It’s that time of year again. Opinions are given, lists are drawn, and I fear for my favorite to be buried in the snow as the annual Game of the Year discussion intensifies. This time, however, my feelings are stronger than usual, as I don’t typically end the calendar year thinking “I found my new favorite RPG of all time,” but Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 just captured my heart more forcibly than Sigismund captured Wenceslaus.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 contains all the necessary ingredients of a great RPG: A brilliant story, captivating side quests, a gorgeous open world, and wonderful characters who frequently belt out inspiring quotes like “Time to get boozing,” “Not every man of Hungary is a crazy fuck,” and “Are you yanking my noble pizzle?” But where another RPG might’ve been content with those ingredients and declared the game finished, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 went a couple of steps (or miles) further and presented a world that’s not just meant to be played in, but lived in.
Let’s grab the pizzle by the throat and discuss Kingdom Come’s most divisive feature first: The brutal combat system. For me, the slightly yanky, slow, hard-to-wield weapons represent a common misconception about this RPG: That you’re somehow meant to be a hero. But no, you are no mighty warrior, nor any sort of “chosen one” — heck, you’re not even nobility! You, playing as Henry of Skalitz, a former blacksmith’s apprentice dropped in early 15th-century Bohemia, are an ill-dressed peasant without a horse, and you shall feel it.
In Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, immersion is heavily driven by realism. It wouldn’t make sense to survive an ambush when you’re outnumbered, or defeat a knight without extensive training and top-notch equipment, so I’m quite happy to get slaughtered. Naturally, this noob-like status won’t last throughout the game, as you’ll buy better armor and find someone to train you eventually, but it greatly enhances the “role-playing as a random medieval fellow” concept.
Even so, you aren’t forced to engage in combat very often. The directional “let’s circle around each other for five minutes before one of us dares to strike” fighting system isn’t for everyone, so it’s a good thing Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 offers many different playstyles, from muscular brute to silver-tongued charmer. It’s usually possible to settle conflicts amicably, but even if it’s not, you can always pour some good old poison into someone’s food or stab them in their sleep.
Beware, however, that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 punishes criminal tendencies more harshly than almost any other RPG: If you can’t pay the ridiculously high fines, you’ll be put in the pillory, caned, branded, or even hanged. I’ve never regretted my heinous in-game deeds quite as much as I have in Kingdom Come, and it felt amazing — not because of any masochistic tendencies, mind you, but because I’ve finally experienced nervousness while committing crimes, as I’m genuinely scared of repercussions. Again, role-playing at its finest.
While I was still blissfully unaware of these rigid laws, I had my first taste of Kingdom Come’s insane degree of reactiveness when I decided to nick a pair of trousers from a local blacksmith, avoided detection, left town, and forgot all about the incident. As someone who’s stolen from and resold stuff to the same NPC in other RPGs, imagine my surprise when two hours later, as I returned to said town, I heard someone yelling, “Hey, those are mine!” — lo and behold, it was the blacksmith coming after me for his trousers, which I was still wearing.
If you’re wondering why I was so eager to steal someone’s pants, despite the harsh punishment, you may not yet understand the utter wretchedness experienced at the start of a new Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 playthrough. You see, due to unforeseen circumstances, Henry had lost his stint as a noble’s babysitter and hit rock bottom right before being dropped in Kingdom Come’s open world. That may not have been a problem in any other RPG, but since this game takes “role-playing as a medieval beggar” way too seriously, it’s truly difficult to work your way out of misery.
Imagine visiting an inn and politely asking for a room, only to be told to “Clear off, you mangy cur!” by the innkeeper. It’s quite funny — until a few minutes later, when you’re hiding in a ditch, wounded, exhausted, starving, while the rain is pouring on your shoulders and you just pray for the bandits to leave you alone. Now if only you were wearing slightly nicer clothes, such as the blacksmith’s pants… You might’ve been sleeping in a nice, warm bed instead.
For better or worse, reactiveness forms a major part of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s appeal; if you look like a beggar, you’ll be treated like one, and if you want respect, you must dress and speak like a nobleman. Run around in a state of undress and it won’t take long before you hear comments along the lines of “Did you forget your clothes somewhere?” to which you can either reply politely or with something snappier, such as “Aye, at your mother’s place, when I was shagging her.”
As in most RPGs, rude replies aren’t the best way to make friends, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 doesn’t guarantee success even if you pick the nicest remarks. Are you used to passing every skill check with ease? Well, you can forget about that here, for Henry can’t magically see his conversation partner’s stats. Instead, you’ll have to think logically: If you’re wearing a fancy fit, it’s far easier to impress a peasant, but if you’re wearing dirty rags, acting high and mighty yields nothing but embarrassment. Threatening an armored bandit or out-smarting a learned scribe isn’t wise, but swap that approach, and you might just succeed.
I’ve got to admit, my frequent conversational failures certainly took some getting used to, but the result was that I listened more closely, observed more carefully, and experienced more awkwardness and excitement from in-game conversations than I ever have before.
That said, even a brilliant dialogue system would be nothing without a proper storyline to support it, but this is where Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 shines brightest. There are three reasons in particular that might explain the stories’ hold on my heart: First, they’re full of unexpected plot twists, even the side quests. Sure, the historical accuracy, properly cinematic cutscenes, and hilarious dialogue are helpful, but it’s the “What the devil is going on?” moments that make them stick. Second, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 just loves to intertwine its many questlines, forcing me to have lovely or (depending on our personal history) exceedingly awkward rendezvous with NPCs and making me forget they aren’t real people. And finally, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 turns me into an emotional wreck with alarming frequency.
Take, for example, my early game run-in with a group of Cumans — yes, possibly the same folks who murdered Henry’s family. It seemed an easy choice to hate them, but upon witnessing the harassment they faced from locals, I couldn’t help but think, “Perhaps they weren’t personally responsible,” and I ended up helping them. During the ensuing conversation, I really wanted to tell them off, but they were so kind that I decided to accompany them to their camp. Once there, things escalated into a drunken Cuman party, and by the end of the night, when I discovered that they, at least indirectly, had indeed murdered Henry’s folks, it had become quite difficult to exact revenge. Just why, Kingdom Come? Why did you have to make my enemies so deeply human?
My love letter to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is growing rather long, and I haven’t even covered the full extent of its realism yet, as it has seeped into every corner of the Bohemian kingdom. Not even the mini games are spared: If you’re forging a blade, you’ll have to hold it into the fire, hammer it evenly, dunk it in a bucket of cold water — the works. If you’d like to craft some potions, gather herbs, and follow the recipe as best you can. Abstract mini-games? Never heard of them!
The word “immersive” has been used a tad too often in relation to RPGs, to put it mildly, but there’s simply no better word to describe Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s deeply realistic, heartfelt, ever-surprising story and gameplay. This RPG is in a league of its own, and the only thing that makes the end of Henry’s Bohemian adventures bearable (after 100+ hours or so) is the lure of an unhinged, drunken playthrough. Audentes fortuna iuvat!
