Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Preview

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

As kids, we all dream of what we could be or what we could have been. As we grow up, we are introduced to new things and those dreams evolve, grow, and even change. At a a certain point, those aspiring dreams become past fantasies with some never being obtainable. Many children while growing up wish that they could be knights or princesses living in the Middle Ages.

As adults, many gamers still wish that they could experience that world; because of this, games like The Elder Scrolls (Skyrim/ESO/Oblivion), Dragon Age, For Honor, The Witcher, and even Dark Souls became popular. In 2018, a new action role-playing video game called Kingdom Come: Deliverance was released creating a realistic experience set in the Middle Ages.

After the game’s success, Warhorse Studios set out on an adventure to bring gamers a new epic tale. With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 set to release early next month, February 4th, we take a look at the upcoming game and share with you our initial thoughts on it. 

When first jumping into Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 there is a bit of a learning curve. The game starts with you learning some of the core mechanics while a castle is under Seige. This Seige is perceived to be the same one from the end of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

After the Seige, the game starts off by continuing where the epilogue left off and we are reacquainted with Henry as he rides with Sir Hans Capon to Trosky castle. While heading to the castle, some Trosky soldiers ride upon the party and question them about their motives and reasons for being in the area.

We learn that there has been an increase in bandit presence and warns the party to be careful. This sets events into motion that lead to a majority of the party being slaughtered and Henry and Hans having to reestablish themselves (A rags-to-riches story). 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 can be a bit of a headache to start and is a bit of a trial-by-fire scenario that may not be appealing to most. In fact, it wasn’t until after the 10-hour mark that the game actually started to feel fun and that was after dying multiple times.

The game gives you the information to succeed but it is buried in a ton of text that you have to read versus the standard tutorial style; when you are doing a task, you can refer to the codex but that can feel like a repetitive task.

Lockpicking in the game is without a doubt one of the hardest tasks to complete especially on a controller when you compare it to other games with a similar skill. Repairing swords and armor can seem daunting at first, but if you have ever had to work with metal, it is a semi-realistic experience. 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 uses a similar mechanic as other games where you have a superior skill set at the beginning of the game, but due to unforeseen circumstances and a life-threatening injury those stats are Thanos’d.

Improving your stats and skills within the game can feel like a daunting task where the improvements that you make feel minimal and tedious. In fact, the beginning of the game feels like you are thrown out into the world and expected to succeed with everything against you.

Getting money can be a chore unless you decide to steal from or murder the citizens of the land. Doing so can have adverse reactions where citizens will be uneasy and after enough crimes, the guards will be on the hunt for you.

On the map and in your journal, you can see your reputation and how you are viewed in each town; be careful because having enough of a notorious reputation can make you a fugitive in the land. Despite being a criminal, you can always pay fines to make up for your crimes or accept your punishment. 

In Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, these are just some of the aspects players may not like/will hate. 

Saving within the game is more difficult than regular games. Instead of the traditional saving system, you can only save if one of four circumstances are met: 1. You save and quit the game. 2. You start a new quest or reach a checkpoint in the quest. 3. Rest in a bed that you’ve paid for. 4. you have a specific potion that allows you to save; that potion can be brewed, bought, and even stolen from stores/NPCs. If you die, you will have to reload at a previous save point which can result in you losing hours of progress.

Our worst experience with this came when we got extreme food poisoning and kept dying because we were unable to make it to town to buy a remedy or find a brew station in order to create one. 

As previously mentioned, you can save by resting in a bed you’ve paid for. Resting in a bed that isn’t yours and is in a public area can result in you getting punished or annoyed interactions with NPCs. Rooms in the game can be overpriced especially when you are just starting out.

So good luck having a restful night or saving. Unlike the previous Kingdom Come, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 appears to be in survival (Hardcore) mode from the beginning. The game honestly gives off the get-good son vibes. 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

While playing through the game, there have been multiple visual bugs that can ruin the player’s experience. On multiple occasions, there are times when something is supposed to spawn but isn’t there and if you choose to wait (speed up time) they will end up spawning but you will fail an objective which causes some of the NPC characters to get mad at you and confront you for failing to complete the assigned task.

Additionally, there were times when you were in a cutscene or a conversation with someone a different NPC could get angry that you “ignored” them, despite having no chance to respond, and then when you got out of the interaction they attacked; this resulted in our death on multiple occasions.

Now, the final complaint is either a bug or a gameplay mechanic that we do not fully understand. In an instance where you are out in the dark with your torch and you get attacked, the torch is either stored or dropped while you fight. After combat, if you try to pull out your torch, it will say it’s equipped but not give off light.

Despite dropping the previously equipped torch and trying to pull out a new one, the torch would still not light. This led to multiple instances where we had to wander through the woods in the dark and hope that we did not fall off a cliff.

Although it took quite a bit of time to actually get into Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, we have finally gotten to a sweet spot where was can enjoy the game. When we previously said this game isn’t for everyone, we meant it; it wasn’t until about 10 to 12 hours in that we started to enjoy our time with the game.

Wandering everywhere by foot felt tedious and if you decided to steal a horse you would have to watch out for the guard. Combat within the game can be fun but does take a good bit to get used to both the swinging mechanics and the parry mechanics.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

If you are looking for a historical story with a lot of depth, then you will probably enjoy this; however, if you don’t like to be in interactions that can take five to thirty minutes, then you might want to stay clear of the game since some dialog with NPCs can be longwinded. 

Hopefully, when the game releases fully or shortly after there will be a patch introducing multiple difficulties so that gamers of all variety can enjoy it. As it stands at the moment, there is a strong learning curve and build-up that will leave many disinterested and wanting a refund. If you can get past the initial build-up, then you can probably enjoy Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. 

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About

Hardcore gaming enthusiast, cosplayer, streamer, Tall Anime lover (6ft 9), and a die-hard competitor. I have been a Pop-Culture Journalist since 2011 specializing in shooters, Pokemon, and RPGs.


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