Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the ambitious sequel from the underrated 2018 RPG venture that has you in a harsh open medieval world, is just shy of a month away from releasing. Ahead of its ever-nearing release, I spent about 10 hours with the game and am desperate to return to its bizarre and wonderful world.
Like its predecessor, you’re placed in the shoes of Henry of Skalitz, a blacksmith’s son. Following the first game, he thankfully finds himself intertwined with the noblemen and is much less of a nobody. Accompanying the young nobleman Hans on a journey across medieval Europe to rally allies against a pretender to the throne, things quickly take a sharp and comically dark turn where you’re left all alone, broke and barely a piece of cloth on your back. It is up to you to make sense of yourself and survive the authentic but terrifying medieval world, filled with bandits, drunks looking for a fight and preppy nobles who doubt the validity of Henry insisting on his noble status. All are equally hellbent on keeping him down in the dirt.
The Kingdom Come: Deliverance franchise has garnered a lot of love not just because of its intense devotion to historical accuracy and grittiness, but finding humour in the dark. A lot of the characters are based on real people in 15th-century Europe. Fighting enemies, whether one-on-one or one vs many, is brutally hard thanks to deliberately obtuse and sluggish melee combat mechanics where weight is felt with every strike. Each fight could be your last, and thanks to the game’s cruel saving system, (you can only save via rare consumable potions or in a bed you own) you might be set back multiple hours. I found this to be a tough hill to overcome in those early hours I played when I was underequipped, but thankfully in the same breath, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II effortlessly charms you with its irreverent Fable-like humour.
“It feels like developer Warhorse Studios has truly thought of everything.”
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II feels like a game that is borrowing from a lot of different games. Although it’s more grounded in reality, the open medieval world did remind me of the excitement I found walking across Skyrim for the first time almost fourteen (!) years ago. Its most notable likenesses however are immersive sims like Pathologic and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. In this fifteenth-century Europe setting, everything is out to get you, even the elements. Debuffs and dialogue choices that don’t go your way are already aplenty in the game’s opening hours. Weapon and armour degradation can make life harder for you in the already tough combat, but you can go smithing and tool sharpening to keep your gear up and your wits about you. Your reputation will affect how successfully you can talk with NPCs about the world, some outright deciding to hate you and avidly not sell you their wares or help you on your journey. Even the stench, blood and grime on Henry’s clothes have an impact too, disgusting those around you until you opt to cleanse yourself in a trough or bathhouse. It feels like developer Warhorse Studios has truly thought of everything.
The game’s early hours will certainly cut players’ teeth; even more so if you’re like me and starting the series with this entry. Making money is hard. Dealing with more than one enemy at a time is hard. Skills and upgrades allowed me to eventually make more headway. I always enjoy being high in speech and silver-tongued and the game offers plenty of branching options in this expertise early on. Being a diplomat, intimidating, pragmatic or a kind man-of-the-people are all at your disposal to help you through important dialogue moments. On the other side of the spectrum, combat expertise in single or double-handed weaponry, archery and shields with the addition of survival skills such as alchemy, stealth and craftmanship aided me in finally feeling more versed in Deliverance II’s world.
At the end of the day, you get out of this world what you put into it. By doing what you want in-game, you level up those specific skills and can assign perks as you go. More recent RPGS have been taking the ‘dole points out wherever you want them when your entire character levels up’ approach, and I’ve missed this other method. Do you want to get better at drinking and less ruined by its effects in-game? Congrats, you’ve done so by continually drinking alcohol but you’re now addicted to it! You just do what you want: a simple pleasure.
It’s early days, but even then Kingdom Come: Deliverance II already feels dense and rich with things to do and see. Weird quests where you meet weird individuals. A striking open world where green grass and blue skies go as far as the eyes can see. Even then, I’ve only scratched the surface of this epic. I’ve little complaints thus far and am excited to see how it pans out.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II arrives February 4 on PS5, Xbox Series X and S and PC. RPG lovers and immersive sim freaks stay tuned for this one!
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
