Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
It will be exactly seven years in a few days since the long-in-development and even longer-awaited Kingdom Come video game came to us: Deliverance. At that time, the Czech game studio led by Daniel Vávra released a realistic simulator of medieval life in the Czech Posázaví region. After some initial problems with gameplay and frequent bugs, the title gradually developed into one of the best Czech video games in history and received positive feedback from around the globe. But then a lot of things happened. An independent studio was bought by another even bigger studio (now Embracer Group), and Dan Vávra became a “near-billionaire” and a controversial celebrity on social media. But his team continued to cook up a sequel, which you can play starting February 4. So what Kingdom Come: Deliverance II really is?
It’s fun, and a big one at that. That’s what needs to be said at the outset. The second installment of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is bigger, more elaborate, more massive, and simply better in every way than the first. It’s also far less buggy from the beginning of my playing experience than the first installment was seven years ago. Within these first impressions, I can evaluate my roughly fifteen hours of gameplay so far (without spoilers, of course), and whoever liked the first part will love the second. Henry from Skalitz and Hans Capon from Pirkstein really drive into the forest at the end of the first episode and drive out of it at the beginning of the second. It’s all bigger in terms of in-game maps and much more detailed in terms of the combat, the armor used, the literature available, and all the lore right in the game. Whoever enjoys immersing themselves in books in the medieval Bohemian Kingdom, there’s plenty of content to be found here too. But that’s not why most of us play this game. So on to the main thing. What’s the combat like?
After about 30 minutes of play in my first fight (a practice fight on the training ground as part of the tutorial), I immediately got the impression that there had been some form of simplification. But the opposite is true. Different schools of swordplay with multiple weapon types have been added, and unarmed combat has become more refined. It is then possible to create different combos with each of these. Sword fighting feels as challenging to me in the end as it did in the first game, and to take on a whole group of enemies as a lone fighter requires several hours of both exp and hard drill. The enemies are certainly a bit more difficult and sometimes pull some incredible combinations of punches on you. Thus, at the beginning of the game, I experienced a constant feeling of uncertainty while traveling between towns, that a bunch of bandits could come from anywhere to “finish me off”.
Here, the developers didn’t make any concessions to gameplay as they did with the first game. By the way, the game has only one difficulty so far, and it can really hurt the rat in the beginning if you’re not careful. You won’t see simplistic lock-picking either, and console players like me will have to pack all their patience with them for the lock-picking minigame. But it will only get better as you progress and level up this skill, don’t worry. Plus, there are a couple of mills with a “near infinite” chest where you can get some serious lock-picking practice.
The scenery and environment in the game are beautiful. The surroundings of Trosky once again breathe a very familiar landscape, and in this respect, Warhorse Studios plays an irreplaceable role in promoting the Czech rich historical countryside. Millions of players worldwide will see that we have not only meadows and forests but also ponds and sandstone towns. You can enjoy them as much as you like. The dialogue between the characters in the cities and the little movies that connect the game sequences are also more elaborate, and the overall storytelling is more cinematic and epic.
Furthermore, the forging is new. Forget the tedious sword sharpening at the grinding wheel. Here, you pick up a pair of pliers and a hammer, and between the forge and anvil, you can craft horseshoes, axes, swords, maces, bullets, and arrows. Alchemy has also been slightly modified with the addition of a range of potions. You can wash yourself not only in the tubs, but also at the soap ford, where you can wash your clothes yourself. They will then shave your horse in the stables, on which you can hang a few extra ornaments.
As far as the game’s fluidity and performance are concerned, there is nothing to complain about. I’m playing on a Playstation 5 Pro in one single mode, which supports 60fps and 1080p resolution. Then, it is upscaled to 4K using PSSR AI technology. The textures render mostly without issue, but more importantly, I haven’t experienced a single bug that has prevented or stalled gameplay and progression in main or side quests. Not once. I have also never once crashed the game.
The only issue I have regarding gameplay is with the horse controls. However, there is the added aid of full path tracking and orientation on the compass, where it displays perhaps a bit too many things. I have a little trouble figuring out which way to run, but it’s nothing serious.
The last thing is the evaluation of the game in terms of how “Czech” it is. Being a console gamer, I couldn’t enjoy the fan dub of the first game. At this point, however, I thank its creators because their spontaneous enthusiasm contributed to Warhorse doing professional Czech audio for the second installment. Thus, as in the first, Henry is dubbed by Richard Wagner. But besides him, you will hear several well-known Czech dubbers and several very well-known Czech actors who have lent their voices and faces to the game. You will also see references to Czech pop culture or Easter eggs that come directly from our culture. And a couple of times, you will also influence the course of Czech history a little bit, which is not bad at all for an ordinary blacksmith’s son from a village in Skalica.
My first impressions are very positive. I’m a player who left around 700 hours in Posázaví in the first episode. The surroundings of Troski have absorbed me in the same way, and I enjoy exploring it perhaps a little more than I did in 2018. I think you’ll enjoy it just as much. The story is full of twists and turns and surprising moments, and it’s properly dark, brutal, and really unrelenting in places, but more on that in the review that will come out a bit later.
