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Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance II - Video Preview
After four hours of the historical RPG, we've got some thoughts on Warhorse's grand sequel.
Audio transcription
"Kingdom Come Deliverance might sound like a bit of a hard sell on paper, but from the millions of people that played and loved the first game, it's clear that Warhorse was onto something by delivering an RPG that focused on realism, historical accuracy, and ended up carving out its own niche within the wider genre."
"It had its knocks and bumps, but the game was made by a studio the fraction of the size of a AAA giant.
But now, almost six years and many more Warhorse employees later, we're returning to the story of Henry of Scallets in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is a direct sequel to the original, and so story-wise, next to no time has passed at all, but it's clear to see from the game's improved visuals that a lot of time has passed between releases."
"Character models, and especially armour and environments, all stand out with extra detail and a superior use of lighting from the first game.
The obvious standout is Kutenberg, the major city of the game, but we'll get onto that in a bit.
It would be doing the day spent in Kutenberg, playing Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 in St. Barbara's Cathedral, a disservice if we didn't speak about the amount of effort Warhorse put in into bringing us back to the medieval era."
"Playing the game in a hollowed-out hall was incredibly immersive, you know, apart from the modern machines we used to actually play the game on, and getting stuck into the medieval reenactment elements later in the day was nothing short of an absolute blast.
Shooting a crossbow and longbow, or swinging a polearm against a mannequin in plate armour, was a great way to spend a Tuesday evening, but it also helped me understand why I should perhaps be kinder to Henry when I'm playing Kingdom Come Deliverance and its sequel."
"That stuff is hard and it requires a lot of stamina, so Henry, I believe I too would get absolutely trounced by a pair of bandits in the woods.
Doing the things Henry does for real in the game also strengthened my belief in just how realistic the game is.
It's not a medieval simulation, as you've still got a story to undertake and a character to upgrade, and not everything is by the book, but there are a lot of moving parts in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 to remind you that this game has its feet firmly rooted in the ground of realism."
"Not only is this visible in the combat, but during the first half of the play session, Henry is swiftly reminded of his place in society when he tries to speak for his noble companion without their permission.
It's those little things which draw you back into the realism without pulling you out of having fun.
From there, the game begins in earnest."
"You don't have the option to port in an old version of Henry, and so you can customise him to your liking with different abilities.
As there are new skills and things you might want to prioritise this time around, such as your relationship with your hound, Mutt, it is probably for the best that Henry feels as if he's being reborn this time around."
"But there's also the feeling that those from Kingdom Come Deliverance might feel a bit like they're leaving their Henry behind.
There's a much stronger reset that comes a bit later in the introduction, after Henry and his friend Hans Capon have given enough exposition for new players to get caught up on the events of the previous game's story.
It's a little awkward, but it's an awkward job to do."
"Later on, we're pushed about 50 hours forward into the mid-game and given access to a side quest in Kootenberg.
The sheer size and scale of the city is something Warhorse has talked about extensively and for good measure.
Kootenberg feels alive in a way few gaming cities do, with people going about their business, each of them having a life completely separate from what you do as the player."
"As I was rounding a corner to continue my quest, I saw two residents of the city go from a heated argument to a full-blown brawl, which ended leaving both men bloodied and one on the floor.
I attempted to rob his unconscious body before a kindly woman dragged him somewhere and woke him up."
"This attention to detail went even further during the quest, which saw us try and help out a new fencing school establish itself in the city.
To do that, we had to bait the existing school's members into a duel, but that involved stealing a sword or just turning on our friends and siding with the established fencers."
"I can't do the depth of the quest justice with the words I have, but every little thing was thought of ahead of time, giving you a different way of events playing out, rather than just throwing game over screens at you when you did something outside of the lines."
"Everything that you'll know from Kingdom Come Deliverance has been put back into the sequel, but just given some improvements and streamlining is what we were told before we started playing, and that certainly feels true.
The map is larger, the story has greater scale and stakes this time around, and yet the clearest example of this improvement without revolutionising everything is in the combat."
"Now, each weapon has its own unique attack patterns and style.
You've still got the same directional attacks from the first game, but not everything follows the same rules, which is a godsend even for someone who's played the first game."
"As Kingdom Come Deliverance shows the story of Henry going from boy to man, the sequel builds on the lovable but sometimes clunky original, and feels like it's the game Warhorse has always wanted to make.
It's tricky to get the whole picture, as even four hours of playtime isn't enough to do more than scratch the surface with something like Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, but it looks to be exactly what those diehard RPG fans are looking for."
"The only caveat I can say is that it can be slow at times.
Because of Warhorse wanting us to experience every detail, every moment, there are times where that can come across as tedious.
But this is very much a matter of taste, and to someone who's loved Kingdom Come Deliverance before, it does appear you'll be getting a bigger, better version of that in the sequel."
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