Our story begins in a long forgotten time of 2018, a truly magical era when most singleplayer games released in full and without microtransactions, and the possibility of impending doom due to a worldwide biohazzard was an idea reserved exclusively to the plot of Resident Evil.
El Basadito just saw a new cool game come out, and it looked like a realistic take on medieval Oblivion set in Eastern Europe, so he was already sold on it. And while Kingdom Come Deliverance had some obvious problems with it, which mainly were effects of limited budget, it showed potential of being a great game, but we’re not talking about that game today. Little did he know, that 7 years later, it’s sequel would be a solid contender for GOTY 2025.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is an example of what happens when talented people get money. Nearly every aspect of the first game has been improved to the point of perfection, the game looks great, even if a little dated technologically, I’ll take it any day to a great looking game using the hot mess called Unreal Engine 5. Yes, the movement and the animation is a little clunky, and I would love a little wind simulation add some life to many of the beautifully designed forests of medieval Bohemia, but I think we’re just spoiled by a wide palette of bad games using the latest eye candy tech.
I’m gonna be honest with you. I’m really tired of long video games. I’m sure many adults with a full time job (and God forbid, families or other hobbies) will agree with me here. I don’t feel like sinking 100 hours of my free time into a game if 80 of those hours feel like I’m doing chores for characters who’s name I can’t even remember. Just give me a good 10-20 hour game that feels like every minute of it counts. That being said, clocking at 126 hours for my first playthrough of KCD2 I didn’t feel any fatigue of it at all, and I would even go as far as to say that the development of the last segment of the main story was a little too quick for me and I wanted more of it.
I really enjoyed the quest design – less bloat, more substance. KCD2 doesn’t have a lot of quests for a sandbox game of this scale, but every side quest is long a meaningful. This is a great way for the players to connect with the characters, have memorable experiences and have a feeling of impact on the world they’re taking part in.
The writing masterfully balances drama and comedy, without feeling disconnected from the narrative or otherwise out of place. This juggling of themes keeps you on your toes, and perhaps plays a big part in why I wasn’t tired of playing this game for over 100 hours, and will probably replay it again in the future. And let me tell you, some scenes in this game are outright hilarious. I don’t wanna spoil it in this review, feel free to experience it yourself.
The character writing is where this game really shines. Everyone feels alive and complex, and I absolutely loved getting to know the many personalities who accompanied Henry on his adventure. This kind of character depth enhances the already well written quests greatly, forces you to be invested in the overall story, and leaves you with lasting memories of what you’ve achieved even after you’re done with the game.
Speaking of quest design, both the first and the second game really throw me back to the good old Morrowind/Oblivion days when you couldn’t just switch your brain off and follow the quest marker like a brainless zombie. Quests in KCD2 feel engaging, and while it doesn’t just throw you into the water until you figure it out, it does provide that rewarding itch when you find a creative solution to whatever typical Easter European problem you might have.
But how does it play? Well, it’s just “pretty good”. The gameplay feels a little dated and perhaps technologically limited, even if it didn’t deter from my overall experience. The combat system migrated from the first game with minor simplifications, and while a fellow degenerate For Hobbit player like myself enjoyed it, I found it a little too easy, especially once you get some basic gear. Fishing for masterstrikes when fighting multiple enemies is still a strategy that the game is unable to punish, and considering that you will probably be kitted out in the best possible gear around the halfway mark of your playthrough, it just feels like the enemies can’t compete.
And speaking of gear, at the current state of the game, if you’re even a little bit like me (a loot whore) you’ll very quickly get to the point where you have all the best loot in the game, enough money to buy a castle or two, and retire. The game, unfortunately, doesn’t let you do any of this so you’re just stuck between a rock and a hard place, the rock being your desire to loot every corpse and the hard place being the fact that you have 100,000 groschen and nowhere to spend it or nobody to sell all your loot to.
WARHORSE!!! Please give shopkeepers some money?! What’s the point of all the perks that raise my selling prices if one of my dozens of armors costs 5,000 groschen and the richest merchant in the land has 800 at most?
Not to say that the game is perfect. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it an RPG, but an Action RPG at most. It might have more depth than Horizon Zero Dawn, sure (which is not an RPG, yes, I said it) but I didn’t really feel an impact from my choices throughout the game. And even though I don’t feel like it subtracted from my experience, it would be nice to see some lasting consequences from all the weird shenanigans my Henry did throughout his adventures.
Despite its drawbacks, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, shapes out to be one of the best games I’ve played in a while. It’s rare to see a polished (and finished) singleplayer sandbox game with great written story, that doesn’t tire you out by meaningless and unmemorabke quests, and KCD2 delivers just that. I’ll be eagerly looking forward for whatever Warhorse Studios decide to pursue in the feature.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 shines in a field left barren by modern game studios. It delivers a great written story in an entertaining sandbox, which more than cover up its rough technological drawbacks and leave me looking forward to coming back to it again in the future.
