Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was surely a surprising announcement given the somewhat shaky reception of the original game, and now, having played through the game over the last few weeks, it has shown that it’s certainly been worth the wait! With Gareth and Eduardo in tow for the ride, we take a look at our experiences diving into Bohemia, with what we most liked about our time there and how it shapes up against the competition.
So get your multi-layered pads and armour, sharpen your family’s heirloom sword, and be sure to concoct plenty of healing potions, because we are taking a good look at this early hit for 2025!
GB: I never played the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance, although I certainly heard of it, specifically regarding its apparent dedication to historical accuracy, while at the same time actual historians challenged its somewhat questionable whitewashing (as in, making out the population of Bohemia in the early 15th Century was purely white). The sequel has tried and mostly succeeded in sidestepping culture war issues, particularly as it features an increased variety of same-sex romance options, should the player be so inclined. What I can say is that I’ve been really enjoying the game; its historical setting, characters and gameplay are all remarkably engaging. While the story is a direct continuation of the original, as a new player I didn’t feel like I was missing out on too much backstory, although I confess it did make me want to go back and try the first game!
ER: You definitely should go back and play the first after you are done with this. You’ll get to see how much of an improvement this sequel is to that, but also notice how that one served as a pretty good base to it in the first place. I have to say those cultural, gender, and racial changes are definitely for the better and are well implemented here. Race in particular is quite amusing as a darker-skinned character is introduced half way through the game and becomes somewhat of a figure in the story from that point on. I won’t spoil to you what he’s all about, safe to say that it circles around what would otherwise feel cliché or forced, which I can only commend Warhorse for doing it so well.
GB: I think Henry of Skalitz is a great lead character, feeling very down to earth and broadly sensible, despite his past trauma of watching his parents get slaughtered. His liege, Sir Hans Capon of Pirkstein, is a lazy brat but a loveable one, who genuinely cares about Henry. All of the voice performances are great with Tom McKay and Luke Dale reprising their roles from the first game. The main plot is fairly linear but the side quests can take you in a variety of different directions, and interestingly can actually benefit you in the main story. For example if you complete a side quest to help someone, you might encounter them later on in the main quest, and they will remember and acknowledge your previous assistance. The arc of the story broadly mirrors history, following the civil war between the supporters of the deposed King Wenceslas IV, and the invading Sigismund.
ER: The historical aspect of Kingdom Come Deliverance was always its most attractive point to me. As someone who grew up as far away from Eastern Europe as me, getting a glimpse at a unique scene in a videogame was just plain awesome. Plus, the studio did it in such an immersive way that I couldn’t help but get a huge kick out of it. Also, I think Henry is a much more fleshed out character this time around. In the last game, we saw him turning from a hick to a warrior, basically, while still retaining his ways back from when he was just the blacksmith’s son. Now, Warhorse gave him much more to work with and expand his personality further, which went a long way into making me like him much more this time around. Same goes for Hans – he goes through many changes throughout the story, with us getting to see some cracks in his arrogant nobleman visage, letting through some much needed humanity.
GB: Turning to the gameplay, the combat is quite satisfying, a mixture of positioning and movement which feels a lot more in depth than the usual first-person flailing seen in games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. You can move your sword to aim at different parts of a person’s body, defending your own body against their attacks, and then counter-attacking if timed correctly. Likewise chaining several attacks together aimed at different areas can lower their stamina and provide an opening for the killer blow. It did take me a little bit of time to get the hang of it as in the beginning you’re very lightly armoured and only a few hits can bring you down, but later on as you upgrade your skills and equipment, it gets easier.
ER: Having played both games to completion, I can say that I felt like the combat has seen a vast improvement in this sequel. By the end of the original, I was basically a murder machine, thanks to all the skills and perks I had unlocked up to that point. In this one, even though I’ve played it for basically double the time I did the previous one, each new encounter felt equally dangerous and up in the air, really. I also saw plenty of new ways to fight this time around, not just through weapon variety, but also in techniques. You can really set into your own style now, and that makes the game much deeper and worth playing again differently.
GB: I was definitely impressed by the scale of the game. The open world consists of two pretty huge maps, with the town of Kuttenberg (Kutna Hora in current day Czechia) forming the centre of one, and Trosky Castle the other. Each map is filled with little villages and hamlets, as well as numerous unmarked side quests and random encounters. You’re able to ride around the world on your horse, which is easily the fastest way to get about, or you can get off and explore the countryside on foot. This is absolutely an RPG so you’ll need to be managing your nourishment by regularly eating food, your energy by sleeping, and of course your overall health. Using skills and doing quests and activities allows you to level up, gaining various upgrades and perks for doing so. The menu system is very detailed and feels like something out of a much older type of RPG, akin to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, but it’s intuitively designed and features lots of helpful tooltips.
ER: The map is something else that I saw some vast improvements from the first game. In this, you really feel like you’re out there exploring a real living world with pure randomness everywhere. Not that the first KCD missed that, but since it was relatively more linear, you didn’t get as much of a sense of a broad world as in the new one. Both of the locales that you mentioned serve as examples of how much better the studio has gotten at building a world that you want to explore and poke around in. Kuttenberg in particular is absolutely lush with life, full of secrets that are just a blast to discover. I must have spent 20-30 hours just living and breathing it all in, playing the part of the good-natured helper during the day and robber at night. So fun.
GB: In the end, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is such a big, expansive experience, with a very enjoyable and well performed story, supplemented by a myriad number of side stories. It takes quite an old-school approach to game design, rarely fully holding the players hand and expecting them to use their initiative and intelligence, but also features a variety of nice quality-of-life upgrades which make accessing its content easier. When compared against the procedural boredom of Bethesda’s Starfield its night and day, and no doubt Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was created on a fraction of the budget. It also runs flawlessly; one of the most well-optimized PC releases I have seen in years. That alone is worth considerable praise. Add on top a detailed, intricate and interesting historical role-playing experience on top, and it’s safe to say there aren’t many games quite like it.
ER: Yeah, this game is a good example of how to craft an incredible experience under a much lighter budget, and while I wouldn’t go out and call it indie, which would be an exaggeration, it’s surely one of the most impressive releases in terms of how well crafter it is and in the way that everything feels like it was carefully molded and not just tossed in for the sake of checking off a list of features. Other developers and publishers ought to look into this and learn a thing or two about designing worthwhile immersive RPGs. Knowing them, though, that probably won’t happen (lol). I’m sad that this is probably the last time we’ll check in with Henry, but I hope that Warhorse will consider further expanding that world and giving us more looks into their region’s rich history!
