Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is the direct continuation of its predecessor. Being the sequel to such a well-rated and highly praised game, KCD 2 had big shoes to fill. And KCD 2 upheld the reputation really well.
Set in 15th-century Bohemia, Kcd 2’s storytelling of the past doesn’t tell history like a book. Instead, it makes you feel what living in the era of uncertainty meant. With constant struggles of war, hunger, and crimes, every day was about survival.
How does KCD 2 make a real medieval period better than a fantasy one?
With no objects of magic and fantasy like magic potions, prophecies, and dragons, KCD 2 keeps itself historically accurate. The game remains grounded by focusing on the simplest of details. From weapons, outfits, and architecture to how people talked and lived their lives, everything reflects the medieval era well.
KCD 2’s relatability with the real world makes the game a lot more fun. Watching the 15th century alive will create a sense of awe in you and will make you appreciate the people of the past. How they lived, they found joy and a reason to be alive even in a time so cruel and uncertain.
Emotionally engaging narrative
KCD 2 continues the story of Henry, a blacksmith’s son caught in the struggles of the medieval period wars. The game creates a bridge between you and Henry by shaping your path forward based on the choices you make.
Henry is not just a character we control with no emotions. He’s also human and throughout the game, he shows many emotions, from anger, fear and even conflict. The choices of morality you make as Henry mold how you see him and how people see you.
The world design is alive
In games with such realism, you are free to do almost anything. Enter any house you want and loot whatever you want. Even the NPCs have only one function of serving the main character. But in KCD 2, everyone has lives and priorities of their own.
Farmers and peasants farm from day to night. Blacksmiths don’t just stand with a hammer in hand. People talk to each other, and gossip spreads. Kill someone and hide their body, and you’ll eventually see people talking about the dead body. Everything feels real and alive. The working of the world is not clockwork; it changes and shifts as we progress.
Eventually, you come to realise that you are not what the world revolves around. You’re merely one of the many citizens of medieval Bohemia trying their best to survive another day.
Religion in the past
Most games treat religion as a really simple thing, or more often, it is depicted as something that’s all good or all bad, with crazy and moronic followers. But the way KCD 2 handles the complexity of religion is just perfect. How people will blindly believe what the preachers of religion say, and how people will cry out to God in anguish during loss.
Even in choices where there’s a religious take on the situation, the game doesn’t act like that’s the only right path. Monks held an influence, and monasteries offering teachings of morality.
Among all this, there are people mourning near graves, people who, in the name of morality, partake in evil acts and believe false superstitions. This gives an experience of a place that’s not just about sword fights and blood, but also a place of culture and religion.
A brutally realistic combat
In most games with sword fighting, the combat is showy and “cool”. With elemental swords like swords engulfed in flames. And it’s always a repetition of the same strategy in every fight: you attack, dodge/parry, and attack again. But with KCD 2, this is not the case.
The combat here is slow and heavy. Every move you make against your enemy carries weight. And this satisfaction of a successful slash with such weight is unmatched. Making mistakes and missing enough swings will leave you bleeding on the ground.
KCD 2 has no unnecessary HUD on screen. No different coloured numbers flying on the screen. It’s just you, your sword, and the battle in front of you. Every fight can induce a fear of death and loss in you. This kind of realism makes for a highly immersive combat system.
You can’t just swing your sword, smash a few buttons, and achieve victory. Choosing the right equipment and how sharp your sword is can be the difference between tasting dirt and victory.
Every fight will feel personal. You’re helping Henry fight for his survival against an enemy. An enemy who’s just like Henry, just trying to survive the difficulties of a war-driven era.
Working hard bears fruit
There’s no way to cheat your way into mastering a skill. Every skill in the game requires patience and practice. Want to master speech? Haggle prices in shops, steal books, or pass speech skill checks in dialogues.
Stealing often increases the skill of thievery. Even riding horses is a skill in KCD 2, and the more you do it, the better you’ll get. Sometimes in beginner levels, you’ll even lose materials of alchemy and miss arrows. This entire system successfully captures how your actions shape Henry throughout his journey.
From exploring to increase scholarship skills to fighting unarmed fights to increase strength, every time you do something, you’re pushing Henry towards becoming better at it.
This creates a personal connection between you and Henry. It also highlights how important it is to practice your skills, because that’s the only way you achieve perfection.
The little things that make life
While a lot of games have a system of sleeping, eating, and washing yourself, these things are not necessary and are nothing but a way to make the game more interactive.
In Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, even the small things matter. Not sleeping enough will make you drowsy. Not eating often will result in weakening of Henry with lowered stats. And not washing often will result in people around you treating you with disgust.
All this might sound unnecessary for a video game. But these not only make the experience of KCD 2 more immersive, but also shows how, even though in a video game, Henry is only human. And he has his limitations, like everyone else in the world.
