Going into a medieval setting, you don’t often get the chance to approach a situation in multiple ways. Deciding how you solve a conflict or address a problem isn’t normally what a knight would do. But when desperate times call for desperate measures, you must act. Even if you don’t know what the consequences of your actions lead to, you must soldier on. If the consequences are negative, you brush them aside and keep going.
Checkpoint Gaming recently had the chance to get our hands on Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and experience this decision-making first-hand in a taste of what’s to come.
The main character Henry is meeting with a Germanic swordmaster in a village. The swordmaster has a charter from the king and has the right to remain in the town. However, the king has been kidnapped and his authority isn’t stable. The village’s sword guild doesn’t appreciate having a foreign sword fighter competing against them.
Even with subtitles, it’s hard to fully understand everything the Germanic swordmaster says. He and another Germanic companion often speak in their native tongue, making it difficult to grasp. Henry doesn’t comprehend and often requires a translation to fill him in. It’s nice to have characters acknowledge the difficulty of not knowing another language, and the impact that can have on connecting with one another.
The Germanic swordmaster has a decent time meeting Henry and proposes a spar, helping you practice combat. Despite going in from a first-person perspective, combat is complex. You must read the enemy’s movements and see if they go in for a block or a strike. Enemies don’t rush at you like they have no disregard for life, a flaw many other first-person combat adventures possess. They look at their surroundings, flank you, or taunt you to lower your guard. The feeling of thinking but also acting on reflex resembles a real fight.
Eventually, the village sword guild comes in to break up the spar. As things get tense, Henry must decide what to do. Intervening is complex but choosing to do nothing gets the Germanic swordmaster kicked out of town. Even if you choose to step in, choosing the wrong options means you might not get the resolution you want. It’s nice to have a variety of consequences that make you think about the choices you commit to.
If you at least don’t get the Germanic swordmaster kicked out of town, your next task is to steal a sword. The village sword guild values that sword and having it stolen would be devastating. Putting the sword in a public building would ruin the guild’s reputation and they would have to accept the Germanic swordmaster. You are told to steal the sword without killing anyone but how you steal it is up to you.
Stealing in broad daylight means fewer locked doors but more patrols. Waiting until nighttime means everyone is asleep but the doors are locked. If you are spotted you can fight back but penalise yourself in a future quest. Something Kingdom Come Deliverance II does well is preventing the outright failure of a quest. Even if you get spotted during your mission, you can still complete it. You just deal with the consequences at a later time.
Completing quests isn’t simple and there’s a lot to practice required. Lockpicking was a difficult activity to adapt to. There were also unexpected benefits like being able to stealthily knock out targets, though it was never guaranteed. Getting caught was easy because your activities produce a lot of sound if you fail. Holding back the temptation to kill if you were caught was difficult but it prevents a bad resolution for the quest.
The preview wasn’t long but you could feel the complexity of combat during your bouts with enemies. Not knowing which choices lead to a positive outcome makes you think carefully about what you do. You see how immersive the world of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is after a short time, making us want more after the experience ends. It’s exciting to see how the game will be when you can see Henry influence the world more than just a quest. While this was only a mere taste of the upcoming medieval RPG, there’s seemingly a lot to look forward to.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 releases on February 4 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Checkpoint Gaming was flown to Sydney as a guest of PLAION ANZ for the purpose of this preview.
About the Author
Victor Tan
He/Him
Victor spends his time trying to help players out of tricky situations and give them the guidance they need to succeed. Outside of the video game world, you can find him training at the gym or doing simple improv activities.
