Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Review (Read or Watch)

Why would you play an RPG that’s like real life when you can have fantasy instead?

Why have a game like Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 with hunger and laundry when you could rather slay dragons or wave wands around while shouting “Wing Gardengnome Leviosa”?

There’s a reason why movies with weapon-wielding warriors like in a fantasy world, like Lord of the Rings, can be entertaining in one way, while others grounded in reality, like Gladiator, can be just as entertaining in a whole different way.

All you need to make it work is a good story with interesting characters and great writing – easy, right? But it’s trickier for video games, which also need attractive visuals and fun, engaging gameplay.

WATCH THE VIDEO REVIEW (or scroll down to keep reading):

With a big crowd of existing fans expecting an even bigger, better experience than the first, and the need to accommodate newcomers arriving at hype train station, delivering a sequel to Kingdom Come Deliverance that lives up to expectations was always going to be a monumental task.

“KCD2” has to nail it twice in a row or risk converting existing fans into angry mobs, and if you’re a newcomer wondering what all the fuss is about and are thinking of jumping on board, you’re going to want to keep reading before making your decision.

This is Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Let’s take a look.

History in the Making

If you, like me, have absolutely no idea what happened in the first game, there is now an official video from Warhorse that can catch you up.
In terms of the story though, the very short version of where things kick off is that it’s early 15th-century Bohemia, and you’re Henry, a man who used to be a peasant—but now isn’t.

After continuing on from where the first game left off, an unfortunate series of events leaves you stranded in a foreign region, unknown, penniless, and unable to prove your identity or find a way home.

World of War and Craft

As a newcomer to the franchise, I’m blown away by just how authentic the dialogue feels and how well it’s delivered. Not to mention how funny the writing is at times and how true-to-life some of the scenarios end up playing out.

It exposes just how predictable and lifeless a lot of gaming dialogue is these days.

Make no mistake, things can get pretty dark too, leaving you feeling weighed down by the repercussions of a decision or a direction in the story. The fact that it delivers such a wide range of emotions is, in itself, really impressive.

The level of detail in the world is astonishing, and the daily routines of the NPCs are really impressive too. Yes, many games, especially open-world RPGs, provide worlds that feel alive, and many of them have NPCs that go about their day, but this is different.

It’s a world of rules that are authentically aligned to history, where Christianity is a massive part of the culture, and rules need to be adhered to, such as carrying a torch with you in town after dark to show that you’re not skulking around and up to no good.

Your reputation heavily affects your experience, so you’ve got to make sure you play nice when it counts. This is a game full of people that don’t give a rat’s ass about you and a world that is very happy to carry on without you in it.

If someone tells you to be somewhere at a certain time, you’d better be there at the right time, or they’ll tell you off. If you’re on a mission and ask for extra time to look around before continuing, and then take your sweet time hoovering up the sweet loot, the other characters will straight-up leave without you, and your mission will update to let you know you missed the rest of the mission and you have to head back to town and wait for their return.

Medieval Kombat

KCD2, like KCD1, wants to give you an authentic, hands-on, manual medieval experience.

Combat, while apparently more accommodating than the first game, is threatening, difficult, and dangerous. It can be frustrating when you suck at it, but fun when you get better at it.

If you’re new to Kingdom Come Deliverance, the slower manual elements could really turn you off. While the potions you use to save are easier to come by and there are now auto-saves at major story or mission points, you’ll undoubtedly feel the cruel sting of losing a load of progress now and then. Some of you might just find the game too slow, punishing, and, well, boring.

In short, this game isn’t for everyone, and it shouldn’t be.

Fortune Favors the Brave

Trying to please everyone is a perfect recipe if you want games that are lukewarm, safe, bloated, and forgettable. You won’t ever create something special if you’re not willing to alienate a portion of your audience.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 took risks, and those risks paid off because it sold over 8 million copies and got a sequel. Now, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 continues to carry that torch.

For me, as someone who came in completely blind, it was a very unique and special experience. If you, too, are a newcomer, jumping straight into the sequel like I ultimately ended up doing will challenge you.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 challenged me to rewire my brain and think differently about how a video game world can be navigated and experienced. Because I’ve stuck with it, it’s delivered immersion, tension, true role-playing, and emotional beats that I’ve rarely experienced in an open-world RPG.

For one of the first times ever, I really did just feel like a guy existing in a world. You’re not special, and you’re also not all-powerful, so it makes you think differently. It makes you react differently. It made me approach situations differently when I knew I could get my ass kicked. It made me approach situations where I wanted to talk things out first, the way I would in real life, rather than how it is in other games when you know you could just come in swinging—and that’s pretty special.

If you’re already a big fan of the first game or one of those KCD fans in my preview video’s comments that were boasting about spending hundreds and even thousands of hours playing the first game, I have no doubt that you’re in for a hell of a treat.