Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

[RPGWatch]

Diving back into the heart-pounding world of 15th Century Bohemia (Central Europe), Kingdom Come: Deliverance II picks up where its predecessor left off, thrusting players into the shoes of Henry, the steadfast son of a blacksmith, embroiled in a tumultuous tale of vengeance, betrayal, and self-discovery. You will traverse a crafted medieval landscape, from the grandeur of royal courts, all while navigating the treacherous currents of a kingdom torn apart by civil war.

More information.

 

[HiddenX]

@Couchpotato spotted that some KCD1 backers get KCD2 for free:

Hello, I'm the community manager of Warhorse Studios.
This is not all backers, but only high level backers who had a pledge which also included the "Act II".
Although we scrapped the "Acts", and KCD1 got way bigger than the 20 hours intended, we still think KCD II comes close to our promise of "Act II", which was promised to the backers back then.
Those backers who made a pledge of this level back then were now contacted by us to choose their platform.

 

[Couchpotato]

Add it the large pile of games delayed from 2024 to 2025 now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/xbox/comments/1esoqir/kingdom_come_deliverance_ii_delayed_to_february

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/xbox/comments/1esoqir/kingdom_come_deliverance_ii_delayed_to_february/

Well there goes 2024, what a terrible year for gaming releases.

 

[JDR13]

Going from late 2024 to the second month of 2025 isn't really significant. Hopefully it doesn't get delayed further.

 

[Hastar]

I've paid for DLCs and a few older games this year. The only new game I've picked up was Archaelund and that's in EA. I have to agree with Couchpotato.

 

[Robollix]

Damn... I hope they make the fighting a bit easier. I've tried and tried to get into KCD I but i find it just too frustrating when swordfighting is involved. Alway end up uninstalling...

Yeah, I know, I'm a wimp.....but at my age, I play for the fun of exploring -not getting my arse kicked!

 

[HiddenX]

RPGWatch Curation:

If you want to play an immersive medieval RPG then Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the right choice - an instant classic!

 

[largh]

I have now played the game about 25 hours and am ready to give some initial impressions. In general, the game is fantastic. If you like immersive games type Red Dead Redemption 2 and the Witcher 3, this is a real treat. So far I'd score it among my all time favorites, but I am not very far yet. Strong parts from the original game are even stronger and many weak parts are improved. Character development was one of the strongest parts of the original game and now it is even better. I criticised the save system in the previous entry. Automatic saves occur much more frequently now and saviour schnapps is easier to come by. That fixes the save system while making saving a reward as it is intended to be. The story so far appears great and the world is calling to explore, quest, hunt and murder bandits. Fighting with mouse and keyboard is still borderline bugged and executing combos seems close to impossible. Riposte and "master strikes" are more manageable, but require good timing at least in the beginning of the game. There are some bugs, but nowhere near the original - and within the limits what is expected from an open world game.

In addition to the combat, I feel they could have done the wilderness areas better. They are almost empty. In the previous entry there were rabbits to hunt, but now there is almost nothing. No birds, no animals, no random encounters. Hunting now takes place in marked spots throughout the world. That makes hunting worse than it was in the original. Fishing seems to be the same (although Henry complains not having learned to fish; maybe a lazy way to exclude fishing or is it a skill learned later?). It feels like a missed opportunity as I was hoping for RDR2 level wilderness experience. I don't see any official plans from Warhorse to improve this part of the game either, so it seems tailored for more human-centric players than people who enjoy hanging out in the wilderness. It is also not possible to make a camp where ever one wants. Pity that they did not take more influence from RDR2 regarding the wilderness aspect.

 

[JFarrell71]

In addition to the combat, I feel they could have done the wilderness areas better. They are almost empty. In the previous entry there were rabbits to hunt, but now there is almost nothing. No birds, no animals, no random encounters. Hunting now takes place in marked spots throughout the world. That makes hunting worse than it was in the original. Fishing seems to be the same (although Henry complains not having learned to fish; maybe a lazy way to exclude fishing or is it a skill learned later?). It feels like a missed opportunity as I was hoping for RDR2 level wilderness experience. I don't see any official plans from Warhorse to improve this part of the game either, so it seems tailored for more human-centric players than people who enjoy hanging out in the wilderness. It is also not possible to make a camp where ever one wants. Pity that they did not take more influence from RDR2 regarding the wilderness aspect.

I'm glad you're (overall) enjoying the game. I love it. I actually just came to the forum to post about it, because I've seen almost no mention of it here, an RPG site, which kinda blows my mind.

Anyway, it's interesting that you would say this after 25 hours.

There are LOTS of random encounters. The riddler. A guy falling out of a tree. A messenger who lost a letter and is super worried about his master's reaction. Bandits picking over corpses. Bandits holding up a traveler. On and on. Far more different ones than KCD1 had.

There are birds. There are also lots of animals, though you're right in that they congregate in designated spots.

If all you care about is survival stuff, I guess you could say the wilderness is "empty", but in every other way the wilderness is chock full of interesting spots and diverse features. Exploration is peak in this game (and it was very good in KCD1)

 

[largh]

All random encounters I have seen are either on roads or paths, not in the wilderness.

 

[JFarrell71]

I do wish, and felt the same in the first game, that you could carry over a sleeping bag and tent and use them to sleep. It's kind of weird that you can't, given everything else.

 

[largh]

There are birds. There are also lots of animals, though you're right in that they congregate in designated spots.

Where do you see these? I hear bird sounds and see bird nests, but for example I do not see any crows with the scattering crow flock sound effect. Can you add them in the settings?

 

[JFarrell71]

Where do you see these? I hear bird sounds and see bird nests, but for example I do not see any crows with the scattering crow flock sound effect. Can you add them in the settings?

I've seen a flock of birds take off in front of me, and I've seen birds circling, like vultures over a dead body. I haven't seen any close by that I can recall.

 

[daveyd]

I love this game. I've no real complaints, I just want more. I can't wait for the DLC.

 

[largh]

I love this game. I've no real complaints, I just want more. I can't wait for the DLC.

A great game indeed. I was expecting a lot, but it seems to deliver even better than I was hoping for. Got to say thanks Warhorse! I had partly lost my interest for gaming as there wasn't anything really gripping on offer in the ARPG front, only reused formulas, but this game is as different from the mainstream as the previous one. As far I know, the DLCs do not promise much? Only an extra quest and some other filler each? They seem to be similar to the DLCs offered for the previous game, not comparable to CDPR DLCs for instance?

 

[largh]

I got the Gold Edition with DLCs. One thing I don't understand: according to Warhorse players seem to think offering high-level gear right from the beginning of the game in your personal chest is a good idea. Using that gear would just spoil the best part of the game when you are forced to survive with a few grochen and scavenge crappy gear from roadside bandits. I guess people want to pay to ease their suffering, but the suffering is the best part of the entire game! They should have rather made a quest to acquire those gear later on and made the gear some of the best in the game. I know the strategy of having exclusive quests caused complaints with the pre-order quest, but as I understand, that gear also spoiled the early game. It would be better to have exclusive late-game quests to acquire unique gear if they wanted to increase the sales of the more expensive version using that strategy. They could even call them DLCs and it would be harder to complain. Personally, I think having the DLCs and perhaps original score as a flak file or a concert later on as TW3 would suffice. Each to their own, but I don't get this trend of wanting to pay to skip the best parts. I haven't used the gear and will not use them until my character gets access to similar level gear.

 

[JFarrell71]

As far I know, the DLCs do not promise much? Only an extra quest and some other filler each? They seem to be similar to the DLCs offered for the previous game, not comparable to CDPR DLCs for instance?

Did you not play the DLC for the first KCD? They're more than an extra quest. "A Woman's Lot" adds several hours of gameplay, and the quest you do for Johanka, though technically one quest, is longer than two or three quests in most RPGs put together, with plenty of variation. "Band of Bastards" is around six quests, and "Ashes to Ashes", the village building one, has a bunch of events associated with it. The Hans Capon DLC is shorter, but still of decent size.

Reading the descriptions of what the DLC will be, the first and third sound like quest chains, probably roughly "Band of Bastards" sized, and the second one resembles "Ashes to Ashes" in a way (as you rebuild a forge and start a business).

That's plenty, imo. I plan to get them, though I don't know when I'll play them since obviously I'll be long done with my current playthrough.

Completely agree on the bonus gear front. That's a disincentive for me to buy special editions. I did pre-order, so I have the armor quest associated with that, but I simply ignored it for 40 hours.