Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Preview
As gamers, we are often disappointed when planned releases don't live up to their potential. Or worse yet, fail spectacularly. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be on the horizon for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. It's one of the games I'm most looking forward to in 2025. I spent a few hours with the game and not only is it a huge step up from the original, but it's an incredibly dense and engaging good time.
The new game takes place shortly after the events of the first title. Once again, it stars the same main character, the blacksmith's adopted son, Henry Skalitz. In the long tutorial chapter, Henry accompanies the affable and equally insufferable Sir Hans Capon to the countryside to deliver a letter to a neighboring nobleman. Along the way, Henry has the opportunity to practice (or fail) diplomacy, combat, dice, and stealth. Not to mention watching the girls and doing crafts.
It takes a while, but the introductory chapter is pretty amazing. Drama, humor and violence are part of the fabric. Players of the first game can't help but be impressed by the level of cinematic polish and excellent performance capture.
Henry the second
Players of the first game will recognize most of the game's systems. Like the first game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a medieval life simulator/RPG. While it naturally takes some game-like liberties, there's a sense of authenticity throughout. The irritation of the knights at their irritating armor. The merchants argue. Hand-to-hand combat is heavy, slow and deliberate.
RPG systems are deep and complex, shaping nearly every aspect of Henry's experience. Skill and reputation systems with weapons, dialogue options, and crafting allow the player to shape Henry in an infinite number of directions. He starts the game as a somewhat prudish and worried protector, but after that anything goes.
Developer Warhorse acknowledged that the first game's combat was authentic but fairly unforgiving. At least for the first few hours, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II reduces the challenge. Overall, combat has been streamlined and marginally simplified. I'm looking forward to trying out a wider range of weapons, such as medieval gunpowder weapons, later in the game.
Defying expectations
The best role-playing games encourage the player to get lost in their worlds. In truth, this rarely happens. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II's take on medieval Bohemia feels alive with details and little moments of real history. But there's nothing boring about Henry's experience. Of course, I only dove into the larger game since my access to the preview came so late. It remains to be seen whether Warhorse can maintain the exemplary level of immersion.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance was unique among first-person action games. But, to be honest, it also suffered from a bit of “Euro-jank” and rough edges. This doesn't seem to be the case with the sequel, which runs incredibly well (so far) in 4K with all settings maxed out. Few games of this scope and complexity come out as polished as Kingdom Come: Deliverance II appears to be.
The Kingdom Come: Deliverance II world looks incredible and sounds beautifully detailed. The voice acting by Tom McKay and Luke Dale (as Henry and Hans, respectively) is immensely entertaining. The dialogue does a great job of defining its main characters and filling out the backstory for new players. The game's musical score, written by Jan Valta and Adam Sporka, is expansive, cinematic and powerful. It definitely sets a very high musical bar for games of 2025. I can't wait to listen to it independently outside of the game.
Prepared and ready
Kingdom Come: Deliverance provided players with an unforgiving and fascinating medieval playground. However, it had enough problems to be off-putting to many players. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II seeks to improve on literally every aspect of the first game, from story to mechanics. From what I've played so far, Warhorse has been very successful.
Thanks for keeping it locked to COGconnected.
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