regions — the Trosky region and the Kuttenberg region. Father Godwin also makes an appearance, playing a big role in the main story of KCD 2, which is very different from his side-mission roles in the first part.
The main story walks a fine line between showcasing the darkness in medieval Bohemia among light-hearted jibs, tying nicely together with the characteristic humor we have known from Kingdom Come Deliverance in the past. Between all the humor and action, Henry constantly fights a war within himself between making peace with his parents’ death or taking revenge.
The story is not linear and Henry’s choices heavily change the outcomes all along the main and side stories. For example, during the Wedding Crashers quest in the Trosky region, every side mission you complete around that region will somehow influence your interactions during the wedding, as almost all the major NPCs in Trosky are invited. Without spoiling much for players, especially as the story is the game’s highlight, I can safely say that the KCD 2 players are in for a wild ride.
What’s more interesting is that you truly don’t need to play the first part to play the sequel, as there is a brief story recap explaining the main events beforehand. However, the story in KCD 2 will hit harder if you have lived Henry’s story and struggles from day one, making the highlights much more rewarding.
Exploration: A True Open World Experience in Medieval Bohemia
The world of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is very much set in Medieval Bohemia and likely accurately depicted. The game’s world is absolutely beautiful to look at, and every village, town, or solo barn feels alive. NPCs have their own conversations in different accents, greeting or jeering at Henry based on his reputation in the area.
I remember seeing random fights break out between NPCs while others were having entire chains of conversations. My favorite activity in the game was riding my horse around the forests and meadows, taking in the beauty of the game while also increasing my Horsemanship level.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 doesn’t hold hands when it comes to exploration, but it also doesn’t throw the players to the wolves…well, not always, at least. For instance – to find side quests in an area, you can either directly speak with the people around the village until you find a quest giver or speak with an Innkeeper who will tell you all the interesting things happening there.
Once you speak with an Innkeeper, they mark the quest NPC for you on the map, making it easier for players to start the quest line.
Every Side Mission is Unique and has an Interesting Story to Tell
Side missions in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 make up the majority of the content in the game. Unlike other RPGs released recently, where you only have a few interesting side missions while the others are just rehashed chore jobs, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 takes the old-fashioned route that we RPG gamers love, fleshing out even the smallest of the side missions to make them memorable. And it’s not just the mission itself that’s interesting, but the NPCs involved in those missions are equally memorable.
During one mission, I decided to help a couple of minstrels in the Trosky region, who were all too eager to exploit the good-hearted nature of poor Henry. In this mission, Henry had to steal a lute, repair it and even clean the latrine to clear the minstrel’s debts, all the while the two waited and dined in the Inn without helping one bit.
At the mission’s end, the minstrels decided to dedicate a funny song to Henry, making all the struggle worthwhile just for that. But the cherry on top is that you find those same minstrels later in Kuttenberg being imprisoned for the Lute that you stole for them, giving poor Henry the revenge he needed for all that meaningless struggle.
Chance Encounters Keep You on Your Toes
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has a very unique fast travel system. Players of the prequel would be well familiar with this system, but it would be a completely new experience for other players. While fast traveling from one area to the next, Henry can encounter bandits and interesting NPCs or even quest NPCs. The sudden chance of meeting an interesting person on the road, conversing with them about philosophy, trading a few things, and never meeting them again in the game is very common. Some of these encounters also give you quests, which I don’t remember seeing in the first installment of KCD.
The chance interaction with an NPC on the road is something I really like about KCD 2, as it is similar to how things happen when you travel in the real world. You will often encounter interesting people while traveling, have a very in-depth conversation with them, and never meet or speak with them again. That’s basically how the chance encounters felt in KCD 2 and I absolutely adored it.
Dialogues and Voice Acting That Never Get Boring
A big reason why the world of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 truly feels lived by the NPCs is the massive variation of dialogues, accents, and speaking styles each of them has in the game. Almost every NPC in the game, whether major or minor, has a different style of speaking that sets them apart.
The voice acting in this game is also spot-on. From funny scenes to sad or engaging sections, the voice acting never lets you down. I still vividly remember encountering Old Olbram in the Trosky region when starting the Frogs side quest. The voice acting of this character is simply hilarious and something most new games won’t even try to emulate.
The dialogue does not shy away from triggering people; curses are used in almost every sentence, which I can truly believe happened in the medieval period, especially with fighting being the norm. The jokes almost always land correctly, and the sad scenes hit the correct spots. The people behind the dialogue and voice acting have truly done a great job and deserve a special mention in the review.
Combat: A Better and More Skill-Oriented System
The combat in Kingdom Come Deliverance was always unique, and it was likely the cause of keeping a big chunk of the players. KCD had directional combat, where you swung your sword based on your mouse’s direction. In KCD 1, players could swing their swords from five different directions and had a separate button to poke at enemies.
The system has been revamped in KCD 2, with only three directional sword swings and a downward direction for the stabbing attack. This makes learning KCD 2’s combat much easier than its predecessor, and I felt it was a big upgrade.
However, with the combat simplified, KCD 2 also adds a ton of new combat mechanics like the Riposte and a new version of the Master Strike. Now you can time your attacks after a parry/perfect block to execute a riposte, which feels really satisfying during combat.
The Master Strike system has changed from being similar to Perfect Block to a much more skill-oriented one. Now, you must attack from the opposite direction of the opponent’s attack during the parry time to trigger a Master Strike, which is a bit harder to master as you must always be aware of your opponent’s sword stance.
New Weapons and Equip Slots
The game also adds guns, crossbows, and halberds to spice the combat further. Halberds were also available in the first game, however, in KCD 2 you can actually store halberds in the inventory, which was not the case previously. Now, you can always keep a type of Halberd equipped if you have the weapon slot, adding another viable weapon type for players to master.
Both the Crossbow and Hand Cannon or Primitive guns have long reload times but pack a stronger punch. The guns might be the wackiest versions I have seen in any RPG, being more of a liability in some scenarios than an asset.
The gun’s aim is extremely bad, and it is by choice. The game also makes a ton of fun about the guns, giving multiple examples of guns that would literally backfire while being used in a battle.
Another really good feature of KCD 2 is the equipment slots. The new belt armor type increases the number of weapons you can have equipped at a time while also allowing players to swap between them using hotkeys quickly.
Skills, Combos, and Perks
Skills in Kingdom Come Deliverance increase the more Henry does that specific activity. For example, if Henry wants to level up his Alchemy skill, he actually needs to craft potions while doing Alchemy. The more Henry’s skill level becomes for each individual skill, the better they get at that particular thing, similar to Skyrim or Valheim.
The more Henry fights, the better he gets at it. As the Skill increases, each skill unlocks perks that players can get according to their playstyle. Unlike the first part, where each perk has a good and bad attached, all the perks in KCD 2 only have positives.
When it comes to combat, perks are not the only thing that will make Henry a better fighter. Henry can learn about different combos from different teachers. This increases your combat maneuverability in most scenarios, allowing you to take down enemies in the late game quickly.
Graphics and Performance
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has a beautiful world, and it ran fairly well on my device. The game gave a solid 60 to 70 FPS at the medium Image Quality settings, only dropping FPS in heavily crowded places like a big fight or big town areas like the Kuttenberg city.
However, I encountered a couple of glitches and bugs during my playtime, which was much less than I expected. Sometimes, the environmental asset wouldn’t load properly, and I had to wait a few seconds for the environment to render correctly.
My Setup:
CPU: Intel i3 12th Gen
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4060
RAM: 8×2 DDR4 RAM @ 3200MHz
SSD: WD SN570 500GB
Monitor: 1080p and 144hz
Besides that, I sometimes got stuck in the falling animation after getting off a horse. There was one particular glitch where I was stuck in the waking-up animation while getting out of bed for close to two minutes.
All these glitches are expected to be solved with the day one patch, but I still think some of these will become a nuisance for other players. Besides these, the game only crashed for me once in the 70 hours of playtime.
Verdict: Should You Buy Kingdom Come Deliverance 2?
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is a dream game for every single-player RPG fan and a perfect sequel to its predecessor. The game has beautiful storytelling that is compelling and hilarious at the same time, and the dialogue and voice acting are also top-notch. KCD 2 offers a massive open world with tons of quality side missions, each with a distinct story. Combat is very receptive and easy to understand but hard to master.
Also, the game leaves it to the players how they want to approach a mission. Whether to steal keys to open a locked door, lockpick it by themselves, or just go on a murder spree to make it all a tad bit easier in the end. Some missions can even be completed using your speaking skills or even past deeds in the game.
Furthermore, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 fixes many of the issues of its predecessor, making the game much easier for new players to get into.
I would 100% recommend that RPG fans buy Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, even if they haven’t played the first part. For those who have already played and loved KCD 1, I don’t think I need to convince them further about the sequel.
If the big RPG titles have let you down in recent years, as they did to me, then Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 can rekindle that wavering flame in your heart for true single-player action RPG titles.
Source: Beebom
