Tag: Medieval

An open-world RPG set in medieval Bohemia, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 takes a slower-paced, down-to-earth, yet occasionally more humorous approach than many of its contemporaries. It’s at its best when protagonist Henry, the lowborn son of a blacksmith and a permanent fish out of water, steps off the beaten path to observe and converse with the game’s mammoth cast, many of whom have a strange story to tell, a bone to pick, or a harebrained scheme to rope you into.

The 2018 original was rightly praised for its sim elements and confidence in the player to get to grips with its often obtuse RPG systems, but I remember it most fondly for its side adventures and the characters you meet therein. Getting drunk with Father Godwin, investigating a coven of ‘witches,’ messing with a public execution, and giving an impromptu – and in my case disastrous – sermon, KCD remained consistently varied throughout its sprawling runtime. The series is far from the self-serious medieval sim you might expect, and after spending the past week exploring the length and breadth of the sequel’s first map, I’m pleased to say Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is packed with the same personality, sense of danger, and bouts of screwball mania that made its predecessor sing.

I won’t be getting into its linear opener or general setup here, so if you’d like to familiarise yourself with the basics, you can always check out my first hands-on preview from last year. For my final preview, I’ll focus on some of what happens when you’re eventually let loose in the open world, including light spoilers for an early-game side quest.

KCD 2 has a propensity to surprise without ever growing so expectedly unexpected as to become inadvertently predictable. Early on, I encounter a group of Cuman army deserters at a small-town tavern. The locals are fearful of the armed band, and Henry is immediately suspicious given the murder of his parents at the hands of Cuman soldiers some months ago. Sure enough, tensions rise and the scene erupts into a brawl, leading the outsiders to leave before the violence escalates from drunken punches to stabbing and slashing. It’s not over yet though, as one of the locals implores me to track down the group and deal with them once and for all.

With murder on my mind and a newly sharpened blade in hand, I make inquiries into their whereabouts and soon happen upon their camp, but I find their sole Czech-speaking member to be warm, welcoming, and surprisingly keen to share a drink, comfort Henry over the loss of his parents, and urge him not to dwell on the past. He, however, seems keen to avoid discussing the raid on Henry’s hometown. Now tipsy enough to feel a possibly false sense of security, I hear another of the Cumans has a crush on a nomad living in a nearby camp, so I offer to interpret for him as he seeks to confess his love to her. Within roughly thirty minutes, we’ve gone from a bar brawl to a cross-country manhunt to a conversation about Henry’s loss, potentially with several of the men responsible, to an enjoyably silly exchange involving two would-be lovers who don’t have a clue what the other is saying. It should be jarring, but I buy it.

Regrettably, my low charisma stat brought on by a recent stint in the stocks and my being covered in dirt result in some drunken stomping on any possible romantic flame. The mounting embarrassment transcends the language barrier and Romeo calls time on my efforts by punching me in the face, sending me back to my new Cuman pal with my tail between my legs. Yet that’s not even half of what unfolds across an evening always teetering on the brink of disaster.

There are more bumps and enjoyable detours in some KCD 2 side quests than most RPGs can muster in a dozen hours of play, and that’s before you consider the possibility of emergent events punctuating the script. But it works because it’s often authored and convincing, even as it oscillates from toilet humor to traumatic violence.

It also works because Henry is a permanent outsider protagonist who never quite fits in with the peasantry, gentry, or nobility. His alienation is heightened even further now that he’s away from home and, due to a series of early-game blunders, traveling alone while flat broke. You seldom know how people will take you, and they can turn on a dime if they believe you’ve stepped ever so slightly out of line. “You really don’t know your place,” says an otherwise amiable lord when I ask if an invite to his son’s wedding is on the cards after going to great lengths to impress and help him.

I’ve spent hours now seeking out side stories, not as part of a desire to grind levels or improve my gear but to spend more time getting to know this world and its odd, irritable, kind, and occasionally dangerous people. I wish to hear their concerns and aspirations, how they pass the time, or perhaps their plans to paint a neighboring town’s prized white bull a different color.

I’m over 25 hours in, and it feels like there could be another 80 still to come given the scope of the emerging narrative and the fact there’s a whole other map I’m yet to see. The thought of committing that much time to most other open-world games would typically repel me, but KCD 2 has earned my attention for the long haul. I can’t imagine fans of the first will find it to be anything less than great, and those coming to the series for the first time will – if you’re willing to work with it – find a charming and ambitious RPG quite unlike anything else out there. Roll on the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 release date, February 4.