Among RPGs, the Kingdom Come series is one of the most unique because it focuses on realism over fantasy, including some of the less appealing parts of medieval life like poor hygiene, an unforgiving economy and nearly nonexistent healthcare. In many ways, developer Warhorse Studios tried to bring those realities of medieval life into the RPG realm to offer something other than the typical scenario where a powerful hero takes on legions of opponents and changes the world. Instead, if your character gets though a day in Kingdom Come without either starving or having a dagger thrust into their guts, it’s a noteworthy achievement.
Even so, when the first Kingdom Come: Deliverance came out in 2018, most of the attention that it received was because of its amazing graphics. This was in the days before Unreal Engine 5 was even being developed, and yet, the original title looked so much more realistic than anyone could have expected. It also played pretty well on moderately powerful hardware on the PC side and also ran great on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. In fact, everyone was so impressed with the graphical presentation that a lot of the little flaws of the game, like a really clunky combat interface, were overlooked or at least grudgingly accepted by most players.
And now, seven years later, we are presented with Kingdom Come Deliverance II in all its gritty glory. The graphics are once again amazing, as is to be expected, although this is pretty much par for the course these days. Even games that are never going to become wildly popular (even if they are quite good) look amazing these days, so while Kingdom Come Deliverance II certainly looks great, it does not stand out like the original did against the field of all the other titles being released at the same time.
Perhaps because graphics have reached a peak level of expected quality, developer Warhorse Studios decided to concentrate on the other aspect of their game that helped it to stand out from the crowd: its unforgiving realism. They did this in so many ways in Kingdom Come Deliverance II, from having the main character Henry get hungry, sick, tired, dirty or thirsty if you don’t constantly attend to his needs, to making the food he is carrying around in his backpack slowly rot away if it’s not consumed within a reasonable amount of time. In a lot of ways, Kingdom Come Deliverance II almost feels more like a medieval life simulation rather than a traditional RPG, and for those players looking for something different, that is certainly a good thing.
The story of Kingdom Come Deliverance II picks up after the events of the first title with it still centered on Henry of Skalitz, the blacksmith’s son and secret royal bastard who lost his home and family at the opening of the first adventure. Henry is once again voiced by Tom McKay, who seems very comfortable with the character and does a great job adding life and realism to his performance. Having survived the first game, Henry now has a relatively comfortable life working with (and serving) his sometimes unreasonable friend Sir Hans Capon of Pirkstein, who is skillfully voiced by Luke Dale. It’s kind of a perfect buddy-movie pairing even though they sometimes butt heads, especially when Hans is being difficult.
You don’t need to have played the original in order to enjoy Kingdom Come Deliverance II, although it would probably help in understanding all the lore and backstory. A lot happened in the first title with both Henry’s life and the political intrigue which was a big part of daily life in the year 1403 in the Kingdom of Bohemia, which today is part of the Czech Republic. But even so, you can jump right into Deliverance II without much trouble as there is a very nice introduction and tutorial section to ease players into this interesting world. If you want to learn what happened in the original adventure or need a quick refresher, the developers have made a movie about it.
One thing that I was a bit disappointed with is that Henry seems like a weakling again at the start of Kingdom Come Deliverance II. He is not devoid of all skills like he was in the original adventure, but I had made my version of Henry into a competent swordsman before the first adventure ended, and now he’s barely able to defeat Hans or a lowly bandit in a duel. Anyway, the skills system in Deliverance II is based on players using the skills they want to level up. So, for example, if you want to become a master swordsman, you should find someone to spar with a lot. If instead you want to become, say, an herbalist, then you need to get out there into the woods and fields and pick bushels of weeds and other plants before boiling them up and turning them into something useful at an alchemy workbench. That system of skill progression in games is very natural because it lets players level up their characters with the same skills they are using while ignoring the ones they don’t care as much about.
Events in Kingdom Come Deliverance II once again transpire to the point where Henry finds himself alone and working his way up in society from the bottom. That was actually really cool as it allowed me to once again work with Henry to survive and eventually thrive in a very harsh world. It also gives players a lot of freedom about how they play and what kind of experience Deliverance II will offer. For example, if you want to make Henry into a stealthy thief and assassin, you can, and the game will support you. If you instead want to become a tough fighter who always does good and tells the truth, you can do that too. I had a lot of fun just looking for ways to improve Henry’s fortune, which included buying and selling goods, some light thievery and even a bit of crafting.
There is a very deep reputation system too, so depending on how you treat people, NPCs will respond accordingly. That is not to say that you can’t be a thief or anything. Just don’t get caught or let anyone spot you in the vicinity of your various heists.
There are also quite a few new systems and features introduced into the series. Henry now has a helpful dog in Deliverance II that can assist with everything from combat to stealth missions, so long as you treat it well, provide food and do a bit of training. There is also a new speech mechanic that allows players to employ a silver tongue based on Henry’s experience and circumstances. You can talk your way out of a lot of fights and other trouble if you concentrate on that aspect of the skill tree.
Learning how to be a better blacksmith is a smart move too, not just because that is in Henry’s background, but also since you can then craft weapons and armor to make life much easier, or to earn some good coin. Potion brewing is also a very valid crafting skill now which can become almost overpowered at high levels. And you will probably need to learn how to make potions too because the controversial Savior Schnapps mechanic is back where you have to drink a bottle of that special brew in order to save the game outside of an owned bed. Thankfully, it’s an easy recipe comprised of belladonna and nettles, so I brewed up several dozen bottles right in the tutorial area and was good for quite a while.
The combat in Deliverance II is back from the first game in all its real time glory and quirkiness. It’s supposed to mimic holding an actual sword or other weapon with players parrying, feinting, thrusting and slashing whenever they get into a fight. It’s just not all that intuitive or very well explained. Having forgotten how to fight from the first title, I had to watch a bunch of YouTube videos to show me how to survive in combat once more. Even then, I never became super adept at duels, much less when facing multiple opponents. It was, for me, one of the least enjoyable aspects of Kingdom Come Deliverance II. On a positive note, crossbows have been added as a possible weapon choice, and they tend to handle very well. There are also primitive guns now too, although they are historically accurate, meaning they are noisy, clunky and pretty darn terrible overall at this point in history.
Compared with many other titles, Kingdom Come Deliverance II offers a very slow burn. That is just fine with me as I tend to enjoy survival sims, especially those with really good thieving mechanics, and I had a great time just helping Henry build up a little empire of coin and treasures. The main quest and many of the side ones can be thrilling, filled with big combats and narrow escapes worthy of a blockbuster movie. You just don’t really need to be in too big of a hurry to follow that path, not when there is a huge map to explore that is filled to the brim with adventure, resources, treasure and secrets to find and enjoy.
Developers: Warhorse Studios
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox Series X