Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Review

As an iterative sequel, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II remains stalwart in its dedication to historical authenticity both in how it represents 15th century Bohemia – from its architecture to the decorative elements of its books’ pages – as well as how it plays. Involved and methodical, this slow burn of an RPG has polished many of its predecessor’s rough edges yet still requires just as much patience from anyone looking to reap its bountiful rewards.

Its story picks up where the first game left off, as Henry of Skalitz and Hans Capon set off to the Trosky region, attempting to gain more support for the imprisoned King Wenceslas IV. War still rages across the country and, soon enough, the two find themselves in a bit of a bind after a run-in with local bandits severely hampers their plans and wounds Henry, leaving him without many of the abilities previously learned.

While not the most original approach to resetting the main character’s power level, forcing him from riches back to rags paves the way to creating conditions for some of its most humorous moments and greatest quests. Once envoys of a nobleman, Henry and Hans have to rub shoulders with the peasantry and work odd jobs not just to survive but also to get closer to their original goal.

Further on, the ambitious main story serves many twists, being a veritable rollercoaster of emotions that sees you dancing and drinking with the locals, thieving, digging graves, fending off a horde of angry villagers, as well as charging into the chaos of battle not quite knowing whether you’ll get the chance to take in the scenery again after all is said and done.

From the first run-ins with nobles, you’re reminded that Henry – although pursuing his own goals, driven by the inner struggles established in the first game – is just another man who has to do his best to navigate power struggles while staying in the graces of those above him on the social ladder. Cutscenes show strong figures discussing the nature of war and politics, bringing to the forefront how matters were often settled during the period and how little human lives could mean.

Poor pacing occasionally rears its ugly head, as showcased by a few too many instances of following characters around. Several important conversations also drop too much information all at once, while KCD2’s lowest points occur during moments of forced stealth that led me to restart a little too often.

Outside of its scheming and sieges, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II takes inspiration from older RPGs to make its world feel more alive. NPCs have set routines and react accordingly to your deeds, while random encounters create emergent stories when you least expect them. Guards head into the guardhouse to leave their equipment in locked chests before heading to sleep. They pick it back up before heading on patrol. At night, you can trace their paths by the flames of their lit torches.

Villagers, whether shepherds or shopkeepers, perform tasks based on set schedules, which you can patiently observe. This tells you when you can do business with the local tailor, but also when you’re less likely to be spotted stealing their wares or cause mischief by sneakily setting sheep loose from their pens.

Once, while traveling across the countryside, I exchanged pleasantries with a fisherman before going past a pair of satisfied bandits who, surprisingly, paid me no heed. A few meters ahead, I was met with the sight of a bloodbath, as a noble and his retinue lay dead in the middle of the road, their bodies robbed clean.

Turning back, I found the fisherman bloodied, lying next to a rock. It wasn’t hard to piece things together, so I got on my trusty steed and chased the bandits while delivering swift justice. Retrieving the stolen equipment, I sold it off to the local fence, bringing me closer to a shiny new sword I was eyeing.

Although the reactivity of the world does have its limits – villagers and guards seemed unwilling to help me fight off armed bandits and wolves on a few occasions –, it encourages you to consider how you behave. Steal too much from a village and its people will connect the dots, pegging you as a thief, even if nobody catches you in the act.

This leads guards to confront you the next time you pass through. Be antagonistic or violent and they’ll repay you in kind, but help them and ask them about their day and you may find it easier to get a discount when purchasing items – provided you also wear nice clothes and don’t forget to wash off the blood of your enemies.

As far as exploration goes, you only have sporadic quest markers to point you toward certain bigger locations. It’s usually up to you to find many of the smaller points of interest. Both of the game’s sizeable maps have their fair share of forests and empty fields but, in doing so, allow you to simply enjoy tranquil horse rides through the beautiful Bohemian countryside.

Every now and then, I’d spot a small crossroads shrine or a ruined church in the distance. Making my way to these landmarks evoked similar feelings to when I was uncovering Cyrodill’s many wonders in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

These locations might not reliably offer shiny new weapons and armor, but reaching them and wondering why that building might have burned down proved a reward unto itself. More importantly, it’s a perfect example of how allowing the world and player to breathe is not as big a tragedy as some modern open-world titles would suggest.

Kingdom Come Deliverance II’s side quests feel fleshed out, putting you in a variety of different scenarios and usually offering more than just one path to completion. On the simpler side, you’ll help shepherds get rid of packs of wolves plaguing their flocks. Whether you opt for straight combat or track down the animals and treat them to some poisoned meat is up to you.

Then, you’ll also probe the depths of superstition by looking for demons in the most unlikely places, rescuing damsels in distress, and helping Henry find fleeting romance, highlighting that even as the world is consumed by turmoil, people find a way to look past it.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s combat relies on a simplified version of the original’s system that, although easier to grasp, still feels clunky at times. It shines in one-on-one duels, where carefully picking which direction you attack from and pulling off perfect blocks feels exhilarating.

Executing combos remains a little fiddly due to how inconsistently their inputs sometimes register, but nailing a master strike – a counter that requires you to anticipate a foe’s attacks and strike from the opposite directions – did convince me, for a fleeting moment, that I was on my way to becoming a master swordsman.

Things, however, take a turn for the worse when you’re outnumbered. Especially early on, facing armored opponents can feel outright unfair and prompted me to turn tail and run on multiple occasions. All-out battles involving a higher number of characters devolve into trivialized chaos, as you can easily stab foes in the back while they engage your allies.

This friction has a sense of realism, but there’s also not a lot of satisfaction to gain. On the flip side, Henry’s skills can be improved both by paying trainers and by simply performing their associated actions. If you play your cards right, you can feel almost overpowered when heading into the final third of the game, especially if you get your hands on expensive armor, weapons, and clothes, then sell them.

In terms of new additions, the most notable is the handgonne – a firearm that takes far too long to load and is especially unwieldy, but which delivers tons of satisfaction if and when you do hit an enemy in full plate armor, watching them fall down to the ground in an instant.

A new, intricate minigame allows you to put Henry’s background as a blacksmith to good use and craft gear for yourself or others, while Mutt – your friendly canine companion – does somewhat help even the odds when you’re outnumbered, although there’s only so much good he can do when facing off against multiple armored foes.

Another of the sequel’s strong suits comes in the shape of its humor, which is reflected both in regular conversations and during story sequences. It ranges from crass to witty and is elevated by the use of voice actors who aren’t native English speakers – even if their performances are a bit of a mixed bag.

Forget to have your torch out at night and guards won’t hesitate to remark that they understand why you weren’t adhering to the local custom after seeing your face. Wait too long between baths and not only will your charisma drop, affecting how others treat you in conversation, but you’ll have them pointing out the fact that Henry simply stinks.

Far worse than an unwashed Henry is how – despite the inclusion of three outfit slots that allow you to prepare gear suited for combat, dialog, and stealth – your equipment is forcibly removed as part of quests, actively discouraging swapping out of armor, since fighting in a nobleman’s attire isn’t exactly ideal.

The perk system, although allowing a relative amount of freedom, does have quite a few picks that don’t necessarily feel useful. KCD2’s save system then remains one of its biggest sources of friction – limiting you to manual saves locked behind using a certain potion, autosaves, and saving the game upon quitting.

The latter can be easily exploited – although constantly restarting is a hassle – while autosaves are more generous this time around. It, admittedly, still encourages living with your choices/mistakes to some extent, but its impact feels lessened, and part of me wishes it was instead an option that can be toggled at the start of the game or tied to difficulty.

Performance

On an i7-13700K, 32 GB RAM, and Nvidia RTX 3080@1440p, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II ran surprisingly well with settings almost at maximum. I did experience frame drops to around 40 FPS, particularly during busier battles and while exploring the large, detailed city of Kuttenberg, but they weren’t exceptionally frequent. Most importantly, they never hampered my progress or enjoyment of the game. Overall, the sequel’s technical state is pretty damn good at launch, provided you can overlook some awkward facial animations and the occasional enemies getting stuck in geometry.