Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is a massive game that is packed with detail. Whether it’s the huge amount of different types of armour you can wear, the reams of codex entries giving in depth background information, or how easy it is to die to a pack of wolves, it’s filled with so much stuff. Blacksmithing, swordfighting, hunting, duels, thieving, there’s a lot to keep track of. It’s in many ways a Medieval immersive sim more than what is commonly called an RPG, and can be thoroughly engrossing because of this, but the ambitions to create such a broad world can fray at the edges.
The story picks up from the cliffhanger ending of the first game, as Henry goes with Sir Hans as part of his retinue to deliver a message of peace to Lord von Bergow of Trosky Castle. Unsurprisingly, things don’t go according to plan and bandits attack whilst you’re having a bath in a lake, resulting in the loss of your horse, armour, weapons, allies, the letter for Bergow, and eventually splitting you up from Sir Hans, who storms off after an argument. Now with nothing but filthy beggars clothes to your name, you still need an audience with von Bergow, but you simply can’t get one because you look like a commoner. Ew, stinky!
From this opening, you’re drawn in several different directions. Wanting to meet von Bergow means trying to get into a wedding he’ll be attending, but that means you need to get in the good graces of the locals. The best way to do that is by picking up a trade like blacksmithing – Henry’s the son of a blacksmith, after all – and odd jobs to help people. Alternatively you can just hare off and try to find Henry’s dog, Mutt. This ends up being more of a wild goose chase than a dog hunt, taking you to unexplored parts of the map, filled with dangers.
Mutt himself is… strange. As you interact with him, your Houndsmanship skill will improve, allowing you to unlock perks that let him to do things like bark to attract attention or hunt down game, except when I’ve used this he mostly followed our prey around without managing to bite it. NPCs also vary between liking him so much that you can hear “silly doggy!” every few minutes, to being very annoyed about his mere existence. I once snuck into a room in a castle to use an alchemy station and could hear a guard outside the entire time telling my dog off. When I got outside, there were actually six different guards crowded about Mutt telling him to move. Silly doggy, indeed.
This isn’t even the strangest thing you can level up in this game. Every stat that you have is levelled up through performing relevant actions, a video game equivalent to practice making perfect, and through this you’ll boost your swordsmanship, smithing, thievery, and so on. This goes so far as to letting you get better at drinking alcohol. Over time you’ll become resistant to the negatives of being drunk, such as hangovers or (ironically) addiction, whilst the positives such as a boost to charisma last longer, not to mention being able to drink more before getting properly drunk.
In general, it’s good to do a little bit of everything. I focused on the things I’d expect an honourable wannabe knight to be doing, which excluded things like thievery, but I quickly felt that the game was pushing me into situations where I needed to do things outside of my comfort zone. If you haven’t been levelling thievery when you reach a mission that requires stealth, you can struggle a lot.
I, myself, had a disastrous three hour stretch after being tortured where I was trying to sneak away whilst what seemed like an army of guards were patrolling the hilly woods through which I was sneaking. I died over, and over, and over, much to my frustration, particularly since being tortured had halved all my stats. This also happened at the end of a very lengthy questline that, whilst cool, was exceptionally long.
That’s a running theme in this game; everything takes a long time. It’s exceptionally long-winded and, much like the intensely detailed mechanics elsewhere, whether or not this is for you is going to depend on either your patience or your enthusiasm for medieval politics. Conversations with everyone from smelters to lords can be absolutely packed with information, whether interpersonal details about other characters, background information about smelting, mining or countless other topics. Much of it is optional, but you never know what will be necessary to learn and you can sometimes feel a little worn out after a lengthy chat you’ve just had. To be honest, I really enjoy the incredible amount of detail, but it won’t be for those with a shorter attention span.
With a game of this scope, it’s no surprise that there’s some nagging issues, such as sometimes not actually explaining things clearly enough. Even now, dozens of hours into the game there are details I am still working out, such as why, when blacksmithing, I get the exact sparks and ringing sound that signals a good hit, but Henry comments about nearly breaking the piece I’m smithing. Add to that some clumsiness with aiming hammer blows and it makes it feel like it’s not working properly, or that I’ve missed a particular nuance. Still, heating up metal and working it into a sword here is far more immersive and bespoke than a hasty QTE or rhythm action mini-game you might expect.
That’s part of why I just can’t get enough of the game. It’s unique and challenging, with a specific vision that it doesn’t compromise at all. Going on a trip with a lord early on was a highlight, it was like it was taken out of a medieval drama and incredibly immersive. I even enjoyed a wedding as I was kept entertained by various hijinks, such as regularly hunting down someone to stop them getting drunk, or getting destroyed three times in a row in a duel.
Starting off in the verdant countryside surrounding Trosky Castle, going between villages and hunting through the woods on missions, the large city of Kuttenberg is a big change of pace. The streets are packed with stalls and traders, there’s crowds that will gather to see someone’s crimes read out as they stand in the stocks, and generally the feel of a hustling, bustling city. The streets can get busy, but there’s maybe not enough people consistently to really sell the population count you’d expect, though it’s convincing enough when compared with villages around Trosky.
Some of the illusion is broken by bugs and other minor moments of weirdness, many of which we expect to be to addressed with a day 1 patch, but they thankfully rarely affect the game experience too much. There’s some visual glitches with rain and some flickering lights, for example, and NPCs can get a little lost, walk in circles or get caught between bits of the environment. They also like to bunch up in corridors and stairs, blocking the way through, which isn’t helped by the typically cramped medieval buildings. Reactions to you and the permissiveness of the world are also inconsistent feeling. You can’t really tell if you’re allowed in somewhere without just barging in and seeing how people react, but even if it’s someone you’re acquainted and generally cordial with, they might snap at you rudely.
The inventory and the UI in general looks quite nice, with a skeumorphic medieval style, but the maps, inventory, quest log screens slide a lot of details and important information off the side of the screens in a way never feels natural. It’s a bit of a pain.
On the other hand, and very much in keeping with the tactile crafting and jobs you do, I don’t mind the lockpicking minigame, where you wiggle your right analog until you find the sweet spot, then try to keep it in the same relative position as the lock rotates. It’s takes a bit to get used to it, but works quite well and at least it’s not the same lockpicking minigame or Pipemania from every other game in the world.
